Olympics Day #2 Group A: Argentina - France instant recap.

1st Quarter

France leads 19-12 after the first 10 minutes. Nicolas Batum got a dunk in the first possession and that seemed to get him going, he added two three pointers along with the dunk for 8 points in the quarter. Tony Parker has been struggling with his shot, but still has taken the ball to the hoop, penetrating and dishing the ball to teammates.  Gelabale contributed with a three pointer and Turiaf played good defense on Luis Scola.


Argentina couldn't get any offense whatsoever, Luis Scola and Manu Ginobili each scored 4 points apiece, Carlos Delfino couldn't knock down a three pointer.  Argentina had long droughts without scoring & Scola couldn't get into his spots like he did against Lithuania.



2nd Quarter

Argentina started the quarter with a 6-0 run until Nando de Colo made a three pointer and stopped the run. After the first five minutes, Argentina has outscored France 12 to 5, looked like Argentina was closing the gap, but Kevin Seraphin started dominating the inside and France took a 9 point lead in the quarter.   Despite the lead, Argentina hung around, they didn't get anyone going and made  just one three pointer.  But they made some free throws, tough defense and that was enough.  France leads 32-29 after two quarters of play.

Halftime Stats:
Manu Ginobili (ARG)  8 points
Luis Scola (ARG)        6 points.
Tony Parker (FRA)      4 points, 2 assists.
Nicolas Batum (FRA)  10 points & 6 rebounds.
Kevin Seraphin (FRA)  6 Points

3rd Quarter

The energy level picked up during this quarter, Gelabale continued his hot shooting by making yet another three and a two point field goal, Nando De Colo also made his second triple of the game.  Argentina got more contributions from  Scola, Prigioni and Ginobili, they have been playing with more efficiency than in the first half. 

Manu Ginobili scored 12 points in the quarter, he took over the game, he hit a three, drove to the basket for layups and also made his free throws.  France still leads the game,  55-53 at the end of three.  Manu and De Colo (Both Spurs) are leading their respective teams in scoring.

4th Quarter

After two minutes without any scoring, Nicolas Batum returned from the bench and immediately hit a three pointer, followed by a jump shot by Gelabale.  Manu Ginobili answered France run's by hitting a three, but Tony Parker made two straight baskets to give France a 6 point lead with less than 4 minutes to play.

France took a 67-58 lead and after a few unsuccessful tries Manu Ginobili made a three pointer, Scola got fouled twice and with 1:14 left to play, France lead has being cut to  5.    Tony Parker missed a jumper that would have given France the chance to be up 7 and he didn't, however, after missing the jumper he redeemed himself by stealing the ball right out of Scola's hand and then lobbing the ball to an alley oop to Kevin Seraphin.

Argentina couldn't convert three pointers to bring the lead down, France made their free throws and also got the win  71- 64.   Argentina only scored 11 points in the whole 4th quarter, Tony Parker had 11 in the quarter for France.  Manu Ginobili finished with 26 points

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Olympics Day #2 Group B: Spain - Australia instant recap.

1st Quarter




9:02 -  After a series of nice passes, Jose Calderon found himself open for the layup and scored Spain's first basket. 


5:49 - After two Pau Gasol free throws, the game is tied at 6.  Not much offense happening so far, a lot of easy missed shots.


3:04 - Spain isn't running back on defense, they are getting beat with backdoor plays & are not defending like they are capable off.  Australia leads 12-10 


1:22 -  Sergio Scariolo looking for a spark brought Sergio Rodriguez, Fernando Sam Emeterio and Serge Ibaka into the game. The move immediately proved to be a good one and Ibaka got an and one, however, they are still down 17-13.


An alley oop from Matthew Dellavadova to Aron Baynes gives Australia a 19-14 lead after the 1st quarter.



2nd Quarter


7:27 - Timeout Australia.  Spain is back now with the lead  22-21,  Patty Mills got two fouls early in the first quarter and haven't played in awhile.



6:16  -  An alley oop from Felipe Reyes to Pau Gasol gives Spain it's biggest lead of the game (5 points) 


2:45 - Both teams have combined for 3 three pointers in a row (Sam Emeterio, Joe Ingles & Rudy Fernandez)  Spain leads 34-28.



