David Blatt needs a plan to stop Jasikevicius

Russia plays really well and balanced here in London. From the standpoints of speed and athleticism it only trails USA. The team’s quickness and defensive effort are its trademarks. It’s very important that Anton Ponkrashov has shown quite a progress and became a valid option at David Blatt’s disposal. All in all, Russia has everything it needs to advance to the semis.

Lithuania goes into its quarterfinal with nothing to lose. They’ve been less than spectacular so far, but it could very well change in the playoffs. They’ll be motivated against Russia and on paper they have enough weapons to pose a threat. Naturally,Kleiza’s play will be vital and I’m sure Jasikevicius is going to be a factor, even in his limited minutes. His career proves he knows how to step up when his country needs him, especially at the Olympic Games. David Blatt will have to come up with a plan on how to stop him.

The second European pair will give us a rematch of the final game of EuroBasket 2011, but circumstances are quite different. Last year, France came into the gold medal clash after a tough semifinal match-up with Russia and getting this far was already an achievement for them. The team looked somewhat empty in the game versus Spain. This time around, France has been steadily improving throughout the Olympics (and the same can be said about their leader Tony Parker), and Spain currently faces some issues after a loss to Brazil.

Sure, France will have hard time defending Gasols. But Spain will also face a tough task of slowing down Parker, and their bench production is not what it should be if they plan on contending for gold.It’ll be a close game and I won’t be surprised if France beats the odds to advance.

USA versus Australia is the easiest game to predict. Not sure we’ll see much of a contest here. The Australians will try to put up a fight, no doubt about it, but the gap in skill level and athletic ability is insurmountable. It’ll be yet another convincing victory for USA, who by the way displayed what an offensive juggernaut they were in the third quarter versus Argentina.

Brazil and Argentina. It’s going to be really interesting. For years, Brazil looked intimidated by its neighbors. Then came a shrewd move – they “stole” their archrivals’ coach Ruben Magnano. He started by changing the team mentality, making it stronger. They’re not what they used to be. A high-scoring bunch once, now they sting opponents with quality defense. And they have weapons to attack Argentina with. Their frontline will surely make life difficult for Scola and Barbosa, who’s also been improving from game to game here, will make Ginobili work.

Argentina will have to rely on its starters. If they get into foul trouble, it’ll be a problem because Brazil’s bench is stronger. I’m still going with Argentina in this one, though it’ll be really close.