CelticsStrong
Beyond the Association => Global Basketball => Topic started by: cordobes on July 22, 2008, 07:38:45 AM
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http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/08/olym/men/olympic_basketball_men.asp
Group A:
Croatia
Argentina
Lithuania
Russia
Australia
Iran
Group B:
United States
Greece
Germany
Spain
China
Angola
The top 4 teams from both groups qualify for the knockout stage.
My predictions:
Group A
1. Lithuania
2. Argentina
3. Russia
4. Croatia
(dark horse: Angola)
Group B
1. United States of America
2. Greece
3. Spain
4. Germany
(dark horse: China)
Upset: Dirk and Kaman knock out the home team.
Games to watch:
Lithuania vs. Russia
Spain vs. Greece
USA vs. Greece
Germany vs. China
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Upset: Dirk and Kaman knock out the home team.
I don't think Germany's quite the underdog there, so I wouldn't call an upset - I agree with you that they'll surprise some people and make it into the round of 8 before getting bounced.
Less than 3 weeks to go 'til the Olympics!
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My predictions:
Group A
1. Lithuania
2. Argentina
3. Russia
4. Croatia
(dark horse: Angola)
You mean dark horse is Australia? As Angola's not in group A.
If not I think Australia can make the top 4...3rd might even be possible.
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My predictions:
Group A
1. Lithuania
2. Argentina
3. Russia
4. Croatia
(dark horse: Angola)
You mean dark horse is Australia? As Angola's not in group A.
If not I think Australia can make the top 4...3rd might even be possible.
They could have...if they kept Australian Thunder AJ Ogilvy on their roster for the Olympics. That kid is solid - too bad they already had a pretty big core of decent centers. It will be interesting to see how Patrick Mills handles the competition as well, will give us a good idea of his potential as a pro.
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Upset: Dirk and Kaman knock out the home team.
I don't think Germany's quite the underdog there, so I wouldn't call an upset - I agree with you that they'll surprise some people and make it into the round of 8 before getting bounced.
Less than 3 weeks to go 'til the Olympics!
Yeps, but I wanted to call an upset and that was the closest I found - China plays at home and they surely have hopes of qualifying to the quarterfinal round. And yes, I also think Germany has a very good team. Their win over Puerto Rico was impressive and they also played well against the Croatians. Dirk is incredible and Greene is playing very well. If they qualify, they will be a dangerous opponent in an elimination game.
You mean dark horse is Australia? As Angola's not in group A.
If not I think Australia can make the top 4...3rd might even be possible.
Sure, I meant Australia... it was too early in the morning :D (anyway, Angola can make a surprise. Very experience team, good chemistry, all the players come from only two clubs).
I don't think a top-3 is very plausible. But yeah, I can see them qualifying, that wouldn't suprise me. If Bogut finds his jump-shot, as he usually does in FIBA tournaments, and Andersen plays at his level, they'll be a dangerous team. Very good big men rotation (btw, I don't think Ogilvy would have a chance of cracking the rotation, ChampKind. And I believe Bruton will still be their starting PG).
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Very good big men rotation (btw, I don't think Ogilvy would have a chance of cracking the rotation, ChampKind. And I believe Bruton will still be their starting PG).
No, I don't either, but as a fan of his college game, I would have liked to have seen him. They have just too much veteran talent at C for him, and he's not versatile enough to play at PF yet.
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the 1 game system regarding the olympics is stupid. they should switch it to a system more like the nba, or at least with nba rules and regulations and the format for a championship game should go to 3 games. whats the point of having seperate rules for the nba, college, and world?
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I'd like to see the Olympics limit qualifies to poor basketball-ing nations. Then widen the field to include far more teams and go into a straight knockout competition.
This whole 4 out of 6 go through business ... meh
Pro players are playing far too many games, cutting out some of the qualifiers would be a big coup.
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You mean dark horse is Australia? As Angola's not in group A.
If not I think Australia can make the top 4...3rd might even be possible.
Sure, I meant Australia... it was too early in the morning :D (anyway, Angola can make a surprise. Very experience team, good chemistry, all the players come from only two clubs).
I don't think a top-3 is very plausible. But yeah, I can see them qualifying, that wouldn't suprise me. If Bogut finds his jump-shot, as he usually does in FIBA tournaments, and Andersen plays at his level, they'll be a dangerous team. Very good big men rotation (btw, I don't think Ogilvy would have a chance of cracking the rotation, ChampKind. And I believe Bruton will still be their starting PG).
No, I don't either, but as a fan of his college game, I would have liked to have seen him. They have just too much veteran talent at C for him, and he's not versatile enough to play at PF yet.
Yea there is so much experience in the frontcourt. I think the X-factor for Australia would be a player called Joe Ingles (G/F), I think the rest of the world don't really know who this kid is yet, I've seen him play recently and I'm impressed and if he keeps playing well, it would be much easier for Australia to go thru. And yes CJ is most likely the starting PG with Pat Mills spelling him off the bench (won't be suprised if we don't get to see too much Pat Mills this tourney as CJ's been on fire lately and him being a close to NBA level guard).
Any other insights for any teams in the Olympics?
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The Greek team seems to be in good shape. In the last EuroBasket there were many internal problems and the team didn`t play good but reached the semis (and lost to spain a little "unfairly" if i may say)
Defence is the weapon of the team once again but this time Yannakis seems to have more options regarding the offence (again in relevance to to last euro)
Papadopoulos is off the team (his choice) and the one-dimensional game with the center posting up and playing one-on-one or passing to a free team-mate once double-teamed now is not the only way of running the offence. Sofo is back and his is great for pick`n`roll. He still needs to cut some weight though. He can`t play more than 13-15 mins. Bourousis in his first tournament as a member of the rotation will remind to many of Okur. Possibly the best 3p of the team and good blocker.
