First were the Aussies, who after a thrilling win over Italy 65-62 came in with a performance of their lives at the Superdome. Unfortunately for them, it was the poorest performance of their lives. France took Andrew Gaze completely off his game and at the same time took the crowd completely out of its game.

France forced Gaze to play defense and therefore expend a great deal of energy on both ends of the court. The strategy was well-conceived and worked perfectly. The Aussie star, who has played more minutes than anyone in these games and scored more points than anyone, could only get off seven shots and score 10 points, half his average, as the French moved into the gold medal game for the second time in Olympic history with a solid 76-52 upset of the highly favored home team.

For historians, the last and only time France played in a gold medal basketball game was 1948 against the United States. The U.S. team won that one 65-21, with leading scorers Alex Groza and Ray Lump both lighting it up for 11 points. That gives you a pretty good overview of the French Olympic basketball history.

Sarunas Jasikevicios scored 27 points against the U.S.(AP)

In their previous meeting just last week, the U.S. team beat Lithuania 85-76; that was the smallest margin of victory by an NBA-led team.

I expected, again incorrectly, that this group of young players would be so excited to have played the American stars to such a close game last week that they would never envision, nor would the American players allow, that it could happen again.

But this Lithuania team has played the best team basketball, with the best-organized offensive and defensive schemes, of anyone in the Games.

I have never seen a better performance by an Olympic basketball than that provided by Sarunas Jasikevicios in Friday night's game. Let me give you his line first -- 34 minutes, 27 points, three rebounds, four assists, zero turnovers. Jasikevicios, who formerly played for the University of Maryland, was fantastic, and that he was guarded most of the night by the likes of Gary Payton and Jason Kidd, two of the NBA's most heralded players, puts in perspective what an incredible performance it was.

I cannot fault the U.S. team for a lack of effort in this one. Antonio McDyess, Alonzo Mourning and Kevin Garnett came to play and worked hard but almost found themselves in the bronze medal consolation matchup.

The Lithuanians employed the same tactics of the previous game, with a solid defense that mixed both man-to-man and zone but always stayed packed within 16 feet. On the offensive end, they took advantage of fast-break opportunities when they were available. But when they weren't, they proceeded to work the half-court, patient game to perfection.

Imagine playing against the star-studded NBA All-Star team in a game in which 168 points were scored but only committing seven turnovers, as Lithuania did. As expected, Rudy Tomjanovich has had to abandon what all of us thought would be this team's biggest weapon, full-court defensive pressure. It became obvious early in the tournament that they NBA Olympic All-Stars either didn't want to press or were incapable of employing that defense; therefore, the game was played at Lithuania's pace.

It came down to a pressure free-throw shooting contest, and Ramunas Siskauskas, who previously had not missed one here, went to the line with an opportunity to seal the victory with three foul shots. Unfortunately for his team, he missed two, and the United States team was able to take advantage.

Vince Carter, who finished with 18 points, hit two monstrous field goals to keep America alive, and Antonio McDyess came up with the two biggest points of his career, grabbing a missed free throw and making the put-back. Moments later, he was able to grab another missed free throw to regain possession for the United States.

No one could have imagined this scenario. For the United States, these Olympics certainly have to be eye-opening. This might not be the best collection of NBA players available at this time, but they certainly are among the best individual players in the NBA and the rest of the world. They have come into these games with a very positive attitude, according to the coaching staff. Primarily, they are in excellent shape, but they have shown throughout this tournament that they are unable to manhandle the opposition.

Some might say that the rest of the world has caught up; I cannot buy that scenario. For when you take the case of Friday's game, the two star players for Lithuania were Sarunas Jasikevicios and Darius Songaila -- one played for the University of Maryland and was not an All-Atlantic coast conference player, nor was he drafted by an NBA team. The other is a rising senior at Wake Forrest who has yet to make an All-Atlantic conference team. So it is hard for me to comprehend that the rest of the world has caught up in individual talent.

I think it is time for us to look very close at the value of individual players and their remuneration as compared to their ability to perform in the game. Case in point: Friday night, Jasikevicios, not drafted by an NBA team and presently playing in Barcelona, Spain, puts on a fabulous show. Tim Hardaway, who just this week agreed to a $12 million contact with the Miami Heat, plays seven minutes, scoring zero points. Something doesn't fit here.

So that sets up the U.S. team vs. France for the gold medal. I will be absolutely shocked if the outcome is not similar to the gold medal game 52 years ago, with the United States winning. But I am not expecting any 44-point margin of victory based on what I have seen over the past two weeks. It is time for the United States to graciously earn the gold, and to take a good look in the mirror as to the direction of basketball in our country.