Games
Quarterfinal 1: Spain vs. Croatia
Quarterfinal 2: Lithuania vs. China
Quarterfinal 3: Argentina vs. Greece
Quarterfinal 4: USA vs. Australia
Lingering Questions
1. This one came up during USA vs. Germany today. Did the Chinese tank their final game in the preliminaries to avoid possible early match ups against Argentina and the USA? Couple of interesting factors in regards to this conspiracy theory. Yao Ming played 18 minutes and was unhappy. Also China's head coach, Jonas Kazlauskas, used to have the same role with the Lithuanian national team. The loss put China in line to play, drum roll...Lithuania. Seems like a bit of a stretch. And, based upon Yao's reaction, the players did not have anything to do with it. Just throwing it out there.
2. USA vs. Australia. Heading into this one the Boomers could feel good about the fact that they kept it close in the most recent meeting, without Andrew Bogut. And Patrick Mills drove to the basket at will. On the flip side the Americans have to like their strong play so far, smothering defensive stretches, recent 3-point shooting, and the fact that their focus appears to be sharper than it was in the last meeting with Australia. Regardless I expect this one to be physical and intense.
3. Is Argentina vs. Greece the best game of the quarterfinals?
4. Is Russia the biggest disappointment of the 2008 Olympics, as far as basketball goes?
5. Are Dallas Mavericks fans secretly happy that Dirk Nowitzki's run is over?
6. Are Dallas Mavericks fans openly horrified by Jason Kidd's play?
7. Are Boston Celtics fans secretly ecstatic that none of the franchise's players competed in Beijing?
8. Is anyone still reading?
9. Are Argentina and Croatia the most under the radar teams right now?