2016 Olympic Games [Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug 5-21]

[Dtown]

There really are no gimme games in Group B. Nigeria's knocked off Europeans/Americas teams in the past. I love it, makes every game must see.

[usagre]

There really are no gimme games in Group B. Nigeria's knocked off Europeans/Americas teams in the past. I love it, makes every game must see.

Olympic basketball channel baby!
And this time it's time friendly for us.
1:15pm 6pm 930pm eastern start times.

[Mozart]

So this draw just fucked us. Basically if we want any chance to medal we need to finish 2nd in the group and beat France. I like the idea to be in group with USA, so that would take the pressure off and we won't have to feel like we are doomed in later phases. So finish 2nd in the group and then take care of business vs Lith/Croatia/Argentina whoever is 3rd in Group B. Finish 3rd in the group and we are looking at USA again in the Semis.

10.08 h 19:15 (CET) Srbjia - France

[usagre]

10.08 h 19:15 (CET) Srbjia - France

To me that game will come down to the participation of Gobert. If he's there I would make France slight favorite. If not Jokic will have a field day.

[Mozart]

To me that game will come down to the participation of Gobert. If he's there I would make France slight favorite. If not Jokic will have a field day.

do not forget that (hopefully) Jokic could have Boban Marjanovic on his side. unpredictable so far, without even knowing the rosters, but it could be the match that can determine the olympic games campaign for both team (see CoachZ post)

[SashKX]

My feelings about the draw have already been expressed by others here.

As CoachZ, I'm happy Serbia is in the same group with USA, but this will most likely be a tough battle for 2nd spot, probably with France, and that will be massive as Dtown said.
Also as usagre and R1ou concluded, group A has some heavy hitters on top, but also some not very strong teams, while group B is much more even and is going to be extremely unpredictable with more or less every match up.
Knowing how Spain always starts these tournaments slow, it shouldn't be surprising to see them and USA meet up in first knockout phase.

[usagre]

So this draw just fucked us. Basically if we want any chance to medal we need to finish 2nd in the group and beat France. I like the idea to be in group with USA, so that would take the pressure off and we won't have to feel like we are doomed in later phases. So finish 2nd in the group and then take care of business vs Lith/Croatia/Argentina whoever is 3rd in Group B. Finish 3rd in the group and we are looking at USA again in the Semis.

If you're looking at the big picture and possibly toppling the giant and winning Gold, playing the United States in the preliminary round could be a major plus. Spain in 2008 and Lithuania in 2000 both played them early and the then in knockout and played extremely well. There's something to be said about familiarity. I think the 2014 final can also help in that way. But on the other hand if you look at the 3 tournaments the USA lost with Nba players in 02, 04, and 06, all three times they were knocked out by teams they hadn't already played.

[R1ou]

Well just realised that we Europeans will have to face a situation like the football WC at 2014 with the scheduling.First game is supposed to be played one hour after the mid-night here(Croatia-Spain).Can't wait to post something if a blow-out happens in a night session game

[Mozart]

Well just realised that we Europeans will have to face a situation like the football WC at 2014 with the scheduling.First game is supposed to be played one hour after the mid-night here(Croatia-Spain).Can't wait to post something if a blow-out happens in a night session game

first match is gonig to be Australia-France @19:15 CET
we're going to have matches @19:15 @00:00 @3:30
Srbjia-Venezuela is scheduled @3:30 ;(

[usagre]

Unlike other years when there were 6 games a day followed by an off day, this tournament will have 3 games a day for 10 straight days. A hoop lovers dream.

[reamily]

Theres a chance Serbia would place 4th in their group avoiding any showdown with usa..

[reamily]

My feelings about the draw have already been expressed by others here.

As CoachZ, I'm happy Serbia is in the same group with USA, but this will most likely be a tough battle for 2nd spot, probably with France, and that will be massive as Dtown said.
Also as usagre and R1ou concluded, group A has some heavy hitters on top, but also some not very strong teams, while group B is much more even and is going to be extremely unpredictable with more or less every match up.
Knowing how Spain always starts these tournaments slow, it shouldn't be surprising to see them and USA meet up in first knockout phase.

You will play smart, and I expect a upset loss against australia or Nigeria

[G&B]

For me the top 4 for each group are:
1. USA
2. France
3-4. Serbia - Australia

1-2. Spain - Lithuania
3-4 Croatia - Brazil

Chances for medals gold/silver/bronze/semifinal/...not to fall into the semi-finals

USA - 78/10/10/1/....1
Spain - 10/45/30/10/...5
Lithuania 10/45/30/10/....5
France - 5/40/35/10/....10
Serbia- 1/10/10/10/.....59
Croatia- 1/10/10/10/.....59
Australia- 1/10/10/10/.....59
Brazil - 1/10/10/10/.....59

[Ayrfon]

Expectations:
-not qualifying to 1/4 finals- disaster
-1/4 finals- ok, but i'd be disappointed
-1/2 finals- great result and i think that should be our goal
-secretly hoping for finals tho

If i have to chose an opponent for Serbia in 1/4 finals...

Spain- worst-case scenario for obvious reasons
Brazil- second worst-case...very strong and unpredictable team playing quarterfinals in front of thousands fans...you can add a slight referee home court advantage...thanks but no thanks
Croatia- on paper weaker than e.g. Lithuania, but capable of screwing everybody's dream in one game, especially as our mutual games bring additional motivation
Argentina- farewell for one of my favorite generations in basketball...would love to see one last game against Manu & company...if we have to lose against someone, this would be the easiest lost to accept
Lithuania- great old rivalry... with all the respect for this country of basketball, i'd still choose them first rather than mentioned above (except maybe Argentina)


This year we play the kind of basketball that i enjoy the most...for many years i haven't been looking forward to some tournament as i'm waiting for this one

[SashKX]

@reamily

Not sure what are you suggesting with that play smart and be 4th to avoid USA, that Serbia might tank if we don't grab 2nd spot? If so, there's no way this will happen, for several reasons. One is that our team, and coach especially, are very proud and would never even consider something of that sort, it will definitely be a fight for every game. I mean, guy doesn't want to invite Boban simply cause he's super thick headed, he'd rather fail at the Olympics. Another reason is that 4th spot matches you with top spot from B group, which is not going to be a much easier game than meeting USA in semis.
Also Serbia has a really favorable game schedule, first game is Venezuela and then Australia, so we can start slow and build up for third game with French, probably the most important one, so team should be ready by that time. Next one is USA, I'd prefer China there, to have some additional rest after tough game with France, before facing USA, but I can't complain, we shouldn't be trying too hard to beat USA in groups anyways.

As Ayrfon here said, I think that semis should be the primary goal of this team, everything less than that would be disappointing. Semis are well within this team's capability as there is no way to face USA before that, which is IMO the only team in this tourney to be favorite over Serbia. Spain, France and maaaybe Lithuania are all on similar level currently and those games can go either way. Lithuania not talent wise, but they have proven to be fighters and a tough match up.

As for preferable quarter finals opponent, Brazil, Argentina or Croatia, they're all very much beatable. Perhaps I'd prefer Croatia the most, simply cause our match ups are always special and we have a really really good track record against them. Some Croatians have said that they'd probably sooner beat USA than Serbia the way our games have been going lately.