Are you looking to watch Lebanon vs. Canada or Russia vs Puerto Rico in the first day of World Championships’ group play?

Follow all the pool play matches in Interbasket’s World Championships of Basketball forum where we’ve created game-specific threads so you can follow your favorite national teams,

find out where to watch the game online, comment, and cheer along with Puerto Ricans, Angolans, Lebanese and other diehard basketball fans from abroad.  Check out the individual game threads below:

* Looking for Greece-China and the earlier matches – go here: Watch Greece-China Live in World Championships

It’s been a busy week for FIBA as they announced the four wild cards on Saturday, and determined the top four seeds for the World Championships of Basketball on Sunday.

Now the federation that overseas international basketball has announced the draw results that will determine the groupings for the 2010 world basketball event in Istanbul, Turkey.

The 24 participating nations were drawn into four groups of six teams each:

• Group A: Serbia, Argentina, Australia, Jordan, Germany, Angola
• Group B: Croatia, Brazil, Tunisia, Slovenia, Iran, USA
• Group C: China, Turkey, Russia, Puerto Rico, Ivory Coast, Greece
• Group D: Lithuania, Lebanon, France, Spain, Canada, New Zealand

(Discuss the draw results in our forum)

The draw was held at the the Ciragan Palace Kempinski Hotel, Istanbul, on 15th December 15th, 2009 at 11:30AM local time.

The draw was conducted jointly by FIBA and the LOC in the presence of participating nations’ representatives, “National Federation members, prominent public figures and members of the international media.”

The FIBA World Championships are held every four years and determines the world’s top country in basketball.

Led by 7-1 Russian pivot Timofey Mozgov, Russia pulled out a 62-59 win over Croatia in the first day of qualification games.

The 23-year old center, who came into the game having averaged just 8.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and accumulated 14 personal fouls in his previous three matches, collected game highs of 18 points and 8 rebounds in dominating the interior.

(discuss Croatia vs. Russia)

Vitali Fridzon and Kelly McCarty each added 9 points for the Russians.

Fridzon was key, making four straight free throws in the last 13 seconds to make the final margin. Croatia’s Davor Kus’ shot to tie the game came up way short.

The Russian squad is a young one, missing arguably the top five members from the 2007 Eurobasket team that won the gold medal, including Andrei Kirilenko, J.R. Holden, Viktor Khryapa, Nikita Morgunov, and Aleksey Savrasenko.

Croatia was led by Mario Kasun’s 13 points and 6 rebounds, and Marko Banic added 11 points and 7 rebounds. Zoran Planinić collected 12 points for the losing side.

Euroleague star Nikola Vujčić has been playing fantastic for the Croats, coming in averaging a team high 15.3 points, could only muster 3 points on 1-10 shooting vs. Russia.

Croatia is looking good leading up the 2009 Eurobasket tournament; taking the 2009 Efes Pilsen Cup by downing F.Y.R. of Macedonia 90-83 in the finals.

(Discuss the Efes Pilsen Cup in our forum)

Croatia was a perfect 3-0 in the tournament, defeating Germany (75-62), Latvia (96-81), and finally Macedonia for the title.

Roko Ukic led the Croats in the tournament, averaging 17.6 points and 5 assists, and was named MVP of the three-game tournament. Ukic who plays in the NBA, was traded from the Toronto Raptors to the Milwaukee Bucks during this offseason.

“I’m happy that we won (the Efes Pilsen Cup) again,” Ukic said, “but now we must prepare for the EuroBasket.”

“We want to take another step this year, more than in the past two events. Certainly we are one of the best five or six teams,” Ukic continued. “We want to go the Semi-Finals, try to take a medal and we’ll do whatever we can to achieve this.”

Team Croatia features a very balanced attack with Davor Kus, Marko Popovic, Nikola Vujcic, Zoran Planinic, and Mario Kasun. Croatia will play in Group A of the Eurobasket tournament, along with F.Y.R. of Macedonia, Greece, and Israel.

The 2009 Efes Pilsen World Cup begins today and will serve as national team preparations for the Eurobasket tournament.