1:51 - Sloppy play by Spain, leads Patty Mill to two baskets in a row and make this a two point game again.


End of 2nd:  Spain 37, Australia 32. 


* Rudy Fernandez suffered a blow to the head with a camera while saving the ball out of bounds, He went to the bench with a minute remaining in the second quarter.


Pau Gasol has 11 points for Spain & Joe Ingles 9 for Australia.


3rd Quarter


7:56 -  Only Marc Gasol has scored so far, he hit a fade away about a minute ago. 

7:20 -  Three pointers by Rudy Fernandez and Pau Gasol has the Spaniards leading by 13, their biggest lead of the game.   Spain has outscored Australia 8-0 in the period. 


6:13 -  After Australia finally made their first basket of the period, no one ran back and Pau Gasol got an easy dunk at the other end which causes Australia to call a timeout. 


4:00  Australia has only made two baskets and are down 17.


2:40 -  Rudy hits his third three pointer of the quarter. he shot it wit hot hesitating and they have a comfortable lead now.   Spain is winning this quarter 22-5.



1:04 - Spain leads by 20. 62-42


End of 3rd:  Spain 63, Australia 42.    Spain won the quarter 26-10, lead by Rudy Fernandez and Pau Gasol.



4th Quarter

8:16 -  Sergio Rodriguez found Serge Ibaka for an alley oop, which he completed, Ibaka almost killed the rim there. 


7:34 - Patrick Mills missed a wide open three and Ibaka received the ball once again and had a thunderous jam.  It's been the Serge Ibaka show here in the 4th, playing with aggression and giving it all out. 


5:49 -  Australia quickly recovered and scored 7 quick points, Spain still leads by 16.


2:00 - Australia keeps playing to the final buzzer, they have cut the lead down to 10 with exactly  two minutes to go in the game. Australia decided to play aggressive and go to the hoop when they were down nearly 30, instead of doing it since the beginning. 


Spain got a little too distracted in the fourth quarter, lucky for them time was running out and it was impossible for Australia to catch them all the way.


Final score: Spain 82,  Australia 70

Pau Gasol  20 points & 4 boards
Rudy Fernandez 17 points, 6 assist & 3 rebounds
Marc Gasol 12 points & 7 rebounds
Felipe Reyes 7 points and 12 rebounds

Patty Mills had 11 points, Brad Newley and Joe Ingles did their part by scoring 12 points apiece. 

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Olympics Day #2 Group B: Russia - China instant recap.

1st Quarter


Russia finished with a 20-12 lead after the game first 10 minutes, five of Russia's seven field goals were assisted (Alexey Shved got 3 assists)  Russia's defense was suffocating China.

Alexey Shved scored 5 points, 3 assists & Andrei Kirilenko had 4 points, 3 rebounds and a block.  Yi Jianlian tried to keep China afloat with 4 points and 4 boards.

2nd Quarter


7:56 - Shved dishes the ball to Ak-47 for a basket and a foul, this duo keeps looking for each other and doing so perfectly. Russia leads 23-15


5:57 - A Timofey Mozgov dunk gives Russia their biggest lead of the game, 30-18.  Russsia's cutting to the basket, running their offense for easy layups and open baskets, however, China is struggling to even get a clean look, Russia's defense is very good.


4:31 - Yi Jianlian  is 2 out of 6 from the field, not exploding offensively like he did against Spain, Russia has him in check.


2:10 -  This is a no contest, Russia has stolen the ball at least 3 times in a row against the Chinese, Russia's being doing alley oops, trying passes behind their backs, they couldn't be more relaxed.  Andrei Kirikenko has 13 points, 6-9 FG.

End of 2nd quarter -  Shved missed a three at the last second and Russia goes to the locker room with a 40-25 lead.  Kirilenko lead all scorers with 15.

Russia out rebounded China by 11 (28-17) and forced them to commit 9 turnovers, just one less than all the baskets they made in the first half  (10)



Impressive stat:  Kirilenko, Shved and Khryapa have scored 25 points, grabbed 15 boards and dished out 7 assists. China as a team has 25 points, 17 rebounds and 4 assists.



