Manu Ginóbili scores 29 points on 88 TS% to lead Argentina to victory over USA en route to gold in the 2004 Olympics
Manu Ginóbili scores 29 points on 88 TS% to lead Argentina to victory over USA en route to gold in the 2004 Olympics
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Prime Manu was special.
He’s largely responsible for the LeBronze memes
God I love him so much
Still insane to me that they had LeBron on the bench playing 3 total minutes just for Iverson to go 3-12.
And don’t give me the “young guys don’t play” because Wade played 20 minutes that game.
Larry Brown was not a good USA coach.
That buzzer beater against Serbia is legendary
Luis Scola I apologize I was unfamiliar with your hops didn’t know he caught a body let alone Richard Jefferson haha
Duncan should have been the best player on the court every single game
Foul trouble really hurt at times
Ginobili, Scola, and Delfino all being at/near their peaks for this run is incredible. The three best Argentinian basketball players ever all peaking around the same time for a gold medal run is special.
Tim Duncan needed manu more than manu needed him /s
GIIIIINOOOOBIIILLIII
Though Manu and Argentina team was good but that was a very disapppointing USA team.
Olympic gold on non team USA has to be the biggest achievement in basketball
Lol Odom looked useless here.
Getting dragged by Scola on a screen, losing his man on cut and roll man scenarios, getting passed by Ginobili by a lot
My favorite basketball player to watch. I remember in the early days Pop would cuss him out for pulling those euro moves on everyone, but it worked eventually.
His euro step was elite, and was a menace in all aspects of the game.
That Argentinian generation was truly special…
Honestly this has to be one of the biggest upsets in basketball history. Prime Ginobili was something special.
Insane when you look back on all Manu has done in his career. Always going to be my favorite player.
Btw he also hit [the best shot of the tournament](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fP3Z0M_UbhQ).
Manu was growing that hair out which can only mean Prime Manu had arrived!
Idk what it is but somehow it feels like a dominant big man like Duncan just wasn’t as effective in Olympic play w FIBA rules. He didn’t look comfortable the entire Olympic Games.
Manu has one of the most impressive three year stretch’s of international basketball of all time from 2002-2004.
2002 – sliver in the World Cup, Italian cup MVP, Italian league MVP, and all league euro league first team.
2003 – NBA champion, all rookie second team, sliver in FIBA American Cup
2004 – Olympics gold and Olympic MVP
Dude just won at every level he performed at and did so outside of the NBA as the main guy .
Ginobili is one my favorite players ever. I’d take him on my team any day.
AI isn’t a winning basketball player, I will die on that hill
Tim Duncan with the biggest choke job in the history of the sport. Couldn’t even stay on the court. Then ran away and never even tried to redeem his failure.
Embarrassing to this day
I believe this spawned the “You can’t even beat the Europeans in basketball anymore” joke from Rush Hour 3.
Reminder that Tim Duncan choked out of his mind
Not taking anything away from Argentina, but man the US defense is horrific. They look completely lost / uninterested.
It was frusturating to see the US coached by a closed-minded stubborn Larry Brown. Refused to adapt, refused to recognize when somebody’s playing poorly for long stretches, refuses to play or acknowledge Lebron who already was very, very good.
Imagine them coached by Pop who doesn’t have a ego and would happily play the best players he had available.
Lebron just didn’t play the way Larry Brown wanted and he hated that. AI went through a similar situation. No matter how effective they were.
Could you imagine if Manu was a starter throughout his career
Duncan wouldn’t have won as much without Manu
Argentina had so many NBA players in the 2000’s, Ginobili, Scola, Oberto, Nocioni, Delfino, Walter Hermann. Then last year they didn’t even qualify for the Olympics. What the hell happened there?
Easy to forget about Manu sometimes, but man I miss watching this guy ball out
Fuck Larry Brown. Watching AI and Marbury take almost every shot was infuriating. Also such a terribly constructed team, no shooting, no spacing. While they’re good/great players Lamar Odom, Marion and Richard Jefferson and Boozer have no business in FIBA basketball.
Not as good as Lillard or Anthony Davis all time, apparently
Y’all MFs always forget how good Manu was!!
Brilliant team. Love Ginobili
Timmy was getting cooked
A lot of excuses from USA, as usual.
Manu played great, Argentina deserved this gold without a doubt.
But, god, this just shows how terrible the NBA was in the early 2000s. All the “physical” defense (which was just a bunch of grabbing) and one on one play got exposed ugly in international play, which was on the cutting edge of what we now see today in the NBA.
Look at the defensive rotations the American team makes in these clips. They leave guys at the three point line wide open over and over. They double the ball inexplicably over and over leading to easy reads and open shots. They are completely confused on how to defend the pick and roll. You can blame Larry Brown, but these are supposed to be the best of the best.
It doesn’t show any offensive possessions, but the absolute lack of any consistent shooting in the NBA was magnified. Also, these guys weren’t getting bailed out by NBA refs and couldn’t adjust.
I know the kids love to try to diminish the 90s, but the 00s is the real dark age of NBA basketball.
Ginobili is my favorite player ever
not top 75 player btw. Meanwhile that dude in Portland…
Manu was A PROBLEM. Underrated. One of the toughest guys to guard.