Hola! Yes, it sucks that Gilas
Pilipinas has been eliminated, but aren’t you even a little bit happy about how
well they represented the Philippines? Our boys exceeded expectations and will
come home heroes. ‘Nuff said.
Right now, however, the hoop wars in
Spain aren’t over yet. Sixteen countries have survived the grueling group
stages and have advanced to the dangerous knockout rounds, where one loss sends
any team packing.
In this first of two parts, we will
give micro previews of the first four Round of 16 matches.
Rambulan na!
 |
| Are these four destined to make it to the quarterfinals in #Spain2014? |
USA (5-0) vs MEXICO (2-3)
Team USA has had a few shaky moments
in this tournament. In particular, trailing at the half against Turkey and
falling behind after one quarter against Ukraine weren’t exactly the Americans’
shining moments. Still, they’ve shown the ability to flip the switch when push
came to shove and have managed to put up an average winning margin of 33.2
points. The athletic frontline combo of Anthony Davis and Kenneth Faried has
been dominant, while coach Mike Krzyzewski’s plethora of guards has been solid.
The injury to Kyrie Irving doesn’t seem to be anything serious, but I don't
think the States will need to play him a ton against Mexico anyway. Speaking of
the Mexicans, one of the things they’ll really need to get going here is
outside shooting. They average 40% shooting from beyond the arc, and they’ll
need to wax hot to even stick with the NBA superstars. I expect Mexico to put
up a fight early on, but I also expect Team USA to break the game open in
either of the middle quarters. Team USA moves on, and Mexico goes home.
 |
| NBA big men Gustavo Ayon (MEX) and Anthony Davis (USA) should have a titanic match-up. |
FRANCE (3-2) vs CROATIA (3-2)
I swell with pride when I think that
both these teams had a tough time dealing with Gilas Pilipinas. France won by
just 7 against Gilas in a pretournament game, while Croatia infamously nearly
bit the dust in OT against our upstart squad. This will probably be one of the
closest games to call mainly because both teams have equally great weapons. If
Tony Parker were playing, France would be a clear favorite here, but the fiery
San Antonio playmaker is absent, so that means Oliver Lafayette and Roko Ukic
just might have a field day against the likes of Thomas Heurtel and Antoine
Diot. Still, the critical match-up should be between NBAers Bojan Bogdanovic
and Nicolas Batum. As expected, Bogdanovic has been great for Croatia,
averaging 20 points per game, but Batum has been up-and-down. The Portland
star, in fact, hasn’t scored more than 13 points yet in a game. He was limited
to only 2 points in 15 minutes as France ripped Iran, but that might also mean
coach Vincent Collet is saving his athletic swingman for tonight’s big fight
against Croatia. This should be a tight encounter, but I have France sending
Croatia packing with some big plays in the clutch.
 |
| Dario Saric (CRO) of Croatia should remain dominant against Nicolas Batum (FRA) and the French. |
SLOVENIA (4-1) vs DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (2-3)
The Dragic boys will make life tough
for the Dominicans – that much is a given. I think, however, that Jack Martinez
and Francisco Garcia have at least one upset game in them, and this is their
best chance at slipping past a higher-seeded squad. The red flags for Slovenia?
They average around 10 rebounds less than the Dominicans, and the last time
they played a team with good bigs (Lithuania), they perished. Also, Goran
Dragic shot terribly in Slovenia’s last game, and I have a feeling he’s still
stuck in a funk. In contrast, I’m picking Francisco Garcia to continue shooting
well (he averages better than 4 threes per game!) with the trio of Eloy Vargas,
Eulis Baez, and Jack Martinez outmuscling Alen Omic and Jure Balazic down low.
Dominican Republic will find the bottom of the net too many times for Slovenia
to survive, and the Dragic brothers will go home in tears.
 |
| I smell an upset brewing between Goran Dragic (SLO) and Francisco Garcia (DOM). |
SPAIN (5-0) vs SENEGAL (2-3)
This is probably the easiest to predict,
since Spain has pretty much been indomitable, while the Senegalese have lost
two straight after shocking the world with wins over Puerto Rico and Croatia.
Cheikh Sarr’s wards lost badly to Argentina and then dropped a wild one against
the Filipinos, so momentum is definitely not in their favor. Star big man
Gorgui Dieng also got banged up in their last match, butting heads (literally)
with Ranidel De Ocampo and then hitting the LED boards hard after a fall. Look
for him to have a helluva tough time against the Gasols and Serge Ibaka.
Speaking of, Pau Gasol should have another brilliant outing for the home team.
He has been playing like a man on a mission in this tournament, and don’t count
on coach Juan Orenga pulling any punches here. Look for the Spaniards to light
it up from deep and obliterate the paint against an overmatched Senegal. Spain
should mount an insurmountable lead at some point in the first half, and
proceed to cruise to the quarterfinals.
 |
| Pau Gasol (ESP) and the rest of Spain should coast past Gorgui Dieng (SEN) and the rest of Senegal. |
Watch out for Part 2 tomorrow as we
look at the chances of New Zealand, Lithuania, Serbia, Greece, Turkey,
Australia, Brazil, and Argentina.
1 Comment
No way Slovenia loses, man.
Balas