The Tokyo Olympics officially opened on the evening of July 23, but the men's basketball event will not be played until July 25. In yesterday's push we introduced the four teams in Group A and now it's Group B's turn.
Group B is perhaps the strongest group on average at the Games, consisting of Australia, Nigeria, Italy and Germany.
On July 17, FIBA released the men's basketball strength list for the Olympic Games. The Australian men's basketball team topped the list, the Spanish men's basketball team ranked second, the American men's basketball team only ranked third, followed by the Nigerian men's basketball team that defeated the American men's basketball team in the warm-up game.
The first and fourth places in the power list are divided into the same group plus two European teams that have broken out of the qualifying round, and it is not an exaggeration to say that this group is the "death group".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > Australia: the goal is gold</h1>
As the first place in the strength list, the Discipline, Tacit Understanding and Defense shown by the Australian men's basketball team are world-class, and they are also the biggest obstacles on the way to the Us men's basketball team to defend its title.
Basketball games under FIBA rules and basketball games under NBA rules are two different games, and Parry Mills will also transform from an NBA bench guard into a god.
"He was like Steve Nash in the game. "Esplanade star Brian Venhorst recalls his reaction when he first saw Mills perform internationally. Playing for the Australian men's national basketball team has completely entered another level.
In the warm-up game, Australia defeated the United States 91-83, and Mills had 22 points and 4 rebounds. In the crucial fourth quarter of the game, Lillard and Durant won consecutive offensive and tight. With 4 minutes left in the game, Tatum's layup once gave the United States a two-point lead, but then Mills made a big fuss, single-handedly scored 10 points, leading the team to a wave of small climaxes, directly ending the game.
The lineup of Mills, Joe Ingles, Aaron Baynes, Dante Exsum, Matthew Delavedova is a very mature and sophisticated lineup. Australia has been running together for years, and with the addition of 76ers defensive tip Terrasse Sable, the whole team is even more powerful.
Although Dela Vidova is not currently playing for an NBA team, no one will ignore the strength of this defensive tip in the backcourt, right?
At the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on July 23, Mills, as the first indigenous flag bearer in the history of the Australian Olympic delegation, shook hands and walked at the forefront of the delegation.
His respect for the national team and in Australia is evident.
In 2007, Mills began his career with the Australian men's national basketball team at the age of 18, the same year he received a scholarship to travel to the United States to play in the NCAA. The 2008 Beijing Olympics was his first time playing for the Australian men's basketball team, a historic eighth-time attempt by the Australian "baby boomer" generation.
In 2009, Mills was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the second round, fulfilling his dream of playing in the NBA. The biggest turning point in his career came in 2012, when Greg Popovich took him to the San Antonio Spurs. Since then, he has been the main force in the team's backcourt, and in 2014 Mills successfully achieved revenge on the Heat with this international column, winning the championship.
Also in 2012, Australia lost 86-119 to the United States in the quarterfinals, and they became Kobe Bryant's 20-point backdrop in the second half. But after that, the Australian men's basketball team did not once make the American men's basketball team feel better in the international competition.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Mills and the Australian men's basketball team lost to Spain by 1 point and failed to win a medal. Five years on, Australia is eager to achieve its goal of winning the Gold Medal in the Olympic Men's Basketball Team.
At 16:20 on 25 July, Australia will face Nigeria.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="56" > Nigeria: The Dignity of Africa, Striving for Medals</h1>
After the warm-up game that narrowly defeated the U.S. men's basketball team, the Nigerian men's national basketball team immediately became famous. After the warm-up round, Nigeria faced three of the top four teams in the world basketball world, and unexpectedly beat the United States and Argentina. It also raises their Olympic prospects.
As the most populous country in Africa, although Nigeria's economic development level in Africa is already very good, it is still very backward in the world. Under backward economic conditions, Nigeria naturally can not produce any decent professional basketball leagues, so they aimed at another path - "borrowing chickens and laying eggs". North America, South America, Europe, Asia... Nigerian players have travelled almost the globe.
In 2012, the Nigerian team, with Al-Farouk Aminu and Ike Diogu as the core, ushered in a historic moment when they reached the Olympic Games for the first time.
Over the past seven years, a large number of Nigerian players have invested in the U.S. college basketball system, and as a result, many players have been selected to enter the NBA. These players influence the basketball philosophy of the Nigerian men's basketball team, so although they are African teams, the Nigerian men's basketball team has a strong "American basketball" style from the perspective of style and play.
Eight of the team's 12-man roster have played in the NBA: Metu, Okogi, Achuva, Jalil Okafor, Gab Vincent, Jordan Wola, Meyer Oni, KZ Okpala. The team's head coach is Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown, not to mention too much.
Nigeria also became the second-largest team with the highest number of active NBA players in the Olympic Games.
