Six of the eight quarterfinalists have been set for the men’s basketball tournament at the Paris Olympics, with three teams still in contention for the final two spots and the other three teams no longer in the mix.
The U.S., Germany, and Canada are the group winners, while Australia and France have secured top-two seeds in their respective groups and Brazil has clinched one of the two wild-card spots reserved for third-place teams.
The outcome of the Serbia/South Sudan game on Saturday will determine the last two quarterfinalists. If Serbia wins by three or more points, Serbia and Greece will advance to the single-elimination round. If South Sudan beats Serbia or loses by just one or two points, they’ll advance, almost certainly with Serbia. The only scenario in which Serbia would be eliminated (in favor of South Sudan and Greece) is if South Sudan wins Saturday’s contest by 24 or more points.
Puerto Rico, Japan, and Spain have been eliminated from medal contention.
Here are a few more items of interest from the Olympics:
- Winning Saturday’s game against Puerto Rico by at least five points would assure Team USA of finishing pool play as the top-seeded team, likely creating a more favorable path to the medal round. That’s a priority, head coach Steve Kerr confirmed on Friday, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. “We want the No. 1 seed,” Kerr said. “It gives you the best matchup in the quarterfinals. So if we drop down to two or three — which I think is unlikely, but we’ve got to take care of our business — we possibly have a much tougher opponent.”
- Veteran guard Jrue Holiday may return to the U.S. starting lineup on Saturday, but he’ll have to be cleared to play first. According to Windhorst, Holiday sustained a minor ankle injury in Wednesday’s game vs. South Sudan and is considered questionable for Saturday’s contest.
- Kevin Durant has led Team USA in scoring (37 points) and plus-minus (+46) through two games, but he’s comfortable with continuing to come off the bench if that’s what Kerr prefers, Windhorst writes in a separate ESPN.com story. “It’s basketball, it really doesn’t matter who starts,” Durant said. “It’s about really who finished the game, who put their impact on the game while they’re in the game. So I just try to do my best to impact it any way I can.”
- Although the Greek national team went just 1-2 in pool play and is in danger of being eliminated before the quarterfinals, Giannis Antetokounmpo is savoring his first Olympic experience, which included serving as Greece’s flag-bearer, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic. “I might win another championship (in the NBA). I might win another MVP. Who knows?” Antetokounmpo said. “But I might never carry the flag again.”
KD is right, Games Started is so antiquated that it really is the dumbest basketball stat. Kevon Looney has started dozens of games he played like 7 total minutes in. Starting means nothing. Its about the late and close lineup, its about who plays top 5 minutes on the team – those are way more important signifiers as to how good a player is and how good a team is
Your statement is true for the US team only. It is the only team made up entirely of NBA all stars so there is less drop off in talent (if any) when you go to the bench.
Well the NBA is an American product it makes sense that the team will have All Stars and the best. Embiid is a loophole maybe Bam too but even without them they could find American bigs and still do well.
The other countries play their whole career together so chemistry should be great and a locked in system.