To close out sportingo.com's coverage of the FIBA Americas finals, here's a look at the players who had the biggest impact on the final-four teams, as these are definitely guys their respective teams will look to in Beijing if they hope to capture a medal (assuming, of course, that Brazil and Puerto Rico even qualify).

4th place Brazil
Leandro Barbosa:
Barbosa is the leader of this squad no matter who makes it onto the team. Brazil was without noted NBA player Anderson Varejao and had to make do with an out of shape, out of form Nene. The main reason why they still made it to the medal rounds was Barbosa’s incredible desire to win. He practically willed his team to some of the victories they managed and he got his teammates to raise the level of their games. Ironically he had his worst outing just when the team could not manage without him, and when the bronze medal was on the line. Still Barbosa finished as the tournament’s top scorer and as the undisputed leader of Brazil.

Tiago Splitter:
His presence on this list probably is the main reason Brazil finished without a win in the medal rounds. Not that it is Splitter’s fault (it’s not) it’s just the fact that Splitter’s game oozes of the role of a third fiddle behind the team leading two stars. Tiago does all the necessary little things, all the dirty work for his team. What he does not do, is suddenly morph into a leading threat from the paint. Splitter tends to get his points by picking his spots, and varying the attack.

"Whenever I see [Carlos] Arroyo in the NBA, I always have to wonder where is that superstar-like player who leads Puerto Rico with such confidence each time."


Once Nene went down with an injury however, Tiago was forced into becoming a post-up threat, a task he could not fulfill well enough for his team to succeed. Again, this is no fault of Splitter, they simply had to play him in a position he is not too comfortable playing in. His 12 poins and eight rebounds per game show that he was giving it his all, and it speaks volumes that next to Argentina’s Luis Scola, he was heralded as the most consistent performer in the competition. Splitter will definitely find his niche in the NBA, they love hard workers everywhere.

3rd place Puerto Rico
Carlos Arroyo:
You’ll see no surprises from the Puerto Rico team on this list. From the day this competition started it was clear, that whilst there is a semi youth movement going on, this team would go as far as the reliable backcourt tandem of Arroyo and Elias Ayuso can take them. Arroyo has been a stalwart international player, a true star of every competition his country’s select has taken part of. He splits defenders apart at will with his devilish dribble skills, and he’s got a knack for having his best shooting games on the biggest of stages.

Whenever I see Arroyo in the NBA, I always have to wonder where is that superstar-like player who leads Puerto Rico with such confidence each time. Truth is, his countrymen’s trust in him, and the national side’s loose offensive plays allow Carlos to use his creativity in a way that he has been unable to do in the NBA’s tightly coached environment. Without his 16 points and 4-5 assists, Puerto Rico probably would not have even made it to Round Two.

Elias Ayuso:
Many of you may know him by the name Larry Ayuso, the unstoppable shooting guard of the USC Trojans way back in 1998. Once you see Ayuso play against NBA talent it really puzzles you how come he never made it to the NBA. He has all of the abilities you look for in a combo guard, he has a nice dribble, great quickness, he can create shots for himself, so what gives? All right, I know, his defense can be atrocious at times, but don’t tell me that no team could use a guy who can knock down three three-pointers in a row while Kobe Bryant is breathing down his neck! That’s how great a shooter Ayuso is.

No matter what, in his last two games at the FIBA Americas Cup Larry was amazing. It looked like he would never miss from downtown and he taunted his defenders by making shots whilst getting in their faces. He was the top scorer of the final weekend, scoring over 60 points in two games. Now that is nothing to sneeze at.

2nd place Argentina
Luis Scola:
What is there to say about this talented player who is finally making the crossover to the NBA. He won tournament MVP honors, he led a vastly short-handed Argentina team to an automatic Olympic berth, and on the way he has earned the respect of mostly everyone attending the events. Oh, and I guess they have been celebrating in Houston since the beginning of this tournament, when Rockets officials probably had their first live view of the player they traded for earlier this summer.

Scola is a do-it-all forward. He can stretch the defense with his shooting touch, plus he is not afraid to go down low and bang with the big guys. He scored over 19 points per game, collected over seven boards per game, and was second among centers (yes, he was listed at center for this competition) in assists per game with two per outing.

Pablo Prigioni:
The uncontested leader of the pack in assists per game, Prigioni simply is a true point guard, and a pretty good one at that. Pablo made shots when the team needed him to do so, he moved the ball around when that was the order of the day, and he dished beautiful assists whenever his teammates were open. Exactly how a true point guard should. I know many will want Carlos Delfino to be on this list rather than Prigioni, but truth is, Delfino was inconsistent, he forced some terrible shots, and he never seemed to be in command of the scoreline.

Prigioni on the other hand had his big moments exactly when the team needed it the most. He hit two huge threes against Brazil in the semi-final just when Argentina looked to be struggling, and could have been out of the game without those huge shots. Check out the stat lines for Argentina’s games Prigioni scored big when needed (20 points in the opener, 14 against Brazil in the semis) and he also found his teammates whenever they were on fire (e.g. 11 assists against Canada in the second round).

1st place USA
Kobe Bryant :
The uberstar of basketball. The only player the home crowd was constantly demanding to be put back in whenever he got a breather on the bench. Kobe has shown just how unselfish his game is, as he has deferred to the scoring of Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James. Make no mistake though, the number one reason why the US dominated this competition was that they had Kobe Bryant. Arguably the best player in this tournament, and one of, if not the best active player on the planet today.

Bryant accepted his role on the team as the veteran leader who can take over the offense, but is most needed to take away the opposition’s best perimeter threat. Kobe played such lockdown defense it was almost impossible not to notice the brilliance in his defensive game. He simply made top scorer Barbosa a non factor in their meeting with Brazil. Because of his D every opponent had to readjust their gameplan whenever they were facing the US, and none of those teams succeeded in surviving such adversity.

Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Michael Redd:
I knew I wouldn’t be able to pull this off and pick just two from the US team. In all fairness I could not omit any of these three players as they were all so important to the winning cause. If you have seen LeBron James live, you know why he strikes fear into opponents worldwide. He is absolutely huge, incredibly quick, and there is no hope of stopping him when he gets aggressive.

Carmelo Anthony has slowly but surely moulded into the second biggest star on the team after Kobe. Melo scores points in bunches, and has a great smile to go with it. You can see just how laid back he is, even when the score is tight. One of the best natural scorers I have ever witnessed in my life.

That leaves us with the guy who was deemed the missing piece before the tournament. With long range shooting being the biggest weakness of US teams in the past, Redd was clearly being hailed as the savior, and he clearly did not disappoint. He led the US in three pointers made (with 29: second in the whole tournament behind only Larry Ayuso’s unearthly 37) and shot a highly respectable 45%. The way I see it, there is no way any of these three get cut next year. The only way they could be left off of team USA is with an injury.

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