Olympic Basketball Schedule 2012: Complete Game Listings for Men and Women

Pau and Kobe hope to meet again in the gold-medal game.
Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Beginning Saturday, 24 basketball teams—some comprised of men, some comprised of women—will take to the Olympic hardwood with the hopes of bringing a medal engraved with "London 2012" back home with them.

While the United States remains the prohibitive favorite to win both brackets, each country that qualified for the tournament brings with it a talented roster of athletes who have no fear—and who would love nothing more than to knock off the favorites and send their respective brackets into chaos.

For any of us to see the action, it would help to know when the games will be getting underway. Let's take a look at the opening round of Olympic basketball that is on tap for the next two weeks.

Saturday, July 28

The U.S. women took home gold from the 2008 Games in Beijing.
Jeff Gross/Getty Images

Women's basketball gets things going on the court at the 2012 Games in London, as all three medal-winning teams from the Beijing Games in 2008 begin their quests for another Olympic medal.

Group A: China vs. Czech Republic, 4 a.m. ET

Group B: Canada vs. Russian Federation, 6:15 a.m. ET

Group A: Turkey vs. Angola, 9:30 a.m. ET

Group A: United States vs. Croatia, 1:45 p.m. ET

Group B: Brazil vs. France, 3 p.m. ET

Group B: Australia vs. Great Britain, 5:15 p.m. ET

Sunday, July 29

Photo courtesy of thenation.com.

It's fitting that Nigeria opens Olympic play for the men.

After shocking the world by knocking off a heavily favored Greece squad, the American-laden team took out the Dominican Republic, coached by Kentucky's John Calipari, to earn its first trip to the Olympics.

Group A: Nigeria vs. Tunisia, 4 a.m. ET

Group B: Brazil vs. Australia, 6:15 a.m. ET

Group A: United States vs. France, 9:30 a.m. ET

Group B: Spain vs. China, 1:45 p.m. ET

Group B: Russian Federation vs. Great Britain, 3 p.m. ET

Group A: Argentina vs. Lithuania, 5:15 p.m. ET

Monday, July 30

Australia's Lauren Jackson returns for her fourth consecutive Olympic Games.
Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

The last three gold-medal games pitted Australia and the United States against one another, with the Americans emerging victorious every time.

Group A: Croatia vs. China, 4 a.m. ET

Group A: Czech Republic vs. Turkey, 6:15 a.m. ET

Group B: France vs. Australia, 9:30 a.m. ET

Group B: Russian Federation vs. Brazil, 1:45 p.m. ET

Group B: Great Britain vs. Canada, 3 p.m. ET

Group A: Angola vs. United States, 5:15 p.m. ET

Tuesday, July 31

These twp know what it takes to win a championship.
Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

With six NBA championship rings between them, longtime San Antonio Spurs teammates Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili finally get a chance to go head-to-head in what could be the first of two meetings at the 2012 Games.

Group B: China vs. Russian Federation, 4 a.m. ET

Group B: Australia vs. Spain, 6:15 a.m. ET

Group A: Lithuania vs. Nigeria, 9:30 a.m. ET

Group B: Great Britain vs. Brazil, 1:45 p.m. ET

Group A: France vs. Argentina, 3 p.m. ET

Group A: Tunisia vs. United States, 5:15 p.m. ET

Wednesday, August 1

Natalie Achonwa hopes to follow in Ruth Riley's footsteps.
Mark Dolejs-US PRESSWIRE

The second player from the women's basketball program at Notre Dame to compete in the past three Summer Olympics, junior forward Natalie Achonwa will be a big reason for Canada's success at the 2012 Games.

Ruth Riley, a former All-American for the Fighting Irish, was part of the gold medal-winning United States team at the 2004 Games held in Athens, Greece.

Group B: Canada vs. France, 4 a.m. ET

Group A: China vs. Angola, 6:15 a.m. ET

Group B: Australia vs. Brazil, 9:30 a.m. ET

Group B: Great Britain vs. Russian Federation, 1:45 p.m. ET

Group A: Croatia vs. Czech Republic, 3 p.m. ET

Group A: United States vs. Turkey, 5:15 p.m. ET

Thursday, August 2

The Gasol brothers have the lane locked down for Spain.
Kirby Lee-US PRESSWIRE

At the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and the 2008 Games in Beijing, Spain lost the gold-medal game to the United States.