3rd Quarter


9:00 -  Sun Yue got a beautiful and took layup around AK-47. 


6:13 - Russia leads 49-30.  Last 2 Russia baskets have been a three by  Vitaly Fridzon and a pretty well executed give and go.


5:00 -  China started the quarter by making their first 2 baskets, for 5 quick points, but haven't scored in at least 3 minutes.


2:07 -  Sasha Kaun has scored 7 points in the quarter (Including last 2 baskets)  he's getting really good position and there's nothing China can do.  Kaun has 7 points, while China as a team have 9.

China got 5 quick points in the last minute of the quarter and cut the lead from 27 to 22. China finished with 15 points in the quarter, however, there were times i didn't even thought they were going to reach 10. 

End of 3rd quarter:   Russia 61, China 39.

4th Quarter

9:00 - Yi Anlian took his frustration out and put Timofey Mozgov on a poster.  China's down 21 (63-42)

2:30 - Russia has an 18 points lead (69-51) China has actually outscored Russia this quarter 12 to 8.

1:35 -  Shved dunked the ball and brings Russia up by 20 again. Biggest lead was 27

Final score:  Russia 73, China 54.  

China scored 12 points in the first quarter, 13, 14 & 15 in the other three. When was the last time something like that happened in a game? Really a bizarre stat line. 

Andrei Kirilenko ended up with 16 points & 9 boards, 14 and 6 for Shved,  13 and 6 for Kaun and 10 points for Mozgov,  Yi Jianlian had 16 points and 7 boards for China

China now falls to two losses and no wins, while Russia stays undefeated.

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Quick Recap: Olympics Day #1

Nigeria 60, Tunisia 56. 

Nigeria and Tunisia played in their first ever Olympics, but only one team could come up with their first ever win and that was Nigeria.  Ike Diogu had a double double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, his teammate Al Farouq Aminu almost got a double double himself, but failed to grabbed that 10th board, he ended up with 10 points and 9 rebounds.

Brazil 75, Australia 71. 

Brazil's depth demonstrated  it will play a key role for them in this tournament.  Barcelona Regal's player, Marcelinho Huertas, had a double double with 15 point & 10 assists, Leandro Barbosa scored 16 and Anderson Varejao finished with 12 points and 7 boards.  Australia made a good come back in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to two points, but couldn't take the lead.  Patty Mills scored 20 points,  David Andersen 14 points, 8 rebounds & Joe Ingles scored 15 for Australia.


USA 98, France 71. 

The United States won the first quarter by a single point, and that was taking France's best punch of the day.   Lebron James finished with 9 points,  8 assists, 5 boards & 2 steals. Kevin Durant scored 22 points and grabbed 9 boards.  Tony Parker had a bad game with only 10 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist for France.


Spain 97, China 81. 

Pau Gasol had 21 points & 11 rebounds, Juan Carlos Navarro scored 14,  Jose Calderon scored 12 and Spain was too much for China. Spain started off slow in the first period and was only up by two, but they changed that in a hurry by scoring 34 points in the 2nd quarter and they didn't looked back.  China's only consistant scoring came from Yi Anlian he played fantastic on the offensive end, hitting mid range jumpers and some impressive dunks, he finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds.

Russia 95, Great Britain 75. 

The Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved show was a phenomenal display of basketball.  Kirilenko had 35 points (14-17 FG) & 4 rebounds. Shved almost got a triple double, he finished the game with 16 points, 13 assists and 6 rebounds.  Great Britain was no match for Russia, there only was so much Luol Deng could do for Great Britain. Deng had 26 points, but shot poorly from the field.

Argentina 102, Lithuania 79. 

 Argentina's golden generation proved they will keep playing with everything they have, just like they've shown us many times before. Luis Scola scored 32 points, Manu Ginobili had a double double with 21 points and 10 rebounds and Carlos Delfino had 20 points (Including six three pointers)  Argentina lead 51-39 at the half, but Lithuania couldn't stop them from scoring and lost the game by 23 points.   Linas Kleiza scored 20 points and 7 rebounds & Paulius Jankunas contributed for 14 points for Lithuania. 

