2012 Olympic basketball: Today's Official Fearless Predictions™ (with now-95% record at stake)

August 4, 2012

“Ladies, ladies, I don’t mean to brag but, I’m the greatest.” – Sidney Deane

Kudos go out today from BallinEurope to, well, BallinEurope. And thanks to Team Russia, whose stirring 77-74 win from an early 22-5 deficit against favored Team Spain brings BiE up to a 19-1 mark in Official Fearless Predictions™ thus far.

These have already been written up on BiE in one form or another, but we’ll just make these Fearless Predictions™ on the remainder of today’s games. Official now: BiE’s got USA over Lithuania (but by fewer than 34.5 points); Brazil over China; Argentina over Nigeria in a deceptively close one after the African side redeems themselves after the USA Armageddon Game; and, in the upset special of the day – and with two players short and Oz hot, this one would really be an upset – Team Britain over Australia.

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This post was published on August 4, 2012
Is Jonas Valanciunas the problem for Team Lithuania?2012 Olympic Basketball: Official Fearless Predictions™ for games five (well, most of ‘em, anyway)
Comments: 28
  1. mike
    12 years ago

    Wow. Does this mean Russia avoids the US ’till the finals? I prefer Russia, just to get revenge for the anniversary of the ’72 Olympics. If the US meets Russia for the Gold, I say the US pounds Russia by up to 30 points.

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    • Gabe
      12 years ago

      Yep a rematch of the 94 WC when Dream Team II beat Russia by 46.

      By the way I see why Stern wants to undercut the Olympics. This having no highlights suck. The Olympics is suppose to be about bringing countries together, the players play for free even the NBA millionaires, yet NBC won’t let there be any highlights while every other sporting event in the world does. Fuck NBC and fuck the Olympics.

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  2. mike
    12 years ago

    Hold your horses, everyone. USA 55, Lietuva 51 at the half. They’re putting up a fight. Kleiza of all people is killing the US with 16 first half points. Coach K has to be disappointed with the defense of the Americans.

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  3. mike
    12 years ago

    Holy crapper! US escapes in a very close game. When my friends laugh at me for following the US in these games thinking it’s all in the bag, games like this should remind Americans that international ball has tremendously improved. Lithuania played smart, and the US played terrible defense. Lietuva took advantage of the smallish Americans inside.

    On offense, the US went one on one just too many times. Playing hero ball while their 3 point shooting came crashing down to earth. This might serve as a template, I’m afraid, for teams like Russia and Spain

    Bottom line, the US will still be favored, but suddenly, the Olympics will have some suspense back again, at least, for the basketball games.

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    • Gabe
      12 years ago

      Wow! The US wins by only 5 and was down by 2 with 6 minutes left in the 4th! And this from a Lithuanian team that lost to Nigeria in the qualifying tournament. The same Nigeria that just lost to the US by 83. And people say this is the worst Olympic Lithuanian team ever. After that performance I think they have a good chance against Russia in the quarter finals. This was a good test for the US and prepares them for the medal round. This is now Lebron’s team and he is showing why he is the best player in the world. The point guard combination of CP# and D-Will also came up big.

      And in the other games, Russia beating Spain! Looks like Spain will be meeting the US in the semi-finals now. And Tunisia, the same Tunisia that lost to Nigeria, only losing to France by 4. This is turning into a great Olympics. Just wish I could watch highlights!

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  4. Gabe
    12 years ago

    btw Good job BiE in your predictions so far. Does that make up for your predictions in the qualifying tournament? lol

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  5. mike
    12 years ago

    Gabe, Coach K will have to come up with better set plays on offense, and urge his team to be more patient. No? On defense, I don’t know, they got screen rolled to death. It reminded me of the Greece game in ’06. Here we go again.

    I read a NY times report that the US didn’t practice for the last 2 games, and just watched other sports. It’s time to get serious, guys. Before this game, I couldn’t imagine a scenario of the US losing, now I see how it could happen.

    What do you guys think?