Held in the Ankara Atatürk Sport Hall, six Eurobasket teams, divided into two groups, will be participate in the five-day tournament leading up to the European Basketball Championships to be held in Poland.

The six teams are hosts Turkey (Group A), Croatia (A), F.Y.R of Macedonia (B), Germany (A), Great Britain (B), and Latvia (B). Each team will play the other two opponents in their group.

Efes Pilsen World Cup Schedule:
26 Aug 18:30: Latvia – Great Britain
26 Aug 21:00: Turkey – Croatia
27 Aug 18:30: F.Y.R of Macedonia – Latvia
27 Aug 21:00: Turkey – Germany
28 Aug 18:30: Great Britain – F.Y.R. of Macedonia
28 Aug 21:00: Croatia – Germany
29 Aug 16:00: Classification: A Gr. 3 – B Gr. 3
29 Aug 18:30: Semi Final: A Gr. 1 – B Gr. 2
29 Aug 21:00: Semi Final: B Gr. 1 – A Gr. 2

Discuss the 8th annual Efes Pilsen World Cup in our forum or check out the official site here.  You can watch the games via livefeed on http://delicast.com/tv/NTV or on http://www.justin.tv/powerzone. If these links do not work, go to our forum to find the most updated information about how to watch the games.

Just images of some of the international players, and other players of interest, from the 2009 NBA Summer League.

[Show as slideshow]

Check out the pic of Blake Griffin’s jam and the Japanese National Team that participated in this year’s summer league. They played against the New Orleans Hornets in Las Vegas.

The team photo does not include Takuya Kawamura, the 6-foot-4 guard that was recently added to the Phoenix Suns’ roster for the Las Vegas summer league. Kawamura averaged 20.4 points for Link Tochigi Brex of the Japanese Basketball League (or B.J. League, seriously) last season. The 23-year old decided not to join the national team in hopes of making the NBA.

Pescara, Italy - Croatia took home the Mediterranean Games gold medal yesterday with an 82-70 win over Greece (discuss).

Team Croatia outscored Team Hellas 16-9 in the final quarter to secure their first ever Mediterranean gold medal.

Damir Rancic finished with 20 points, including five three pointers, and Ante Tomić contributed 13 points and 11 rebounds for Team Croatia,  Both Rancic and Tomić are in Croatia’s preliminary roster for EuroBasket.

Dimitrios Mavroeidis led Greece with 15 points.

Croatia has previously placed second in the Mediterranean Games, winning a silver medal in the 1993 Games losing to Italy in the finale.

Meanwhile in the third place game, Turkey didn’t need triple overtime to defeat Italy as they did ealier in the competition.  This time around, Turkey blasted the host nation Italy 88-71 to take home the bronze medal.

Team Turkey started out strong and nearly double-upped their opponents at halftime, 52-27.  Engin Atsür led Turkey with a game-high 25 points while Hakan Demirel, who played at Western Carolina in the NCAA, scored 20 points.

The Mediterranean games featured eight National teams Albania, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Morocco, Serbia, and Turkey.

Team Libya was supposed to be the ninth team, but withdrew from the tournament at the eleventh hour, forcing the organizers to quickly redraw the group B schedule.

Other mediterranean countries that chose not send a basketball team: Spain, Lebanon, France, Slovenia, Syria, and Egypt.

Links and Resources: Discuss: Mediterranean Basketball Games 2009 (Interbasket), Official Mediterranean Games Website (in English, not very helpful but it’s the official site nonetheless)

The 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Men are going on right now in Auckland, New Zealand.

The tournament runs from July 02, 2009 – July 12, 2009.

Discuss the 2009 U19 World Championships

The 9th annual World Championships for U19 Men features 16 U19 national teams from around the world.

The coutries participating in the 2009 FIBA-sanctioned tournament are Angola, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Croatia, Egypt, France, Greece, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Spain, Syria, and the United States of America.

