By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Carmelo Anthony came off the bench and scored 27 points, making all the difference in a game who many expected to be close until the end. That was not the case at Barcelona, where USA beat 100-78 host Spain in both teams final preparation game before London Olympics.
However, there is a little question mark after the end of the game. Spaniards didn’t use Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol and also former NBAer point guard Sergio Rodriguez. On the other hand USA was at full strength with reigning champion and finals MVP Lebron James adding 25 points.
As Pau Gasol, the leader of Spain said after the game: “I prefer a defeat here and a win at London. If we meet them again, we have enough self confidence to play them. I don’t want to lose, even in a preparation game and certainly at home, but we have to remind ourselves that it was only a prep game”.
Sergio Scariolo, the Italian coach of Spanish national team, added: “It was a very useful game. On the positive, we know now what we can do and on the negative side, we have to work in order to get better. We have made a lot of mistakes, didn’t made open shots and that diminished our chance for a win”. It sounds like the Spaniard has some aces up their sleeves and didn’t want to reveal them in a preparation game.