[Al-Farouq AminuParticipant]

If the game between team USA and team Spain would be played in Madrid, which team would win ?

Starting 5:
Marc Gasol
Paul Gasol
Rudy Fernandez
Juan Carlos Navorro
Jose Calderon

Bench:
Ricky Rubio
Sergio Rodgriguez
Jorge Garbojosa
Victor Claver (NBA prospect)
Fran Vasquez (former #12 pick)
Raul Lopez ( former NBA player)

[Tha King2121Participant]

Starting 5:
1. Chris Paul
2. Kobe
3. King James
4. Amare Stoudemire
5. Superman

Speed
USA>Spain

Shooting
USA> or = close call

Power
USA>Spain

Taller Team
USA> Spain

Athletic
USA>Spain

Should I Stop Now

[quantumParticipant]

Particular law (for every kind of basketball rules): Rubio IQ >>>>>>> Lebron IQ

Universal law (for international rules): Spanish basketball team IQ >>>>> USA basketball team

[sheltwon3Participant]

Spain has better teamwork and is use to playing in European rules which is why the games were close but come on they weren’t really gonna win though with Kobe Lebron and Superman.

[wowthisisneatParticipant]

Its really not even close…just look at the olympics. USA has the best ballers in the world

[MATAParticipant]

the gold medal game was a pretty good game.to say it ain’t close is foolish.

[NYKnicksuperFanParticipant]

their better at every position if you look at the matchups including bench

[Mr. BasketballParticipant]

anyone know where i can rewatch the olympic final?

[jooksParticipant]

i m french and i know very well nba and spanish players.
USA: paul,kobe,james,howard,bosh + D.williams,stoudemire,roy,wade,durant,jefferson,bynum
SPAIN: calderon,fernandez,navarro,M.gasol,P.gasol + rubio,rodriguez,garbojosa,vasquez,jimenez,claver,lopez

on the paper,the team USA is better than spanish team.
But with international rules,spain takes advantage against usa and they know play very well together every summer.If team usa adapt at international game, they beat spain but with little difference

[ch15r36isParticipant]

International rules, USA should win in 5, maybe 6.
NBA rules, USA wins in 4 or 5.
The USA is certainly an overall better team, but that doesn’t mean they could never lose to a good international team like Spain.

By 2012, the USA team may be almost unbeatable again, though. D-Wade, Lebron, Chris Paul, Dwight, Brandon Roy all at or near their primes. Throw in a few up-and-coming guys like Durant, B-Griffin, Amare, D-Rose, B-Lopez/G-Oden, etc. I can’t imagine anyone would be able to hang with that team of that makeup.

[paquichinParticipant]

I´m spanish, but I´m not a fool… USA is the best… they have an athletic potential that is still far from spain, and, of course, they know how to play basketball.

However, the difference between europe and NBA players is lower each time, because the european players are getting more athletic and in other aspects many of them are as good as american…

Will the USA team play with 5 players or with 8 ones… ???? (referees… remember: travelling all the time in FIBA rules and they didn´t say anything)…

ahahaha

Well, I know USA would win almost all times, but it wouldn´t be easy… and they should play without relax.

Spain is only a little country in comparison with USA, what about an European Team (I mean, Nowitzki, Parker, Okur, Stojakovic…) even a FIBA team (Ginobili, Scola, Yao… hahaha)… that would be a little bit more dificult… woundn´t… It´s a joke, but, when I was a child (now I´m 37) the universitarian players of USA team beat everyone without difficult… and now they wouldn´t be in the top 8… the difference is still big with many countries but is getting lower and lower each year… that´s (in my opinion) because the FIBA players are improving his athletic and the USA only look for that: good athletic in High school or Unviversities… and their knowledge of the game is quite low than 20 years ago (Bird, Magic, Mullin, Isiah… they weren´t as good athletics… but they were quite better than today´s top players in NBA).

[JinxedParticipant]

Don’t forget that during the Olympics Finals that Calderon was out with an injury, Rubio started in his place with a sprained index finger and then tore the ligaments in his right wrist (an injury that would put him out for six months) in the first quarter and yet still played the rest of the game.

You’re forgetting Felipe Reyes on the Spanish national team, he’s not as well known in the States but he plays for Real Madrid and started for the National team in the Olympics. He plays power forward. With the smaller court in international rules Spain doesn’t always like to have both Marc and Pau on the court at the same time, it’s usually one of those two with Reyes. Reyes lit up the USA in Beijing.

You can rewatch the olympic final at Nbc.com/olympics

At the individual matchups USA wins, it’s the fact that Spain plays better as a collective that makes the game close.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

[JinxedParticipant]

You also have four point guards on that Spanish roster. Calderon, Lopez, Rubio and Rodriguez. Rubio made it over Rodriguez for the Beijing team, although IMO Rodriguez is probably better than Lopez..

[rickyrudyvictorpaumarcESPParticipant]

the olympics was actually a close game. USA won by like 10 or 11…not sure how much, but spain had cut the lead down to 3 when rudy fouled out…from there it went downhill. the usa by far is much more athletic and talented, but at times their egoes clash and they don’t play well together. Despite the fact that spain is at a physical disadvantage, they can play extremely well together and work as a team to win. in a seven game series id think it go either way in 6 or 7 games….very close matchup.

[henryoh90612Participant]

you should put non-nba players who are decent…
like felipe reyes (i believe he started in the olympics finals), carlos jimenez and alex mumbru.
not saying they will be decent in nba, but in international game, their game translates quite well

[quantumParticipant]

First of all, Spain already won Team USA in the past, and they were World Champs 2006 before the US. Argentina overcame Team USA. It is true that Wade, Kobe Bryant and “Superman” Howard did not play then, but remember that in Beijing 2006 there were Spanish players who could not play well because of injuries.

Not only Calderon and Rubio had injuries in the Olympic final. Also Raul Lopez who couldn’t play much at the final. Furthermore, Garbajosa, a very important player for Spain, couldn’t play well during the whole tournament because he didn’t play in a year before the Olympics because of his big injury. He was not in good shape, not even 70% ready to play in the Olympics. Finally, Vazquez didn’t go to the Olympics but this year he is playing extremely well in Spain, being included in the top 5 best players in the ACB Spanish league (the best after NBA).

I agree with those who have considered Felipe Reyes (Power Foward) worth including in the Spanish National Team. He has been considered MVP player of ACB’s the regular season 2009. He is an awsome rebounder (even better than Gasol’s brothers), because he is very agressive, a good defender (even though he lacks athleticism), and has improved a lot his mid-range lay-up. I think he could easily play in an NBA team, but his wage in Real Madrid is very high, and it is unlikely than he would get paid that good in the NBA due to salary limitations. He wouldn’t be a star in NBA, but a very decent player, specifically in rebounds. He is a consistent two figures player (+10 points and +10 rebounds) in Spain.

[quantumParticipant]

I meant NBA salary limits (not limitations, of course) in my former post.

I think that a game Spain-USA in Madrid or Barcelona, with international rules, Spain would have high chances to win. Spain already played quite well with 15,000 Chinese neutral supporters watching the game, so wait to see a game with 18,000 Spanish fans supporting Spain. It wouldn’t be psychologically easy neither for Team USA, nor for the referees.

For 10 games played in Spain, I would bet 6 wins for USA and 4 wins for Spain.

Playing in the US, I would bet 9 wins for USA, 1 win for Spain. (A more optimistic but not unreallistic approach would be 8 wins for USA, and 2 wins for Spain)

[Author]

Posts