Olympic Men's Basketball 2016: TV Schedule, Live Stream and Odds for Day 1
The stage is set for Olympic basketball, as 12 teams from around the globe have arrived in Rio de Janeiro and are ready to battle for medals and national pride.
Things will kick off in the group stage Saturday, with France, the United States, Venezuela, Serbia, China and Australia in Group A. Argentina, Spain, Brazil, Lithuania, Croatia and Nigeria make up Group B and will start Sunday.
Can anyone from Group A put a scare in the Americans? And which squad from Group B will emerge with the best shot at a medal? These questions and more will begin to be answered on Day 1.
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Here is Saturday's complete schedule, along with odds for the tournament, courtesy of Odds Shark.
| Men | ||||||
| Saturday, August 6 | A | 1:15 p.m. ET | Australia | France | NBCSN | NBCOlympics.com |
| Saturday, August 6 | A | 6 p.m. ET | China | USA | NBCSN | NBCOlympics.com |
| Saturday, August 6 | A | 9:30 p.m. ET | Venezuela | Serbia | NBCOlympics.com |
| Team | Odds |
| USA | -1600 |
| Spain | +1000 |
| France | +1400 |
| Serbia | +2200 |
| Brazil | +2800 |
| Lithuania | +2800 |
| Argentina | +2800 |
| Croatia | +5000 |
| Australia | +15000 |
| China | +50000 |
| Venezuela | +50000 |
| Nigeria | +50000 |
Full group listings and standings can be found at NBCOlympics.com.
Is Australia Ready to Take the Next Step?
Australia's Boomers are without recent lottery picks Ben Simmons, Dante Exum and Thon Maker, but their ever-expanding stable of NBA players will still put a scare into opponents in Rio.
The first test comes Saturday against arguably the second-best team in the tournament. France has NBA talent at almost every position, and the backcourt of Tony Parker and Nando de Colo will present a unique challenge for the Aussies.
Matthew Dellavedova and Patty Mills will be the keys to slowing France down at the point of attack.
Another player to keep an eye on is 6'8" point forward Joe Ingles, who averaged 17.5 points, 6.1 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals per 36 minutes while shooting 65.4 percent from the field during the Boomers' exhibition run.
China Gets a Third Crack at Team USA
With an average margin of victory of 49.5 in two exhibition games, Team USA has China figured out. The old saying "third time's the charm" won't come into play here.
Among China's many problems in those games, rebounding tops the list. The Americans destroyed China on the boards—39-26 in the first game and 48-21 in the second.
There's no formula for China to fix this problem, but keeping DeMarcus Cousins and DeAndre Jordan moderately controlled is the key to keeping the final score within 40 points.
Can Serbia Be a Medal-Round Sleeper?
Team USA, France and Spain will get most of the attention, but Serbia has the talent to crash the medal stand.
Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic was the best rookie no one talked about in 2015-16, posting a significantly better box plus-minus (BPM) than both Karl-Anthony Towns and Kristaps Porzingis. His BPM, which measures a player's overall contribution to his team, ranked 12th among all players last season.
His teammate, Milos Teodosic, has yet to make the leap to the NBA, but he's captured the attention of international basketball fans in 66 games with Serbia's national team. Believe the Hype's Tom Read doesn't just have Teodosic in his top-five players to watch, he has him as the entire top five:
In international play with Serbia's national team, he's averaging 16.4 points and 7.5 assists per 36 minutes.
France and Spain Offer Biggest Challenge to USA
When using the word "challenge," it's relative in the Olympics. Team USA is far and away the favorite, but both France and Spain have enough NBA talent to make a game interesting.
Since they're both in Group A, France will get the first crack at the Americans. With a roster that features Rudy Gobert, Boris Diaw, Joffrey Lauvergne and Nicolas Batum, it stands as good a chance as any team in Rio at being able to keep Team USA off the glass (an area it dominated in pre-Olympic exhibition games).
Spain, meanwhile, has a group made up almost entirely of current or former NBA players. While Pau Gasol, Jose Calderon and others are getting up in years, this is a team that has been able to give the USA problems in the past.
Statistics courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com unless otherwise noted. International statistics courtesy of RealGM.com.
Andy Bailey covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him @AndrewDBailey.
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