Vart
Years ago
Group A
Argentina
France
Tunisia
United StatesRussia Nigeria
Lithuania
Group B
Australia
Brazil
China
Great Britain
SpainNigeria Russia
With the additions of Russia and Lithuania to Group A, our crossover game (should we successfully finish in the top four of our group), regardless of where we finish in our group is going to be a really tough game!
(Mod: Updated incorrect pools.)
Avv
Years ago
Anything less would be a fail other than a top 3 finish in our Group and thus avoiding what should be the USA in the quarter finals.
Russia and Lithuania are both beatable, we did it at Beijing so that's something to take from that possibility.
We really couldn't ask for much more draw wise, now it's up to the boys to step up in the games that really count.
paul
Years ago
Draw just finished, Vart your groups are incorrect:
Russia is in Group B with us.
Nigeria and Lithuania are in Group A.
This is the kindest draw we have had since... forever? Nigeria and Great Britian would be a danger to underestimate but you would assume we would beat them... China... easy beats id think with our full squad.. 3rd is really where we should finnish but we could come as high as second... Brazils far from unbeatable... very optomistic about the olympics this year... Our crossover will likely be one of Argentina, France, Russia or Lithuania... a hard crossover but far from unbeatable once again... Id be hoping on getting either Russia or Argentina, as Argentina is an aging power and Russia kinda barely made it.
Seriously dude, I think you are underestimating some teams majorly.
Either way this is gonna be a beast of a tournament and Im glad I ham gettin foxtel installed just days beforehand!
paul
Years ago
Group A - USA, Argentina, Nigeria, France, Lithuania, Tunisia
Group B - Spain, Russia, Brazil, Australia, China, Great Britain
I can only see the Aussies beating China in that group!
Vart
Years ago
Sorry about the stuff ups with the groups. I just assumed that 'OQ3' who were listed to be in our group was going to be the team that finished in 3rd place at the qualifying tournament.
paul
Years ago
Easy mistake to make, it wasnt well explained in the public material.
Cool, fighting it out with China and GB for last spot in our group which if successful will mean facing the USA in the next round.
I think people are being pretty pesimistic here... id say most of the teams in the group are pretty even and qew should dispatch GB and China.. and with any luck knock atleast 1 of Brazil, or Russia
how can you seriously say we will be battling with China they are an average team our second team could beat them.
Vart
Years ago
I agree with the overall tone being fairly pessimistic, and I'm not sure why. We should beat both China and Great Britain. We've got much more class and depth than either of those countries. We destroyed Russia in 2008, so shouldn't be scared of them, and I still maintain that Brazil is a 50/50. Spain will most likely beat us. So I see two wins, two 50/50's and one definite loss.
I am with Vart.. Support ya boys and dont count them out before theyve even hit the court!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think we should beat England and china and can beat both Russia and brazil. It depends on if we play at our best.
phil
Years ago
hope to see the boomers step up. we really will rely on the team gelling together and playing as a team. great to see my second team lithuania in finally. how do people rate their chances at a medal finish?
lol, i remember last olympics we beat lithuania, my gf ( born there) was in tears while my flatmate and i where jumping up and down lol. but i hope they do well in everygame as long as they dont come up against us.
Australia can be a surprising team we werent meant to beat russia and lith last time but we did!
our first game is against brazil. hopefully we can catch them off guard and score a big win first up setting up the rest of our tournament.
we should be looking at beating China, GB, Russia and Brazil!
2nd in our pool would put us in good shape for a medal game!
Yeah and 1st in our group would be even better!
Can some of you lot come back to reality please, I know it's school holidays and all but still.
at this level anything can happen. excluding the usa and maybe spain the level of talent each team has is pretty even imo. sure some teams have athletic freaks and sharp shooters but so do we. it all boils down to our chemistry and how disciplined we are on defense and boxing out.
Must agree... anyone can beat anyone on there night outide of Spain/USA... only China and Tunisa will be easy beats with GB being completely unknown...
I really think China is our only definite win. Our games against GBR, Brazil and Russia are 50/50s with Spain the least likely, though not impossible.
Have people seen GBR's squad? We don't really have a player of Deng's calibre in our team, and Mensah-Bonsu is a star in Turkey/Euroleague. Beyond that they have 4 players based in Spain's ACB.
Their 2 most recent results: 79-74 loss to France and a 78-74 loss to Spain. So by no means are they easy-beats.
I just think on paper it isn't unthinkable we could end up 1-4 in the group. Though if everything clicks for the Boomers we could just as easily go 4-1.
Vart
Years ago
Anon #369777 is spot on. I wouldn't be surprised to see us go 1-4 or 4-1. That's how close international Olympic basketball is now, and that's how it should be. Obviously I hope its the latter! All I really want is for us to win our first game for a change, and get some momentum going rather than play catch up like we did in Beijing. After 5 games in Beijing we were 3-2 but playing the best basketball of anyone in the tournament outside the USA, but as a result of losing our first two games we finished fourth and crossed over against the USA.
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