Just as with the World Championships, U19 teams need to do well in a regional tournament to qualify to play.  Angola (2nd Place-Africa), Argentina (Champion-Americas), Australia (Champion-Oceania), Canada (3rd Place-Americas), Croatia (3rd Place-Europe), Egypt (Champion-Africa), France (4th Place-Europe), Greece (Champion-Europe), Iran (Champion-Asia), Kazakhstan (2nd Place-Asia), Lithuania (2nd Placer-Europe), New Zealand (Host Country), Puerto Rico (4th Place-Americas), Spain (5th Place-Europe), Syria (3rd Place-Asia) and the United States (2nd Place-Americas).

Link: Official Website for the U19 World Championships

Michigan State Senior Goran Suton recorded 17 points and 11 rebounds in the N.C.A.A. Championship game against North Carolina last night.

The only problem?  Michigan State got blown out in the finale, 89-72.

After recording only 4 points and 7 rebounds against Hasheem Thabeet in a win over Connecticut in the Final Four, Suton rebounded to shoot 7-10 from the field, tallying 17 points and 11 rebounds against Tyler Hansborough and the North Carolina Tarheels.

Suton’s 17 points were a team high and his 11 rebounds were a game high.

In his last four tournament games, Suton has averaged 15 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.  The center from Bosnia also shot 58.3% from three.

From East Lansing to… ?
Despite Suton’s play, the Spartans were never in the game.  And because of that, his 17 points were not ever that impactful.

“We wish we would have gone out with a bang, but it obviously didn’t happen … but I think we have to be proud of the run we made in this tournament.” said Suton.

The 6-11 Suton should also be proud of himself too.  His performances in the tournament are the reason why the Spartans were in the final, and the numbers he recorded on the way has already paid dividends.

Suton was named to the All-Tournament Team by Rivals.com, and was honored as the Most Valuable Player in the Midwest bracket for the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight rounds of the tournament.

Europe has certainly been paying attention.  Before the championship game, Suton was reportedly contacted by the head coach of the Croatian National Team, and offered the chance to suit up for Croatia.

A quote from an interview suggests that Suton may play for Croatia, “If everything works for me i will come in Croatia and I will respond to national team call and join senior program.” Suton supposedly told Sportal.hr in an interview (rough translation from Croatian).

Though Suton was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, he owns a Croatian passport and his father, Miroslav is Bosnian-Croat.

With Goran’s mixed ethnicity, childhood displacement, dual passports, and multiple citizenship, forums and message boards around the web have Suton representing Croatia in international play, or Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Serbia.  So who knows?

Whatever happens with his national team, the 2009 NBA Draft comes first.

Before the tournament, Suton wasn’t projected to be selected in the NBA draft by any of the major mock drafts around the net.  Now with his tournament performance in the equation, no doubt the 23 year old has opened the eyes of some NBA general managers and professional scouts.  Whether it’s enough, remains to be seen.

Ok, we feel like a Goran Suton fanboy page now. We promise no more Suton love for at least a week.

Links and Resources: Spartans’ Goran Suton finishes with double-double (MLive), Hasheem Thabeet vs. Goran Suton, Foreign Centers to clash in Final Four (Interbasket), NCAA zvijezda: Odazvat ću se pozivu hrvatske reprezentacije (Sportal.hr), Rivals.com All-Tournament Team (Rivals.com), March Madness’ Best Players: Reranked (Interbasket), Top Ten International Players to Watch during March Madness (Interbasket)

The Olympic basketball’s final four has been determined, and there are no surprises as Argentina, Lithuania, Spain, and the USA, the top four seeds going into the round have advanced.

The four teams have a combined record of 21-3 with the United States the only undefeated team left in the field.  Argentina, Lithuania and Spain are each 5-1.

To watch the games live, you’ll have to determine whom is your local official Olympic partner.

August 22, 2008 Game Times
20:00: Spain vs Lithuania (discuss the game)
Watch Live in Argentina, Lithuania, Spain, USA

22:15: Argentina vs. USA (discuss the game)
Watch Live in Argentina, Lithuania, Spain, USA

If the above providers don’t work, click here to find your specific local partner in your region or country.

