2012 London Olympics Individual leaders.

The 2012 London Olympics have been full of excitement, buzzer beating shots, blowout and even some historic performances, However, there are some players in particular that showed they belong in a different class than all the rest.

Scoring leaders  

1. Pau Gasol   (SPA)            20. 6 PPG

2. Patty Mills   (AUS)           20.2  PPG
3. Luis Scola    (ARG)          20.2  PPG
4. Emanuel Ginobili  (ARG)   20.0 PPG
5. Kevin Durant       (USA)   18.6   PPG

Rebounds 

1. Yi Jianlian             (CHI)    10.2 RPG

2. Salah Mejri          (TUN)   10.0 RPG

3. Ike Diogu             (NIG)    9.0 RPG

4. Ben Romdhane      (TUN)  8.6 RPG

5. Anderson Varejao   (BRA)  7.4  RPG

Assists

1. Marcelinho Huertas         (BRA)  6.2 APG

2. Pablo Prigioni                 (ARG)   6.0 APG

3. Sarunas Jasikevicius        (LIT)     5.8 APG

4. Chris Paul                      (USA)    5.8 APG

5. Deron Williams              (USA)     5.6 APG

Steals 

1.  Chris Paul               (USA)   2.2 APG

2.  Emanuel Ginobili    (ARG)    2.0 APG

3.  Andrei Kirilenko    (RUS)     2.0 APG

4.  Al Farouq Aminu    (NIG)    2.0 APG

5.  Matt Nielsen          (AUS)    2.0 APG

Blocks

1.  Salah Mejri     (TUN)     3.4 BPG

2.  Yi Jianlian        (CHI)      2.2 BPG

3.  Serge Ibaka     (SPA)     1.8 BPG 

4.  Nicolas Batum (FRA)     1.6 BPG

5.  Kevin Seraphin (FRA)    1.6 BPG

Credit:  London 2012 Website

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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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Brasil is set for London.

Marcelo Huertas

After beating Spain's team B and Argentina (without Manu Ginobili and Carlos Delfino) in the Eletrobras Super four tournament played in their hometown, Ruben Magnano, coach of the Brazilian national team named the 12 players that will officially represent Brazil in the London Olympics. The point guard positio duties will be divided between Marcelo Huertas, Larry Taylor  and Raulzinho.  Leandro Barbosa, Alex Garcia will spent most of their time as shooting guards. Veterans Marcelo Machado, Guillherme Giovannoni. and Marquinhos will be the small forwards.  Nene, Anderson Varejao, Tiago Splitter and Caio Torres are going to be alternating in the power forward and center positions.

Marquinhos (Left) Coach Magnano with Larry Taylor.

 Many are underestimating the Brazilians, they are one of the deepest teams in the Olympics, they have the perfect mix of veterans and younger players, they have a point guard that has been through every tough situation, a lot of shooters, post players and guys willing to do the dirty job.  Brazil also can play many different styles of basketball, they can play faster with Leandro Barbosa, Marcelo Huertas or they can play methodically dumping the ball to Nene and Tiago Splitter.

L to R:  Splitter, Giovannoni, Varejao, Garcia and Machado.

Brazil classified in the Olympics by coming in second in the FIBA Americas Championships last year despite not having players such as  Nene, Leandro Barbosa & Anderson Varejao. Brasil almost won the whole thing, but Argentina was able to defeat them. These are the first Olympics for Brasil since the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. This group is eager to get a medal, and coach Magnano wants to prove he can also win a gold medial with the Brazilians, he won a gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics when he was coaching Argentina.

Nene

There are three exhibition games left for Brazil before the London Olympics, they will meet the United States on July 16, then five days later, they will  move on to play France and Australia on consecutive days.

Source:  http://lnb.com.br

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Brazil is ready for the Eletrobras Tournament

The Brazilian national team has been practicing for the last 14 days, however, today will be the first time they will play against a different opponent than themselves.  The Electrobas Tournament will start today, they will take place in San Carlos, Brazil.  Greece, Nigeria, New Zealand will be joining Brazil in the tournament.

These games will be a good practice for Ruben Magnano's team to execute all the plays they have been working on and focusing on integrating guard, Marcelo Huertas, who joined the team earlier in the week,  Huertas,  a member of Regal FC Barcelona,  was resting from winning the ACB championship in Spain.

"I'm very motivated and with a great expectation to begin working with the group in order to dispute the Olympic Games in London. The preparation is an important part of our work, since we have a very high level competition ahead and we have to get optimal conditions, to our best, whether in physical appearance or even the tactical, "  - Marcelo Huertas. 

San Carlos is also Nene's hometown, he's looking forward to playing there tonight, his kids and  wife will be in attendance.  The last time Nene played in front of his hometown was so long ago, he wasn't even a member of Brazil's national team.

Source:  http://lnb.com.br

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The Brazilian national team is preparing for the olympics.

Ruben Magnano, coach of the Brazilian national team, is taking this opportunity seriously, he knows it's not easy to make an Olympics appearance and he's determined to do everything in his power for Brazil to get a medal.  After a 16 year drought, Brazil hopes to put their best team together and finish better than how they did in 1996, which was in 6th place and didn't get a medal.

If everything goes according to plan, this Brazil team will be the strongest they've had in years. Tiago Splitter, Nene , Anderson Varejao & Leandro Barbosa haven't played together in a tournament in years. In The 2011  Fiba Americas Championship in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, Nene, Barbosa and Varejao weren't available and Brazil still qualified for London, in the World Championships 2010 in Turkey, Varejao and Barbosa played, but Nene sat down with a leg injury.

With those four NBA players, along with Marcelo Huertas and solid role players like Alex Garcia, Marcelo Machado, Marquinhos Vinicius and Guilherme Giovannoni, Brazil has a chance to do something very special.

Brazil will play in many preparation games before the London Olympics, here's the schedule:


June 26-28  -  Basketball Tournament Electrobas
Teams:  Brazil, Greece, New Zealand & Nigeria.

July 5 & 6 -  Super 4 Tournament
Teams:  Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and another team left to confirm.

July 11-12 Four Super Tournament

Teams:  Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and another team left to confirm.

July 16 - Brazil vs Team USA
Friendly game.

July 21-22  -  Tournament in France
Teams: Brazil, France & Australia

Magnano hasn't closed the door on making changes to the roster, but he has these 15 players on the selection. Only time will tell if anyone gets injured or can't make the team for other reasons.

1. Marcelo Huertas
2. Leandro Barbosa
3. Larry Taylor
4. Caio Torres
5. Nene
6. Tiago Splitter
7. Alex Garcia
8. Marcelo Machado
9. Guilherme Giovannoni
10. Augusto Lima
11. Raul Togni Neto ( Raulzinho)
12. Nezinho Dos Santos
13. Vitor Benite
14. Marquinhos Vinicius
15. Anderson Varejao


Source:  http://lnb.com.br



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