Standings

Group A

United States                    1-0                              France                                0-1

Argentina                          1-0                              Lithuania                             0-1

Nigeria                             1-0                              Tunisia                                 0-1

Group B

Spain                              1-0                                China                                 0-1

Brazil                              1-0                                Australia                             0-1    

Russia                             1-0                                Great Britain                       0-1

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NBA players in the Olympics.

Many players from the national basketball Association not only compete against each other during the hard fought 82 games schedule, they also represent their national teams in  international competitions such as the Olympics. There are 41 players that are part of the league or will be joining it this season competing in the event.

Argentina  

                  

Manu Ginobili                         San Antonio Spurs

Pablo Prigioni                          New York Knicks

Carlos Delfino                         Milwaukee Bucks         

Luis Scola                               Phoenix Suns

 Australia

Patty Mills                               San Antonio Spurs

Brazil  

Leandro Barbosa                     Indiana Pacers 

Anderson Varejao                    Cleveland Cavaliers

Nene                                       Washington Wizards

Tiago Splitter                            San Antonio Spurs

 China    

Yi Jianlian                                 Dallas Mavericks

France

Nicolas Batum                          Portland Trail Blazers

Nando de Colo                        San Antonio Spurs

Boris Diaw                               San Antonio Spurs

Tony Parker                             San Antonio Spurs

Kevin Seraphin                         Washington Wizards

Ronny Turiaf                             Los Angeles Clippers

                                                 

 Great Britain

 Luol Deng                                Chicago Bulls

Joel Freeland                            Portland Trail Blazers

 Lithuania  

Linas Kleiza                             Toronto Raptors 

Jonas Valanciunas                    Toronto Raptors

 Nigeria     

Al Farouq Aminu                     New Orleans Hornets

 Russia       

Alexey Shved                           Minnesota Timberwolves 

Andrei Kirilenko                      Minnesota Timberwolves

Timofey Mozgov                      Denver Nuggets

Spain        

Marc Gasol                               Memphis Grizzlies

Pau Gasol                                 Los Angeles Lakers

Serge Ibaka                              Oklahoma City Thunder

Jose Calderon                           Toronto Raptors

Victor Claver                             Portland Trail Blazers

United States

LeBron James                           Miami Heat

Kobe Bryant                             Los Angeles Lakers

Tyson Chandler                         New York Knicks

Carmelo Anthony                      New York Knicks

Anthony Davis                          New Orleans Hornets

Kevin Durant                            Oklahoma City Thunder

James Harden                           Oklahoma City Thunder

Russell Westbrook                    Oklahoma City Thunder

Andre Iguodala                         Philadelphia 76ers

Kevin Love                               Minnesota Timberwolves

Chris Paul                                 Los Angeles Clippers

Deron Williams                         Brooklyn Nets

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London Olympics Preview

The 2012 London Olympics start on Sunday the 29th until August 12.  Twelve teams will be divided by two groups of 6 and only 4 of them will advance to the quarter finals.

Group A : USA, France, Argentina, Lithuania, Tunisia & Nigeria.
Group B:  Spain, Brazil, Australia, China, Great Britain, Russia.

*I predict the ones in bold to advance to the quarter final stage.

Here's some information about all participant teams.

Argentina

  
*Argentina obtained it's first and only gold medal in basketball during the 2004 Athens Olympics by defeating Italy 89-64.

Argentina hopes to get back to the elite level they were at during the 2004 Olympics, which they got the gold medal.  Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Carlos Delfino and Andres Nocioni are the only four members left from that squad, but they remain very effective.  Although they haven't confirm or deny it, many people think this is the last run for them, they are the best group of basketball players Argentina has ever seen, they are called  "The Golden Generation"


Roster

Centers
Juan Gutierrez
Martin Diario Leiva

Guards 
Emanuel Ginobili
Pablo Prigioni
Carlos Delfino
Facundo Campazzo

Forwards
Luis Scola
Andres Nocioni
Leonardo Gutierrez
Marcos Mata
Martin Diario Leiva
Federico Kammerichs
Pancho Jasen

Coach: Julio Lamas 

Gone from their last Olympic appearance:  Fabricio Oberto, Roman Gonzalez, Paolo Quinteros & Antonio Porta.

