Best half ever !!!

BEIJING (Olympics) - The first half of the men's final was simply the best half in the history of basketball!Here's why.

The two best defensive teams of the tournament played at a frenetic pace on offence to try and get quick open shots before the D could set up.

It's not that no D was played, the offenses were just better and that makes for incomparably exciting ball with the quality of the individuals present along with their desire to play together!USA was even running on made baskets by Spain(D'Antoni's influence?) and race cars like Paul, Lebron and Wade were loving it.

Spain accelerated equally behind the 17 year-old, future number one pick, the phenomen Rubio, who started for Calderon, and the fans were experiencing b-ball nirvana!

The shooting percentages, the highlight finishes, the stars diving all over the place for any crumb of a loose ball, the total physical investment of each player, the daring-do of Rudy in the second quarter after curiously not playing in the first, the revival of Navarro, completely taciturn up to then but kept slyly hidden away by Aito for the big day, Gasol conquering his own fears for a great start, and the americans playing out of their minds with Wade starting off 7 for 7 and hitting 3 after 3 when his team needed them the most, it was all incredible!

Score at the half?

69 to 61 which corresponds to 83 to 73 in an NBA 24 minute half, are you freaking kidding me?

In an olympic gold medal game, which Lebron said means more to him than a game 7 in an NBA finals, this can't be happening I kept telling myself!

Then there was the brillant tactical coaches' battle between two legends, Mike and Aito, totally up to par with the stratospheric level of the players.

Aito, who's team got back its flamboyance, mixed man and zone defences smartly, pulled surprisng moves in his player rotations even playing without a true point guard in spots and giving the keys to the duels to Navarro and Rudy too quick to be defended while coach K sent in the right players for the different situations(Wade, Bosh, Paul, Prince) and taking out players like Howard or Melo when their emotions got the best of them.

In the second half, things came back to normal with each team scoring in the twenties instead of the thirties quarter by quarter, but the intensity was still colossal and the score got even closer in the fourth with the USA only up by 2 with 8:13 to go and by 4 with 2:30 to go.

Kobe's 4 point play that sent Rudy off with his fifth foul was the killer which is fitting because he has been symbolic of the successful image makeover for himself and team USA in these olympics getting out ot see other sports, the athlete's village, the opponents and the women at Wukesong with his humble, sportsman-like and dignified teammates!

Bravo!

Speaking of symbolism, I would have liked to see Ricky make that last basket off his steal as a sign of the future but it wasn't meant to be and unfortunately the refs got out their rabbit ears and called two untimely technicals on the frustrated spaniards in the last minute.

Give me a break, just don't listen and besides the refs were not up to par with the rest of the actors in this festival being constantly overtaken by the infernal rythmn and physicality of the game and missing alot of obvious calls which upset both teams!

All of you readers who thought team USA couldn't be challenged are gonna have to button it up now after this unique final which was closer than the final score indicates.

Just read all the hommages the americans are paying to Spain's resilience and the quality of their play to be convinced of this because the USA players and coaches know how tough and close the game really was!

This was my last olympics after covering five since Barcelona and I feel I must being doing something right because after being considered by french basketball people for years as one of the major reasons that the NBA has overshadowed french b'ball in the country, now some readers feel I'm biased against the americans!

There must be an objective journalistic balance in there somewhere which, in the end, is all you can ask of a reporter!

George EDDY