Manu, Argentina lose opening game

[bigfundamental21]

For those following Manu in the Olympics....

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer...cap?gameId=763

Argentina 75, Lithuania 79

RecapBox ScorePlay-by-Play
1234TARGENTINA1119153075LITHUANIA1420172879Final




4:45 AM ET
August 10, 2008



Lithuania thwarts rally to stun 2004 gold winner Argentina

Reuters



Updated: August 10, 2008, 8:16 AM ET

BEIJING -- Argentina's defense of its Olympic men's basketball le suffered a blow when it was upset 79-75 by Lithuania in their opening game Sunday.
World champions Spain, in contrast, had too much firepower for Greece in its Beijing Games opener, rolling to an 81-66 victory.
Earlier, Dirk Nowitzki's Germany overpowered Angola, while European champions Russia thrashed Iran.
Led by Manu Ginobili, Argentina wiped out a 12-point deficit to tie the game at 75-75 before Denver Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza nailed an off-balance 3-point shot with 2.1 seconds left to seal a nail-biting win for Lithuania.
The Lithuanians, three-times Olympic bronze medallists, went 60 percent from behind the three-point arc in the second half to keep Argentina at arm's length until a furious late fightback by the 2004 gold medallists.
"I wasn't on fire -- I was just three for three [on 3-pointers]," an underwhelmed Kleiza told reporters. "It was actually a simple shot. It's very special to beat Argentina in our first game."
Ginobili complimented Lithuania.
"You got to give them credit," said the San Antonio Spurs guard, who scored 19 points in a losing effort. "They made some unbelievable, tough shots.
"It's not an upset in the sense that we couldn't lose to them. They're a great team and we knew it."
Guard Rudy Fernandez finished with 16 points in Spain's win over Greece, Jose Manuel Calderon added 13 and Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol had 11 off the bench in Group B.
"The first game of an Olympics is always the most difficult," Spain coach Aito Garcia Reneses told reporters. "But Pau Gasol is improving so the expectation is high."
Olympic hosts China were taking on the United States in a Group B blockbuster later on Sunday.

[bigfundamental21]

Here's some more coverage:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/basketbal...pion+argentina

Lithuania beats defending champion Argentina 79-75


By The Associated Press
Posted Sunday, August 10, 2008 5:02 AM ET
Photos

• Day 2 Images
  
  Images from Day 2 of Olympic basketball.

Related Stories

• Spain takes down Greece
• Germany routs Angola
• Box score

BEIJING (AP) - Lithuania upset defending Olympic champion Argentina Sunday in the opening game of the Summer Games for both teams.
Denver Nuggets forward Linus Kleiza drilled a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left to give Lithuania a 78-75 lead and Ramunas Siskauskas' free throw sealed the win.
Lithuania, which turned up its defense in the third quarter, took a 51-45 lead at the end of the period. Argentina had difficult scoring as San Antonio Spurs star Manu Ginóbili and Luis Scola of the Houston Rockets had just two points each in the period.
But Argentina battled back, and with 2:40 left, Ginobili sank a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to just four points. After a defensive stop, Ginobili bounced a 3-pointer off the rim, but Toronto Raptors guard Carlos Delfino was there for the offensive rebound and stick back to make it a two-point game. And with less than 90 seconds left, Scola's layup tied the game at 75-75.
Kleiza scored a team-high 13 points for Lithuania, the fourth place finishers at the 2004 Athens Games. Robertas Javtokas added 12. Ginobili led Argentina with 19 points, Delfino scored 13 points and Scola added 10.

[sassystriker]

wow, that's a real bummer.
anyway, forget that!
win the next!

praying for Manu and the Argentines to win!

[TMTTRIO]

Argentina looked pretty bad. Well the good news for the Spurs is if they don't get better Manu may be done pretty soon.

[TDMVPDPOY]

wheres the boxscore, whats javtokas stats

fukn gino chokes again

[Hemotivo]

wheres the boxscore, whats javtokas stats

fukn gino chokes again

ginobili was on fire in the 4th
but in the last play he tried to draw a foul -no call- and then a 3 by lietuva

[1Parker1]

Damn, that sucks. Hopefully Aregentina goes undefeated the rest of the way

[DynastyBuilder]

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer...ore?gameId=763

Javtokas 4-7fg 12pts 5reb

...

Honestly I wouldnt mind seeing Argentina go out in pool play

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

get used to it. Kleiza is going to beat Manu many times over the coming years

[DynastyBuilder]

[jay014]

Damn, that sucks. Hopefully Aregentina goes undefeated the rest of the way

Until

GOGO

[MiamiHeat]

eat and die argentine american traitors


GO USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Probably would have won if Parker would have passed him the ball more... oh wait.

[Texas_Ranger]

Hopefully Argentina will not go to the second round, cause I don't want Manu to get injured.

[Spurtacus]

Argentina played very poorly in the first half. Delfino kept them in the game with his 10 points of their 30. Scola sucks. What exactly is his game? Spin around and throw up a wild shot. Ginobili didn't shoot the ball all that well but he had a nice second half. He doesn't look 100% though. For the Spurs sake, I hope they get bounced in group play.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

I want Arg. to get bounced in pool play. Give Manu some more time to rest, he still doesn't look 100%.

[Trainwreck2100]

I told ya'll they was gonna miss Sanchez

[1Parker1]

Probably would have won if Parker would have passed him the ball more... oh wait.

[nfg3]

wow, that's a real bummer.
anyway, forget that!
win the next!

praying for Manu not to get hurt and the Argentines to win!

Still doesn't look all the way back. The Spurs don't need Manu to get hurt or we're in deep trouble this coming year.

I want Arg. to get bounced in pool play. Give Manu some more time to rest, he still doesn't look 100%.

Agreed. Manu needs more R&R. This off season hasn't been a steller one, regardless of if the Spurs could have make a better signings or not, and there are alot of questions to be answered. Big 3 all need to be healthy if the Spurs are going to make a run at the le next year.

[RashoFan]

Caught a little bit of the game ... I am glad I fell asleep instead of watching Team Argentina get defeated. Team USA is off to a good start.

[samikeyp]

Manu will get them into the Medal round.

[ducks]

Damn, that sucks. Hopefully Aregentina goes undefeated the rest of the way

yes


only a few more games and manu gets to go home

[ducks]

I want Arg. to get bounced in pool play. Give Manu some more time to rest, he still doesn't look 100%.

wow a manu homer going off on manu

[Showtime24 LAKERS]

Argent sucks, go USA!!

[pad300]

Javtokas 4-7fg 12pts 5reb

...

Honestly I wouldnt mind seeing Argentina go out in pool play

So who is better, Javtokas, Oberto or Scola. Playing head to head :
STARTERS MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
L Scola, F 28 4-11 0-0 2-4 1 5 6 0 0 1 2 4 10
F Oberto, C 34 4-6 0-0 1-2 4 7 11 3 0 0 4 4 9
R Javtokas, F 17 4-7 0-0 4-6 2 3 5 0 0 1 1 4 12

Playing only 17 minutes, Javtokas scored the most pts. Oberto was the best rebounder (on a per minute basis), with Javtokas a close 2nd... Javtokas fouled a lot, but Olympic fouls and NBA fouls are very different. Anybody have observations from the actual game they want to add?