Congratulations to Spain for defeating Russia in the semi-finals as they will now make their second consecutive appearance in the gold medal round. “Congratulations? For what?” is what most of the Spanish players would say to me right now. And yes, I do understand why they would react to me that way. The last time Spain was in the gold medal round, they had given everything they could but they still fell to the United States 118-107 in one of the best Olympic games I have ever seen. Spain doesn’t need any congratulations mainly because they have not gotten what they have wanted. Yes, they’re happy that they’re in the gold medal game, but certainly they are not satisfied just to be there and assure themselves of getting the silver medal.

In a rematch of two teams who have met already in the 2012 London Olympics during pool play, Spain this time came up with the victory. A much bigger victory of course because Russia is no longer in the running for the gold medal but will have to battle it out with the loser of USA vs Argentina for the bronze. The first quarter of this game was pretty much the same way Spain played during their quartefinal game. No offense. Luckily for them, Russia had no offense at all. At the end of the first quarter, the score was Russia 12 Spain 9. Wow, do either team know what is at stake here. Well, at least we can safely say that both teams are playing solid defense, but it certainly wasn’t a good sign to think that either team could possibly take on the high powered United States in the final round.

The second quarter was a bit of an improvement for Russia, not for Spain as Russia increased their lead to double figures at the end of the first half and looked poised to defeat Spain once again. However, much like Spain’s fourth quarter against France, and no there wasn’t any groin punching, Spain’s defense took hold of Russia and allowed them to produce offensively. After scoring only 20 points in the first half, Spain would score 26 points in the third quarter alone to tie the game up at the end of the third. Pau Gasol and Jose Calderon would both hit two three pointers to close out the third quarter for Spain and would make a statement that they were ready to battle. The fans at the O2 Arena in London were getting ready for a real basketball game. With the game tied up heading into the final quarter and with a gold medal round ticket at stake, this was going to be a tough final quarter for both teams.

As the fourth quarter began, Russian guard/forward Anton Ponkrashov eased the minds and hearts of Russian fans as he quickly converted on a three point play with 9:11 to play. Unfortunately however, that was the last time Russia would score until the 5:28 mark of the quarter. Spain would go on 9-0 run highlighted by another Calderon three pointer which gave Spain their first lead since they led 4-2 in the first quarter. Spain was then up 6 points after a Marc Gasol jump shot and would quickly increase the lead to double figures Felipe Reyes would knock down a jump shot to give Spain a 60-50 lead over Russia.

Russian forward Andrei Kirilenko continued to just make 1 of 2 free throws every time he was sent to the strike which allowed Spain to continue pouring on the points. After both teams would swap points and Spain’s lead down to 8, the older Gasol would put the nails on the coffin with a dunk shot to put the lead back up to 10. End result? Spain wins 67-59.

Spain would go on to score 21 points in the final quarter while holding Russia to just 13 points. Overall in the second half, Russia was held to just 28 points as Spain poured in for 47 points. Defense once again came up big for Spain and they are now on their way to another gold medal game against either the United States or Argentina. Los Angeles Lakers big man Pau Gasol led the way for Spain with a double double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Point guard Jose Calderon was hot from distance scoring 12 points on 4 three pointers. Guard Rudy Fernandez and Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol both had 11 points. Off the bench Sergio Llull provided some energy with 7 points and 4 rebounds. Spain this time would win the rebounding battle by 34-30.

For Russia, center Alexander Kaun would lead the way with 14 points and 5 rebounds on 7 for 10 shooting from the field. Kirilenko and Ponkrashov would both finish with 10 points with Kirilenko grabbing 8 rebounds as well. Alexey Shved would have a quiet day in scoring (1 for 6 from the field) with 2 points but would still manage to dish out 7 assists. Off the bench Vitaly Fridzon, who was the star in Russia’s victory over Spain during pool play, just had 8 points.

With Russia eliminated from gold medal contention, Russia will be awaiting for the loser of the USA-Argentina game later today. As for Spain they will be headed to the gold medal round to take on the winner of the USA-Argentina game.

The bronze medal game will tip-off at 5:00 AM CT and the gold medal game will tip-off at 9:00 AM CT on NBC.

During the start of the 2012 London Olympics Men’s basketball pool play, France was honestly one team I must admit I overlooked. I honestly didn’t expect them to even make the quarterfinals as I thought that China would find a way to make it despite no longer having center Yao Ming on their roster.

But France has prevailed and are now on the bigger stage in the Olympics. It’s somewhat like the NBA Playoffs but every single game must be taken as like a Game 7, there’s no other game to bounce back from a loss. One loss and you’re out. Simple as that. This is where stars will shine and unknown players emerge from the bench.

France is a team led primarily by San Antonio Spurs point guard, Tony Parker, who in the Olympic games thus far hasn’t really been a point guard. He has been their primary scorer and not the Tony Parker we normally see on a regular basis in San Antonio. However, it has been working and France is still winning. In the win against Argentina during pool play, Parker was basically taking every shot and forcing tough shots. Luckily, France won that game.

Going up against Spanish guards such as Juan Carlos Navarro and Toronto Raptors floor general, Jose Calderon, Parker has some challenges he has to face. Outside of Parker however, France still has some young and solid talents that could help France advance.

Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum will come in handy as a wing player as Spain will most likely put Batum’s future NBA teammate, Victor Claver, on him. In 2010 Claver, has been awarded as the Eurocups Rising Star and this 23 year old can also dunk very well much like Batum. That matchup will certainly be entertaining for us and mostly Blazers fans.

San Antonio Spurs forward Boris Diaw and Los Angeles Clippers center Ronny Turiaf will definitely have their hands full tomorrow as they will be taking on the Gasol brothers. Diaw and Turiaf both stand at 6 foot 8 and 6 foot 10 respectively, but the two Gasols are both 7 footers who obviously have proven to have better inside skills than almost every other big man in the NBA.  Throughout his NBA career, Marc Gasol has been growing steadily and is now, in my opinion, the third best center in the NBA behind Andrew Bynum and Dwight Howard. Marc is quite possibly also the best passing big man in the game as we have witnessed from watching him play on the Memphis Grizzlies. Pau on the other hand is still one of the best power forwards, and going up against Diaw, it will definitely be easy.

Rebounding will obviously be a problem for France because not only does Spain have the Gasols but they also have Serge Ibaka, who just joined the team this year. Ibaka, who plays with the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team that eliminated Parker and Diaw’s Spurs in the recent NBA Playoffs, will be one of the most active players on both ends. Defense is where Ibaka will mostly come in as he will be capable to stopping Parker from dominating the paint as he normally can do.

Defensively for France, they’ll just have to double team the Gasols and rotate quickly before either of them finds an open jumpshooter like Rudy Fernandez who can ignite a spark on the team with his energy. Off the bench for France, Washington Wizards center Kevin Seraphin has shown positive signs during the Olympics thus far and has worked very well with Tony Parker. Getting offensive rebounds and putting in put back shots is one thing the 22 year old can do. With Batum most likely to play the shooting guard spot with former NBA player Mickael Gelabale, France will have some length advantage there.

Spain has already been criticized as of late for not being the team most of us expected them to be. Most of us expected them to make the gold medal game where they would face Team USA in a rematch of the 2008 Beijing Olympics epic gold medal game. Spain has a chip on their shoulder and the only way to get rid of it, is to face Team USA and win. But first they have to eliminate France. It won’t be that easy, but I still see Spain pulling off a convincing victory.

My prediction: Spain wins

 For more NBA analysis and opinions, check out Theon’s general NBA blog, THEONBA!