duncan228
08-11-2008, 08:38 PM
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080810/SPORTS/808100361/1007/SPORTS
Toughest hoop competition for Team USA
By Tim O'Sullivan
Argentina
Group A, FIBA World ranking: 2
San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich publicly discouraged his star shooting guard, Manu Ginobili, from playing in the Olympics for Argentina after Ginobli jammed his left ankle in the NBA playoffs. Ginobili, who was his country's flag bearer, would have none it. After the Argentines won gold in 2004 they were celebrated wildly in their homeland, which usually reserves such parties for soccer. Of course Ginobili wanted to defend the Olympic gold.
Ginobili has played sparingly in the warmup games, but reportedly he is healthy and recovering well, although he likely won't be 100 percent. With his San Antonio teammate, Fabricio Oberto, teaming up with Luis Scola (Houston Rockets) and Andres Nocioni (Chicago Bulls), Argentina is blessed with a versatile and talented frontcourt. One question mark is point guard Pablo Prigioni, who plays professionally in Spain and replaces Pepe Sanchez as the starter.
Unlike 2004, this talented group won't sneak up on anyone.
"There's no surprise factor this time," Oberto said earlier this summer. "We're up against the wall, because everyone knows they're playing against the Olympic champion. You can't just show off your gold medal and expect to win."
Spain
Group B, FIBA World ranking: 3
The U.S. might be the favorites, but Spain is the reigning World champions. The Spaniards throttled Greece, 70-47, in the '06 World Championship final. Pau Gasol was the MVP of that tournament and is a legitimate, world-wide superstar (even if he flopped in the NBA Finals). But Spain's real strength is its depth.
Guards Jose Calderon and Juan Carlos Navarro are both excellent, center Marc Gasol (Pau's younger brother) is coming on strong at the right time, forward Jorge Garbajosa is willing to do the dirty work and 17-year-old guard Ricky Rubio is the kind of precocious talent that might just blossom on the world stage. Forwards Felipe Reyes and Carlos Jimenez and guard Berni Rodriguez are the type of role players every team needs to win.
And don't forget, Spain is on quite an athletic run right now. It won the Euro 2008 soccer tournament, Rafael Nadal has established himself as the best tennis player in the world (even if he's still No. 2 in the standings behind Roger Federer) and Carlos Sastre just won the Tour de France.
Greece
Group B, FIBA World ranking: 6
This team is big across the board. No player is shorter than 6-foot-4 and four are over 6-10. Center Sofaklis Schortsianitis is "only" 6-9, but he's known as Baby Shaq in Greece for his bulk. Not only are the Greeks large, they're also confident.
"We have a very good team. We are second in the world and first in Europe. I believe we can win something here," power forward Konstantinos Tsartsaris told a Chinese news outlet earlier this week.
Shooting guard Vasilis Spanoulis had a cup of coffee with the Spurs during the 2006-07 season:lol and his 3-point shooting was one of the main reasons the Greeks were able to knock off the U.S. in the semifinals of the 2006 World Championships. He's joined in the backcourt by a pair of tough, savvy and, of course, big point guards in Theodoros Papaloukas (6-7) and Dimitris Diamantidis (6-6).
Russia
Group A, FIBA World ranking: 16
There's an American feel at the helm of this team. Coach David Blatt is an Israeli-American and point guard J.R. Holden is from Pittsburgh and played college ball at Bucknell. Holden never played in the NBA, but he has played professionally in Latvia, Belgium, Greece and, of course, Russia. He was the 2003 Russian Basketball Super League Player of the Year and, more importantly, he hit the game-winning shot in the 2007 Eurobasket Championship game to give Russia a stunning upset over Spain in Madrid.
The Russians are loaded with tall, athletic wing players, led by the Utah Jazz's Andrei Kirilenko, who was the '07 Eurobasket MVP. The 6-foot-9 Victor Khryapa and 6-8 Sergey Monya were both selected in the NBA draft and fell flat in the U.S., but have thrived playing in Russia. The 6-7 Anton Ponkrashov is a rising star. This team can defend, but scoring could be an issue.