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    • Gabe
      12 years ago

      The big difference between Greece in ’06 and this game is the US won this game. And they won by 5, it was not like a one possession game at the end. France’s game against Tunisia was closer. And remember in the WC in 2010 the US just beat Brazil by 2 in pool play and then one every other game by double digits. I predict the same thing with this team with this game being the closest.

      But of course the US could lose. I’ve been saying that from the beginning.

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  6. Goran
    12 years ago

    This summer:

    Greece 82 – Lithuania 70

    USA 99 – Lithuania 94

    Greece > USA

    PERIOD.

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    • Gabe
      12 years ago

      Yes a team that couldn’t even qualify for the Olympics is better than one of the two undefeated teams in the Olympics so far.

      Greece sucks! They couldn’t even make the Olympics! They lost to Nigerian team that lost to the US by 83! We got to see a great clutch performance by Lebron and the great pgs CP3 and D-Will. While Spanoulis & co our watching the best players in the world on tv. I thought I would have liked the US to play and beat Greece by 30+ but I am so much happier that Greece and the top players of Euroleague couldn’t even make the tournament, getting eliminated by Nigeria. No matter how much you cry and complain that the game was rigged it is forever written that Greece was eliminated by Nigeria. hahahahahaha

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    • Just a dude
      12 years ago

      You must be greek

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  7. Goran
    12 years ago

    Wow! The US wins by only 5 and was down by 2 with 6 minutes left in the 4th! And this from a Lithuanian team that lost to Nigeria in the qualifying tournament. The same Nigeria that just lost to the US by 83.

    The games of Nigeria against Lithuania and Greece in the qualifying tournament were rigged you STUPID SON OF A BITCH

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    • Gabe
      12 years ago

      Hahaha Results you don’t like you just call “rigged”. Very convenient.

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  8. Goran
    12 years ago

    Greece 66 – Russia 63

    Russia 77 – Greece 74

    Greece > Spain and USA.

    Gabe is a perverted nutcase.

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  9. Goran
    12 years ago

    edit:

    Greece 66 – Russia 63

    Russia 77 – Spain 74

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  10. Goran
    12 years ago

    Greece >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

    Team USA

    Greece would beat this 2012 Team USA by 15 points.

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  11. DallasTexasSaqartvelo
    12 years ago

    Here is another example of the logic that Goran has just used……..

    Greece 80 – Nigeria 79 (-1 pt)

    United States 156 – Nigeria 73 (+83 pts)

    United States > Greece

    Make an actual argument with real premises that is supported by facts before making claims.

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  12. DallasTexasSaqartvelo
    12 years ago

    People should be giving the team that actually won today more credit btw…. LeBron took over in the end of the 4th, which was huge and will be huge going forward. Like they have been saying all along, if one person doesn’t step up, somebody else will. Give Lietuva and the rest of international basketball some respect, that was a solid win for the United States and they can build off of it more than they could if they had just defeated them by 40 or something….

    If this were an NBA game and the Heat just pulled out a 6 point win against, say, the T-Wolves…. we would all be talking about how LeBron actually took over and was unstoppable taking the ball in the lane, which is exactly what people want from him.

    Also, I can’t get enough of Jasekevicus, I will really miss watching that guy compete internationally, and I thought he was really solid for Indiana, and just didn’t get put in the right system under Nellie in Golden State.

    Kleiza will have a better year this year too, he had a great game, but he will be stuck under Bargniani in Toronto unfortunately. He’ll never get the chance to be the go to guy in the NBA like he was today, I would love to see him given that opportunity though.

    It was nice to see Chris Paul have a solid outing as well, and despite Kevin Love’s troubles at the line, I thought he played strong and was a big key.

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  13. DallasTexasSaqartvelo
    12 years ago

    The kind of pressure Team USA is under is absurd. In every other game, if you win, your fans go home happy. Especially against a team that played at such an incredible level like Lietuva did today.

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  14. somedude
    12 years ago

    So does Spain tank the game against Brazil to get back on the other side of the bracket?

