Ranking the Olympics' Men's Basketball tournament

I originally posted this here


This was supposed to be posted last week but I had to finish all of the tune ups before chalking one up for HooPH.

Alright, before I begin, I'll gladly answer the question that I know will be thrown by most of the readers here.

I know most of you will ask, why didn't you rank the US Basketball team as the number 1 team in the world right now?

Three things

1) They haven't won a major basketball tourney since the Olympics of 2000. (WBC 2002 was won by Yugoslavia, Olympics of 2004 was won by Argentina and WBC of 2006 was won by Spain)

2) As of now, while they remain a superpower of basketball, a lot of countries caught with them, introducing styles of basketball which is suited for International tourneys.

3) Other teams are just.much.better right now.

Disclaimer: This rankings is PRIOR to the Olympic games. I may say that this country is number 1 right now but could be goners AFTER the Olympics. Now, remind me to update my rankings right after the Olympics.

And here we go..

12) Iran

Fiba Ranking: 33rd

Key Players: Hammed Haddadi, Mohammad Samad Nikkhah Bahrami, Mehdi Kamrani (I hope I got all their names right)

Call me bitter, but I still think that this spot should've gone to our National Basketball Team. We were a call short of beating this team in the 2007 Asian Championships and we let it slip through our hands. Anyway, frankly, I don't think they'll win a single game in the Olympics. Yes, they're talented but are they talented enough to compete against the best in the world? I'll give you a hint, they aren't.

11) China

Fiba Ranking: 11th

Key Players: Yao Ming, Yi Jian Lian, Wang Zhi Zi and Sun Yue

The fact that most people have the two Asian representatives at the bottom two of the rankings goes to show that we are pretty left behind in terms of basketball. They have the height, the talent and a pretty good system to dominate the Asians but in terms of international play, I think their system is a little bit too conservative. I can see them beating Angola but that's it.

10) Angola

Fiba Ranking: 14th

Key Players: Olimpio Cipriano, Joaquim Gomes, Edwardo Mingas

This team is capable of beating any team on a good day. International experience would be a question for these guys but their system and famillarity to each other makes up for it.

9) Germany

Fiba Ranking: Tied for 9th
Key Players: Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Kaman, Pascal Roller

Help for Dirk has always been the problem for Germany in the past few major tournaments and the arrival of Chris Kaman on the team helped solve that problem a bit. However, the Germans still need to find consistency on their backcourt of Steffan Hamman and Pascal Roller in order to be successful in Beijing.

8) Croatia

Fiba Ranking: 20th

Key Players: Marko Tomas, Zoran Planinic, Roko Ucic

The Croatians are back. The last time the Croatian Basketball Team qualified for a major tournament was at the Olympics of 1996. Since then, they've been cellar dwellars in European tournaments. It just sucks because they had a chance to dominate the World Basketball scene in the early 90s but thanks to the ONE and ONLY Dream Team, they didn't.

7) Australia

Fiba Ranking: Tied for 9th

Key Players: David Andersen, Matthew Nielsen, Andrew Bogut

They came this close of pulling an upset against Team US just last Monday. And what's interesting is that they managed to pull that close against US without Andrew Bogut. Anyway, the Aussies will be a team to reckon with come the Olympics mainly because in their team.. nobody's afraid to shoot. Gone are the days of Andrew Gaze and Shane Heal but this is their best chance IMO to win that elusive medal in Olympic Basketball.

6) Lithuania

Fiba Ranking: 5th

Key Players: Robertas Javtokas, Sarunas Jasikavicious, Linaz Kleiza (I hope I got their names correctly)

Yes, they've been blown out by the US in their tune up game but let me tell you something. Dont.let.that.fool.you. Lithuania brings more in the court than what they've shown against team US the last time around. And believe me when I tell you this, they can beat any team in the tournament any given day.

5) Russia

Fiba Ranking: 16th

Key Players: Sergei Bykov, Jon Holden, Andrei Kirilenko

The 2007 Euroleague Champs is the darkhorse of the tournament. Led by versatile forward Andrei Kirilenko and Jon Holden, David Blatt's squad is ready to take on the challenge and try to win their first medal in the Olympics. It's just sad because Victor Khryapa, a pivotal part of the team, would be missing the summer Olympics due to an injury.

4) USA

Fiba Ranking: 1st

Key Players: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade

They are eager to prove a point. This tournament would either prove that they are still the best in the world or prove that their style of play is no longer dominant in international competition. This team is pretty much the same team that played in the 2006 WBC + KB24 and Jason Kidd. Right now, they have only two weaknesses. 1) Defending the Pick and Roll and 2) Playing a slow tempoed, half court game. Unfortunately, that's how most of the games go in international competition.

3) Greece

Fiba ranking: 6th

Key Players: Vasilis Spanoulis, Dimitris Diamantidis, Theo Papaloukas

My personal favorite and a favorite medal placer this year. I just love watching the Greeks play. Their rugged defense plus killing offensive flow is what finished off the US in 2006 and will be their main weapon coming into the Olympics right now. They are well coached, they're very talented and they are hungry to win the gold.

2) Argentina

Fiba ranking: 2nd

Key Players: Luis Scola, Andres Nocioni, Manu Ginobili

While there have been a few shake ups from their past rosters (No Pepe Sanchez and Walter Hermann this year) Argentina will still be a favorite to win the Gold in Beijing. Why? Two things, 1) Their core of Scola-Nocioni-Ginobili is still intact and 2) Most of these guys have already played together in big tournaments like this. Did I mention they are the defending Champions of the Olympic basketball tournament?

1) Spain

Fiba Ranking: 3rd

Key Players: Rudy Fernandez, Pau Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro, Jose Calderon

I'll be honest with you, I don't think there's anyone who's capable of beating the Spaniards this year. I don't know, I just have that gut feel that they're the one who's going to dominate the Olympics. But who wouldn't have that gut feel? They're prolly the tallest team in the Olympics (6 players over 6'6) and they prolly have the best backcourt in the league too (The backcourt of Calderon, Fernandez, Rubio, Navarro, Rodriguez and Lopez)