An interesting thing is that Greece has no real sh.guard in the roster. The guards are Papaloukas,Diamantidis(you have got to love this guy), Zisis, Spanoulis and in many occassions Yannakis plays 3 of then in the 5.
I see good chances for the team but being Greek may have something to do with it :D
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Big Sofo is always in need to cut some weight. But he looked good in the Qualifying Tournament, although Vasilopoulos was probably the greek player who impressed me most.
I agree on Diamantidis: you have got to love this guy. It's a shame he never wanted to play in the NBA. His game would translate perfectly (on the contrary to those of guys like Papaloukas or Spanoulis), I bet he'd be equally great but I'll never have the chance to know for sure.
I also like the chances of the Greek team. I rate them in the same level of Spain and Lithuania, a little above Argentina and Russia.
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He has already lost 50-60p but he should cut some more. Even with all this weight he still is fast. Papaloukas has said that Sofo is the fastest greek player in the first 3 steps. But the kid must straight up his priorities and focus on bball.
There is something about Vasilopoulos that i don`t like. I don`t know what .... IMHO he should have improved during the last especialy in his handling and long range but he didn`t.
I follow Diamantidis since his first practice in the greek first division. I `d like to seem him against the best and i`m sure he could be good (navarro and calderon have-had decent nba seasons) but he is very attached to him home town. Even now whenever he gets a day off leaves athens and gets back to Kastoria.
Again trying to be as objective as possible and knowing that so far the team hasn`t played against tough teams i think Greece is one of the most exciting teams to watch. They play a kind of attacking defence trying to steal the ball rather than not allowing the opponent to score , it`s the usual boring defence and they try to force as many fast breaks as possible (Spanoulis is having party this way)
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Upset: Dirk and Kaman knock out the home team.
I don't think Germany's quite the underdog there, so I wouldn't call an upset - I agree with you that they'll surprise some people and make it into the round of 8 before getting bounced.
Less than 3 weeks to go 'til the Olympics!
i wouldnt call it an upset either, its funny that both these teams are solid with their big guys but have a weakness with their guards.
the second group is just crazy: the U.S., Spain, Greece, Germany, and China playing at home. much tougher than playing in group A.
really surprised the draw came out this way. especially with Spain, Greece, and U.S. in one group, these group games could be finals preview.
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Germany is very weak in the pg position.
I mean veeery weak.
A full court press on the pg and they are done
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You mean dark horse is Australia? As Angola's not in group A.
If not I think Australia can make the top 4...3rd might even be possible.
Sure, I meant Australia... it was too early in the morning :D (anyway, Angola can make a surprise. Very experience team, good chemistry, all the players come from only two clubs).
I don't think a top-3 is very plausible. But yeah, I can see them qualifying, that wouldn't suprise me. If Bogut finds his jump-shot, as he usually does in FIBA tournaments, and Andersen plays at his level, they'll be a dangerous team. Very good big men rotation (btw, I don't think Ogilvy would have a chance of cracking the rotation, ChampKind. And I believe Bruton will still be their starting PG).
No, I don't either, but as a fan of his college game, I would have liked to have seen him. They have just too much veteran talent at C for him, and he's not versatile enough to play at PF yet.
Yea there is so much experience in the frontcourt. I think the X-factor for Australia would be a player called Joe Ingles (G/F), I think the rest of the world don't really know who this kid is yet, I've seen him play recently and I'm impressed and if he keeps playing well, it would be much easier for Australia to go thru. And yes CJ is most likely the starting PG with Pat Mills spelling him off the bench (won't be suprised if we don't get to see too much Pat Mills this tourney as CJ's been on fire lately and him being a close to NBA level guard).
Any other insights for any teams in the Olympics?
I'm still not that high on Joe, he can definately play though. What does out rotation look like anyway? I really haven't been following.
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In my opinion after the US, Spain is the best team, although Greece and Argentina are always very though teams. I dont trust in Lithuania anymore. Unless they finish the group phase first, they will be out of the tournament in the quarter finals.
My prediction:
Argentina
Russia
Australia
Lithuania
US
Spain
Greece
Germany
Semi-finals
US-Argentina
Spain-Greece
Final: I dont know
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I'm still not that high on Joe, he can definately play though. What does out rotation look like anyway? I really haven't been following.
I've watched patches of games, I can tell you how certain players are playing but havn't watched enough to tell you the rotation.
But I would say the starting lineup would be:
CJ Bruton, Joe Ingles, David Barlow, Mark Worthington and Andrew Bogut (the 4 spot I'm not so sure about)
Obviously there's Paddy Mills off the bench for Bruton, again I don't expect to see much of Mills(I don't think we can complain about the situation of our point guard despite not having a 'true' point)
With great size and toughness at both wing spot in the starting lineup, I would imagine Brad Newley coming off the bench to provide some versatility at the 2 and 3 (atm I still think he is overrated-I see patches of potential, but he's not close to what the media makes of him IMO and Joe Ingles is underrated :P but I guess we just have to wait and see).
And Chris Antsey off the bench down low and we'll also see a bit of Matthew Nielsen.
Hope I'm not too far off lol.
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Argentina
Russia
Australia
Lithuania
I can`t comment on this group i haven`t seen any team but i`d swap argentina with russia
Lithuania maybe the disappointment of the tournament. Croatia although not the great team we knew maybe dangerous. Their goal was to qualify and now they can play without pressure.
US
Spain
Greece
Germany
I don`t know about germany. Very uneven team with bad guards. I think that China will qualify over them. Besides the host always gets some love from the refs.