Games three, 2012 Olympics: Official Fearless Predictions™

Just enough time to get in some Official Fearless Predictions™ this morning … note that BallinEurope is at 12-0 through two days of Olympic competition. Note, too, that only serious homers and lobotomized octopi should be less than 11-1 at this point anyway, depending on the person/being’s choice for the Argentina-France game.

So here goes on a day with what should be a couple of fair battles and a bunch of blowouts: Lithuania over France (still running with this pick); Australia over China; Argentina over Tunisia; Russia over Brazil in today’s match of the day; Spain over Britain; and Team USA over Nigeria.

Aug 2, 2012ballineurope

Comments: 29

Gabe
8 years ago
Man this is the Nigerian team that beat Team Greece and Euroleague Final Four MVP Spanoulis? Wow!
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Vincent
8 years ago
where is that James dude who said Australia was going to beat the USA? hahahahahahaha
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Pissed Off NBA Fan
8 years ago
If was FIBA I would fire every ref that worked that qualification tournament.

Them rigging the tournament so Nigeria made it was the single worst decision in the history of FIBA.

Watching USA versus Nigeria and their roster full of guys that are somewhere in the 2000-3000 best player in Europe range was the most pathetic thing I have ever seen in sports in my entire life.

USA average margin of victory against Greece = 7 points

USA beat Nigeria by 83.

Seriously, at this point in time, FIBA and its corrupt bull shit has become the biggest disgrace in the whole world of sports.

We don’t fucking want to see shit teams like Nigeria in the Olympics. STOP RIGGING IT SO THEY MAKE IT IN.

BURN IN HELL FIBA.

I can’t even watch this crap the Olympics basketball competition is so fucking awful. This shit is rigoddamndiculous.
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- Gabe
  8 years ago
  Give me a break. No matter how “rigged” the qualifying tournament was Greece and Nigeria seemed about equal in that game.
  
  And 7 points? In 2004 USA won by 6, in 2006 Greece won by 6 so those 2 cancel each other out. Then in 2008 USA won by 23 so really US average margin of victory is 23 and that’s not including the 28 point victory in the 2010 friendly.
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- Gabe
  8 years ago
  Hey pissed off NBA fan, was it the FIBA ref who made the 3 pointer in Calathes’ face with 30 seconds left in the game for a 2 point lead or was it Dagunduro?
  
  Dagunduro > Spanoulis
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mike
8 years ago
If only Greece could beat Nigeria by 80 points, then the FIBA refs wouldn’t matter. Or not even 80, how ’bout just 15 points, just to take the “bad” officiating out of the equation. Wow. USA USA USA!
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Phileus
8 years ago
Hey guys, Nigeria beat Greece by one point, and USA beat Nigeria by 83 points, so that logically means that if USA played Greece, they’d win by 84 points, right?

[/flamebait]
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Kyle
8 years ago
If only Greece didn’t absolutely suck from the free throw line, and taken advantage of those points the refs handed to them.
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LG
8 years ago
I don’t know what the actual numbers are, but if Greece and the US played three times, Greece won once by 6 and the US won once by 6 and once by 23, that means the US’s total margin of victory is 23 points. But to get their average margin of victory you need to divide by 3. Their average margin of victory would come out to 7.67. I know, math is hard.
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- Gabe
  8 years ago
  Oh yeah, you’re right. Still if you add in the friendly from 2010 it would be 12.75 points. Also those games in 2004 & 2006 were a long time ago. US was not as strong and Greece was a lot better. In 2006 Greece were the silver medalists who beat the US. In 2008 Greece was 5th place and lost by 23 to the US. In 2010 Greece was 11th place and lost to the US by 28 in a friendly. This year Greece did not even qualify for the Olympics.
  
  Nigeria did not beat the 2006 Greece national team with Papaloukas in his prime. They beat the 2012 Greece team that placed 6th in the Euro’s a year earlier. The US beat France, the silver medalist of Eurobasket 2011 by 27. The current Greece would have been lucky to keep the game under 30 against the US.
  
