Topic: RIO OLYMPIC BASKETBALL ( Championship ) USA Gold Medal - page 12. (Read 8616 times)

agreed each positions have great players. defense and offense they got it. i can see the 3rd olympic gold for anthony and isnt it ironic that he still hasnt won an nba ring being batchmates with james and wade etc.

US won this game on talent alone. The offense didn't execute and the defense didn't force turnovers. Melo played fantastic and Irving played great in the 4th.
This team is still badly missing a playmaker to run the offense through. I don't think the US had a single easy basket in the half-court, while the Aussies were able to generate wide open dunks and layups.

Good call whoever said that the US would face some trouble. I doubted that would happen. I was wrong.
Australia has a really nice team and they exposed some of our flaws. It wouldn't shock me to see them again down the road.
What the hell is going on with Klay Thompson, btw? Man, he is looking rough out there. Unexpected.
Kyrie and Melo came through when it mattered most and when the game was nip and tuck.

One thing going for Australia is that they have been together for years already, while the US Team, as always, only has weeks of preparation for events like these. It is just that they have the best collection of players so even if familiarity with plays is an issue, a two-man game can somehow beat a team game even if it is played to perfection. Would be interesting to see which will USA's final match go against.

is now play USA and australia, australia game is fantastic and ekspolosive
and is able to confer resistance, though currently still lagging behind 10 points
Australia has the potential to win silver or bronze
before USA, australia 2win batle france and serbia

I think there's no way USA Team loses the gold. Australia will get silver and I think Argentina have a good shot at bronze so that amazing generation of players (Nocioni, Ginobili, Scola, etc) can ride into the sunset for good.

Im read this in a blog this is my prediction too.You agree too.

Gold:

This one’s obvious: the United States. They trounced every team in their exhibitions and they’ve got enough of a mix of big and small they should be able to pound teams offensively regardless of how they are defended. With sharpshooters such as Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony in the mix, the United States should easily pick apart zone defenses. If an opponent chooses to go man-to-man, DeMarcus Cousins should annihilate the interior.

Defensively, the U.S. can go big or small depending on matchups. Draymond Green has proven time and time again that he’s a reliable defensive center in small-ball lineups, while Cousins and DeAndre Jordan should easily handle the majority of bigs in the tournament.

Silver:

This is one is much tougher, but France looks poised to jump to the number two spot in the Rio Games. Outside of the United States, they have one of the best starting fives in the Olympics. Seasoned NBA pros Tony Parker, Nic Batum and Boris Diaw will be joined by up-and-comer Rudy Gobert and 2016 Euroleague MVP Nando de Colo to make up a formidable lineup. The Parker/Batum/Diaw trio should put on a passing clinic against lesser opponents while possessing the veteran savvy to control the pace in tougher matchups.

Gobert is the best defensive center in the tournament, including the U.S. bigs. The French Rejection makes even the best rim-attackers think twice before entering his domain. France will struggle against quick guards though. Parker lost a step defensively years ago and will struggle against the likes of Kyrie Irving and Spain’s Ricky Rubio.

One storyline to watch for France is the exclusion of Evan Fournier. Fournier opted to skip the Olympic Qualifying Tournament to sort out his contract situation as he was a free agent this summer. French coach Vincent Collet explained that he thought his backcourt was well balanced in the qualifying tournament without Fournier and that he wanted to honor their commitment to the team by keeping the squad intact. Fournier is clearly a better talent than many of the players on the team and his presence will be missed when France is in need of buckets.

Bronze:

Spain will fight with France for a place in the gold medal game, and may even prevail, but the absence of Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka will loom large in Rio. Coming off back-to-back Olympic silver medals, Pau Gasol remains one of the most skilled big men in the world, but his presence alone will not be enough to push Spain past the United States. Gasol will be accompanied by proven pros Ricky Rubio, Jose Calderon, Nikola Mirotic and former NBA player Rudy Fernandez.

