Manu Ginobili: Rise and Fall with the Argentinian National Squad

2012 London Olympics

The battle for the bronze between Russia and Argentina.

Manu conjured an 18-point effort in Argentina’s semifinal loss to the United States, which was followed by the bronze medal game with Russia, arguably considered as one of the most dramatic Olympic basketball games ever. With 18 seconds left, Argentina's Andres Nocioni missed a corner 3-pointer, quickly followed by Ginobili forcing a turnover at midcourt. Argentina thought there should have been a foul called, but the referees ruled otherwise.

Russia beat Argentina by a score of 81-77 after one of the wildest endings fans could want. The San Antonio Spur scored 21 points in the final game, shooting 4-for-8 from three-point land and scoring a go-ahead layup with 43 seconds to bring his team back from an 11-point hole.

Without his heroics, Argentina wouldn't even have made it out of the quarters. Argentina didn’t medal and the Golden Generation may have ended, but Ginobili did all in his power to save his nation's pride.