Toughest hoop competition for Team USA
By Tim O'Sullivan
Argentina
Group A, FIBA World ranking: 2
San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich publicly discouraged his star shooting guard, Manu Ginobili, from playing in the Olympics for Argentina after Ginobli jammed his left ankle in the NBA playoffs. Ginobili, who was his country's flag bearer, would have none it. After the Argentines won gold in 2004 they were celebrated wildly in their homeland, which usually reserves such parties for soccer. Of course Ginobili wanted to defend the Olympic gold.
Ginobili has played sparingly in the warmup games, but reportedly he is healthy and recovering well, although he likely won't be 100 percent. With his San Antonio teammate, Fabricio Oberto, teaming up with Luis Scola (Houston Rockets) and Andres Nocioni (Chicago Bulls), Argentina is blessed with a versatile and talented frontcourt. One question mark is point guard Pablo Prigioni, who plays professionally in Spain and replaces Pepe Sanchez as the starter.
Unlike 2004, this talented group won't sneak up on anyone.
"There's no surprise factor this time," Oberto said earlier this summer. "We're up against the wall, because everyone knows they're playing against the Olympic champion. You can't just show off your gold medal and expect to win."
Spain
Group B, FIBA World ranking: 3
The U.S. might be the favorites, but Spain is the reigning World champions. The Spaniards throttled Greece, 70-47, in the '06 World Championship final. Pau Gasol was the MVP of that tournament and is a legitimate, world-wide superstar (even if he flopped in the NBA Finals). But Spain's real strength is its depth.
Guards Jose Calderon and Juan Carlos Navarro are both excellent, center Marc Gasol (Pau's younger brother) is coming on strong at the right time, forward Jorge Garbajosa is willing to do the dirty work and 17-year-old guard Ricky Rubio is the kind of precocious talent that might just blossom on the world stage. Forwards Felipe Reyes and Carlos Jimenez and guard Berni Rodriguez are the type of role players every team needs to win.
And don't forget, Spain is on quite an athletic run right now. It won the Euro 2008 soccer tournament, Rafael Nadal has established himself as the best tennis player in the world (even if he's still No. 2 in the standings behind Roger Federer) and Carlos Sastre just won the Tour de France.
Greece
Group B, FIBA World ranking: 6
This team is big across the board. No player is shorter than 6-foot-4 and four are over 6-10. Center Sofaklis Schortsianitis is "only" 6-9, but he's known as Baby Shaq in Greece for his bulk. Not only are the Greeks large, they're also confident.
"We have a very good team. We are second in the world and first in Europe. I believe we can win something here," power forward Konstantinos Tsartsaris told a Chinese news outlet earlier this week.
Shooting guard Vasilis Spanoulis had a cup of coffee with the Spurs during the 2006-07 season:lol and his 3-point shooting was one of the main reasons the Greeks were able to knock off the U.S. in the semifinals of the 2006 World Championships. He's joined in the backcourt by a pair of tough, savvy and, of course, big point guards in Theodoros Papaloukas (6-7) and Dimitris Diamantidis (6-6).
Russia
Group A, FIBA World ranking: 16
There's an American feel at the helm of this team. Coach David Blatt is an Israeli-American and point guard J.R. Holden is from Pittsburgh and played college ball at Bucknell. Holden never played in the NBA, but he has played professionally in Latvia, Belgium, Greece and, of course, Russia. He was the 2003 Russian Basketball Super League Player of the Year and, more importantly, he hit the game-winning shot in the 2007 Eurobasket Championship game to give Russia a stunning upset over Spain in Madrid.
The Russians are loaded with tall, athletic wing players, led by the Utah Jazz's Andrei Kirilenko, who was the '07 Eurobasket MVP. The 6-foot-9 Victor Khryapa and 6-8 Sergey Monya were both selected in the NBA draft and fell flat in the U.S., but have thrived playing in Russia. The 6-7 Anton Ponkrashov is a rising star. This team can defend, but scoring could be an issue.