# Pre-Olympic Warm-Ups



## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Thought I would create a thread to chat a little about the pre olympic games so we can get a feel for which team is looking good. It can also be used to post highlights and give thoughts on actualy players. The bigger games (ones involving Team USA, as they have the most interest can have there own thread)

So I will kick things off with a real treat... Spain v Lithuania and Ricky Rubio showing Sarunas he really is THAT good...

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Lithuania 66:91 Spain 


Spain are tearing these games apart... The showdown between them and Team USA is going to be almighty.


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## BallerBlogger (Jun 29, 2008)

Ricky Rubio is going to be a star in the NBA.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

BallerBlogger said:


> Ricky Rubio is going to be a star in the NBA.


This Sir, is 100% accurate. 

Over this next year, he is going to lock himself into the number 1 spot for the draft. Maybe even as early as next month due to his awesome showing at the Olympics :biggrin: 

Where is the discussion in here? Do people want me to post all scores and whatnot?


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## el_Diablo (May 15, 2003)

lithuania (without kleiza & songaila) beat finland (without rannikko & koponen so we basically had no point guards with any experience) 90-62 yesterday.. I didn't see the game, but we led after 2 quarters, which is really surprising. the 3rd quarter was a massacre though (the liths finally started playing?), ending 37-6.

finland had 43-38 rebounding advantage but turned the ball over too much to have any chance. saras had 13 points with perfect shooting along with 7 assists. national team debutant(?) mikko koivisto (UNCG) led the finns with 17 points..


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

Will they be showing any of these games??? Channels??


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

CubanLaker said:


> Will they be showing any of these games??? Channels??


I can't help you there, maybe an America resident can let you know. Highlights of the games, and even some full games can be found over the internet.


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## Blue (Jun 21, 2007)

*Team USA exhibition schedule*
*July 25 8pm ET*.. _US vs Canada_.. Las Vegas, NV ESPN
*July 31 8am ET*.. _US vs Turkey_.. Macao, China ESPN2
*Aug. 1 8am ET*.. _US vs Lithuania_.. Macao, China ESPN2
*Aug. 3 3am ET*.. _US vs Russia_.. Shanghai, China ESPN2
*Aug. 5 8am ET*.. _US vs Australia_.. Shanghai, China ESPN2

Here are the Olympics Preliminary Round Pool groups. The top 4 teams of each group advance

*GROUP A* 
Argentina 
Australia 
Croatia 
Iran 
Lithuania 
Russia 

*GROUP B* 
Angola
China
Germany
Greece
Spain
USA

*Team USA Olympic 1st Rd. Schedule*
*Aug. 10 10:15am ET*.. _US vs China_
*Aug. 12 8am ET*.. _US vs Angola_
*Aug. 14 8am ET*.. _US vs Greece_
*Aug. 16 10:15am ET*.. _US vs Spain_
*Aug. 18 8am ET*.. _US vs Germany_

BTW, heres a video of Team USA putting on a show in warm-ups......Melo, Dwight, Bron, Wade & even CP3 all throw down some crazy dunks.

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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Thanks for the information, so you know we have a stickied thread about actual Olympic basketball :biggrin: 

Dwight really can fly.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Yesterday Spain whooped on Hungary 103-45. The Gasol wiped there manhood all over the peckish nation :laugh:

Boxscore 
http://baloncestoenvivo.feb.es/

For live streaming of there next game against Latvia click on the link below, it starts tomorow (30th July) at around 2pm ... ALSO - the link below has all of spains full warm up games 

http://es.justin.tv/lasexta6

Ok so link doesnt work for me in terms of streaming the live game (I might have the tip off time wrong though, so I will check back in an hour)

All of Spains other games are working perfectly fine for me though. So enjoy


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

China beats Angola 83-74. Yao with 21 in 28. 

Spain is looking mighty strong... I think they will be the biggest threats to the Americans.


