2012 Olympic Qualifying Tournament

[Hepcat]

Martynas Pocius (11.5 points, 1.75 steals) better with Lithuania than with Real Madrid.

Naturally. Players are supposed to elevate their games when playing with and against elite competition at the national team level.

[JRS Bonnet]

See you in London: Lithuania (3-1)

An immense Jonas Maciulis (11.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists) was instrumental in Lithuania’s qualifications. Surprisingly, Mantas Kalnietis (9.8 points, 7.0 assists) established himself as starting point-guard. Center Donatas Motiejunas will be missed in London: Nigeria’s frontcourt feasted upon Robertas Javtokas (2.3 points, 3.0 rebounds) and Darius Songaila (4.3 points, 2.7 rebounds). Martynas Pocius (11.5 points, 1.75 steals) better with Lithuania than with Real Madrid.

[JRS Bonnet]

See you in London: Russia (4-0)

Arguably, Russia was the tournament’s best team and Andreï Kirilenko (16.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.25 steals) the MVP. Khimki’s Vitaly Fridzon (14.5 points) and Sergey Monya (8.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists) provided consistent perimeter scoring. Russians are praying that Timofey Mozgov’s stays healthy; Sasha Kaun (12.5 points, but only 4.3 rebounds) can’t be Russia’s only center in London. Viktor Khryapa (8.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.00 steals) keeps doing all the little things that make a coach happy. Not since Sergey Bazarevich had Russia such a genious/unreasonable/electric/turnover-prone point-guard as Alexey Shved (10.5 points, 5.0 assists), who had an outstanding game against Nigeria (22 points, 6 assists).

[JRS Bonnet]

Quarter-finalist: Puerto Rico (1-2)

Peter John Ramos (14.7 points, 6.0 rebounds) as Puerto Rico’s best player… who would have guessed? More was expected from José Juan Barea (11.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists). ALBA Berlin’s executives are certainly pleased with Nathan Peavy performances: 9.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists. Alexander Galindo put up a show against Lithuania (17 points, 6 rebounds) and “high-flying” Alexander Franklin dunked his way into basketball fans’ hearts. Daniel Santiago (2.16, 1976) was still very useful as a backup center: 6.3 points, 5.3 rebounds.

[JRS Bonnet]

Quarter-finalist: Macedonia (1-2)

The team was hampered by a weak bench: an eight-player rotation is just not enough. The geniality of Bo McCalebb (26.3 points, 6.0 assists), arguably the tournament’s top point-guard, was not met by a less than athletic backcourt. Macedonia’s NT needs to be renovated: Vlado Ilievsky (1980), Gjorgji Cekovski (1979) and Todor Gecevski (1979) should be thanked for their past services. If opposing centers fail to respect his game, even Predrag Samardziski (9.0 points, 7.7 rebounds) can score.

[JRS Bonnet]

Quarter-finalist: Greece (2-1)

Nigeria knock-out Greece from the Olympics!! Vassilis Spanoulis (19.3 points, 5.7 assists) and Giorgios Printezis (14.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists) weren’t enough. Someone should inform centers Ioannis Bourousis and Dimitrios Mavroeidis that rebounding is still legal in basketball. Kostas Papanikolaou came away with an interesting stats line (12 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists) though pumped by the game against Jordan. Antonis Fotsis (5.3 points, 1.3 rebounds) pulled an excellent disappearing act.

[JRS Bonnet]

Quarter-finalist: Angola (1-2)

A spectacular first half against Macedonia was Angola’s best moment. An immense Eduardo Mingas (20.3 points) and a solid Joaquim Gomes (8.3 points, 8.0 rebounds) were their best players. “Tough as nails-undersized center” Leonel Paulo (2.7 points, 5.0 rebounds) stood out on a weak bench: no one could stand-in for SG Carlos Morais (13.7 points) and inconsistent SF Olímpio Cipriano (11.3 points, 3.3 rebounds). Point-guard duties were assigned to “no-nonsense” Armando Costa (7.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists).

[guilherme.rcf]

The 3rd place of the A group might face Russia...

The only team that will have an easy quarter final is the USA. Everybody else will have to play the ass off to go through

[Tasos Peiraias]

If we qualify in the Group A with Lithuania,USA,France,Argentina and Tinysia
I believe that we will beat everydody except USA(and maybe Argentina).

[fasoulaki]

but I don't want us to get ahead of ourselves since we haven't qualified yet.

I used the word "Greece" as a synonym for any potential qualifier in my posting!

[christodoulou76]

Yes I agree. However the probability that Greece finishes 4th in group A behind USA, Argentina and France is not zero and then they would face Spain in the quarterfinal which very likely will finish 1st in their group. Facing Spain in quarterfinal will very likely have the usual outcome.
Of course if Greece manages to beat France or Argentina or both in group A this will give rise to a very comfortable situation in the quarterfinal.

But since group spots will be determined by a draw the team cannot choose the group....

Yes, I wanted to discus this issue (finishing 4th in Group A is bad, but 1-3 is good), but I don't want us to get ahead of ourselves since we haven't qualified yet. I look forward to discussions on these issues after the OQT. Also, Argentina (age) and France (roster absences) might be weaker than they appear.

[fasoulaki]

Any serious contender for a medal should prefer to be in the harder group. This leads to an easier QF match, and this is the stage of the tournament where one mistake leaves you out of the medals. So it is better to play in the harder group to ensure an easier QF match. Now, if your team is not a serious medal contender, and you fear that they are not even one of the 4 best teams in their group, then you should avoid the harder group.

Yes I agree. However the probability that Greece finishes 4th in group A behind USA, Argentina and France is not zero and then they would face Spain in the quarterfinal which very likely will finish 1st in their group. Facing Spain in quarterfinal will very likely have the usual outcome.
Of course if Greece manages to beat France or Argentina or both in group A this will give rise to a very comfortable situation in the quarterfinal.

But since group spots will be determined by a draw the team cannot choose the group....

[christodoulou76]

If this would be the case, one could think about tactical decisions regarding the results in the semifinals. One could think about loosing the semifinal on purpose to qualify by the next game to get a spot in the weaker group B in the Olympic Tournament.

Any serious contender for a medal should prefer to be in the harder group. This leads to an easier QF match, and this is the stage of the tournament where one mistake leaves you out of the medals. So it is better to play in the harder group to ensure an easier QF match. Now, if your team is not a serious medal contender, and you fear that they are not even one of the 4 best teams in their group, then you should avoid the harder group.

[interxavierxxx]

Anyone generous enough to upload the games online or share it for download?

[Tasos Peiraias]

Yes! This is how I understand this sentence. There will be an additional draw for the three teams which qualified througth the OQT which will decide if they will get a spot in group A or group B in the Olympic Tournament.

Oh,no,this not good TMO.