USA hoops expects best from Spain in exhibition

Associated Press

barcelona, spain

Maybe Spain can convince its home fans that the game doesn’t matter.

No way Kobe Bryant is buying it.

A game against the U.S. — the team that beat them for the Olympic basketball gold medal four years earlier — this time in front of their own crowd? The Spanish players are supposed to be OK with losing, because it’s only an exhibition?

“There’s not a chance,” Bryant said Monday. “It’s not just practice. It’s impossible.”

Bryant might have come away with a different opinion if he’d listened to Spain’s players talk on the same Palau Sant Jordi floor about an hour earlier. They are excited about the game tonight and will try to win, but not at the expense of their preparations for London.

“It’s an exhibition game. I think both teams are going to try to [use] different lineups, going to try maybe different stuff, but at the end of the day you know you’re not going to show a lot of things to the other team,” Spain guard Jose Calderon of the Toronto Raptors said. “You’re not going to have a medal if you win or if you lost tomorrow.”

The U.S. held off Spain 118-107 in Beijing to win gold in what U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski called “one of the great games in international basketball history.” The Americans pulled away after leading by just four with under 2 1/2 minutes left to win their first major title since the 2000 Olympics and are ranked No. 1 in the world.

Spain is No. 2, and nobody would be surprised to see them play a gold-medal rematch on Aug. 12. That’s the one the Spanish are aiming for, they say, and won’t go all out for a victory today if it means giving away any secrets they would use when it counts.

“It’ll definitely be a great test,” Spain star Pau Gasol said. “We believe in our chances, but it’s just a friendly game. Obviously we’d rather lose tomorrow and win in London.”

Bryant and Gasol are teammates with the Los Angeles Lakers, and Gasol said he’s looking forward to meeting up after they haven’t seen each other since their season ended in Oklahoma City in the second round of the NBA playoffs.

Bryant said Gasol is like a little brother, and that big brothers don’t let little brothers win.

“He doesn’t like to lose against anyone, but I’d like to maybe let him win tomorrow and maybe beat him in London,” Gasol said. “That’ll be ideal.”

Bryant countered that there’s “no way Pau is thinking this is just another game.” And if it’s another tight one like the Beijing battle as they head into the final minutes Tuesday?

“There’s no way Pau’s sitting down,” Bryant said.