After Spain’s impressive victory over Greece in the first match of the second day, the other match in Group A of these Olympic Games was still to be played. This gives us a clear idea of each team’s chances for the final game of this phase. Almost everything will be decided on Friday. The range has been opened up to almost nothing. The Greeks, who have two defeats on their record, even have a chance of qualifying. The horse has become so crazy that it will still need to be tamed.
In Lille, Canada also won against Australia. The Americans, favourites for everything, are taking steps forward. 93-83. They will be Spain’s last opponent. With part of the Spanish staff in the stands, with Sergio Scariolo at the head along with Luis Guil and Ángel Sánchez-Cañete, Jordi Fernández’s pupils completed a good second half to get rid of the pressure that a -again- successful Oceanic team subjected them to. The Spanish team, with high and far-off eyes after this score has left the collective situation on the verge of madness (more information here).
With these results, Spain can occupy any of the four positions in the group. In the worst case scenario, that they lose to Canada on the third day, Scariolo’s men should expect that Greece, if they beat Australia, will do so by one or two points and no more. Only then would the three-way tie not end up harming Spain. This would be the tiebreaker proposed by FIBA for this tournament. But that is a question to be assessed in three days. Here the Canadians once again demonstrate their dominance.
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Final statistics for this duel between Canada and Australia.
The Canadian team had some doubts, as they did with Greece, but we are talking about the fact that they are playing in the group of death of this tournament. Any man’s hand can shake for a few minutes. The question is how to resolve it. It is the callus that they seem to have gained since last year’s World Cup when they moved up two levels in a single move. Australia was also the opponent with the most possibilities of causing them problems. According to the predictions, of course, it will be Spain’s turn to make them useless in the duel between the two teams.
As expected, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder’s NBA star, is the main scorer, but RJ Barrett has combined excellent preparation with two top performances at Paris 2024. The shooting guard-forward was the most in tune against the Maple Leafs: 24 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and no lapses in shooting (8/14).
The qualification of Jordi’s team, who we will see as the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets from September, is assured. They are in. They will play for first place with the Spaniards, who in their case have their own survival in the tournament at stake. Last year, with the bulk of this squad and with Jamal Murray as the only notable absence, they faced each other twice and both times Sergio Scariolo’s team came up with a tails on their side. The drive to beat Greece and keep their chances of qualifying intact is of great magnitude, but the tasks are better finished.
Brooks and Shai, with 16 points each, helped Barrett lead his team to glory. In Goorjian’s squad the best was Josh Giddey, who already showed his quality against Spain and in this competition finished with 19+7+6; 16+12 was achieved by the pivot Jock Landale.
The visiting team took the lead in the first half, without being able to pull away in any of their starts. Controlling the losses until they stopped doing so. The break was the turning point for Fernández’s team; they had previously stretched themselves with a triple from McVeigh, a surprising weapon that they have found late, but after returning from the locker room they lost the rhythm and from there they fell into the hole. Shai set the pace, like the day before, like all year, and the executors were others like the aforementioned Barrett or Brooks. Showing the breadth of the rotation, giving less weight today to Birch, Olynyk, Lyles or Alexander-Walker, and thus marking more territory. Scariolo has already been warned. Canada is in control and only mistakes will allow them to get their hands on it in this phase of the championship.
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2024-07-30 19:45:53
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