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## aussiestatman (Dec 12, 2006)

Yao Mania said:


> China beats Angola 83-74. Yao with 21 in 28.
> 
> Spain is looking mighty strong... I think they will be the biggest threats to the Americans.


australia beat china and angola, who is next?

what are argentina doing to warm up?


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## Blue (Jun 21, 2007)

Australia beat China? nice.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Germany beat Finland (with former German coach Henrik Dettmann) 78-67 yesterday in the last game before the Olympics.


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## Mem-fizz (Jun 29, 2002)

Spain finished all seven warm-up games:
7-0

Spain vs Portugal: 84-35
Spain vs Russia: 91-56
Spain vs Argentina 90-88
Spain vs Lithuania 91-66
Spain vs Argentina 87-62
Spain vs Hungary 103-45
Spain vs Latvia 107-57


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Mem-fizz said:


> Spain finished all seven warm-up games:
> 7-0
> 
> Spain vs Portugal: 84-35
> ...


That's the problem with single elimination tourneys. Argentina loses by 2 in 1 game and then gets waxed by 25 in the rematch..

In 1 game anything can happen. Based on those scores though...Spain is fielding one helluva squad this year.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Mem-fizz said:


> Spain finished all seven warm-up games:
> 7-0
> 
> Spain vs Portugal: 84-35
> ...


Spain are my favoruites for the gold. They don't have the most talent but they do have the best team.


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## aussiestatman (Dec 12, 2006)

australia led argentina by 19 before resting bogut and was run down.

do you think they'll rest anyone when the bronze medal is on the line in a few weeks?

what odds are australia to win a bronze?


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Just came back from watching Lithuania v.s. Turkey (I got free tix for buying the Team USA tix). Turkoglu surprisingly played, and even took a shot in the face! But in the end Turkey really lacked guard play and Jasikevicius led Lithuania to a 84-72 win (I think that was the final score). Both teams seemed to get along very well though, so although the match was competitive for the most part you can just tell they weren't playing with the same intensity as they were against the USA. Hedo seems to get along with Kleiza and Jasikevicius very well, and again got the biggest cheers from the very small crowd watching this game.


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## Blue (Jun 21, 2007)

Yao Mania said:


> Just came back from watching Lithuania v.s. Turkey (I got free tix for buying the Team USA tix). Turkoglu surprisingly played, and even took a shot in the face! But in the end Turkey really lacked guard play and Jasikevicius led Lithuania to a 84-72 win (I think that was the final score). Both teams seemed to get along very well though, so although the match was competitive for the most part you can just tell they weren't playing with the same intensity as they were against the USA. Hedo seems to get along with Kleiza and Jasikevicius very well, and again got the biggest cheers from the very small crowd watching this game.


Wish i could've watched this game....How did Hedo and Kleiza play??


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Blue Magic said:


> Wish i could've watched this game....How did Hedo and Kleiza play??


Hedo actually game off the bench, and actually experimented playing PG for awhile. After not getting much done, he went back to his trademark step-back 3s and hit his first 3 shots. No one else from Team Turkey really stepped up, so the Lithuanian D started concentrating on Hedo, and he wasn't too effective afterwards. He played hard though, and came back with 3mins left in the game when everyone else was expecting him to sit out the rest of the way (esp. after getting cut in the lip)

Kleiza was solid, looked agressive offensively. Had the highlight dunk of the night off a feed from Sarunas.

Jasikevicius stole the show though. His passes are crisp, deceiving, and a thing of beauty. There was one play where he did a no-look pass to an empty space in the court - next thing his teammate who was running towards that direction picked up the perfect pass that just sat there, and got off the easy shot. This guy's far and away the leader of the team.


