If the mythical “Dream Team” is about to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its Olympic gold medal won in Barcelona (1992), the no less formidable Team USA London (2012) will celebrate the 10th anniversary of her Olympic gold medal.
At the time, the American selection was particularly qualitative: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Deron Williams, James Harden, Andre Iguodala, Tyson Chandler and Anthony Davis! Note also that this same Davis, No. 1 in the 2012 Draft and who had not yet played a single game in the NBA, took the place of a meniscus-injured Blake Griffin in the workforce.
Suffice to say that the men of Mike Krzyzewski, undefeated in preparation (five wins in five games, with an average difference of 26.6 points), advanced as big favorites of the tournament. And it didn’t take long to understand it, those who notably corrected the France in opening. It was July 29, so ten years ago to the day.
Reigning European vice-champions, the Blues were led that year by the inevitable Tony Parker, surrounded by Nicolas Batum, Boris Diaw, Nando De Colo, Ronny Turiaf, Florent Piétrus, Mickaël Gelabale, Kevin Séraphin, Fabien Causeur , Ali Traoré, Yannick Bokolo and Yakhouba Diawara. The notable absentee being Joakim Noah, injured in the ankle and who wanted to save himself for the 2012/13 season.
The starting point of a memorable campaign
So in search of the third Olympic medal in its history, France stood up without too many expectations against the United States. Rightly, because Vincent Collet’s men will never see the light of day, losing heavily (98-71) against the American selection.
Team USA, often pushed to fault and clumsy at 3-pts, however needed a quarter to get going (22-21). Before finally unfolding in the second (30-15) then in the third (26-15), thanks to his domination on the rebound, his address from afar and his many free throws. Not to mention a great Kevin Durant (22 points, 9 rebounds). As for the last act (20-20), it mainly allowed the superstars to rest and substitutes to show off.
Easy, the Americans played their hand, to quietly dominate the Blues and start their Olympic campaign as it should. An Olympic campaign that they would also end up flying over, winning eight victories in as many confrontations (by 32.1 points difference) and trembling only against Lithuania (group stage, +5) then against Spain (final , +7).
Individually speaking, Kevin Durant (19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.6 steals), Carmelo Anthony (16.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists), LeBron James (13.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.4 steals), Kobe Bryant (12.1 points) or Kevin Love (11.6 points and 7.6 rebounds) held their rank.
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