What a game!

PARIS [The Monday International Show] - What a privilege to commentate last night the grand daddy of all friendly matches,Spain vs Team USA, a matchup where both teams obviously played hard looking for a prestigious victory. The game more than lived up to the hype while it approached but didn't equal the fabulous 2008 Olympic final in Bejing, which is already saying alot!

Both teams played great basketball at a high intensity and velocity with many players performing at a very strong level led by Kevin Durant and Juanca Navarro, the two leaders who lived up to their reputations and crucial roles.

This game was a stark positive contrast to the sad spectacle of the brawl between Greece and Serbia in Athens a few nights earlier. The game was hard-fought and Marc Gasol and Durant got into a little verbal spat but in general there was an attitude of respect and fair play throughout the game,all the better!

From the standpoint of Team USA, the win was a welcome confidence-builder and the squad corrected all of the weaknesses seen the night before in a horrible first half against a valiant Lithuanian team which is putting up some decent results in preparation games despite missing most of their confirmed stars except for Linus Kleiza.

After changing his starting five vs. Spain, Coach K saw immediate results as Derrick Rose and Lamar Odom were more dangerous offensively than Rajon Rondo and Tyson Chandler.

The Americans limited their turnovers, hit their open shots,attacked the Spanish man to man defence aggressively, lowered Spain's shooting percentage with tight defence and even pulled out a surprise zone defence on the last decisive possession.

They seem to be adapting quickly to the international style and refereeing.

The real and new Kevin Durant showed up hitting a bunch of big shots and even blocking the last two attempts by Ricky Rubio and Rudy Fernandez in the waning seconds.

Wow what a show! The learning experience continues for the super young Team USA which has pleased world-wide fans with their humble attitude and desire to progress while respecting their opponents.

Coach K said before the game that Spain is favorite to be World champion because of their shared experience and he added that watching them pass the ball around is watching beautiful basketball.

Gracias!The last remaing question is who will be cut from the team as Russell Westbrook and Stephen Curry played well to improve their chances.

From the Spanish point of veiw, they are probably diappointed to have lost in front of their home fans but they came back strong in the fourth quarter to go ahead by two and this pleased coach Sergio Scariolo.

They copied the Americans brick launching vs. Lithuania from the day before as they openned the game missing alot of open shots and they seemed surpassed by Team USA's speed and aggressiveness.

After the adrenaline rush at the game's start the teams settled down into a more methodical style and showed some good passing prowess in the half-court game.

Spain has Marc Gasol which gives them the low post fixation point that Team USA lacks and this gives them a more balanced inside out game.

Running Navarro and Rudy off of high post screens is their bread and butter along with the uptempo rythmn imposed by Rubio who proved once and for all, in his duel with Rose, that he is ready for the NBA!

Spain showed weakness getting back on D,defending penetration and on the defensive glass giving way to many second chances to the American jumping jacks!

Navarro took to heart Ricky's suggestion to take over the team leadership with Pau Gasol in the stands chatting up his beatiful girlfiend!

The Pau pair had some stiff competition for most glamourous couple in the arena from soccer player Christian Ronaldo and his pinup!

In any case, if this was a preveiw of a future semi-final matchup in Istanbul then everybody should note the rendez-vous in their agendas because the spectacle was grandiose.

I also saw Australia barely beat Brazil yesterday and these two teams confirmed their status as sure-fire quarterfinalists. end