Jump to content
Phantis Forums

Basketball - Beijing


Recommended Posts

Greece whips Puerto Rico and goes to the final to face Croatia. Both teams have qualified for the Olympics and the final spot will be given to the winner of Germany-Puerto Rico.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 368
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Were never challenged in 4 games - I'd have to say we are serious contenders for a medal along with

the US

Russia

Spain

Argentina

Lithuania

and China

Gianakis has blended youth with vetrans very well

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greece will be in the same division with USA, Spain, China, Germany, and Angola.

So how many teams from each division move up to the knockout stages? I'm guessing it's the top 4.

If it's the top 4 teams, we really shouldn't have a problem moving out of the group stage. Angola and Germany should be beat no problem. The others will be more difficult, even China due to home court advantage.

Greece vs. USA and Spain will be fun to watch :tup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So how many teams from each division move up to the knockout stages? I'm guessing it's the top 4.

If it's the top 4 teams, we really shouldn't have a problem moving out of the group stage. Angola and Germany should be beat no problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

#3 betting favourites

Who will win the gold medal?

USA 1.40

Spain 4.85

Greece 7.00

Argentina 13.00

Lithuania 16.00

Russia 21.00

Croatia 67.00

Germany 67.00

China 81.00

Australia 81.00

Angola 501.00

Iran

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So how many teams from each division move up to the knockout stages? I'm guessing it's the top 4.

If it's the top 4 teams, we really shouldn't have a problem moving out of the group stage. Angola and Germany should be beat no problem. The others will be more difficult, even China due to home court advantage.

Greece vs. USA and Spain will be fun to watch :tup:

Yup, top 4 in each pool.

The other strong teams in our group are Spain, Germany, USA. You can add China as the host nation.

The heavyweights in the other pool are Croatia, Lithuania, Argentina, Russia.

Anybody know if any of Greece's games will be televised, besides the USA one, which will be on TSN in Canada and NBC in USA, I think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With doping ruining track, weightlifting and even swimming, the one sport I am looking forward to for these Olympics is basketball.

It should be interesting with our omatha having a good chance to come home with a medal

here are a couple of clips to get us motivated

Diamntidis on Paul

Big Sofo's dominance - bueno bueno

101-95

Greece comeback vs France

1 title

and another

And some motivation for Spain

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great highlights!

I'm watching the USA vs. Russia game right now on ESPN2 and the announcer just said "Greece is the best team in the world". And this is on American TV! :tup:

I like this announcer a lot, every game he is a commentator for the USA games he always says great things for the Greek basketball team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

#3 betting favourites

Who will win the gold medal?

USA 1.40

Spain 4.85

Greece 7.00

Argentina 13.00

Lithuania 16.00

Russia 21.00

Croatia 67.00

Germany 67.00

China 81.00

Australia 81.00

Angola 501.00

Iran

These odds sound about right, but I just saw some pre Olympic tourney the last week or so on tv where the United States played teams like Turkey, Lithuania, Russia, I believe Australia, etc... and they walloped all of them, I believe by an average margin of 30 + points. Does anyone know if these teams were not at full strength?

I have a hard time believing Lithuania, for example, is the fifth best team in the tourney based on what I saw.

Are Argentina, Spain, and Greece so much better than Lithuania?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What you were watching was a "friendly" pre olympic tournament and yes,USA was playing at full throttle since they are trying to errase the last Mundobasket failure but i dont believe that they can have many 30+ point games against the good teams in the coming Beijing Olympics.Still they are better prepared and when you have superstars like Kobe and Dwade saying that we dont mind coming of the bench and create some offence as needed,they are going to be 100% ready and focused for the gold medal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, that wasn't my question.

First, USA can't be in "full throttle", whatever that means, since this team has only been together a short time. Maybe in a couple of months, yes, but not now.

Secondly, Lithuania and Russia are supposed to be two of the best teams in Europe, and they were absolutely dismantled.

So my question are, were those Lithuania and Russia first teams? Were Lithuania and Russia not "in full throttle"? Are Greece and Spain that much better than Lithuania and Russia? It looks to me like Lithuania is the third highest ranked European team, and Russia is the 2007 Euro champ, and neither game against the US was even close. I have a hard time believing two top Euro side can get beat so easily.

I thought Lithuania and Russia WERE two of the better teams in world basketball?

In any event, looking forward to watching the Olympics. Looks like both Greece and the US have realistic chances of winning a medal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greece made 4th place in Eurobasket 2007 but played unimpressively despite coming back on 2 occasions. Having USA and Spain in Greece's division is a tough break. USA lost to Greece 2 years ago but its very rare to beat USA twice within a certain timeframe and Spain has beaten Greece twice the last 2 years.

