Two proud teams send early warnings

May 24, 2012

The big news after opening day of the 2008 Olympics men's basketball tournament is that two teams whom perhaps the experts were thinking less about - Lithuania and Croatia - raised their profiles as medal candidates. Saying that after just one game might seem like jumping on a bandwagon too soon...until you consider the record of these countries in Olympic play. Since each gained independence in the early 1990s, the Lithuanian and Croatian national teams count a total of six Olympics participations between them - and four medals. One of the two non-medal appearances was a fourth-place finish. In other words, these are not talking teams that take the Olympics lightly. Their record at this event argues for one of them sneaking into the semifinals, where anything could happen.

Lithuania is the lesser surprise, of course. After its three consecutive bronze medals between 1992 and 2000, followed by that fourth-place finish in 2004, it belongs on any list of contenders. If that was not the case for many experts this summer, it's because the number of medals given is still three, even though the number of countries considered to be contenders has increaded over the years. Argentina, for instance, became Olympic champion in 2004 despite barely playing in the event before, while current world champion Spain hasn't finished an Olympics higher than seventh place in the last 20 years.

Lithuania sounded a huge reminder on Sunday, however, by defeating Argentina as veteran leader Sarunas Jasikevicius fed young buck Linas Kleiza for a tie-breaking three-pointer with 2.9 seconds left. Lithuania had dominated the game, leading by 11 with under 4 minutes left, until a late Argentina rally ended with Jasikevicius dishing his eighth assist, more than any other player in the tournament on Sunday. Some of Lithuania's chances rest on the two-time Euroleague champion's incredible leadership qualities, but when Jasikevicius wasn't on the court, Lithuania used natural wing players Ramunas Siskauskas and Rimantas Kaukenas to direct the offense. If that veteran trio keeps the ball safe and Lithuania's defense and rebounding hold up, this team can shoot its way as far as any other.

"Argentina is the Olympic champion, so (this victory) speaks for itself," Jasikevicius said after the game. "For us to start the Olympics in this way, it's incredible. Let's keep it going. If we are smart enough, if we are good enough, this win hopefully will give us a better chance in the quarterfinal."

Croatia celebrated its return to the Olympics after almost a decade away in equally spectacular fashion. The Croats dispatched dangerous Australia with a shooting performance that the winners would no doubt like to bottle and keep for later in the tournament. Seven different Croatia players buried three-pointers while captain Niksa Prkacin and young Marko Banic went 12 for 13 in the paint. At times it looked like the Croations couldn't miss, and you had to wonder while watching them if any opponent in Beijin could have survived such shooting accuracy. They deserve all kinds of credit for recognizing the Australia game as their pivotal one in the a group where Russia, Lithuania and Argentina are considered surer quarterfinal qualifiers.

"We won the pressure game. I think we have one foot in the quarterfinals now." said CSKA Moscow guard Zoran Planinic afterwards. "From now on, we are going to rely on our teamwork. We've got no superstars. We know Argentina, Lithuania and Russia are better teams than us, but I'm confident we've got enough to cause an upset in the next matches."

With couple of unexpected results on opening day, the tournament is already starting to deliver on its great promise.

POSTED BY

Vassilis Skountis - Beijing, China

DATE:

Monday, August 11, 2008