  Yes but it would have been less then 83. I saw this coming. Nigeria like other African teams like Angola but not so much Tunisia, rely on their athletic ability as opposed to strategy and team work. Against a not too strong European team, like Greece, having a bad day and Nigeria playing the game of their lives they can win against the slow, unathletic Euros. But against the that strategy is going to backfire because you can’t out-athletic the super athletes on team US. Hence they were able to beat Greece by one but lost by 83 to the US.
  
  Yes Greece would have done better against the US but Nigeria earned their spot. Nigeria also has a first victory by an African nation in the Olympics and let’s see how they do against Argentina and France. Britain only lost by 1 point to Spain so anything is possible.
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LG
8 years ago
In fact it is not the first victory by an African nation. Angola beat spain in 1992 (and was within 1 point beating germany, a win which would have sent them to the quarter finals. I take it you have not been following international basketball very long, based primarily on your surprise that anyone would consider this a weak Lithuanian team.

If you are interested in olympic history, the Lithuanians have made the semi-finals of every Olympics since 1992 (when they first broke free of the soviet union.) in 2000 they had to settle for bronze after losing to the US by 2 points in the semi-finals. They had a three pointer at the buzzer which would have given them the win. In 2004, their strongest team beat the US in preliminaries, but lost in the semi-finals when Italy shot a crazy 18 for 28 from 3 pointers. In 2008 Lithuania won their group but lost a close game to spain in the semis. A game they were leading going into the 4rth. LT won bronze in 1992, 96, and 2000, and lost bronze medal games in 2004, and 2008 to teams they had beaten in the preliminary rounds. So yes this is the weakest team Lithuania has ever fielded. I’m not sure the individual players are weaker, but they do not seem as in sync as a team, players seem unsure what their roles are, it seems like losing their captain (Javtokas) to a stress fracture this summer seems to have thrown off all their rotations.
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- Gabe
  8 years ago
  Thanks for the info, so it’s been 20 years since an African team won a game. You’re right, I didn’t start following international ball until 2000 and didn’t become a real fan until 2004.
  
  This might be the weakest Lithuanian team in the Olympics, it would be an upset for them to even make the semis. They’re like the US in that they send their best to the Olympics. They have had weaker teams in Eurobasket and the World Championship but this might be their weakest Olympic team ever. Let’s see.
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Ezra
8 years ago
2004 Olympics

USA 77 – Greece 71

2006 World Championship

Greece 101 – USA 95

2008 Olympics

USA 92 – Greece 69

That’s a 7 point average margin of victory for Team USA. I am sorry, but no matter what Gabe says about the Greek fans here, he looks like an even bigger troll for even trying to lie about that and saying it isn’t true.

It just took me a few minutes to check the scores then do the math, and it is definitely true that the USA only has a 7 point average margin of victory against Greece.

Gabe, if you ever want to be taken seriously again by me, you will admit you lied about that, when you claimed it was 23 points. That was a lie and you got caught. Which makes me now wonder just exactly how many other lies you have been telling about international basketball here.

I am starting to think that maybe the Euros that complain about you have a reason to do so. Because that was a pretty blatant outright lie you told there.
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- Gabe
  8 years ago
  It wasn’t a lie, I just did my math wrong which I already admitted. So yes I admit I was wrong.
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  - Phileus
    8 years ago
    Gabe the filthy turkey troll continues his disgraceful hypocritical ways.
    
    It’s all fun and games now, but come Thanksgiving time, your poultry neck will be the first on the chopping block.
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mike
8 years ago
Hey Ezra, that is what we call here in the US, “fuzzy math”. Technically, you’re right, but the point is the trend. The trend is this: GREECE IS IN DECLINE. Get it in your thick skull. 2004 and 2006 was ancient history especially considering what has taken place since then.

Greece hasn’t won a thing since 2006, and the US has dominated international basketball rendering 2004 and 2006 aberrations, at best. I mean, how far are we suppose to go back on this? Are we going to include all Greece-USA matches? Take a good look at your weak Greek basketball program, and you will realize it isn’t Colangelo’s fault or the FIBA refs or Gabe’s faulty but logical mathematical assumptions.