Olympic Basketball Quarterfinal Recaps:
Spain defeated Croatia 72-59 behind 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots from Pau Gasol.  As with their two other losses previous to this game, the Croatians couldn’t find the mark from three, shooting only 5-17.  Marko Banic led the Croatians with 15 points.   Felipe Reyes chipped in 13 and Jose Calderon added 10 for the Spanish team.

Lithuania put away host China in the second match of the day 94-68.  The game was only a two point difference after one, and from there the Lithuanians pulled away with each subsequent quarter, outscoring the Chinese team by 9, 6, and 9.  Sarunas Jasikevicius hit 5-6 threes, scored 23 points, and dished out 6 assists.  Linas Kleiza and Ramaunas Siskauskas added 15 each.  Team China was led by Yao Ming 19 points and 7 rebounds, while Yi Jianlian added 11 points and 9 rebounds.

The Aussies kept up with the Americans, keeping tight after one, and only down 12 at half.  That was until Team USA used a 14-point run to start the third that opened up the game.  Kobe Bryant scored 25 points for the Americans in his first game of the tournament in which he shot better than 50% from the field.  Lebron James added 16 points and 9 rebounds, and Carmelo Anthony scored 15 for the USA.  Patrick Mills was amazing again against the Americans, the speedy 5-11 guard scored 20 points with 3 steals.  Glen Saville socred 13, and Joe Ingles added 11 hitting all four of his shots.

Everyone expected the Argentina-Greece match to be the most competitive, and they were right.  Behind Carlos Delfino’s 15 fourth quarter points, great individual defense by Pablo Prigioni, and Manu Ginobili scoring Argentina’s final seven points, the defending Olympic Champions held off Greece 80-78.  Greece had a stretch in which they threw the ball away three consecutive possessions, allowing the Argentinians to build a lead before riding some hot three-point shooting back into the game.  Ginobili’s layup put Argentina up 5 with 46 seconds left, Greece’s Panagiotis Vasilopoulos banked in a three.  And after a missed three by Ginobili on the other end, Vasileios Spanoulis dribbled up-court, shot a straight-away three that was just short to make the final margin.

Manu Ginobili led Argentina with 24 points, hitting 6-13 threes.  Carlos Delfino scored 23, Luis Scola had 11 points and 8 rebounds and Pablo Prigioni added 7 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists.  For Team Hellas, Antonis Fotsis led the Greeks with a double-double (17 points and 10 rebounds) and received some surprise offensive contribution from Konstatinos Tsartsaris with 13 points.  Tsartsaris had scored only 9 points total in the five games previous.  Ioannis Bouroussis remained solid again with 12 and 3 rebounds.

Links and Resources: Watch Olympic Basketball Live Online (interbasket), NBC Olympics Live Basketball Coverage (NBC Olympics),

The Olympic basketball quarterfinals are less than a day away with the four best teams from each group advancing onto the next round.  The four quarterfinal games are Spain vs. Croatia in the first game,  Lithuania vs China, Argentina vs. Greece, and the United States vs. Australia.

Are you searching the internet to watch the USA vs. Australia game live?  Look no further, if you are in the USA, click here to access NBC Olympics, in Australia, go to au.sports.yahoo.com.  If you are in Europe, you’ll likely find what you want on EuroVisionSports.tv.  If you live outside these regions, click here.

August 20, 2008 Game Times
14:30: Spain vs. Croatia Live Online
16:45: Lithuania vs. China Live Online
20:00: Argentina vs. Greece Live Online
22:15: USA vs. Australia Live Online

In the first game of the quarterfinals pits Spain against Croatia.  Spain (4-1).  In their pool play, Croatia has lived and died by the three thus far.  In their three wins, they’ve shot 62.5% from three (30-48), and only 25% in their two losses (8-32).

The second game features Lithuania, the Group A winner, taking on host China, whom are coached by a Lithuanian, Jonas Kazlauskas.

In probably what will be the toughest matchup in the quarterfinals, Argentina squares off against Greece.  Both teams are excellent defensive teams, as Argentina is second in points against and Greece is third.

After losing to Lithuania, Argentina (4-1) ended the tournament with four straight wins defeating their opponents by an average of 17 points per win.  Manu led Olympic pool play in scoring at19.6 per, while Luis Scola was third in scoring with 19.2 points per game.  As a team, Argentina turned the ball over the least in the tournament.

