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Olympic Basketball Tournament brackets announced
« on: July 22, 2008, 07:38:45 AM »

Offline cordobes

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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



Re: Olympic Basketball Tournament brackets announced
« Reply #1 on: July 22, 2008, 08:57:13 AM »

Offline ChampKind

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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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Re: Olympic Basketball Tournament brackets announced
« Reply #2 on: July 22, 2008, 09:07:11 AM »

Offline kw10

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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.
Anything is possible!!!

Re: Olympic Basketball Tournament brackets announced
« Reply #3 on: July 22, 2008, 09:19:45 AM »

Offline ChampKind

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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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Re: Olympic Basketball Tournament brackets announced
« Reply #4 on: July 22, 2008, 01:49:05 PM »

Offline cordobes

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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).

Re: Olympic Basketball Tournament brackets announced
« Reply #5 on: July 22, 2008, 01:57:49 PM »

Offline ChampKind

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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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Re: Olympic Basketball Tournament brackets announced
« Reply #6 on: July 22, 2008, 02:27:54 PM »

Offline zerophase

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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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Re: Olympic Basketball Tournament brackets announced
« Reply #7 on: July 22, 2008, 02:35:15 PM »

Online Who

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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.

Re: Olympic Basketball Tournament brackets announced
« Reply #8 on: July 22, 2008, 10:04:11 PM »

Offline kw10

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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?
Anything is possible!!!

Re: Olympic Basketball Tournament brackets announced
« Reply #9 on: July 25, 2008, 09:54:47 PM »

Offline ederson

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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

Re: Olympic Basketball Tournament brackets announced
« Reply #10 on: July 28, 2008, 01:52:49 PM »

Offline cordobes

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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.

Re: Olympic Basketball Tournament brackets announced
« Reply #11 on: July 29, 2008, 02:36:32 AM »

Offline ederson

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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)

Re: Olympic Basketball Tournament brackets announced
« Reply #12 on: July 29, 2008, 02:58:24 AM »

Offline houlana

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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.

Re: Olympic Basketball Tournament brackets announced
« Reply #13 on: July 29, 2008, 05:49:54 AM »

Offline ederson

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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

Re: Olympic Basketball Tournament brackets announced
« Reply #14 on: July 29, 2008, 07:55:31 AM »

Offline blueygreen

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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.