KEY 2008 OLYMPIC BASKETBALL INFO COMING EVENING OF APRIL 26, 2008

USA "Select" team, which practices against Team USA: Aaron Brooks (Houston Rockets), Channing Frye (Portland Trail Blazers), Jeff Green (Seattle Sonics), Devin Harris (Dallas Mavericks), Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers), Al Jefferson (Minnesota Timberwolves), Jason Kapono (Toronto Raptors), David Lee (New York Knicks) and J.J. Redick (Orlando Magic).

A few Key Links: Schedule/Results/ TV, Team profiles, Olympic History.

2004 OLYMPIC BASKETBALL

Stats (Everyone): Players | Teams
Stats (NBA Players): Team USA | NBA Players on non-USA teams

FINAL 2004 OLYMPICS BASKETBALL RESULTS / Aug 29
Gold: Argentina
Silver: Italy
Bronze: United States
4th: Lithuania
5th: Greece
6th: Puerto Rico
7th: Spain
8th: China
9th: Australia
10th: New Zealand
11th: Serbia & Montenegro
12th: Angola

INSIDEHOOPS.COM ALL-OLYMPICS TEAM / Aug 29

1) Manu Ginobili (Argentina) - Stats: 19.3 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 3.3 APG, .576 FG%, .405 3P%
Carried his team every time it was necessary.

2) Pau Gasol (Spain) - Stats: 22.4 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 1.86 BPG, .614 FG%
Was a dominant superstar and appears to have gotten better since last NBA season.

3) Yao Ming (China) - Stats: 20.7 PPG, 9.3 RPG, .559 FG%
A dominant force. The only guy he had trouble guarding was Pau Gasol, who isn't a true center and is far too quick for Yao to guard, anyway.

4) Carlos Arroyo (Puerto Rico) - Stats: 18.0 ppg, 5.0 apg, 2.1 rpg, 2.0 spg, .430 FG%
Scored, dished, defended, and played extremely well.

5) Luis Scola (Argentina) - Stats: 17.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.1 apg, 0.5 bpg, .066 FG%
Scored like crazy from start to finish. Defense is another story. In Scola's case, a non-story.

6) (Honorable Mention) Sarunas Jasikevicius (Lithuania) - Stats: 14.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 5.6 APG, .393 3P%
Shoots the lights out, dishes lots of assists and, for better or worse, is a very loud vocal leader. Stepped up in a huge way against the U.S.

COMPLETE OLYMPIC BASKETBALL RESULTS: Click here

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Exhibition Game Results, Team USA history article, USA Basketball section, USA uniforms article.

USA Olympic Game Stories:

USA beats Australia
[Olympics] For three quarters the U.S. Men's Olympic Team (2-1) chased Australia (1-2), until they finally stepped up on the defensive end for a 89-79 victory Thursday afternoon in Athens. [Aug 18]

USA edges Greece
[Olympics] USA fights hard to hold off Greece. [Aug 18]

Puerto Rico destroys USA
[2004 Olympics] In the first USA basketball game of the 2004 Olympics, Puerto Rico dominated, winning by 19. [Aug 15]

Team USA ready for Olympics
[2004 Olympics] The USA Senior men's basketball team has arrived in Greece and is ready to defend their Olympic Gold. [Aug 13]

Pre-Olympic USA Exhibition Games:

USA 96 Puerto Rico 71
Italy 95 USA 78
USA 80 Germany 77
USA 78 Serbia & M 60
USA 79 Turkey 67
USA 80 Turkey 68

2004 Olympics Basketball Teams:

NBA Players on International Teams:

Argentina: Carlos Delfino, Manu Ginobili, Andres Nocioni
China: Yao Ming
Lithuania: Darius Songaila
New Zealand: Sean Marks
Puerto Rico: Carlos Arroyo, Peter J. Ramos, Daniel Santiago
Spain: Pau Gasol
Serbia & Montenegro: Peja Drobnjak, Nenad Krstic, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Vladimir Radmanovic

Team USA Roster:

PG: Stephon Marbury, Dwyane Wade
SG: Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony
SF: Richard Jefferson, LeBron James
PF: Lamar Odom, Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire
C: Tim Duncan, Carlos Boozer, Emeka Okafor
Coach: Larry Brown

How each Basketball Team Qualified for 2004 Olympics:

Angola: Won African Championships
Argentina: 2nd in Americas Championships
Australia: Won Oceania Championships
China: Won Asian Championships
Greece: Host country
Italy: 3rd in European Championships
Lithuania: Won European Championships
New Zealand: 2nd in Oceania Championships
Puerto Rico: 3rd in Americas Championships
Serbia & Montenegro: Won 2002 World Championships
Spain: 2nd in European
USA: Won Americas

Random Team USA Notes:

The only two original members of this team: Iverson, Duncan

NBA players who were on 2004 USA Olympic Basketball team but withdrew: Jason Kidd (recovering from knee surgery), Ray Allen (getting married), Tracy McGrady (Olympic "security concerns"), Karl Malone (healing from injury, emotional strain from mom passing away), Jermaine O'Neal (banged up from playoffs), Mike Bibby (we aren't sure of reason).

Kobe Bryant was going to be on the team but withdrew due to scheduling problems (his case).

These NBA players declined invitations to join USA Olympic Basketball team: Vince Carter, Kenyon Martin, Elton Brand, Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace.

How U.S. men's basketball team qualified to compete in the 2004 Olympics: The U.S. men only finished sixth in the 2002 world basketball championship, which (by coincidence) took place on U.S. soil, in Indianapolis. (Prior to their first loss in that event, the U.S. men's team had won 58 games in a row. Yugoslavia won, Argentina finished 2nd, Germany finished 3rd.) Because of their horible performance in the 2002 World Championships, the U.S. men's team did NOT automatically qualify for 2004 Olympics basketball competition. To qualify for the Olympics, they had to do well in the 2003 Olympic qualifying tournament, where the best teams in North/Central/South America competed. The U.S. men's basketball team won that 2003 qualifying tournament, and therefore qualified for 2004 Olympic basketball competition.

2003 AMERICAS OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT
In the summer of 2003, the Americas Olympic qualifying tournament took place. Read the full results.