Spain put up a good fight, but ultimately fell short against the mighty U.S. in the gold medal final. Jose Calderon continued his inconsistent Olympics with another invisible performance (17 Min, 0 Pts, 0/1 FG, 2 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 TO), but goes home with a coveted silver medal.
Let’s recap how the three Raptors in London fared over the last two weeks:
I guess we can just rename these posts “Calderon At the Olympics,” huh?
An inconsistent Calderon and inconsistent Spanish team found a way to rally past Russia in the first semifinal to set up a Gold medal rematch on Sunday.
So how did Calderon fare on Friday?
The innocence of the group stage subsided (with help from Nicolas Batum) and the tension of the knockout phase began at the Olympic basketball tournament on Wednesday.
Jonas Valanciunas and Linas Kleiza’s Lithuanian team saw their tournament come to an end, while Jose Calderon and Spain rallied past France in a feisty quarterfinal battle.
But how did the three Raptors fare individually?
Any Raptors fan or Lithuanian basketball supporter who has watched Lithuania’s Olympic group stage games is disappointed with the lack of tangible results or playing time Jonas Valanciunas has seen thus far in London.
At the end of the day, we’re talking about a two-week tournament in which Valanciunas is one of the five youngest players present. His game obviously needs to develop, but anyone worried that his performance in London is an indication that he isn’t ready for the NBA needs to settle down. What we’re simply looking at here is a promising young big man at the beginning of a long learning curve.
On Tuesday, Sebastian Pruiti wrote a fair, in-depth piece on Valanciunas’ strengths and weaknesses based on his play over the last year, with video examples of Pruiti’s observations included.
The Group Stage of the 2012 Olympic tournament has shifted into top gear, and the results that took it there are both Raptors-related. Linas Kleiza’s and Jonas Valanciunas’ Lithuanian team gave the star-studded Americans all they could handle, even holding a lead in the fourth quarter before falling valiantly by just five points. Meanwhile, Jose Calderon’s Spanish side continues to look shaky in London, and they finally paid for it with a three-point loss to an upstart Russian side.
So how did Kleiza, Valanciunas and Calderon fare today? I’m glad you asked.