Greece doesn’t have any players in the top-10 in scoring, as they take a combined approach on both the offensive and defensive side.  They managed three wins in a up-and-down tournament with a couple disappointing losses to Spain and the United States.  Ioannis Bouroussis has been solidly efficient in the middle for Hellas, Vassilis Spanoulis leads them in scoring with 15.4, with solid contributions from Antonis Fotsis, Theodoros Papaloukas, and Nikos Zisis.

Outside of Argentina, the hottest teams in the tournament will be playing against each other.  The United States and Australia will duel in the last game of the Olympic quarterfinals.  The US hasn’t lost a game (5-0), and are the only team to get out of pool play undefeated.  Australia (3-2) lost their first two games, got their act together won their final three games, as they throttled Iran, Russia, and Lithuania, by an average of 28 points.  Bogut has really come alive in the last two, averaging 22.5 points and has shot 5-6 from three.  The Aussies are shooting 52% from downtown and have hit 41 threes in their wins.

Some of you may remember that the Boomers were the ones that gave the Americans their closest game in nearly two years during their final preliminary game on August 6th.  Bogut sat out that game and he watched Patrick Mills, Chris Anstey, and David Barlow challenge the United States before finally falling 87-76.

“What (the USA has) done and where you see them can intimidate a lot of people,” Anstey said. “I think to come into a game intimidated you’ve given up before you start…”

What to say about Team USA?  They’ve steamrolled the competition even with their chief competitors in the same bracket, winning all five pool games by an average of 32.2 points, including a 37-point blowout of Spain and a 49-point destruction of Germany.  They lead the competition in points scored, but not one player has scored more than 22 points in a game.

“I think (the USA is) unbeatable,” said German coach Dirk Bauermann. “I don’t even think it’s going to be close. I would be surprised if anyone can even give them a game.”

Don’t tell that to Chris Anstey and Australia.

Links and Resources: NBC Olympics Live Basketball Coverage (NBC Olympics), Quarter-finals: Argentina vs Greece (Interbasket), Quarter-finals: USA vs Australia (Interbasket), Quarter-finals: Lithuania vs China (Interbasket), Quarter-finals: Spain vs Croatia (Interbasket), German Basketball Coach Says Americans Are Unbeatable (New York Times)

Searching for replays of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Basketball games in their entirety?

If you are in the United States then you’ve come to the right place.  You can go to NBC Olympics.com coverage or click here to go directly to the page.

NBC Olympics.com offers replays of most all the Olympic Basketball games.

On their site, you’ll find the Olympic basketball schedule for both Mens and Womens.  Expand the date in which the game was played.  For example, if you are looking for the USA-Spain replay, expand August 16th by clicking on the + sign next to the date.  From there, click on “Rewind” and you should be able to enjoy the entire replay.

I’ve directly linked replays of some Olympic basketball games available on NBC Olympics below:

August 10: USA vs. China Replay (Replay Now)
August 10: Australia vs. Croatia Replay (Replay Now)

August 12: Croatia vs. Russia Replay (Replay Now)
August 12: Greece vs. Germany Replay (Replay Now)
August 12: Angola vs. USA Replay (Replay Now)
August 12: Argentina vs. Australia Replay (Replay Now)

August 14: Germany vs. Spain Replay (Replay Now)
August 16: Australia vs. Iran Replay (Replay Now)
August 14: Angola vs. China Replay (Replay Now)

August 16: Australia vs. Russia Replay (Replay Now)
August 16: Croatia vs. Lithuania Replay (Replay Now)
August 16: Argentina vs. Iran Replay (Replay Now)
August 16: China vs. Germany Replay (Replay Now)
August 16: USA vs. Spain Replay (Replay Now)

If you are in Europe and looking for replays, you’ll likely find the replays you want on EuroVisionSports.tv.  If you live outside these two regions, click here.