Also, in the other division, Russia and Lithuania are there and thats also not good for Greece for Lithuania beat Greece, in the last Eurobasket, in the 3rd place game. Russia beat Greece in division play and are also the current EuroChamp. Call me pessimisstic but I think Greece will finish no higher than 4th place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Plato,

I'm not entirely convinced with this US team, either. I still don't see the consistent outside shooting or enough strength under the boards. That being said, if they decide to play defense like they're capable of, its all over, before it even starts.

The US has superb athletes who play the passing lanes better than anybody in the world with the likes of Kobe, James, Carmelo, Wade, etc....... They can absolutely smother you defensively.

I still think somebody can upset this US side if they're not on their A game.

I just don't see it being Russia or Lithuania, at least based on what I saw this past week. And while I'm pulling for Greece, we realistically don't have the talent to match up with the US. This US team seems much more focused than the one that Greece beat in the World Championships. So I guess that leaves Spain or maybe Argentina.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

to be fair, the US has been "focused" the last 2 tournaments about "getting back gold" ...

Defensivley, Greece is likley the better team, at the moment, best defensive team in the world, I am convinced. Whats to say, the Greeks do defense as a team and individually quite well. We press hard, we force turnovers we are complete. Physically in the center will be more difficult vs the big guys NBA has...but what an opportunity that is for Bouroussis to kick some ass and make a name for himself. Obviously skill USA always had the best but team cohesion of Greece is got to be the strength, particularly on defense.

USA probably win this year, but thats because only really Spain and Greece are any good as challengers I feel. Argentina is a wild card...But its clear Lithuania and Russia dont have it this year.

I still beleive Greece can win if they play one of their stronger games. Greek players when on their game doesnt matter their past experience, names, reputation or any of that s%$#! the NBA'ers think is the only important. A high percentage of 3 pointers is worth the same amount of points whether its Spanoulis and Dimantidis or Kobe Bryant and Caramelo Anthony shooting them. Theyre all quite capable and world class, weather they hit form that day is the most important.

Plato:

We were abysmal in Euro 07 and did not deserve even 4th. The team now looks fantastic....Better than in 06 IMO. No more Papadopoulos who was horrid, Bouroussis has matured and developed quite rapidly, Fotsis is back with vengeance, Kakiouzis is gone in favour of Vassilopoulos, Sofoklis is has gotten worse IMO, but hes not that important a player. Spanoulis also in the qualifying looks quite a player, looks like he has gotten even better in qualifying....Also Printezis is on the team who is a new fresh element, a tough player with a lot of energy....Another great option. Only mistake was taking Pelekanos over Perperoglou IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good assessment Drakos

I would have to say that Koloktronis is right in that Russia and Lithuania will have a hard time winning the gold medal, although I would not be surprised if they (or the Chinese or Aussies ) knocked off one of the big teams like Puerto Rico did to the US 4 years ago.

The US is stacked with talent but Spain has a very good team on paper also. Gasol, Calderon, and Garbajosa have all played well in the NBA. Gasol's brother is also tough and Navarro has NBA experience also. I just can't stand the way they play, diving and whining all game.

Argentina is also stacked and are defending champions, as you know. And of course our Ethniki is playing great ball right now.

The remarkable thing is that Russia, Greece, Spain and Argentina have all won major international competitions, where they have been pushed hard, in the past couple of years and the US hasn't.

This should be a very good tournament.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let me tell you who I think will win the medals in the Olympic Basketball, USA is without a dobut a monster team with the addition of Kobe Bryant. With him along with LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade, this team is fully loaded. They got stronger on the bench by getting Boozer, Williams (Deron that is), Prince, and Reed (who is a pure shooter). They are the overwhelmingly favorites for the gold.

But, USA has the tendacy to choke in big games like in a quarter or semifinals so they remain to be seen. ;)

I have a good feeling Greece will take home the gold with USA losing at the death for the silver, bronze could be up for grabs, it's either Spain, Lithuania, or Argentina.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apparently USA beat Australia with quite some difficulty in this pre-Olympics slew of friendlies in which they thrashed their other opponents.

I think Greece can take gold. I agree with all your comments except drakos' about Greece being abysmal at last year's Eurobasket. I think we played great, had to dig deep to overcome a huge, late deficit vs. Slovenia (shades of the 2005 thriller vs. France), but played great against Spain whom we could have beaten and maybe gone on to repeat.

In fact, I think Greece has been steadily improving since 2005, and perhaps destined to reach unprecedented heights in Beijing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...