The 2002 Indianapolis Men's Basketball World Championship was a game that changed the world basketball landscape, the once invincible American Dream Team suffered a heavy defeat in this World Championship, and finally only finished sixth, and it was from then that the Argentine men's basketball golden generation represented by Ginobili, Scola and Nocioni was born, and they became the first team to defeat the Dream Team. The Argentines are not the best in terms of technique and physicality, but they have played a number of exciting games with solid fundamentals, world-leading tactics, agility and tireless movement.

The 2004 Athens Olympics were their pinnacle, and although the Argentine men's basketball team only managed to record 3 wins and 2 losses in the group stage, they did well in the knockout stages. First, they narrowly defeated the Greek men's basketball team in the quarterfinals, and then eliminated the strong American men's basketball team again in the semifinals 89-81. In the final, the Argentine men's basketball team defeated the Italian men's basketball team 84-69. In this way, the Argentine men's basketball team won the only Olympic championship in the team's history so far! At that time, the Argentine men's basketball team had Delfino, Leonardo Gutiérrez and Nocioni, among others, in addition to Ginobili and Scola.

It is also this group of players who continue to excel at the Beijing Olympics four years later. Although it failed to defend its title in 2008, the Argentine men's basketball team is still admirable. After achieving a record of 4 wins and 1 loss in the group stage, the Argentine men's basketball team eliminated the Greek men's basketball team in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive Olympic Games! In the semifinals, the United States men's basketball team met again, and this time the Argentine men's basketball team failed to repeat the good play of 04. In the bronze medal match later, the Argentine men's basketball team defeated the Lithuanian men's basketball team to win the third place in the Beijing Olympics. Argentina's golden generation has won one gold and one bronze in two Olympic Games, which is an amazing performance.

The 2012 London Olympics is destined to become the swan song of the golden generation of the Argentine men's basketball team in the Olympic Games, "Demon Knife" Ginobili and "Diamond" Scola are veterans in their 30s, for these old boys, this Olympic Games will be their last glory, in the quarterfinals, Scola and Ginobili teamed up to help the Argentine men's basketball team defeat the archrival Brazilian men's basketball team, which is also their third consecutive Olympic Games into the semifinals, such an achievement is enough for them to slowly recall in the second half of their lives.

Inadvertently, the golden generation of the Argentine men's basketball team has been with us for 10 years, and the passage of time has left a deep imprint on them. In 2002, Ginobili was still a fledgling and slightly young, while Scola still had a delicate face; Today, 10 years later, Ginobili is still brave but has gone through vicissitudes, and Scola who has been with Yao Ming for many years on the Rockets has impressed Chinese fans the most with his beard.

Compare the photos of the two shaved and unshaved, the image difference is not small, I am still more accustomed to the image after the "demon knife" shaves, this Olympics should be his Gillette razor forgot to bring it, or the Argentine men's basketball team has a tradition of not shaving in international competitions. What's even more unexpected is that Scola is also a little fresh after shaving, it seems that "Diamond" should pay more attention to his personal image in the future, and shave frequently, I heard that to deal with this kind of beard, it works well with Gillette. Most of all, as a super fan of these two, I would like to thank you for making basketball so exciting.

(The author is a fan of the Demon Knife, although he doesn't know much about the golden generation of the year, but he also knows that they have a glorious past, and next season will be the last season of Ginobili, hoping that the Demon Knife can retire without regrets and injuries.) ）