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## Mem-fizz (Jun 29, 2002)

Warm-up games, some interesting facts about the 12 National Teams in Beijing:

Best records(W/L):
1.- Spain 7-0
2.- Greece 6-0
3.- USA 4-0
4.- Germany 5-1
5.- Lithuania 6-2

Best ofence (ppg)
1.- USA 99,8
2.- Lithuania 95,8
3.- Spain 93,3
4.- Greece 89,5
5.- Germany 86,5

Best defence (points allowed per game):
1.- Spain 58,4
2.- Greece 62,5
3.- China 65,8
4.- USA 70,3
5.- Germany 71,2

Best difference (scored minus allowed points per game):
1.- Spain 34,9
2.- USA 29,5
3.- Greece 27,0
4.- Lithuania 21,4
5.- Germany 15,3


USA is the NT with less warm-up games (4); Iran played 14 and Australia 13.

Spain played (and won) four times against first level teams in 7 overall games (2 times against Olympic Champions, Argentina, 1 against European Champions, Russia, and 1 against Lithuania). They also have the most impressive blow-outs (+58 Hungary, +50 Latvia, +49 Portugal, +35 Russia, +25 Argentina and +25 Lithuania). 

Argentina played three times against first level teams in 9 overall games (2 against World Champions, Spain, and 1 against Lithuania), and lost all of them. They are not in shape... till now.

Greece won easily against good teams (+20 against Australia, +20 vs Brasil, +25 vs Puerto Rico), but didn´t play against the better ones (USA, Spain, Argentina, Rusia, Lithuania). 


So, I think the favourites are, in this order:

1.- Spain
2.- USA
...
...
Argentina and Greece, and maybe Lithuania, are in the second group. They could have a superb day and win Spain or USA, and play the final.
...
Russia, Germany, and maybe Croatia and Australia, are in the third group. If they are very lucky, they could play semifinals.
...
China.
...
...
...
Angola and Iran will take 11 and 12 spots.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Great post, thanks for the break down. I knew Spain had the most impressive warm ups just from watching the games, nice to see the actual stats back me up.


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## Perseas (Aug 24, 2006)

Mem-fizz said:


> Warm-up games, some interesting facts about the 12 National Teams in Beijing:
> 
> Greece won easily against good teams (+20 against Australia, +20 vs Brasil, +25 vs Puerto Rico), but didn´t play against the better ones (USA, Spain, Argentina, Rusia, Lithuania).


Thanks for the mention... not many people actually give any credit to the Greek team in this tournament. Just to note that those games you're referring to were not simple warm up games. These games actually consisted the last Olympic qualifying tournament so they really did matter. There were 3 places up for grabs for 12 teams. Greece routed every opposition on their way to securing a ticket for Beijing. So, although they were not the best of opponents, Greece (Like Germany) have a recent experience of competitive basketball...


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## aussiestatman (Dec 12, 2006)

Mem-fizz said:


> Warm-up games, some interesting facts about the 12 National Teams in Beijing:
> 
> Best records(W/L):
> 1.- Spain 7-0
> ...


i've seen so many posters underrate the australians
swap australia with either greece or argentina and you may have a better idea.
we have much better depth than argentina, who only have the starting five.
greece qualified for the olympics, and australia will beat them if they meet in either quarters or semis


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## Perseas (Aug 24, 2006)

aussiestatman said:


> i've seen so many posters underrate the australians
> swap australia with either greece or argentina and you may have a better idea.
> we have much better depth than argentina, who only have the starting five.
> greece qualified for the olympics, and australia will beat them if they meet in either quarters or semis


I also thought that the aussies are underrated... but I see the Greeks being mostly underrated too. I see the Croatians being a bit overrated in general. Greece's win over them by 15 points in the last warm up showed they are not the superpower they used to be. Don't be so sure about beating Greece though... They are a different team than the one the Aussies thrashed in Atlanta 12 years ago. And they have been up there in the top 5 in all international competitions for the last 4 years. Oh, and yes they did have to qualify for the Olympics. They play in EUROPE you know. And the top 4-5 teams in Europe rank right up there with Australia. Australia does not have to qualify because they are, well, the only mentionable country in Oceania in all team sports except rugby... :biggrin:


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