The run of these group of Greek players is at an end, since it has already peaked in 2006. It’s time for Greece to rebuild. First on the chopping block: billy! hehe
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Phileus
8 years ago
To be fair, I think Gabe’s the one who most often tries to use previous tournaments as ways to gauge national teams’ strength. I totally disagree with that.

It’s just as arbitrary to take averages of past matches – especially including matches from almost 10 years ago – as it is to estimate the way I did in my flamebait post above 😛 All the teams are dramatically different, and even the players who did appear on multiple teams evolve (or age) as players too. No NBA fan would gauge a 2012 Pistons and Heat match-up based on their 2004 or 2006 or 2008 results, so why isn’t it as obvious that you can’t do this in international ball?

Off-topic: I was just looking through past Team USA rosters, and I have to say I have a real soft spot for the 2010 team, even though they would get run out of the gym by the current squad.
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- Phileus
  8 years ago
  Also, as much fun as it is to antagonise Apollo, give Spanoulis credit as a player – he just came off a great season as a pro, so I would hardly say he’s a player in decline. He’s in his prime right now and should have a few good international tournaments left in him 🙂
  
  I think Spanoulis would get a lot more respect from commenters here if not for his obnoxious fan club, but then again, “respect from commenters” is probably something he cares extremely little about, so I guess it’s not a huge regret 😛
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Ezra
8 years ago
mike, I am not Greek. I am from New York. Please stop acting like a rude jerk.
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mike
8 years ago
Phileus, I think it’s good to look in the past for national team strength, but always using common sense as a guiding post. You can’t look purely at the numbers. but go further and analyze what the numbers mean. For example, can anyone seriously argue looking at the historical data that Greece as a basketball power is not in decline. I have said, and it has gone unchallenged, that Greece hasn’t won a thing since 2006.

Ezra, if you’re a New Yorker, then you must be a big Knick fan like Gabe. See, you have a lot in common. Meanwhile, I’m a Sixer fan having frown up in the Philly area.
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Goran
8 years ago
How the hell is Greece “in decline”?

They have consistently been a top 4-5 team in the world for the last 25 years.

You see, you spend day after day telling “euro nuts” that you are just telling the truth and not trolling and being jerks and that they are the ones being trolls.

Then you come up with some crazy ass BULLSHIT as this,

“For example, can anyone seriously argue looking at the historical data that Greece as a basketball power is not in decline.”

You are a fucking troll and nothing more.

And before you start your crap with me I am not a fucking Greek. I am from Slovenia.

Greece’s basketball team is NOT in “decline” you fucking idiot. They lost a rigged game from the refs to a POS Nigerian team.

Big fucking deal…………

They also beat Russia, Puerto Rico and Lithuania this summer. You know what the score of the Lithuania and Greece game was?

Greece 82
Lithuania 70

Oh yes,

USA 99
Lithuania 94

Greece fucking beat them by 12 and USA could only win by 5.

And here you are fucking saying that they are “clearly in a decline” because they fucking lost a game where the refs robbed them?

You know what?

You are a really sad and pathetic low life.
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mike
8 years ago
Goran, you’re just in denial. Facts are facts, and what I said stands: Greece hasn’t won a thing since 2006. No medals. Nothing. What? And now the disgrace of missing the Olympics because they allowed Nigeria to come back after leading them by 13 points, if I’m not mistaken.
Look, all biased fans cry foul when their favorite team losses, and they blame the refs. You’re not the first to claim,” we wuz robbed”. Really, what the Greek basketball program has to do is look at their weaknesses, and address it. If they sit their and blame the refs, guess what? Greece will continue it’s decline!

When the US lost in ’04, and Duncan was totally unhappy with the Fiba refs, the US basketball program didn’t feel bitter and sorry for itself by just blaming the refs, they overhauled the program, and recruited new type of players that were more suited to international basketball.

This is what Greece should do.
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Phileus
8 years ago
“Greece fucking beat them by 12 and USA could only win by 5.”

