Men's Olympic Hoops!

[icemantbi]

Finally, the best thing about the Summer Olympics is here, and I'm talking about the mens hoops tourney

What I like about this tournament is that we won't be seeing (at least I hope not) some shady reffing that we see in the NBA. Liking these games tonight, but going rather light on them:

Russia -23.

Germany -11.5

Greece +7

Will have a full writeup on the USA/China game for tomorrow morning later.

[pavyracer]

Tough loss with Russia 71-49. I'm with Angola +11.5 and Greece +7.

[icemantbi]

1-2 on the night so far. Nothing is going my way in any sport for me lately, except soccer. Just got to plug along. Next pick:

Argentina/Lithuania over 168

Both teams play at a very fast pace, and this has all the makings of a close game. That means FT's at the end. Both teams have good shooting, and with a fast enough pace, should send this game over.

[icemantbi]

I'm passing on Aussies/Croatia match

But in the big game, I am taking:

China +32

This is just way too many points here. China playing on their home turf, in front of a packed house in what is the biggest event so far at these Olympics. The US will win, without question, but I can't see them taking this by anything other than a 30 point margin. The Chinese won't just pack it in if they are losing, Yao Ming won't let them. The US with a big lead will likely lay off the gas in the 4th quarter, ensuring that either the spread stays within 30, or allowing a China backdoor cover. China will try to control the ball and slow down the tempo, the US will have problems with Yao, their defence has been shaky in the exhibitions running up to the Olympics. And this isn't the NBA, where the stars get treated differently than the others. Kobe or Lebron driving to the hoop won't automatically draw a foul here. And another problem is that China will play as a TEAM while the USA may play more individual basketball. All these factors lead me to believe that China covers the 32 points.

[icemantbi]

Day 2 men's hoops

Went 2-3 on day 1, hope to have a better day 2. Was out all day, so I didn't have anything on the Iran game, good thing I stayed away, I was leaning under.

Russia/Croatia under 148

I don't think we are going to see a similar Croatian performance offensively as we did against Australia. Don't let the last Croatian game fool you, alot of the points in that game came from the 4th quarter, where the Aussies were trying to play catchup and as a result went lax on defence. Tonight I anticipate a close game, where Russia is going to play a possession game. For them to be successful here, they have to keep the ball away from Croatia and thus will slow down the pace. Ball possession and defense will be key for Russia in this game. Russia won't be facing as easy a defense tonight as they did against Iran, so I can't see their point total get near the 71 they put up in that game. The under looks good here.

[icemantbi]

Morning all. Going small on the US/Angola for a bit of action here. Taking:

USA -44

After almost covering against China and almost giving me a heart attack, I'll put a very small action wager on them covering this monster line.

[icemantbi]

Adding this one now, as I won't be around for tip for the last game:

Australia +10