USA Basketball Team Group A Foes for Preliminary Rounds of 2016 Olympics
Let's take a look at the five teams that team USA will face in Group A of the 2016 Olympics basketball preliminary round.
1. Australia
Team Australia's 12-man Olympic basketball squad has six NBA stars, making it the strongest Australian Men's basketball team in the history of the Olympics. These NBA stars are Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova, Joe Ingles, Andrew Bogut, Aron Baynes, and Cameron Bairstow.
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Australia is determined to beat the highly favored team USA in the group stages. According to Joe Ingles, an Australian player who also plays for Utah Jazz, "There's no point looking at it as a game we can't win. If we were going to pack our bags take a loss straight away, we might as well not bother going to Rio. We've got the team and the squad to do it."
2. China
Team China recently showed that it is a force to be reckoned with in Rio Olympic basketball. They did this by winning against France in the 2016 Sino-European Men's Basketball Championship last Sunday with a score of 78-73. This is team China's last warm-up game before heading towards Rio.
Yi Jianlian was the best player of the game, scoring 31 points for team China.
China qualified for the Rio Olympics by winning against the Philippines in the FIBA Asia Championship final last October 2015.
3. France
France made it to the Rio Olympics basketball event by winning the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Manila leg. France met Canada in the finals, winning by a score of 83-74, ending Canada's dreams of going to the 2016 Rio Olympics in heartbreak fashion.
In that game, Parker scored the most points and most assists with 26 and 4, respectively. Nando De Colo had the most rebounds for team France with 5.
France has 5 NBA players: Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, Nicolas Batum, Joffrey Lauvergne and Rudy Gobert. Nando de Colo was also a former NBA player, but was most successful in the Euroleague, winning MVP in the 2015-16 season.
4. Serbia
Serbia has won 1 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze in Summer Olympics basketball history. The country made it to the Rio Olympics by winning against Puerto Rico in the final of the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament – Belgrade.
USA and Serbia met in the Finals of the 2014 FIBA World Cup, where the US blew away Serbia with a score of 129-92. Kyrie Irving rained 6 three point shots in that game; crucial points that earned him the MVP of the tournament.
The current Serbian team lineup is composed of two NBA players; Nikola Jokic who plays for the Denver Nuggets, and Boban Marjanovic, a 7'3" center who earned his popularity playing for the Spurs last season, and will now play for the Detroit Pistons once the 2016-17 NBA Season begins.
Marjanovic may not play, though, since he didn't make it clear to the Serbian head coach whether he will play for the Summer League or play for the national team. As of the moment, he is out of the roster, but he is talking with the Serbian national team to include him.
5. Venezuela
Venezuela will play in the Summer Olympics men's basketball event for the first time in 24 years.
Team Venezuela doesn't have an NBA player in its roster. That may be an indication that it is weakest team in Group A. It does have a player playing for Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball team. His name is Anthony Perez.
Venezuela made it to the Olympics by beating Argentina at the FIBA Americas Championship with a score of 71-67. They did this without the help of their only NBA player, Greivis Vasquez.
Before the finals, though, Venezuela already got a spot in the Olympics by winning the semi-final match against Canada, with a score of 78-79.