Nigeria's only defeat in the warm-up was a 69-108 defeat to Australia, who was their first Olympic opponent and the biggest rival in the group. Before the game, most people thought that Nigeria, ranked 22 in the Olympic men's basketball competition, only accompanied the run, and the results of 83 and 44 points lost to the United States in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games respectively made the outside world expect them to be low. However, the team, led by Mike Brown and with eight NBA players, is clearly thinking about trying to make a difference in Tokyo this year.
When they came to the United States, Nigeria showed aggression that had never been seen before, and they were not afraid of anyone. Even if they lose to Australia in the group stage, they can still advance to the quarterfinals by beating Germany and Italy.
'I never thought it was a surprise that we beat any of the strong teams, from the coach to the logistics team, and our players were ready. Speaking to ESPN, Okoji said, "We are not trying to lose, we are preparing to win medals in the Olympic Games. ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="57" > Italian men's basketball team: Italian gun, offense! </h1>
In the FIBA world, due to the lack of the shackles of "defensive three seconds", the penalty area has become a wrestling field for growers, and the value of traditional interior players has been correspondingly magnified.
Therefore, in general, each team will set aside a place for the traditional interior players when matching the lineup, and give them a higher tactical status on the pitch.
But when we open the italian men's basketball team's participation list for this Olympic Games, we can't help but feel a little surprised in our hearts.
What the? Their starting interior combination is Niccolò Mellie (Maverick) and Danilo Gallinari (Hawks)? A spatial type five position + a space type four position, and both of them attack strong and defend weak...
So, what does the Italian team mean: the interior defense is gone, just rely on the attack, rely on the outside projection to kill the opponent?
We don't know how such a "reverse" lineup will perform in the Olympic games. However, in the previous Olympic games, the Italian team relied on excellent attack to defeat the enemy and grabbed a valuable Olympic ticket.
In the three lost games, Italy threw 42.7% of the three-point shooting rate from the outside, averaging 13.7 three-pointers per game and scoring 90.3 points, and the offensive firepower was almost the same as the group. Relying on a strong attack, they defeated Puerto Rico, Dominica, and Serbia to successfully qualify for the Olympic Games.
It is worth mentioning that due to his participation in the Eastern Conference Finals in the NBA, the number one star of the Italian team, Gallinari, did not have time to participate in the Olympic Games. When Gallinari returned, Italy replaced defender Abbas, the only adjustment made by the Italian team compared to the previous 12-man roster for the Olympic games.
Therefore, only in theory, the Offensive Firepower of the Italian team will be further enhanced.
Gallinari has been at the heart of the Italian team for years. However, compared with the 2019 World Cup in China, the participation list of the Italian team in this tournament has changed a lot, mainly in terms of the outside, and in 2019, the team's second and third scorers Marco Rineri and Luigi Datomé are no longer in the squad, but fortunately, the youngster Nico Mann (Warriors) has filled the vacancy.
At 12:40 on 25 July, the first match of Group B will be played between Italy and Germany. In the Olympic games, can the Italians continue to stir up offensive storms? We'll see.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="58" > German men's basketball team: leaderless, come here</h1>
The German men's basketball team achieved its best result at the World Series in 2002. That year, MVP Dirk Nowitzki averaged 24.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game, helping Germany to a third place in the World Championships.
But that has become a distant memory.
Since then, the German team has been at the world-class level, but it is somewhat far from the top of the world.
In 2008, the German team returned to the Olympic Games after a gap of 16 years. In the encounter in the group stage, after fierce competition, the German team lost to the "Golden Generation" of the Chinese men's basketball team led by Yao Ming & Yi Jianlian, and finally only won the 10th place. Since then, Nowitzki has faded out of the national team, and the strength of the German team has been further weakened. The 2012 London Olympics, the 2014 World Cup in Spain, and the 2016 Rio Olympics have not seen the German team in three consecutive competitions.
It wasn't until Dennis Schroeder came out that Germany finally made a comeback at the 2019 World Cup in China. At the World Cup in China, germany lost to Dominica and missed the opportunity to directly qualify for the Olympic Games.
It was not until this year, when the Tokyo Olympics were approaching, that Germany won consecutive Olympic games against Mexico, Russia, Croatia and Brazil in the Olympic games, and finally got the final Olympic tickets.
However, despite their dangerous crossings, their prospects for this tournament are not optimistic. Because their number one star, Schroeder, will not play with the team due to the huge insurance requirements that cannot be met.
Amy Andres, vice president of the German Basketball Association, was distressed: "Schroeder said in his conversation with us that he wants to get a contract of $100 million to $120 million in the NBA this summer. Maybe he will get it, but with our financial strength, it is really impossible to pay for the huge insurance that matches it at the moment. ”
In addition to Schroeder, the team's other two main players, Daniel Theis and Maxi Kléber, who play for the Bulls and the Lone Ranger respectively, will also miss this tournament, which greatly damages the strength of the German team.
With Moritz Wagner as the head of the pack, Germany should be the weakest team in the group.