Your team's expectations for this tournament

[mvblair]

Probably you right - the differences might be overrated, but you can't say it's non factor at all. Let's remember USA 2004 where Iverson and Marbury struggled with outside shooting so other teams could compresse their defence against bigs (that's possible only in FIBA games) to keep such players as Duncan away from efficiency that he was able to produce in NBA. And so on.

This is not a function of FIBA versus NBA. This is a function of a sports culture that emphasizes zone defense versus a sports culture that emphasizes man-to-man. Remember, for years the zone defense was illegal in the NBA: it was the stupidest rule in the history of sports. Many NBA players still have the mentality that man-to-man is better in every situation. Some teams of recent years (San Antonio, Detroit, Phoenix, LA, Atlanta) have finally started using the zone at times.

[Picek]

It would be great for us to win the first game, so the players could gain some confidence for the tournament

second round would be o.k. by my standads..
ofcourse I want a medal probably like iranian fans do aswell but second round would do just enough for now..
most important thing is a good fighting team spirit that hopefully would be created inside the team..
Vranković as a player was always a fighter, never a finesse player but a true fighter.. I'm expecting the same from him as a coach especially considering he lacks expirience, knowledge and almost everything else top notch coach needs..
but if he could make his guys fight the same way my Cibona fought this season that would be a great thing for the future..
Ukić, Tomas, Bogdanović, xy, Tomić..
and hopefully everyone would be healthy..
too bad I can't go to Turkey to watch this

[Beva]

Josip Vranković released a short list of candidates for Croatian NT:

Hrvatska za SP: Roko Ukić, Zoran Planinić, Marko Popović, Davor Kus, Rok Stipčević, Marko Tomas, Bojan Bogdanović, Hrvoje Perić, Krunoslav Simon, Krešo Lončar, Luka Žorić, Vedran Vukušić, Stanko Barać, Leon Radošević, Ante Tomić, Marko Banić i Mario Delaš.

Bolded are the ones I would left out of the list... Thank god he didn't call Vujčić, Nicević and other veterans... Only one who will be missed a lot is Kasun, but that's his decision... All in all, I'm glad that finally some new faces will be there, especially if he takes Bogdanović and Delaš...

[L8DBACK]

By all accounts Chris Paul and Deron Williams will return, so USA should be set at point guard at least. It's every other position that's a question mark.

The USA Team is an entirely different team. Nobody from the 2008 Olympic USA Team will be returning.

[Dtown]

The USA Team is an entirely different team. Nobody from the 2008 Olympic USA Team will be returning.

Well yeah I know that now, post was made back in June

[Adon]

For Greece,anything below 4th place would be considered as a failure.Any win against USA or Spain (our nightmare for the past 4 years!) would be a reason to celebrate!

The golden is a difficult but not impossible goal.

[alermac]

Argentina will expect to earn a medal, or at least reach the semis again. Scola and Delfino will be the obvious leaders on offense, Prigioni and Nocioni will also be world-class players again, but the real questions are:

-How much can Oberto contribute in offense, and if he can take advantage of the smaller key.
-If Quinteros an Leo Gutiérrez will repeat their great defense and shooting performances when needed.
-How Hernán Jasen will blend in with the team in offense.
-How the rest of the bench manages not to screw things up.
-How coach Hernández manages rotations so fatigue doesn't kill our chances.

[Saskibaloia]

Australia's "Boomers" ...

I've been a fan of my country's national side ever since the Andrew Gaze-led Boomers squad of the late 1980s through to the 1990s. After 10 years of being in the "transition phase" from the Andrew Gaze era this tournament was supposed to be the moment that the new "golden generation" of stars were to show their worth prior to the 2012 London Olympics where it is expected from the Australian media that the Boomers are to aim to finally get a medal after the failure in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.

However, due to the horrendous injury of Andrew Bogut and the need for Nathan Jawai to stay back in the US to secure an NBA contract, this team without it's two biggest post threat could under-achieve.

I can only imagine the Boomers finishing either 3rd or 4th in their group and then only reaching the next round before being eliminated. If they reach the quarter finals, I believe that is a great achievement for the squad.

This will be the tournament for up and coming Patty Mills to show the international basketball world that he is one of the best young point guards in the international stage as well as for Matty Nielsen and David Andersen to continue to show basketball fans that they still have what it takes to take on the best post players in the business. However, I believe that this tournament most importantly will show whether or not the Boomers key swingmen: Brad Newley and Joe Ingles - both of whom play now in the tougher European leagues rather than the Australian National Basketball League - are able to be not solid but strong contributors to the squad especially since this was an area of question for the Boomers the last few major tournaments. If these two lads are able to blossom, this will provide the support for the quality post players of the Boomers (NBA Players: Bogut, Jawai and Andersen as well as European veteran - Matty Nielsen) the support on the offensive end that they crave for as well as on the defensive end, assisting point man: Patty Mills in shutting down the perimeter threat.

