Redeemed Enough?

Everyone's been praising the so-called Redeem Team.

And there is merit for it. The U.S. men's basketball team has been a destructive force on its way to the gold medal game. They've averaged a 30-point win in the seven games they've played. They've shared the ball. Some have compared the squad to the 1992 Dream Team (WHAT?!).

But LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and everyone else haven't redeemed anything if they fall flat against Spain for the gold medal.

Now, Team USA should defeat the Spaniards (the Americans blew them out by 37 in the group stage). But, this is the same team that won the FIBA World Championships in 2006.

Some say that the U.S. has redeemed itself already. It hasn't. Gold. That's the only way for the Americans to erase the last six years of international futility.

And, surprisingly, they've done it as a team, like that '92 Dream Team. I guess that's where the comparisons come from (but the '08 Olympic squad has nothing on that 1992 team).

The world is ready to crown this squad champions. That's fine. Team USA should win that gold medal and restore order to world basketball.

But let's not celebrate them yet. Let's save the until after they win gold.