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Olympic Basketball: Men's tournament preview, best odds, promotions and predictions |
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Saturday, 28 July 2012 |
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The crown jewel of international hoops has arrived, as the Olympic men's basketball tournament tips off on July 30 in London. The United States enter the London Olympics as highly regarded and justified favourites. Who can beat them? Read our betting preview, find the best odds, predictions and recommended bets.
The field of 12 teams is split into two groups of six. Group play consists of five round-robin games. The top four teams in each group move into an 8-team knockout tournament, culminating with the gold- and bronze-medal games on August 12.
Group A:
- USA
- Argentina
- Lithuania
- France
- Nigeria
- Tunisia
Group B:
- Spain
- Brazil
- Russia
- Great Britain
- Australia
- China
Basket - Men's Olympic Tournament: Top ContendersUSA
Team USA enter the Olympics as the comfortable favourites but undoubtedly weakened by absences of the likes of Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose, Andrew Bynum, Blake Griffin and Dwayne Wade. The main starting lineup includes the top four players in the 2011-12 NBA MVP voting - LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant - with the Defensive Player of the Year, Tyson Chandler, at center. The core rotation also features Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams, plus a little bit of Andre Iguodala and Kevin Love. Most teams will have no chance against the Americans' overwhelming athleticism and talent. This US squad lacks depth only at center due to a seemingly endless parade of injuries to American big men but they are still unquestionably the logical pick for gold
ARGENTINA
After claiming medals at each of the last two Olympics, gold back in 2004 and bronze in the last edition, Argentina looks weaker this time because of a bunch of factors: age, lack of size, lack of depth and declining speed. But the aforementioned negatives are tempered by positives like chemistry, superb offensive execution, passing, high bball IQ and experience. Anyway Scola, Ginobili, Delfino and Prigioni are very good players (the all play in the NBA). Getting to the finals is unlikely as even when they were in their prime they had trouble beating Spain. But believe there is just enough left in the tank to compete for a bronze.
FRANCE
Led by San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker, Boris Diaw and Jelabale in the back-court, France is good offensively as they've ever been. Add to that the defensive talents of Joakim Noah and the deft skills of Boris Diaw, hopes of a French semi-final appearance begin to rise. Anyway, France will play three of the top five teams in the FIBA rankings in the Preliminary Rounds. They will need to go at least 3-2 and earn the second spot in Group A to have a decent chance at a medal.
SPAIN
Spain enter the Olympics as the World’s number two basketball nation, and will unquestionably pose the biggest threat to Team USA’s gold medal aspirations in London. They have caused troubles to USA in the last friendly match before the Olympics and showed that their roster is 12-deep and has an endless array of options.
The bigger injury concern right now for Spain are the statuses of Juan Navarro and Marc Gasol. Marc has been sitting out some prep games because of a bum shoulder, but not sure the severity. Spain should move through the group stage comfortably but if Spain has any hopes of upsetting the U.S., they have to have Marc and La Bomba Navarro at full force.
Basket - Men's Olympic Tournament: Other ContendersBrazil confirmed their status as a dangerous dark horse for the competition with their performance in a pre-tournament exhibition game against the US, where the side ran the Olympic favourites close before succumbing to an 80-69 defeat in Washington. They have the size, speed and skills to hang with any team in this field. With Spain not totally healthy, the Brazilians have a legit shot of winning their group.
Russia has a deep, athletic squad with good size at every position and they're directed by one of the finest FIBA coaches around, David Blatt. This year’s squad features five players who have played in the NBA but only center Timofey Mozgov played in the league this past season. Russia's tough defense (with off-kilter zone looks), crisp ball movement and masterful coaching (and preparation) makes them a serious contender for a bronze.
Great Britain will boast NBA talent in the likes of Chicago's Luol Deng, Detroit's Ben Gordon as well as former NBA prospects Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Joel Freeland and Eric Boateng. But the Brits are dealing with some injuries to some of key rotation guys. Reserve big Dan Clark and starting SG Mike Lenzly are ailing and might not suit up. Their warm up against Team USA showed that they are still far from challenging for medals.
It seems a long time since the 2008 Olympics for China. Since the departure of Yao Ming, the performance of the Chinese basketball team has been mixed at best. Dallas Mavericks forward Yi Jianlian is the only NBA player the Chinese roster boasts. China has a legit shot of knocking off Britain, especially with their health issues.
Lithuania played pretty solid ball at the pre-Olympic tourney, but they exactly didn't cruise through the week. Nearly lost to Puerto Rico in the quarters and lost to Nigeria in the first round. Kleiza, Valanciunas and Maciulis are the key players for this team. Great depth (virtually two-deep at every position) and plenty of experience playing together but a bronze medal will not be easy to win.
Basket - Men's Olympic Tournament: Best Odds
- USA @ 1.20
- Spain @ 8.00
- France @ 29.00
- Argentina @ 41.00
- Russia @ 41.00
- Lithuania @ 57.00
- Brazil @ 76.00
- Australia @ 201.00
- Great Britain @ 351.00
- China @ 751.00
- Nigeria @ 2001.00
- Tunisia @ 3001.00
Basket - Men's Olympic Tournament: Recommended betsFrance top 3 Finish @ 3.50
Name the Finalists: USA vs France @ 4.20
Most Points: Kevin Durant @ 2.30
Brazil to win Group B @ 8.50
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