There are now just three hours until the Closing Ceremony. The final team competitions are wrapping up around Beijing as the city gets ready for the handover to London for the 30th meeting of the youth of the world four years from now.

BASKETBALL: Any sportswriter who compares the 2008 United States men's basketball team with the 1992 "Dream Team" in any way, shape or form should be stripped of their media credentials for life. When Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson joined forces in Barcelona, the competition simply laid down and enjoyed the opportunity to get beat by the best. It was like an NBA team against rec league teams. Not only did no opponent come close, the tournament came at a time when very few international teams had identities or cohesive game plans.

A more apt parallel is the original "Redeem Team," the American basketball team at montreal 1976 that avenged the 1972 Munich debacle. A squad that included Quinn Buckner, Adrian Dantley and Mitch Kupchak was deeper and more talented and more skilled than the field -- and they knew it. But the gap between them and the rest of the field was slim enough to be uncomfortable, mostly because of a less than stifling defense. They scored 83 points a game, but only won those contests by an average of 13. (The Dream Team, by comparison, won by 43 points per game.)

Sound like the 2008 squad? Even though the Americans fielded a roster of NBA all-stars, In a 118-107 Wild East shootout with Spain, there was no fear on the other sideline -- the world champions kept attacking, running, pressuring and finding any advantage they could. In the fourth quarter, the Spaniards cut the lead to two before their fabric was frayed and ripped by bad fouls and poor decisions.

The U.S. is back on top of the basketball world, befitting its status as inventors and curators of the world's greatest sport. If the Dream Team informed the world that they had to use strategy to win, Redeem Team II showed that the best teams need clear roles and depth to overcome all obstacles. But America hasn't lapped the field, and never will again. Which is a good thing.

WATER POLO: Montenegro split from Serbia after a successful state-dissolving referendum two years ago. Water polo-wise, the conjoined nation of Serbia and Montenegro won silver at Athens 2004. Twelve of those 14 players were from the Serbian side, so a Montenegrin run seemed implausible.

But the two old friends met today for bronze. Serbia was playing without its star scorer Aleksandar Sapic and starting goalkeeper Denis Sefik, who reportedly got into a bone-breaking fight after the semifinal loss to the United States two days ago. jumped out to a 6-1 lead after three quarters. But the country's little brother wouldn't go away. Montenegro chipped away at the lead with three straight goals, but simply ran out of time. Serbia won the bronze medal with a 6-4 win.

BOXING: Chairman Mao hated boxing; he thought it rewarded individual striving and promoted capitalism. But now that he's just a portrait over the Forbidden City that gets chanced every year, the sport is able to thrive.

Whether or not his bouts are among those affected by a budding corruption and bribery scandal, there's no question that Zou Shiming is one of China's proudest sons of the Games. He earned the country's 50th gold of the Beijing Olympics with a 1-0 stopped fight in the light flyweight division at the head of today's card. Mongolian Serdamba Purevdorj retired after the first round, his arm hanging limply from an apparent shoulder injury, and his coach threw in the towel. Literally threw a towel into the ring -- that's not just a figure of speech.

Zou, the 2007 world champion in his weight class, won China's first medal of any kind at Athens 2004 with a bronze. Beforehand, only three Chinese boxers had even made it to the quarterfinals of any division. Later in the day, Xiaoping Xhang won the light heavyweight tournament with a battering 11-7 win over Irish boxer Kenny Egan.

NBC-TV Olympic anchor Bob Costas conducted an interview with IOC president Jacques Rogge in which they discussed the Games' role in China in terms of human rights, press freedoms and other hot-button issues that have come up as a result of Beijing's selection as host. Rogge gave the kind of complex, thoughtful answer that wouldn't fit in the reactionary sound-bite context that prime-time audiences prefer.

Which is, of course, why the interview was broadcast at 3:30 AM on the East Coast.

COSTAS: I think some observers say, 'We know Jacques Rogge and the IOC have limitations to their powers, all they can do is attempt to persuade,' but they'd prefer a more emphatic and direct public statement in some circumstances, and some have arisen here in China.

ROGGE: Because that would serve their needs. When Beijing was selected for the 2008 Games, I consulted with many, many Sinologues, specializers in China. Heads of state, politicians, ambassadors, businesspeople who have worked and lived in China. I spoke with the Chinese. All of them said there is one golden rule if you want to obtain something in China. You work with great diplomacy. You don't grandstand. You do not shout, it's not going to work.

We obtained the maximum that the IOC, a non-sovereign body, could obtain from the Chinese authorities. In many fields -- media freedom, the environment, and a lot of other social issues like proper compensation for expropriation, things like that, child labor. But this is not something you do by making a press conference and asking for this or that.

And by the way, let's be very honest. How could we ask the IOC to succeed when generations of heads of states and prime ministers have failed? You see here in China tens of heads of state come and sign very, very good contracts for their businesses and enterprises. Then they come back to their countries. Have they revolutionized China? They have made progress, and we believe we have contributed to that. Do not ask us to do what heads of state cannot achieve.

Photo credit: AP