I just want to point out – understanding with some sadness that you will never be able to follow an intelligent argument – that, by this logic, I could say “US beat Nigeria by 83, and Greece lost by 1.” Even if I said that the refs botched the last call, and Greece won by, say, 5, I could still use your logic against you.

The point is that you’re making an utterly meaningless comparison, and comparison that nobody who knows anything about basketball would seriously make : Do you even try to be unbiased? No, you don’t.
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Gabe Is Now A Confirmed Troll
8 years ago
Greece beat both Lithuania and Russia this summer. Anyone that says they are in a decline is just a lunatic. Aside from a game against Nigeria that is one of the most controversial FIBA games ever, they looked great this summer.

They beat Russia by 3. They beat Lithuania, in Lithuania, by 12. They beat Puerto Rico by 14.

They beat Jordan by 47.

They beat Nigeria the first time they played, in the game that didn’t have those refs from the QT. Of course I have never once seen Gabe or Phileus or Mike admit that. How Greece beat Nigeria in the game with the normal refs, before that game with the refs that 3 different countries have filed complaints against.

Greece also played a game against Brazil, in Brazil, and only lost by 7 points, in Brazil.

So, they beat Russia, beat Lithuania on their home floor, lost a close game to Brazil on their home floor, routed Jordan, beat Nigeria with neutral refs…..

And we have people saying they are in a major decline. I am sorry but any team that beat Lithuania, Russia, Puerto Rico all in the same summer is pretty damn fucking GOOD.

And it really shows how biased you guys are that you won’t admit Greece beat Nigeria in the game where the controversial refs were not reffing the game. The fact that you won’t even acknowledge that shows that you have some kind of extreme hatred against the Greek team.

I’m American and I can see right through you. I know exactly what it is. You three idiots are STILL really butthurt over that 2006 Greece and USA game and you just cannot let it go.

That’s also obviously the reason why you hate that guy Spanoulis so much. Because he was the guy that destroyed USA in the 4th quarter of that game.

So the three of you just endlessly bash and ridicule that Greek team and that guy Spanoulis. All three of you are really pathetic excuses of human beings.
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- Phileus
  8 years ago
  This post is better than the one you posted in the Day 4 thread: you successfully include conspiracy theories, complaints about refs, insults against Gabe, MIke and me, typical insane logic, and even make reference to 2006 before throwing in your unforgettable signature: a Spanoulis reference.
  
  Final score: 8.5/10
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- Gabe
  8 years ago
  So now you’re using the result of friendlies. Who cares about Friendlies? In games that mattered Greece destroyed Jordan, beat PR and then lost the most important elimination game to Nigeria. Bye. See you in the WC (if you can make it)!.
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Vito
8 years ago
Phileus and mike are Gabe’s sock puppets.
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Vito
8 years ago
So now you’re using the result of friendlies. Who cares about Friendlies? In games that mattered Greece destroyed Jordan, beat PR and then lost the most important elimination game to Nigeria. Bye. See you in the WC (if you can make it)!.

Reply

I have personally read you make about 100 posts here where you claimed it was a proven fact that the NBA was better than the Euroleague because of the results of exhibition games between NBA and Euroleague teams, even though only 14 of those 43 games were not played entirely under NBA rules.

So here we have yet another lie, troll, and yet another example of what a hypocritical jackass this Gabe loser is.

When it comes to Euroleague against NBA “friendlies” he touts them as proof and always, always, ALWAYS cites them as evidence whenever a Euroleague vs. NBA discussion comes up here. In fact, he threatens and bullies anyone that would suggest those games are not proof.

But when it comes to Greece beating Nigeria without the corrupt refs, suddenly it does not count. The wonderful mind of the SUPER TROLL Gabe, where the Barca Lakers game “did not count”, but where all the NBA and Euroleague games count whenever he is telling people off about how “vastly superior” the NBA is so the Euroleague.

This loser Gabe is the single biggest troll that I have ever encountered on the internet.
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- Gabe
  8 years ago
  Ummmm….Nigeria!!!!
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