FIBA Worlds: Games To Watch/Open Thread 30.8.10

Hey! Check out a rewind of Yesterday's Action and a Preview of Group C below!

Feel free to post your thoughts about the games in the comments section.

We're in the 3rd Day of the FIBA World Championships, and action is going to slow down for the next couple of days, so every team will get a day off. Today, only groups A and B will play, while Groups C and D will play on Tuesday. That means that Team USA, Germany, and Serbia will all play, but there's only 3 other games that will be played. So look below for a complete list of today's action.

Note: This is a general guide to the games of today, and shouldn't necessarily be taken as a command to watch every single game on the list. Rather, think of it as a friendly introduction to international basketball, allowing you to more easily select a game to watch that suits your viewing style from the best games available. Also, the previews below are just meant to be short blurbs of why you should watch the game. Don't take it as in-depth analysis. For that, go to my previews of the respective groups.

Thunder Team Games:

Team USA (Durant, Westbrook) vs. Brazil

Time: 1:30 PM Central Standard Time

Network: ESPN (Replay at 10 PM on ESPN 2)

Analysis/Prediction: Easily the best game of the day. This one will determine who comes out as the champion of Group B, and it's bound to be the most competitive game Team USA will play until next week. Brazil, a team with an excellent post presence and good shooters on the outside, will face team USA, who is extremely fond of driving it inside. It will be interesting to see how well the US breaks through the wall of Brazilian defense. But still, in all likelihood, Team USA will win this one by about 5 or so. Brazil will save its' real bite for later, when it really matters. 

Germany (Pleiss) vs. Australia

Time: 11:00 AM Central Standard Time

Network: NBATV

Analysis/Prediction: Germany will be looking to secure it's second win in order to advance out of the group here, while Australia will be doing the same. Germany still gets to face Iran though, so Australia is in more of a pinch, as they could very well lose against a stacked Serbian team and the running Angolans. Since I predicted Australia to advance out of the group, I'm sticking with them, even though Germany has had a good run so far.

Below: Serbia, and the Other 3 Games!

Serbia (Still Sans Krstic) vs. Jordan

Time: 8:30 AM Central Standard Time

Network: ESPN 3 Only

Analysis/Prediction: In Serbia's last game without Nenad Krstic, they'll be facing a Jordan team that did better than expected in taking Australia to the wire, but is still widely considered to be an underdog. I don't expect Serbia to have any trouble winning here.

The Other 3 Games Going On Today:

3. Tunisia vs. Iran

Time: 11:00 AM Central Standard Time

Network: ESPN 3 Only

Analysis/Prediction: Two underwhelming teams will decide who will get a 5th place finish in Group B. In all likelihood, Iran will win over Tunisia, which is probably the worst team in the tournament.

2. Slovenia vs. Croatia

Time: 8:30 AM Central Standard Time

Network: ESPN 3 Only

Analysis/Prediction: If you ever wanted to see some European basketball madness, this would be the game to tune into. Both teams play a very similar style of play (lots of outside shooting, including from big men, some quick guards), and the game will come down to the wire. Both teams see it as important, as the game will probably determine 2nd place in Group B, a seed which has a much better chance of getting to the Quarter-Finals. I think Slovenia will win because they have better big men, but this is really anyone's game.

1. Angola vs. Argentina

Time: 1:30 PM Central Standard Time

Network: ESPN 3 Only

Analysis/Prediction: This game will be crucial in determining whether Argentina has the right stuff to win Group A. If they win, they go to 3-0 and could only be potentially dethroned by Serbia. But if they lose, it leaves the group wide open to whoever wants to take it. If Argentina had a full team, Angola probably wouldn't have the talent to compete with them, but since they're missing a lot of players, I wouldn't be surprised to see it go the other way. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Angola will win, but only barely.