Team USA can finally be compared to the one that won gold in 1992. The Dream Team debate begins because yet again, the American's are on top of the world.

For the second time in these Olympic games, Team USA’s defense wasn’t much of a factor for much of the match against Spain. It was because of this that the American’s couldn’t fully pull away from Spain the way they have with all their other opponents in the Olympics. It brought back flashbacks to the Lithuania scare in pool play. If you were banking on a rematch of the 2008 gold medal game, you got more then you bargained for Sunday when Team USA went head-to-head with Spain, who stuck with the Americans blow-for-blow the entire match.

Serge Ibaka was hustling hard in the second half for Spain and with the Spaniards in foul trouble, he was a major factor down the stretch. But even his performance in combination with that of Pau Gasol’s wasn’t enough to topple an impressive offensive attack by Team USA.

It was true four years ago in Beijing when these two teams met for the gold and it’s true four years later in London: Team USA is an unstoppable offensive force with unmatchable firepower. They played an absolutely atrocious game defensively but they were able to cancel that out with performances for the ages, like Kevin Durant’s 30 points.

Durant carried the American’s down the stretch of the game, and even though Spain was able to take Olympic MVP LeBron James out of the game in terms of being a game changing factor, Durant more then made up for it and showed that just because he’s a runner up MVP in the NBA doesn’t mean he can’t bring it in the Olympics when it matters most.

Carmelo Anthony continued his quest to be the Olympic Sixth Man with am 8 point, 5 rebound game with 3 assists to boot. Melo had been consistent off the bench for most off the Olympics and he didn’t fizzle when the weight was at it’s greatest.

The gold medal is the 13th overall for the United States and their fourth in the last five years. It’s also a fitting way for head coach Mike Krzyzewski to go out in his final game as the head coach of one of the greatest Olympic basketball teams in Olympic history.

Comparisons to the 1992 Barcelona Dream Team are not warranted. The 2012 Dream Team blew through their competition with only one minor hiccup against Lithuania. But they have won Olympic gold and have not only proven that they are the best basketball team in the world, they might just be the greatest basketball team in the history of the world.

They have Olympic gold, and thus the debate begins.

France was help to 15 or less points every quarter. Their overall shooting percentage was a very low 28.1%. USA clearly had an advantage on the defensive end. Their superior defense made winning an easier task than it should have been.

USA was not the only one who played though defense though. France held the Americans to 37 points in the first half, but Team USA made up for the lack of offense in the second half as they scored 49 points.

Even with the offensive troubles, defense is what got Team USA to the gold medal match. Defense is what got Team USA the gold medal. Without it, they would not have been the threat they were throughout the Olympics. The highest amount of points allowed by the Americans was in the semifinal game against Australia, 73 points. They even held Angola to a ridiculously small 38 points. As the Olympics progressed, the teams were not as easy to beat, but that never stopped the US from playing good defense on a consistent basis.

Often, it is said that defense wins championships. The women of the US proved that throughout their Olympic play, but in this case, they proved that defense wins gold medals.

Team USA has now won five straight gold medals in the Olympics. If they can play as they did in London at the 2016 Games, six straight gold medals is not out of the question.