Another player to keep an eye on is Willy Hernangomez, who will make his NBA debut next season with the New York Knicks. The powerful 6-foot-10 center should provide Spain with another NBA-caliber big to backup or play alongside Gasol.

Spain is a team full of capable players, but devoid of any stars still in their prime. Rubio is a nice player who first made a name for himself in the U.S. on the Olympic stage back in 2008, but eight years later he has yet to reach the potential many saw back in Beijing. If Gasol can muster an ageless performance for three weeks, we may well see a rematch of Spain and the United States in the gold medal game.

Honorable mentions:
Argentina: Playing with the final remnants of the Argentine golden age of basketball, Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola will have to harness the fountain of youth to make the podium in Rio. It’s possible and it would make for a great story, but it’s unlikely as Father Time remains unbeaten.

Lithuania: A team that consistently challenges the United States, Lithuania can play with any team in the tournament. Unlike a seven-game series in the NBA, all you need is one game in the Olympics to knock out a power like the U.S., Spain or France, but it’s a tall task. It’ll be up to Jonas Valanciunas and Domantas Sabonis, son of Basketball Hall of Famer Arvydas Sabonis, to bring the Lithuanians to new heights.

Source:http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/mens-basketball-medal-predictions

Have to say, it is kind of interesting to see the players who stood up and the ones that shrank when the pressure started really mounting tonight. I'm not going to get into specifics, but there were certain guys who looked as if they wanted no part of the basketball.

I've seen enough to say I think our 2014 WC team was considerably better constructed. I don't know if it necessarily had more "talent," but the roster made more sense.

WORLD: Olympic Games Women :

Belarus W     vs Turkey W     => bet for Turkey .
                   
   
France W     vs Brazil W      => bet for France .
                   
    
Japan W     vs Australia W  => bet for Australia

WORLD: Olympic Games MEN :

Venezuela   vs   China    => bet for China .
Brazil           vs     Croatia  => bet for Brazil
Nigeria   vs   Spain    => bet for Spain .

Australia is playing very well against the USA but it looks like the USA will win. USA are playing much better in this 4th quarter but I would not count Australia out just yet. It will be a close finish to the game.

It won't be big point gap between teams. Now it's middle of 3rd country and result is equal.

I dont think so. USA is very talented team. I think there will be a high point gap between this two team and ofcourse its USA. Their offense and defense are far superior than Australia but we' ll see if they match the athletism of this powerhouse team.

Spain looks bad, and now it's big possibility that they will need to play vs USA in quarterfinal. Main Spain players except Gasol looks bad. I think Serbia looks strong, and they can fight for medals. France is always strong. And about my native country Lithuania : we don't have stars (except JV), our main players don't play in strongest Euroleague games, but our main is team spirit and coach. We don't play very nice, but we won silver in Eurobasket 2 times in a row. I believe we can win medals.

USA v Australia ( USA -29 points)
Usa only give 29 points handicap, i'm not wrong seeing usa have tournament like ncaa so i think it would be easy games for usa win.

Serbia vs France win France with one point
Game was great and i enjoy in game

I dont think so, US will be superior in this match like usual imo. Yeah its hard for US to reach 100 points against Australia, but Im sure there will be big gap on the score. Well too bad to know Spain lost again, it should be the worst moment for them as the quite strong team in basketball.

Under 186.5 points would be nice as Australia have played well in the Olympics. For this game, I predict Australia would keep it tight and USA will struggle to get 100 points. Australia to win the handicap is also a good choice as I have a weird feeling this game will the first major upset in basketball.

Australia vs USA usually USA is hot favorite for this match, it's not worth to place bet on ML there but I think bet on under 186.5 points would be nice, bet on under points has some better chance for this match because both teams are playing very good.

Lithuania will be a problem if the refs let their frontcourt be physical with Pau. Pau is too soft but in FIBA, the refs don't allow the defense to breath on him. If he fights for the spot and they call quick fouls on Jonas, it's over. Spain just have too much NBA pedigree compare to Lithuania.