Led by a trio of NBA big men—Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies, Paul Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers and Serge Ibaka of the Oklahoma City Thunder—Spain poses the biggest threat to the U.S. men's medal hopes in London.

Group A: France vs. Lithuania, 4 a.m. ET

Group B: Australia vs. China, 6:15 a.m. ET

Group A: Argentina vs. Tunisia, 9:30 a.m. ET

Group B: Brazil vs. Russian Federation, 1:45 p.m. ET

Group B: Spain vs. Great Britain, 3 p.m. ET

Group A: United States vs. Nigeria, 5:15 p.m. ET

Friday, August 3

Kevin Jairaj-US PRESSWIRE

With Geno Auriemma coaching the U.S. team, it only makes sense that six players—half of the roster—played for him at the University of Connecticut.

Of the group, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi are going for their third consecutive Olympic gold medal.

Group A: Angola vs. Croatia, 4 a.m. ET

Group B: Russian Federation vs. Australia, 6:15 a.m. ET

Group B: Brazil vs. Canada, 9:30 a.m. ET

Group A: Turkey vs. China, 1:45 p.m. ET

Group B: France vs. Great Britain, 3 p.m. ET

Group A: Czech Republic vs. United States, 5:15 p.m. ET

Saturday, August 4

Andrei Kirilenko leads a Russian squad that has played together for years.
Jeff Gross/Getty Images

Former NBA All-Star forward Andrei Kirilenko and Denver Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov hope to lead the Russian Federation to the podium for the first time in nearly 30 years.

The last time the Soviets won a medal in men's basketball was at the 1988 Games held in Seoul, South Korea when they defeated Yugoslavia in the gold-medal game.

Of course, those Games were the driving force behind the creation of the first Dream Team for the United States.

Group A: Tunisia vs. France, 4 a.m. ET

Group B: Russian Federation vs. Spain, 6:15 a.m. ET

Group A: Lithuania vs. United States, 9:30 a.m. ET

Group B: China vs. Brazil, 1:45 p.m. ET

Group B: Great Britain vs. Australia, 3 p.m. ET

Group A: Nigeria vs. Argentina, 5:15 p.m. ET

Sunday, August 5

American Becky Hammon will be expected to pick up some of the slack for Russia.
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Becky Hammon returns to the Olympic stage, hoping to win her second consecutive medal as a member of the Russian Federation's team, one that is playing without star center Maria Stepanova.

The 6'8" Stepanova tore her ACL at the Euroleague final in late March and remains out of action, meaning that players like Hammon will be expected to step up their games in London—a challenge that she welcomes, as she told reporters back in May. Per the Boston Globe:

She's been the face of the franchise, so that's a tough loss for us. There's some young kids that are very talented post players coming up, too. Someone of her caliber you're going to miss, no way around that. But it's also another opportunity for someone else to step up and prove that they belong at the highest level.

Group B: France vs. Russian Federation, 4 a.m. ET

Group A: Angola vs. Czech Republic, 6:15 a.m. ET

Group B: Canada vs. Australia, 9:30 a.m. ET

Group A: China vs. United States, 1:45 p.m. ET

Group A: Croatia vs. Turkey, 3 p.m. ET

Group B: Great Britain vs. Brazil, 5:15 p.m. ET

Monday, August 6

Luol Deng will be asked to carry a mediocre squad for Great Britain.
Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

Led by Chicago Bulls All-Star forward Luol Deng, Great Britain will look to play the role of spoiler on their home court at this year's Games.

The team will rely heavily on Deng and forward Joel Freeland (who joins the Portland Trail Blazers this season), as the roster lacks much in the way of impact players.

Center Eric Boateng can cause some havoc in the lane, but all things considered, this could be the last game that the Brits play in London.

Group B: Australia vs. Russian Federation, 4 a.m. ET

Group A: Tunisia vs. Lithuania, 6:15 a.m. ET

Group A: France vs. Nigeria, 9:30 a.m. ET

Group B: Great Britain vs. China, 1:45 p.m. ET

Group B: Spain vs. Brazil, 3 p.m. ET

Group A: Argentina vs. United States, 5:15 p.m. ET