Olympic Basketball 2012: 5 Simple Steps to Fixing Ridiculously Flawed Tournament

The men's basketball tournament for the 2012 Summer Olympics is entering its third day in London and it's been nothing short of captivating so far.

Team USA has roared out to two straight 25+ point victories while world No. 2 Spain has looked every bit the formidable opponent. 

But there are some things about the Olympic format that are completely broken and have easy fixes. What are those things? Here's a look at five ways FIBA could improve the Olympic tournament. 

Olympic Dunk Contest (Individual Competition)

The Olympic basketball tournament will always be a team competition, but what player says no to a chance at individual gold?

LeBron James may never have competed in the NBA's slam dunk contest, but there's no way a 19-year-old or 23-year-old James says no to the individual competition.

And especially if the Olympics switch to an under-23 format for U.S. players, this could be an opportunity for young players to shine on an international stage.

The contest is also a chance for foreign players to show that Team USA players aren't the only ones with jaw-dropping athleticism.

And, most importantly, it would be fun for fans and players. Everyone loves the NBA contest, even when it's a snorefest. Just imagine how raucous international crowd would be with one of its own in the final round.

Move the Three-Point Line to NBA Length

The London Games marked FIBA's first Olympics using the new 22.1-foot three-point line, which was fully adopted in October 2010.

That move marks over a foot and a half increase from the Beijing Games, where the 20.5-foot line was shorter than the NCAA and only nine inches more than the high school line.

But, if you're going to move it, why not just move it back to the NBA's three-point line of 23.75 feet?

FIBA general secretary Patrick Baumann said the move was coming in 2008 (via ESPN). So it's time to rip off the band-aid and make the world step back to the big boy line.

Fewer Fouls, More Consistent Referee Play

Throughout the Olympic process, I've had to adjust my set multiple times to make sure FIBA didn't hire Joey Crawford to officiate international competition.

Whether it's a case of nerves or more stringent rules, the whistles are overbearing, inconsistent and take away from the quality of basketball.

With just five allowances per-player in international play, the referee crews need to establish what constitutes a foul early on and stick to the process so players know.

And FIBA also needs to make a concerted effort to fix the language barrier some players have with the referees. Whether that means having an interpreter on hand to explain the calls or simply means only hiring multi-lingual referees, the players shouldn't be left in the dark on why a certain foul got called.

But any hardcore basketball fan knows consistent referee play is on par with finding a unicorn.

Let's Make Some Sense of the Group Draw Process

Before we get too far into degrading the group draw process, let's take a look at this year's group breakdown in London with their FIBA rankings included.

Group A (FIBA Rank)	Group B (FIBA Rank)
United States (1)	Spain (2)
Argentina (3)	Australia (9)
Lithuania (5)	China (10)
France (12)	Russia (11)
Nigeria (21)	Brazil (13)
Tunisia (32)	Great Britain (43)

These groups look like FIBA has never been a part. The United States has three of the world's five best teams in its bracket, while Spain has a gauntlet of middling squads.

And what earthly sense does it make to do the group draw three months before the Olympics? How you can create a draw before three teams have even qualified for the tournament makes you wonder whether there's any thought put into the process whatsoever.

I find it hard to believe FIBA can't wait until a week before the games start. The NCAA does it four days beforehand, and it's not as if the NCAA is some bastion of competency.

If FIBA would have actually put any thought into the process, these would have been the two groups:

Group A (FIBA Rank)	Group B (FIBA Rank)
United States (1)	Spain (2)
Lithuania (5)	Argentina (3)
Australia (9)	China (10)
France (12)	Russia (11)
Brazil (13)	Nigeria (21)
Great Britain (43)	Tunisia (32)

In this pairing, the top two seeds (U.S. and Spain) split the two top-five squads and then serpentined the rest of the teams. That gives both Group A and Group B an average ranking of around 13, with Team USA receiving a slightly easier bracket.

But, more importantly, the process actually makes sense.

Six Teams Make Elimination Play, Not Eight

In the current Olympic system, eight of the 12 teams that make the trip get to the elimination round.

This makes group play essentially irrelevant as the process serves to knock out teams that barely deserved to be there in the first place.

If the Olympics want an eight-team tournament, then knock out group play altogether and make it a traditionally seeded tournament. Or, even better, 16 teams.

But if FIBA wants to continue the traditionally group format, it needs to reward the group winners more. Switching to a six-team elimination round does that by giving the top team from each group a bye to the semifinals.