 *Fabricio Oberto played in the 2011 Fiba Americas Championships, but couldn't participate in the Olympics due to personal problems.

How they got here:  Argentina won the 2011 Fiba Americas played in Mar Del Plata, just in front of their own fans.  Argentina went 9-1 in the tourney, the clincher game was against Puerto Rico, Argentina won  81-79 and then moved on to face Brazil in the final game.  the Argentinians beat Brazil 80-75 &  Luis Scola was named most valuable player, he averaged 21 ppg and 6 rebounds per game.

*Argentina celebrating their 2011 Fiba Americas win.

Brazil

 *Brazil's last tournament win was in the 2009 Fiba Americas Championships.

Brazil has been a very solid basketball team over the last decade. They won the Fiba Americas 2009 Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico and they also finished in second place in the 2011 Fiba Americas Championships in Mar Del Plata, Argentina.  Brazil's main problem has been consistency, they have a lot of talented players, but they have rarely played together on the same team.   The Brazilians have everyone healthy this time around, minus  Rafael Hettsheimeir, they are looking to prove they deserve to win a medal.

 *Hettsheimer averaged 9 ppg and 4 rpg in the 2011 Fiba Americas, he won't be participating in the 2012 Olympics due to injury.

Consistency problems

2007 Fiba Americas Champiionships in Las Vegas.
Leandro Barbosa, Marcelo Huertas, Tiago Splitter & Nene represented their team, however, Anderson Varejao wasn't available.

2009 Fiba Americas Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Leandro Barbosa, Anderson Varejao, Tiago Splitter and Marcelo Huertas were available,  Nene didn't participate. 

2010 World Championships in Turkey
Same situation as 2009, Leandro Barbosa, Anderson Varejao, Tiago Splitter and Marcelo Huertas were available to play, Nene wasn't.

2011 Fiba Americas Championships in Marl Del Plata, Argentina.
Marcelo Huertas and Tiago Splitter got Brazil the Olympic clincher. Leandro Barbosa, Nene and Anderson Varejao sat out the tournament.


Roster

Centers
Caio Torres
Maybyner Nene

Guards
Leandro Barbosa
Alex Garcia
Marcelinho Huertas
Marcelo Machado
Raulzhinho Netto
Larry Taylor

Forwards
Anderson Varejao
Tiago Splitter
Guillherme Giovanonni
Marcus Vieira

Coach: Ruben Magnano  (Coached Argentina in the 2004 Olympics)

 
Gone from their last Olympic appearance:  Everyone, this group of players haven't been in the Olympics.

How they got here:  Brazil got the second spot in the London Olympics by ending in second place  in the 2011 Fiba Americas.  Brazil  finished with 8 wins and only  2 losses, their 83-76 win over the Dominican Republic in the semifinals clinched their Olympic spot.  Marcelo Machado scored 20 points and 5-8 from downtown in the victory.  This will be Brazil's first Olympic appearance in 16 years.

 *Most of the Brazilians got Mohawks as a result of clinching a spot in the 2012 Olympics.

United States

 *The 2008 "Redeem Team" brought back the gold for the Americans, they had an 8 year drought without any Olympic gold medals. Dwyane Wade and Lebron James lead them in scoring with 16 PPG each.

After losing their first game ever in the Olympics with NBA talent in a 92-73 loss to Puerto Rico in Athens 2004 and finishing with a bronze medal, the United States knew they had to changed their approach to a more serious one.  If they still had any doubts, Greece showed them enough was enough by beating them 101-95 in the 2006 World Championships in Japan and with that, the americans ended up with another bronze medal.

Starting in 2008, the United States brought their best players on every competition and they have gone undefeated since then.   They won the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the World Championships in Turkey 2010.

They are expected to win every single game and bring yet another gold medal to the states, it will be a huge disappointment if they fail to get anything but the gold.

Roster

Centers
Tyson Chandler
Anthony Davis

Guards:
Kobe Bryant
Chris Paul
Deron Williams
Russell Westbrook
James Harden

Forwards:
Andre Iguodala
Kevin Love
Lebron James
Carmelo Anthony
Kevin Durant

Coach: Mike Krzyzewski

Gone from their last Olympic appearance:   Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Michael Redd, Carlos Boozer, Tayshaun Prince, Dwight Howard & Jason Kidd.

