Men's Basketball Day 7 Preview: Strong semifinals match-ups

  2008-08-21 15:35:08 GMT    2008-08-21 23:35:08 (Beijing Time)    BOCOG

  (BEIJING, August 21) -- Lithuania takes on Spain in its fifth consecutive Olympic Games semifinal while Athens 2004 gold medalist Argentina take on the might of the United States in the Men's Basketball semifinals at the Olympic Basketball Gymnasium on Friday, August 22.

  8:00 (UTC/GMT +8)

  Spain vs. Lithuania

  Spain holds a 4-1 advantage over Lithuania in major international competition. Their most recent meeting was at the 2006 World Championships in Japan, where Spain won 89-67 en route to the title.

  Spain is the best defensive team of the tournament, giving up a miserly 71.3 points a match. It is also the second-leading rebounding team in the tournament, pulling down 43 boards a match. Center Pau Gasol is the team's leading scorer, averaging 19.5 points (second overall) and 7.5 rebounds (fourth overall) per match.

  For Lithuania to be successful, its three-point shots have to find the target, and the fast break needs to be rolling. Lithuania goes into the game with a 41.3 percent success rate on three-pointers and they have to find the extra pass to avoid Spain's defensive pressure.

  Lithuania won the bronze medal at Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 while finishing fourth at Athens 2004. Forward Linas Kleiza is the leading scorer for the Lithuanians with 14 points per game while guard Sarunas Jasikevicius is averaging a tournament-high 5.5 assists per match.

  "They are very physical, we have played them many many times," Kleiza said of Spain, "and it's going to be a good match-up and one that we are looking forward to."

  10:15 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8)

  Argentina vs. United States

  The United States holds a 19-6 record over Argentina in major international competition. Their most recent meeting was a 118-81 victory to the United States at the Americas Olympic Qualifying tournament in 2007 in Las Vegas. Argentina defeated Team USA 89-81 in the semifinals at Athens 2004.

  In Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola, Argentina has the leading and fourth-highest scorers at Beijing, with 22.3 and 17.8 points per game respectively. Ginobili will most likely be guarded by Kobe Bryant. Argentina commits the fewest turnovers of the semifinal teams and dishes out 16.3 assists per match, second in the tournament.

  Argentina needs its five starters to play long minutes and hope they do not get in foul trouble. Argentina does not have the bench depth the US team has.

  Team USA leads the tournament in seven statistical categories, including field goal percentage (55.5), points per game (105.2) and assists per game (19.7). US forward Lebron James is the leading scorer for his team, averaging 15.8 points a match and shooting 60 percent from the floor.

  US Center Dwight Howard acknowledged Argentina is a formidable opponent. "They (Argentina) are a smart team," he said. "We can't look ahead. This game is very important. It's like a Game Seven. They are one of the toughest teams here."