The conventional wisdom is that the gold medal game Aug. 12 in London will see the USA vs. Spain. Kobe Bryant vs. Pau Gasol. Kevin Love vs. Marc Gasol. The world’s two best teams facing off.
Pau thinks Spain can win it.
Of course, he said that to FIBA.com in a very Pau Gasol way. Which is to say filled with qualifiers.
My expectations are high. It will be a tough competition for everyone but I’m looking forward to being in London. My teammates and I will fight for the gold medal. I think that we can win the tournament. We have a lot of talent and everyone will be very motivated to give it their all on the court. We’re afraid of no one.
Health is going to matter in this series. The United States will miss Dwight Howard (back surgery) when they have to face Spain’s big front line. Spain will miss Ricky Rubio.
As for other teams, we’ll break it down more as we get closer. But pretty much everybody on the Spurs will be there leading another country — Tony Parker for France, Manu Ginobili for Argentina — and that should make you a little nervous.