 

How they got here: By winning the 2010 World Championships in Turkey, the United States clinched a berth to play in the 2012 London Olympics.  Team USA brought their "B" squad that featured Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, Chauncey Billups, Lamar Odom and many others.

*Kevin Durant lead the United States in the 2010 World Championships in Turkey with 23 PPG and 8 rebounds.

Spain 

Spain have been the kings of Europe basketball the last few years (Runner up in Eurobasket 2007 and winners of  Eurobasket 2009 and 2011 ) and also team USA biggest threat so far.

                         *Spain won Eurobasket 2009 in Poland. Pau Gasol averaged 19 PPG and 8 RPG.

*Spain won Eurobasket 2011 tournament in Lithuania. Juan Carlos Navarro (Middle) won the Most Valuable Player award. Navarro averaged 19 PPG and 3 APG.


Spain has done almost everything, the only thing they haven't done so far, it's getting a gold medal in the Olympics.  Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka are the best front court in the world right now, Spain has the ability to play using their big men or use Juan Carlos Navarro from the perimeter, JCN is a living legend, one of the best Spaniards basketball players of all time.  If any team can beat team USA for just one day only, it's them. Spain came close to beating the United States in Beijing 2008, 118-107,  in perhaps the  best gold medal game in the history of the Olympics, can they win it this time?


Roster

Centers
Pau Gasol
Marc Gasol

Forwards
Serge Ibaka
Felipe Reyes
Victor Claver

Guards
 Jose Calderon
Juan Carlos Navarro
Rudy Fernandez
Fernando San Emeterio
Sergio Rodriguez
Victor Sada
Sergio Llull

Coach: Sergio Scariolo

Gone from their last Olympic appearance:  Alex Mumbru, Carlos Jimenez, Ricky Rubio, Berni Rodriguez, Raul Lopez and Jorge Garbajosa.

*Ricky Rubio suffered a torn acl in March 2011 in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers, he missed the last 2 months of the NBA season and will miss the Olympics as well. 

France

                                  *France is going to their first Olympics since 2000.


France is a team full of NBA experienced players, Tony Parker is their main player.  He took the team on his shoulders and made sure France wasn't going to miss another Olympic appearance.

This version of France will have Nicolas Batum, Ronny Turiaf, Boris Diaw, Kevin Seraphin and the latest French player to make it into the NBA, Nando De Colo.  However, one important player that won't be joining France in the Olympics will be center Joakim Noah, Noah injured his ankle during the Chicago Bulls first round loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in the playoffs.  Mickael Pietrus, Rodrigue Beaubois and Ian Mahinmi  won't be available for team France, those three players have been in and out of lineups with injury problems.


Roster

Center
Ronny Turiaf
Ali Traore

Forwards
Nicolas Batum
Boris Diaw
Mickael Gelabale
Yakhouba Diawara
Kevin Seraphin
Florent Pietrus

Guards 
Tony Parker
Yannick Bokolo
Fabien Causeur
Nando De Colo

Coach: Vincent Collet

Gone from their last Olympic appearance:  Did not qualified to Athens 2004.

How they got here:  France finished in second place in the Eurobasket 2011 tournament played in Lithuania. France only loss came to Spain in the final game 98-85.  France beat Russia 79-71 in the semifinal game to clinched a spot in the Olympics. Tony Parker averaged 22 PPG and 5 APG & Joakim Noah made his debut with team France and averaged 9 PPG and 8 RPG.

Australia

 Australia is a team that needs a lot of help in order to compete for a medal, they finished in 7th place in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and 10th in the Fiba World Championships in Turkey.  The only competitions they dominate are the FIBA Oceania Championships in which they've finished first in 2005,2007, and 2011 and in second place in 2009.