Links and Resources: NBC Olympics Basketball Coverage (NBC Olympics), USA vs Spain Replay (NBC Olympics) China vs. Germany Replay (NBC Olympics), 2008 Beijing Olympics (Official Site)

Looking to watch USA vs. Germany Olympic Basketball game live or the Australia Lithuania online match?   Or are you just looking for a replay?  Look no further, if you are in the USA, click here.  If you are in Europe, you’ll likely find what you want on EuroVisionSports.tv.  If you live outside these regions, click here.

The fifth and final day of pool play starts August 18th, 09:00am local Beijing time.  You can watch the games live online, find out which official sites are streaming the Greece-China game here.  You’ll find the Olympic basketball day five schedule below, with a link to our forum next to each game.  The link leads to a  message board that previews, predicts the score, and play by play action with fans from around the globe.

August 18, 2008 Game Times
09:00 : Iran vs. Croatia Live Online
11:15 : Australia vs. Lithuania Live Online
14:30 : Greece vs. China Live Online
16:45 : Angola vs. Spain Live Online
20:00 : USA vs. Germany Live Online
22:15 : Argentina vs. Russia Live Online

None of today’s games have any qualification implications as the four teams from each group have essentially been determined.  With the two top teams in both groups already decided, only the seeding of the teams in 3rd and 4th place is yet to be determined. Without getting too much into if-thens, the eight teams going on the next round will look like this:

Group A: Lithuania (4-0), Argentina (3-1), Croatia (2-2), Australia (2-2)   Out: Russia (1-3), Iran (0-4)
In group A, Lithuania and Argentina advance on their overall record.  Croatia and the Aussies are also in, even though the chance that the two teams and Russia could all end up 2-3.  Even if Russia wins their game tomorrow against Argentina and Australia and Croatia both lose, the three-way tie would still have Russia being eliminated because they lost both head to head games against the Boomers and Croatia.

Group B: USA (4-0), Spain (3-1), Greece (2-2), China (2-2)    Out: Germany (1-3), Angola (0-4)
In Group B, the United States and Spain move forward with their overall records.  Greece and China will both move.  Despite the unlikely chance that the Germans will beat the USA in their final game.  And even with the two teams that Germany is chasing, China and Greece, playing each other tomorrow, both teams have the tiebreaker over Deutschland.

The Basketball Quarterfinals will look like this:
August 20th: Spain vs. A3
August 20th: Lithuania vs. B4
August 20th: Argentina vs. B3
August 20th: USA vs. A4

With all that said, the most interesting match will be the Boomers taking on Lithuania in the second match of the day.  Lithuania has the chance to go into the quarterfinals unbeaten, while the Aussies can continue their momentum by unseating a less-motivated Lith team, whom has sewn up the #1 spot.

Another interesting game will pit hosts China against Greece.  Though the Chinese have already advanced, their goal is to improve (and not to be embarrassed at home), so look for them to try to make a statement.  Not to mention the winner of the game receives the third seed, which will be either Lithuania or Argentina.

Links and Resources: Group A, day 5: Argentina vs Russia (Game Thread), Group B, day 5: USA vs Germany (Game Live), Group B, day 5: Angola vs Spain (Interbasket), Group B, day 5: Greece vs China (Interbasket Game Thread), Group A, day 5: Australia vs Lithuania (Interbasket)

** This is the pool play game post between USA and Spain, looking for the Gold Medal Game?  Click here. ***

Looking to watch USA vs. Spain Olympic Basketball game?   Or if you’re just waking up, looking for the USA-Spain replay?  Look no further, if you are in the USA, click here for the entire day’s schedule.  If you live outside the USA, click here.

The fourth day of Olympic Basketball starts August 16th local Beijing time. You can watch the games live online, find out which official sites is streaming the USA-Spain game here.  You can find a Olympic basketball day four schedule below, with a link to our forum which provides a message board, preview, prediction and play by play action with fans from around the globe.

