Quarterfinals set for the Olympic men’s basketball tournament

Jock Landale (YouTube)

There are eight teams left in the men’s basketball tournament at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. After pool play was complete on Saturday, it was determined that Group A champion Canada will face France, Germany will play Greece, Brazil will play the United States and Serbia will play Australia. That means the four teams eliminated are South Sudan, Puerto Rico, Japan and Spain.

From an Australian perspective, the Aussies are headed to the knockout round after finishing Group A in second place with a record of one win and two losses. Australia was actually in a three-way tie for second place in the group, as Greece and Spain had identical records. However, Australia got the tiebreaker because they had the best for and against at -4. Greece and Spain were both at -8 but Greece got through due to their better points for and against ratio in games played among tied teams. Greece was at -1 and Spain was at -5.

An Australian who has had a notable showing so far is Jock Landale of Melbourne. Landale led Australia in points (20), and rebounds (nine) in their only win of the Olympic tournament so far on July 27, a 92-80 win over Spain.  The center is set to play his first season in Houston, after one season each with the San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns.

In Group B, Germany won the pool at three wins and zero losses. France advances at two wins and one loss, as does Brazil at one win and two losses. Germany is looking very good heading into the quarterfinals after their 85-71 win over France to win the group. Remember, it was Germany, which won the World Cup this past September.

In Group C, it is no surprise that the United States (3-0), and Serbia (2-1) advanced. They were significantly better than the other two teams, South Sudan and Puerto Rico.

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