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  15. DallasTexasSaqartvelo
    12 years ago

    It wouldn’t be the first time they tanked a preliminary round game……

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  16. Gus
    12 years ago

    now i know why gabe likes nigeria so much if u can beat an opponent by 86 points!!! i bet gabe wishes spain,argentina and brazil eliminate each other so they can play their whipping boy france,lol

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  17. Vincent
    12 years ago

    Some really good games today. Nice to see the America’s representing well with the USA, Brazil, and Argentina keeping up.

    LeBron showed why he is the best player in the world by taking the game by the scruff of the neck in the 4th

    Lithuania gets mad props too! They seem to be a kind of bogey team for the USA in that they always seem to give them a good game

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  18. mike
    12 years ago

    So far, I’m not impressed with the US defense. In ’08 and ’10, it really was their calling card, especially on pick and rolls. In the Lithuania game, they got killed. Coach K was quoted as saying they can fix this easy, or something to that effect. LBJ was impressive down the stretch. I say Kobe will be really good in the next couple of games. One thing about Kobe is his pride.

    Just read an article on Yahoo from Adrian wojnarowski, and Lietuva is practically America’s little brother in basketball. Lithuania’s basketball father was Frank Bigoli, an American, and Donnie Nelson is also very involved with their program. Lithuanians consider him one of their own with his close friendship with Marculinis There’s only one thing Lithuanians consider more important than basketball, and that’s freedom. To them, playing the US tough is highly important, as if playing your big brother.

    BTW,
    Vasillis= gay porn star
    Goran= psycho bitch

    LOL

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  19. Gabe
    12 years ago

    Russia is really playing great this Olympics. I remember in 2008 Russia came in as the defending Eurobasket champions and couldn’t get out of group play. This year they come in as Eurobasket bronze winners and are undefeated in their pool.

    I’ve never heard of Vitaliy Fridzon done before. He’s a great player. These global championships are great because it gives global exposure to players who aren’t household names. It is especially good for non-nba players because it gives them the opportunity to be seen playing against the worlds best. It’s too bad Spanoulis couldn’t make it. ):

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  20. Gabe Is Now A Confirmed Troll
    12 years ago

    Never heard of Fridzon? You see, this is proof that you are a troll. No wonder the Euros can’t stand you. You clearly know nothing about basketball.

    Fridzon is considered the 1-2 best Russian player for a long time now, and you say you had never even heard of him.

    That’s really pathetic from a guy that claims to be such an expert on international basketball, and you definitely claim to be the biggest expert on it of anyone that ever posts messages here. You go off on huge tirades if anyone ever disagrees with anything you ever say about international basketball, as if you are THE single authority on it here.

    But then you reveal that you didn’t even know who Fridzon was………….dude get real. The guy is easily the best player of Khimky. Easily the best player of one of the bigger European clubs and you have never even heard of him?

    How fucking dare you to tell these Euros off about the Euroleague and go on those huge insulting tirades you do about the level of Euroleague and its players and all the stuff about the NBA and everything about minor domestic leagues when you don’t even fucking know the guy that is the best player of one of the biggest European clubs.

    You just totally proved that you are a huge fucking troll and an unbelievable asshole.

    So the Euros here claim you have never seen a Euroleague game, and you just CONFIRMED it. Because you had never even heard of one of the better shooting guards in Europe.

    You see that America – Gabe just outed himself. He’s never seen a Euroleague game and he is just trolling and lying here.

    I apologize to all the Euros that have to deal with that asshole Gabe here.

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    • Phileus
      12 years ago

      Eh, this was kind of a weak post, not your best work. I’ll give you a generous score, just because you do continue to fastidiously ignore people who prove you wrong. Otherwise, not really great content in this one I’m afraid :

      I think you’re still exhausted from your brilliant, perfect-10 effort from last week.

      Final score: 6.5/10

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  21. Vito
    12 years ago

    Phileus and mike are Gabe’s sock puppets.

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