My prediction: Australia finishes 3rd in Group A, just above the Nowitzki-less German Team and gets eliminated in the next round (Round of 16).

[buterbrodas]

Josip Vranković released a short list of candidates for Croatian NT:

Hrvatska za SP: Roko Ukić, Zoran Planinić, Marko Popović, Davor Kus, Rok Stipčević, Marko Tomas, Bojan Bogdanović, Hrvoje Perić, Krunoslav Simon, Krešo Lončar, Luka Žorić, Vedran Vukušić, Stanko Barać, Leon Radošević, Ante Tomić, Marko Banić i Mario Delaš.

Bolded are the ones I would left out of the list... Thank god he didn't call Vujčić, Nicević and other veterans... Only one who will be missed a lot is Kasun, but that's his decision... All in all, I'm glad that finally some new faces will be there, especially if he takes Bogdanović and Delaš...

Delaš won't play 100%

[Alvertis4]

For Greece,anything below 4th place would be considered as a failure.Any win against USA or Spain (our nightmare for the past 4 years!) would be a reason to celebrate!

The golden is a difficult but not impossible goal.

We have to get that gold!

Beat the USA & Spain as well

Also it's on Turkish soil, so it adds extra incentive!

We can do it

It would have been a far greater tournament if all European teams had their best players participating(Argentina and Canada as well)
Don't care about the US team coz they have this "Olympics is what counts only" logic that nobody else shares :/

[Adon]

We have to get that gold!

Beat the USA & Spain as well

Also it's on Turkish soil, so it adds extra incentive!

Here they are 2 good but not best (gold) case scenarios.

1.Greece makes it to the finals without a game vs USA nor Spain.At the finals they play against Spain-again and they lose-again! Silver .

2.Greece loses the semifinal and plays for 3rd place vs Spain (or USA).They win. Bronze.

I confess that I prefer the scenario no2.We need a gold or a bronze for our collection
And a victory against the Spaniards.
I have begun to admire and hate these guys at the same time. They have intimidated us for long.Even at times they were not so powerful as they are now. As I recall,they had beaten us in 1987 European,in our home and at the same time we won against the European superpowers Yugoslavia and USSR !!!

Especially this great Spanish team make me feel frustration-much more than team USA.

[g.g]

Here they are 2 good but not best (gold) case scenarios.

1.Greece makes it to the finals without a game vs USA nor Spain.At the finals they play against Spain-again and they lose-again! Silver .

2.Greece loses the semifinal and plays for 3rd place vs Spain (or USA).They win. Bronze.

I confess that I prefer the scenario no2.We need a gold or a bronze for our collection
And a victory against the Spaniards.
I have begun to admire and hate these guys at the same time. They have intimidated us for long.Even at times they were not so powerful as they are now. As I recall,they had beaten us in 1987 European,in our home and at the same time we won against the European superpowers Yugoslavia and USSR !!!

Especially this great Spanish team make me feel frustration-much more than team USA.

Final against Spain and Gold for Greece. Sooner or later this bad tradition against Spain would end.

[Adon]

Final against Spain and Gold for Greece. Sooner or later this bad tradition against Spain would end.

From your mouth and to the God's ear

[Alvertis4]

I agree, Spain is the team to beat in this tournament so far, and if Argentina had Ginobili, them too.

The USA only has Durant, 3 very good PG and Granger as a shooter. Iguodala can be dangerous to most teams, but not to Greece's defense. Their big guys are not that great either(Tyson Chandler, Brook & Robin Lopez). They could have come up with a much better selection.

We might even see the USA faltering in the quarters if they face a good team there. Their players are new to this level/experience and didn't ever play with each other. If they had Kobe or Wade, I'd consider them favorites, but with just Durant doing all the scoring and Rose/Rondo trying to help, I can't see them being extremely dangerous(not eliminating their chances of course! They should be favorites but they are not intimidating me)

[mvblair]

The USA only has Durant, 3 very good PG and Granger as a shooter. Iguodala can be dangerous to most teams, but not to Greece's defense. Their big guys are not that great either(Tyson Chandler, Brook & Robin Lopez). They could have come up with a much better selection.

Don't underestimate Team USA, man. Yes, our big guys are definitely a weak spot, but no team will have better guards.

We might even see the USA faltering in the quarters if they face a good team there. Their players are new to this level/experience and didn't ever play with each other. If they had Kobe or Wade, I'd consider them favorites, but with just Durant doing all the scoring and Rose/Rondo trying to help

This team will not be the Oklahoma City team. They're going to have good offensive balance, I think. The team won't depend on Durant. I think the coaches will make these young players receptive to the team concept.

I can't see them being extremely dangerous(not eliminating their chances of course! They should be favorites but they are not intimidating me)

I agree. They could be eliminated in the quarter finals if they get a bad draw. But that's true for any team. And some great team (USA, Spain, Greece, Argentina, etc) will probably lose in the quarter finals because of bad luck. That's the game.

But no team is the overwhelming favorite to win. The level of play among the best teams is too close this year.