Quarterfinal Matchups

This is it! I'm talking about the quarterfinals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Men's Basketball. The final list of countries for the quarterfinals are set. First, let me present to you the four teams of each group.

Group A: Lithuania [4-1/A1], Argentina [4-1/A2], Croatia [3-2/A3], & Australia [3-2/A4]

Group B: USA [5-0/B1], Spain [4-1/B1], Greece [3-2/B1], China [2-3/B1]

Honestly, I'm impressed with team USA. Team USA is definitely the ultimate Dream Team of the country. Whoever it was that was behind the roster of team USA, I salute him! I really do. But I don't think the upcoming games is going to be easy for them. Well, I really hope Australia will give them trouble. Speaking of trouble, I'm a bit troubled with regards to Kobe Bryant. He is a member of team USA, right? Why can't I see his name on the stats, I just can't find his name. Where is he? I can't feel his presence.

Okay, now let's talk about Lithuania, Argentina, & Spain. I'm still can't believe how good the Lithuanians are, particularly Linas Kleiza. He's been on fire, lately. And the Argentines, as I admit to you my dear reader as my favorite, is more balanced than ever. Spain, who only lost to team USA, is very persistent which makes them very dangerous and even if I'm miles away from Beijing, I can see their hungry in winning the gold. I mean, every team is but Spain's aura is just too strong that I think they'll do everything just to win.

For Croatia, I think they haven't been very consistent both on their offense and defense. But there's not enough time to improve, though. Greece, on the other hand, was just lucky to have survived after being beaten by USA and Spain. But all in all, the Greeks have shown that they're good. The Australians have also proven that they have world-class players that just don't give up and that can be scary and tiring for their opponents.

And last but certainly not the least is China. To be honest, I never really thought China would survive the tough competition in Group B. But they did it, so, I'm giving them my full respect. I'm really expecting to hear loud cheers from the crowd once team China gets into the court. For the Lithuanians, who are planning on watching the game live at the courtside, I wish you all the luck to be heard.

These are the matchups for the quarterfinals:

• Argentina [A2] v Greece [B3]
• USA [B1] v Australia [A4]
• Spain [B2] v Croatia [A3]
• Lithuania [A1] v China [B4]

It's All About Winning

The preliminary match of the 2008 Beijing Olympica Men's Basketball between Argentina and Lithuania left an air of excitement among Olympic viewers. The Lithuanians won, 79-75, against the defending Olympic champions. What's made everyone more excited was the following win of the Lithuanian team against Iran, 99-67. The team that has sitted at number four during the start of the Olympic is now at the top of Group A and certainly been showing signs that they're good.

Argentina, currently at number four of Group A, isn't the only team that's suffered a loss. China has just suffered a loss as well against Spain. The Spaniards eventually won, 85-75, against the Chinese despite their troublesome turnovers during the third quarter. Well, I think the host team needs to work harder or they'll find themselves out before the semis. The Argentinians, on the other hand, has to win the next game against Australia to stay on the right track. It's all about winning now.

One World, One Dream

I haven't written any post here for quite sometime and that's because, hmmm... it's a long story. I might as well just forget about it. And yes, I've pretty much changed the layout of my blog, for a change. [wink]

What I'm writing about this time is the approaching 2008 Beijing Olympics, which my friends is about to happen this August 8, 2008 [8-8-8]. Yes, I'm excited. Who isn't anyway?! Of course, among the highlighted events that'll take place ing the Olympics and what I am and most of my fellow-NBA fans have been anticipating is basketball. Twelve teams will be battling it out for the Olympic Gold. So, who's in? On Group A: Argentina, Australia, Croatia, Iran, Lithuania, & Russia. On Group B: Angola, China*, Germany, Greece, Spain, & the U.S.A. Achieving the Olympic Gold is going to be hard this time especially for the defending Olympic Champions - the Argentinian team. And that's because of the more solid lineup of team U.S.A. and of course, you can't count out teams Spain, Russia, and Greece. There's also a women division for basketball, which includes Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Korea, Latvia and Russia on Group A. Group B includes China*, Czech Republic, Mali, New Zealand, Spain, and the U.S.A.

So, how does a team achieve the Olympic Gold? First, the 12 teams will have to trim down their number to eight, meaning the top four teams for each group will be the ones who are moving on to the knockout stage. During the knockout stage, the top four teams from both groups will face each other and the four winning teams will carry on to the semis. Then, the two teams who will survive the semis are going to battle it out on the Gold medal game. The team who wins will achieve the elusive Olympic Gold. So, which team's are you rooting for? Are you going for the Kobe-powered team U.S.A.?