Olympic Basketball TV Schedule: How to Follow Your Favorite NBA Players
Believe it or not, there is talent on basketball teams besides the United States.
The Olympic tournament features 12 teams fighting for a medal, but each squad has to earn a spot in the quarterfinals first.
Many international players have already opened up some eyes with their play in the opening games, but there is still plenty of basketball to play. Over the next two weeks, the pretenders will fade and the real contenders will shine.
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TV Coverage: All Olympic games will be shown on NBC Olympic Basketball Channel. USA games will additionally be shown on the NBC Sports Network. The gold medal game will be shown on NBC.
Full Schedule (via NBC Olympics):
July 31
| 4:00 a.m. | China vs. Russia |
| 6:15 a.m. | Australia vs. Spain |
| 9:30 a.m. | Lithuania vs. Nigeria |
| 11:45 a.m. | Great Britain vs. Brazil |
| 3:00 p.m. | France vs. Argentina |
| 5:15 p.m. | Tunisia vs. USA |
August 02
| 4:00 a.m. | France vs. Lithuania |
| 6:15 a.m. | Australia vs. China |
| 9:30 a.m. | Argentina vs. Tunisia |
| 11:45 a.m. | Brazil vs. Russia |
| 3:00 p.m. | Spain vs. Great Britain |
| 5:15 p.m. | USA vs. Nigeria |
August 04
| 4:00 a.m. | Tunisia vs. France |
| 6:15 a.m. | Russia vs. Spain |
| 9:30 a.m. | Lithuania vs. USA |
| 11:45 a.m. | China vs. Brazil |
| 3:00 p.m. | Great Britain vs. Australia |
| 5:15 p.m. | Nigeria vs. Argentina |
August 06
| 4:00 a.m. | Australia vs. Russia |
| 6:15 a.m. | Tunisia vs. Lithuania |
| 9:30 a.m. | France vs. Nigeria |
| 11:45 a.m. | Great Britain vs. China |
| 3:00 p.m. | Spain vs. Brazil |
| 5:15 p.m. | Argentina vs. USA |
August 08
| 9:00 a.m. | Men's Quarterfinal |
| 11:15 a.m. | Men's Quarterfinal |
| 3:00 p.m. | Men's Quarterfinal |
| 5:15 p.m. | Men's Quarterfinal |
August 10
| 12:00 p.m. | Men's Semifinal |
| 4:00 p.m. | Men's Semifinal |
August 12
| 6:00 a.m. | Men's Bronze Medal Game |
| 10:00 a.m. | Men's Gold Medal Game |
Teams to Watch
U.S.A.
There is no question that the United States has the most talented roster in the world. With LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant and others, the team will never struggle to score.
The key will be how well they defend in the frontcourt, with teams like Spain having a slight advantage in size. With enough focus, however, the Americans should win every game in a landslide.
Spain
With Pau and Marc Gasol starting and Serge Ibaka coming off the bench, Spain has arguably the best set of forwards in the competition.
They have already survived an early test against China, and should advance from their group. From that point, the question is how deep this veteran team will be able to go in the knockout stage.
Argentina
Manu Ginobili might be getting older, but the 2004 Olympic champs will still be a dangerous team in this tournament.
The Spurs guard still knows how to get himself to the basket, and Luis Scola provides a great compliment inside. Carlos Delfino is a solid third-scoring option as a sharpshooter from deep.
After an impressive opening game win over Lithuania, there is no limit as to how far Argentina can go.
China
Although a gold medal might be out of the question, China showed in its first game that it could be a sleeper to at least reach the podium.
Yi Jianlian had an outstanding showing against Spain, scoring 30 points with 12 rebounds. Although they came out with a loss, the match should build confidence as they fight for a medal.
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