Lithuania vs. Spain
Argentina vs. USA
A very tough game for Lithuania but we can win this one if we play well. We should control the game right from the start. And again the key will be the defense. We showed we can defend well in the previous games but we always have problems againts full court press. And Spain is very good at it. I hope that the coach will prepare players for that and we won't see so many turnovers.
I think Argentina lack depth if we compare them to USA. They mainly use 6 players (Oberto, Scola, Nocioni, Ginobili, Prigioni and Delfino). These are top quality players but it will be extremely difficlut for them to stay fresh the whole game against a fast and athletic America team. Yet again if Argentina wants to win this one, they must control game tempo and make smart passes. We saw so many turnovers from other teams when they lose the ball while passing. I want to see a close game this time but from what I saw from both teams so far, I doubt it could happen.
wow what kind of question is that? of course Lithuania vs. USA. Finals must be with good teams. like Lithuania vs. USA like Boston vs Lakers like Cleveland vs Spurs and etc. I am sorry man but USA will win.
I think Spain has a very good chance to reach another Final (third in last three major tournaments). Lithuania is a very good team, strong, expert, but last games (friendly or not) were won by Spaniyards, if my memory works well since Eurobasket 2003 Final Lithuania didn't win Spain. If Spain can play his defense is difficult to beat them. One key could be in PG position, if Sarunas can find the right tempo, Lithuania will be a very dangerous team. Iôm quite worry about Calderón, he has a muscular problem and is doubtful for the match.
Either Spain - US or Lith - US, but I voted for Lithuania to meet USA.
Spain 91:86 Lithuania
The game was probably worth to be a final. It was great from the start till the end. Unfortunatelly we didn't make to final. I don't know what others who saw the game think but referees were on the Spain's side this time. Every questionable call went in favour for Spain. It would be harsh to say that the referees killed the game because it's not true but they had influence. What their decisions did was keeping Spain close in the game. For example Linas Kleiza got an unsportsmanlike foul while Marc Gasol was only giving a personal foul for doing almost the same. These things can change the game, especially when it's as close as it was today.
We played well in defence again and controlled the tempo of the game. But at the same time we were very poor at rebounding. I'm saying this the whole tournament as it keeps on happening every time. Our big guys expect the ball to fall down in their hands while the opponents are jumping high and trying to take every ball. And they do that successfully.
Simas Jasaitis shined today with five 3-pointers. Unfortunatelly he couldn't hit any in the 4th quarter. Saras was good too despite a couple of silly turnovers.
Pau Gasol was just a shadow of himself thanks to Robertas Javtokas and Marijonas Petravicius. Basketball agent Steponas Kairys, who was in the studio, said that the referees were protecting Gasol too much. I agree with him.
The disappointment in this game were Siskauskas, Kleiza and probably Kaukenas. Kleiza got two unsportsmanlike fouls that were certainly unnecessary and hit 0 of his shots. Siskauskas was too slow. He should have penetrated more and provoked more fouls. He did try that but his penetrations were easy for the Spaniards to stop.
Argentina 81:101 USA
It was a closer game between Argentina and USA than I expected. I knew that the defending champions won't give up easily and they didn't. The loss of Ginobili in the first quarter appeared to be quite a good thing for Argentina as they reduced the lead to only 6 points in the second quarter. But if Ginobili would have appeared in the second half then the game could have been even more close.
Great job by Scola. He worked very hard. Delfino was great too. Prigioni is not a scorer and that makes his way less dangerous.
I really like the way that Argentina defended against Americans. It worked well at the times.
Hopefully the final will be very close and that we at least take the 4th bronze.
This is how Lithuanians watch basketball...
[flash=400,322:3sm53q2i]http://img.lrytas.lt/video/player2.swf?config=%7BplayList%3A%5B%7Burl%3A%27http%3A%2F%2Fmedia%2Elrytas%2Elt%2F2008%2F8%2F22%2F9578%2Eflv%27%2CcontrolEnabled%3Atrue%7D%5D%2CautoPlay%3Afalse%2CuseSmoothing%3Atrue%2CusePlayOverlay%3Atrue%2CshowPlayListButtons%3Afalse%2CshowPlayList%3Afalse%2Cloop%3Afalse%2CinitialScale%3A%27fit%27%2CautoRewind%3Atrue%2CshowMenu%3Afalse%2CuseNativeFullScreen%3Atrue%2CstartingBufferLength%3A4%2CbufferLength%3A4%7D[/flash:3sm53q2i]
[quote name='"Vilius":gw56khef']This is how Lithuanians watch basketball...
[flash=400,322:gw56khef]http://img.lrytas.lt/video/player2.swf?config=%7BplayList%3A%5B%7Burl%3A%27http%3A%2F%2Fmedia%2Elrytas%2Elt%2F2008%2F8%2F22%2F9578%2Eflv%27%2CcontrolEnabled%3Atrue%7D%5D%2CautoPlay%3Afalse%2CuseSmoothing%3Atrue%2CusePlayOverlay%3Atrue%2CshowPlayListButtons%3Afalse%2CshowPlayList%3Afalse%2Cloop%3Afalse%2CinitialScale%3A%27fit%27%2CautoRewind%3Atrue%2CshowMenu%3Afalse%2CuseNativeFullScreen%3Atrue%2CstartingBufferLength%3A4%2CbufferLength%3A4%7D[/flash:gw56khef][/quote]
Yeah we do that lots in American too, for road games.