| A Preview of The Men's Basketball Semifinals |
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| Written by Adam Miller | |
| Thursday, 21 August 2008 | |
 In Team USA’s previous match, Australia kept the game competitive for almost two quarters until Deron Williams hit a 3-point shot at the buzzer to end the half. However, the U.S. went on a 14-0 run to start the third quarter and took the Aussies out of the game. The Americans (6-0) are heavily favored to beat Argentina (5-1), but an upset is not out of the realm of possibilities. Argentina will have to make shots early while forcing Team USA to miss open jumpers. Pablo Prigioni and Manu Ginobili also have to do a good job of taking care of the ball to avoid the breakaways that lead to easy baskets for the U.S. Team USA will have a significant advantage over Argentina with Walter Hermann and Pepe Sanchez not competing this year. Most of the top Argentines are playing their last Olympic games and have shown signs of aging. The matchup to watch will be Kobe Bryant and Ginobili. Bryant has succeeded in defense against the likes of Rudy Fernandez, Vasileios Spanoulis and Sun Yue. Ginobili will surely be the most difficult assignment for Bryant as one of the best non-U.S. players in the world. Argentina’s floor leader is Pablo Prigioni. He is two steps slower than Chris Paul and Deron Williams, but he still makes plays. If Argentina plans to keep this game close, Prigioni cannot turn the ball over as easily as previous point guards have done. Unlike almost every other team the Americans have faced, Argentina will play man-to-man and rely on an inside-outside game. Argentina has its own version of Dwayne Wade in Carlos Delfino, a spark off the bench who can get some baskets quickly. Team USA will probably try to take advantage of the situation by doing some screen-rolls against Argentina to get guys like Michael Redd and Wade open shots. Ginobili will likely face some double teams as Prigioni isn’t too good at creating his own shot. Argentina is the only team who has succeeded in beating the U.S. twice. This time, Team USA should be much more prepared in avoiding a third victory for the Argentines. The next game is Spain against Lithuania. Lithuania (5-1) has lost a lot of momentum after losing its last game in pool play to Australia. Pau and Marc Gasol will likely dominate the post against Lithuania, who has no defensive presence down low. Linas Kleiza and Robertas Javtokas provide a solid inside-outside presence with their offense in the front court while Ramunas Siskauskas and Sarunas Jasikevicius are the main perimeter threats. Spain’s major question is how well Jose Calderon can bounce back from his injury. Ricky Rubio will probably get a substantial amount of time at point guard as he is very quick and a pesky defender. Rubio and Jasikevicius should provide an interesting matchup to watch as they are at opposite ends of the spectrum in their international careers. Rubio was nine years old when Jasikevicius was part of the first real scare for Team USA, bringing the game within reach in 2000. The last time these two teams faced were in the quarterfinals of the 2006 FIBA World Championships. Spain (5-1) handily beat Lithuania, 89-67, on the way to taking first place. Spain’s success so far comes from its depth. China surprised Spain in the second game of pool play, taking the game to overtime. However, Rubio’s defense led to an eventual 85-75 victory. In Spain’s first loss of the Olympics, the U.S. had hot shooting and didn’t allow the game to get close in a 119-82 rout. If Spain wins against Lithuania, it will be the second time in as many competitions that Spain is in the finals.         Set as favorite Bookmark Comments
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