Roster

Center
Aron Bayness
Aleks Maric



Forwards
David Andersen
Joe Ingles
Matt Nielsen
Mark Worthington 
David Barlow


Guards  
Adam Gibson
Matt Dellavedova
Peter Crawford
Patty Mills
Brad Newley

Coach:  Brett Brown

Gone from their last Olympic appearance:  Andrew Bogut, Chris Anstey, C.J Brutton, Shawn Redhage, Glen Saville.

*Andrew Bogut played in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, he won't play in London due to various injuries.

How they got here:  Australia won the 2011 Oceania Championships, they went undefeated. Patrick Mills  averaged 14 PPG & 3 APG.

China

China qualified for the Olympics yet again, however, their goals of winning a medal in the Olympics remain very far away.  China didn't win a medal when Yao Ming was there, now it will be even more difficult to win one without him.  China has some talented players like Yi Anlian and  Sun Yue.

Roster

Center
Max Zhang
Zhizhi Wang


Forwards
Fangyu Zhu
Shipeng Wang
Ding Jinhui
Zhou Peng
Jianlian Yi
Li Yi

Guards  
Jianghua Chen
Aliun Guo
Wei Liu
Yue Sun

Coach: Bob Donewald Jr.

Gone from their last Olympic appearance:  Feng Du, Nan Li, Lei Wang,  Yao Ming & Qinpeng Zhang.

 

* This will be China's first Olympic appearance without Yao Ming in over 16 years, Yao played in his first Olympic games in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

How they got here: China went 9-0 in the 2011 FIBA  Asia Championships, Yi Anlian was their best scorer, he averaged  17 PPG.

Russia

Russia isn't a lock to win a gold medal. the silver can be a stretch, but they can absolutely win the Bronze Russia has multiple players that can score, four of them averaged double digits in scoring in the 2012 Olympic qualifying tournament:  Andrei Kirilenko, Alexey Shved,  Sasha Kaun and Vitaliy Fridzon . Russia always plays tough difficult defense on the opponents, very tough to score against them.

Roster

Center
Timofey Mozgov
Sasha Kaun


Forwards
Andrei Kirilenko
Semen Antonov
Sergey Karasev
Victor Khryapa
Sergei Monia
Anton Ponkrashov


Guards
Sasha Fridzon
Dmitriy Khvostov
Alexey Shved
Evgeny Voronov

Coach:   David Blatt

Gone from their last Olympic appearance:  Sergey Bykov,  J.R Holden, Victor Keyru, Nikita Morgunov, Zakhar Pashutin, Petr Samoylenko,  Alexei Savrasenko & Andrey Vorontsevich.

 

*J.R Holden retired from Basketball and won't be playing in the Olympics. Holden played with Russia in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. 

How they got here: After finishing a disappointing third place in the 2011 Lithuania Eurobasket Championship, Russia didn't get the spot to the London Olympics right away. However,  due to finishing third they were one of the teams invited to play at the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifiers in Venezuela.


Russia also finished in the top 3 in this tourney, but that was enough to get into London (Only 3 teams could get to London via the Olympic qualifiers)   Andrei Kirilenko had a fantastic tournament, he averaged 16 PPG, 8 RPG & 4 APG, Alexey Shved averaged 11 PPG and 5 APG.

Great Britain

The last time Great Britain went to the Olympics in a basketball competition was in 1948, if that isn't saying much, i don't know what will.  Great Britain depend on Luol Deng to do almost all the scoring for them, Joel Freeland helps on the inside more than the rest of their teammates, but they need more help, those two can't do it alone.  In last year's Eurobasket 2011, Deng averaged 24 PPG and Freeland contribute with 11 PPG, nobody else averaged double figure scoring.

Roster

Center
Eric Boateng
Dan Clark



Forwards
Luol Deng
Joel Freeland
Pops Mensah Bonsu
Kieron  Achara
Robert Archibald
Drew Sullivan


Guards 
Andrew Lawrence

Mike Lenzly
Kyle Johnson
Nate Reinking

Coach:  Chris Finch

Gone from their last Olympic appearance:   Did not qualified to Athens 2004.

How they got here:   Great Britain finished in 13th place in last year's Eurobasket 2011 in Lithuania, but they got an automatic berth to the Olympics since they will be taking place in London. 