August 16, 2008 Game times
09:00 : Angola vs. Greece >> Comment Online >> (Watch Replay)
11:15 : Russia vs. Australia >> Comment Online >> (Watch Replay)
14:30 : Croatia vs. Lithuania >> Comment Online >> (Watch Replay)
16:45 : Argentina vs. Iran >> Discuss Online >> (Watch Replay)
20:00 : Germany vs. China >> Discuss Online >> (Watch Replay)
22:15 : Spain vs. USA >> Discuss Online >> (Watch Replay)

In Group A, the most significant games are Russia vs. Australia and Croatia taking on Lithuania.  In the second game of the day, we have the Russians (1-2) and Aussies (1-2) each with only one win, and the only two teams with this record in Group A.  This game could play critical in deciding which team will advance to the next round.

In the third game of day four, Croatia (2-1) takes on Lithuania (3-0).  Lithuania has a chance to solidify first place in group A with a win, and with a Croatia win, they’ll likely cause a three way tie for first by giving Lithuania their first loss, and with the likely outcome of Argentina (2-1) defeating Iran.

The last two games of the day are the two biggest of the day. Germany vs. China in game five and Spain vs. USA in the last game of day four.  With China (1-2) and Germany (1-2) each defeating Angola for their sole win in the tournament, this will be a key game for both in moving on to the quarterfinals.  Germany’s remaning game comes against the US, China’s comes vs. Greece.

The final game of the day is Spain versus USA, which pits the undisputed two favorites against each other.  The Redeem Team has been rolling through the Olympics, while the Spanish are unbeaten, they’ve had their share of bumps in the road (being down 15 to China, controversial advertisement).  Still, this promises to be a great game that features 19 former and current NBA players.

The key will be how effective and focused the USA comes out on defense.  The Americans will find it much harder to fluster the likes of Jose Calderon, Raul Lopez, and Juan Carlos Navarro, and the Spanish will find that the USA recovers a lot quicker on defense when and if they’re not gambling for steals.   If the US starts reverts to playing the passing lanes, it could spell trouble as the Americans won’t find a better-prepared backcourt in the OIympics.  This one is the one to watch.

Links and Resources: Watch Spain vs. USA Live (NBC OLympics), Group B, day 4: Spain vs USA (Olympic Basketball Message Board), Group B, day 4:China vs Germany (Basketball Forum), Group A, day 4: Iran vs Argentina (Olympic Forum), Group A, day 4: Croatia vs Lithuania (Interbasket), Group A, day 4: Russia vs Australia (International Basketball Forum), Group B, day 4: Greece vs Angola (Interbasket)

Are you following the Olympic basketball games live and would like to comment on the games with fans from around the world?  If yes, check out the Olympic basketball day two schedule below and click on the appropriate game to follow along with basketball fans from around the globe.  Or are you just looking to watch the Olympic matches live on your computer?  If so, click here.

August 12, 2008 Game Times:
09:00 : Group A, day 2: Iran vs Lithuania Live Online
11:15 : Group A, day 2: Croatia vs Russia Live Online
14:30 : Group B, day 2: Greece vs Germany Live Online
16:45 : Group B, day 2: China vs Spain Live Online
20:00 : Group B, day 2: Angola vs USA Live Online
22:15 : Group A, day 2: Argentina vs Australia (Live Online)

Lithuania looks to get their second win over Iran (0-1) in the first game of day two.  The second match will pit two undefeated Group A teams in Croatia and Russia, while Greece hopes to notch their first win against Germans, whom handily defeated an Angolan squad two days ago.  Host team China looks for a better showing against Spain, as does Angola vs. the United States, though neither is likely to get their first wins.  Argentina and Australia are both coming off tough losses and are searching for answers in the last match of day two, unfortunately, only one will come up with more answers than questions.

Links and Resources: Where to watch Olympic Basketball Online? (interbasket), Olympic Basketball Day One (interbasket), Day one recaps: USA, Spain, Lithuania win (Interbasket), Official Beijing Olympics Basketball Schedule (Beijing2008), Group A, day 2: Argentina vs Australia (Olympic Basketball Message Board), Group B, day 2: Angola vs USA (Basketball Forum), Group B, day 2: China vs Spain (Interbasket), Group B, day 2: Greece vs Germany (Interbasket Game Thread), Group A, day 2: Croatia vs Russia (Game Thread), Group A, day 2: Iran vs Lithuania (Fiba Game Discussion)