Author Spotlight
Dian Stanchev
London 2012: Men’s basketball: Quarter-finals draw
Here are the results from the last match day in the group stage of the men’s basketball competition at the London 2012 Olympics:
Group A
Tunisia-Lithuania- 63:76
France- Nigeria- 79:73
Argentina- USA- 97:126
No real surprises occurred in these games and the results were more or less expected. It has to be noted that Nigeria’s Chamberlain Oguchi scored 35 points in the game against France and was close to beating Carmelo Anthony’s record for most points in one game. Ironically, Anthony scored 37 points exactly against Nigeria earlier in the competition.
Another thing we learned from this first stage of the competition was that USA’s defense isn’t as solid as it should be. Their defense is the third worst from all the teams that went through to the quarter-finals. Only Argentina and Lithuania have allowed more points to be scored against them- 424 and 399 respectively, while the Americans have conceded 398.
Final Standings:
1. USA 10 pts.
2. France 9
3. Argentina 8
4. Lithuania 7
5. Nigeria 6
6. Tunisia 5
Group B
Australia-Russia- 82:80
Great Britain-China- 90:58
Spain-Brazil- 82:88
We could definitely say that Group B was the more competitive of the two groups and offered much more excitement to the fans and pundits. There were some surprises in the last match day, as Russia lost to Australia and Spain recorded a second loss in a row, this time against Brazil. On the other hand, Team GB recorded their first win in these Olympics and the second in history. Sadly for their fams though, it wasn’t enough to see them through to the quarter-finals.
Final Standings:
1. Russia 9 pts.
2. Brazil 9
3. Spain 8
4. Australia 8
5. Team GB 6
6. China 5
Quarter-finals draw (all games will be played on Wednseday, the 8th of August):
Russia- Lithuania 14:00 British time
France-Spain 16:15
Brazil- Argentina 20:00
USA- Australia 22:15
