The U.S.A Basketball men’s team – the Redeem Team, as it’s been dubbed – took another step in the proverbial road today, beating Argentina 101-81 in a game that ended a few minutes ago. The Americans play Spain in the gold medal game.

It looked like a blowout early, with the U.S. holding at one point a 21-4 lead, but Argentina fought back in the second quarter, despite losing Manu Ginobili to a foot injury. The Americans clearly went slack and relaxed, anticipating a runaway win that didn't happen.

After that, it was more or less a war of attrition. The U.S. played a faltering game – there was very little in the way of highlight-reel fastbreak baskets – and at times took too many il-advised three-pointers, but in the end, their superior manpower wore down the opponent.

This team is easy to like, especially after the character-flawed group that repped the U.S.A. in the ’04 Games. Hell, I find myself in the uncomfortable position of rooting for the dreaded Kobe Bryant.

This article appears in Aug 20-26, 2008.

Eric Snider is the dean of Bay area music critics. He started in the early 1980s as one of the founding members of Music magazine, a free bi-monthly. He was the pop music critic for the then-St. Petersburg...