Lithuania

* Sarunas Jasikevicius is the oldest member of the Lithuanian basketball team, this will be Jasikevicius 4th trip to the Olympics (Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012)

Lithuania is always a threat to compete for a medal in any event they are in    Since 2010, Lithuania has finished in the top 5 on every tournament they have played. They finished in third place in the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey, 5th in last year's Eurobasket and first in the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying tournament in Caracas, Venezuela. 

The Lithuanians have also finished 4th in the last two Olympics (Athens 2004, Beijing 2008) and they feel they have the right mix of older (Songaila, Jasikevicius, Kaukenas)  and younger players (Valanciunas, Kalnietis, Kleiza & Pocius)  to get a spot into the elite level and finally get the medial they deserve.

Roster

Center
Jonas Valanciunas
Robertas Javtokas

Forwards
Darius Songaila
Martynas Pocius
Paulius Jankunas
Linas Kleiza
Jonas Malaciunas
 

Guards  
Sarunas Jasikevicius
Rimantas Kaukenas
Mantas Kalnietis
Deividas Dulkys
Tomas Delinkaitis

Coach:  Kestutis Kemzura

Gone from their last Olympic appearance:  Simas Jasaitis, Darius Lavrinovic, Marius Prekevicius, Marijonas Petravicius, Mindaugas Lukauskis, Ksystof  Lavrinovic.

How they got here:   Lithuania finished 5th in last year's Eurobasket. However, they still had a chance to clinch in the 2012 FIBA Qualifying Tournament and they did exactly that by finishing 1st in the tournament.

Sarunas Jasikevicius  averaged 11 points and 5 assists during the FIBA qualifiers & rising star Jonas Valanciuns ended up averaging  8 points and 4 rebounds. 

 

Nigeria

Nigeria is a team that no one thought they could get into the Olympics, this is the first time they will be competing in an Olympics.  They play as a team, no egos involved and they proved it could work.  Nigeria has a lot of familiar names on their roster, Ike Diogu (played 5 years in the NBA), Tony Skinn (Starting point guard of the 2006 George Mason squad that reached the final four)  Al Farouq Aminu (Selected 8th in the 2010 NBA draft by The Los Angeles Clippers) 

  

Roster

Center
Olumide Oyedeji
Ejike Ugboaja


Forwards
Al-Farouq Aminu
Alade Aminu
Koko Archibong
Ike Diogu
Ekene Ibekwe
Derrick Obasohan
Richard Oruche


Guards  
Tony Skinn
Champ Oguchi
Ade Dagunduro

Coach: Ayo Bakare

Gone from their last Olympic appearance:   Did not qualified to Athens 2004.

How they got here:  In a surprising and shocking turn of events, Nigeria clinched the third and  final spot to play in the London Olympics by defeating the Dominican Republic, 88-73, in the 2012 FIBA Qualifying Tournament played earlier this year in Caracas, Venezuela.  Ike Diogu was determined to get the win for Nigeria with 25 points and 10 rebounds.   This is the first time in Olympic history that  two African teams will be among the twelve teams playing in an Olympics.  Ike Diogu averaged 17 PPG and 11 RPG and Al Farouq Aminu had 13 PPG and 5 RPG. in the Tournament.

Tunisia

Tunisia was the first African team to qualify to the London Olympics (Nigeria was the other)   This will be Tunisia's first Olympic games in their team history, African basketball was dominated by Angola for more than 20 years, but Tunisia beat them during last year's Fiba Africa Championships 67-56  to the surprise of everyone.  

Roster

Center
Salah Mejri


Forwards
Macram Ben Romdhane
Mohamed Ghyaza
Mohammed Hadidane
Amine Maghrebi
Radhouane Silmane

Guards 
Omar Abada
Lassaad Chouaya
Mourad El Mabrouk
Marouan Kechrid
Marouan Laghnej
Amine Rzig

Coach:  Adel Tlatli

Gone from their last Olympic   Did not qualified to Athens 2004.

How they got here:  Tunisia went 7-0 and ended up first in the 2011 Fiba Africa Championship.  Maroaun Kechrid averaged 11 PPG and Macram Ben Romdhane averaged 13 PPG & 6 RPG.


Credit: Real GM for the team rosters.

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