2024 Olympic BASKETBALL Thread (pt.5: Men's Semifinals Thursday August 8)

[durden_tyler]

Also, US are 17.5 favorites vs Serbia— no surprise here, similar line to their friendly and first matchup odds.


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I am a little surprised it's even that high. Vegas basically saying Jokic and Serbia will have no pride if US covers that.

i thought as well it’s going to be lower (10-12 range) owing to Serbia’s recent impressive comeback win. Perhaps most bettors still think the Americans will duplicate the last 2 results (and cover) vs Serbia. i can see it happening but tough to doubt Jokic and company will at least try to make this close…


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[RookieStar]

Sorry to be a bother again but just wanted to be sure.

So im asking the kind souls here again... how many hours as of this post, is the GER-FRA game?

According to my calculations, 15 hours roughly

Thanks dude!

[cdubbz]

I still want to see fun ‘dream’ lineups, but Kerr is stubborn lol.

Curry, Booker, KD, LBJ, AD : the OGs

Jrue, White,Tatum Bam, AD : Celtics lineup and defense lineup. Would love to see them try and shut down opponents.

What lineups do you want to see?

[stillgotgame]

I still want to see fun ‘dream’ lineups, but Kerr is stubborn lol.

Curry, Booker, KD, LBJ, AD : the OGs

Jrue, White,Tatum Bam, AD : Celtics lineup and defense lineup. Would love to see them try and shut down opponents.

What lineups do you want to see?

Lots of Bam & AD out there to stop the Joker.
KD to supply the scoring.
Jrue & Derrick White to lock down the perimeter.

Defense wins championships, that doesn't change.

[TheNG]

Its been Lebron, its not close. This is so strange.

No.
The best player in the Olympics is Jokic.
The best player for USA is KD.

lol, you should try watching a game first before commenting. Like just blindly hating is so strange

Me: saying my opinion
Some other user: blames me with hating, says my opinion is strange and says I didn't watch any game without knowing anything about me.
Good luck.

[homecourtloss]

Its been Lebron, its not close. This is so strange.

No.
The best player in the Olympics is Jokic.
The best player for USA is KD.

lol, you should try watching a game first before commenting. Like just blindly hating is so strange

Par for the course for that poster.

[Mrakar]

For those is questioning who has played best Lebron currently leading in the MVP race.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/olympic-odds-basketball-mvp-lebron-kd-anthony-edwards

Lol @ anyone from USA being on the list. You can remove all of ther top MVP candidates and they would still win it all.

Remove Jokic or Wagner from their teams and see what happens.

Its ofc bcs they will give it to a winnet and it will.be USA but it is complete bs to have them.over Jokic/Wagner right now...

[homecourtloss]

No.
The best player in the Olympics is Jokic.
The best player for USA is KD.

lol, you should try watching a game first before commenting. Like just blindly hating is so strange

Me: saying my opinion
Some other user: blames me with hating, says my opinion is strange and says I didn't watch any game without knowing anything about me.
Good luck.

Half of your posts on this board are about LeBron. Strange to have this type of hate for someone who doesn’t even know you’re alive.

[TheNG]

lol, you should try watching a game first before commenting. Like just blindly hating is so strange

Me: saying my opinion
Some other user: blames me with hating, says my opinion is strange and says I didn't watch any game without knowing anything about me.
Good luck.

Half of your posts on this board are about LeBron. Strange to have this type of hate for someone who doesn’t even know you’re alive.

Why do you think that if I write that KD is the best player for the US it's about LeBron? It's about KD.
It's about LeBron exactly as it's about AD, Ant or Booker.
Please stop make everything like it's about LeBron. He is not the center of the world.

Watch on YouTube

[lambchop]

For those is questioning who has played best Lebron currently leading in the MVP race.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/olympic-odds-basketball-mvp-lebron-kd-anthony-edwards

Lol @ anyone from USA being on the list. You can remove all of ther top MVP candidates and they would still win it all.

Remove Jokic or Wagner from their teams and see what happens.

Its ofc bcs they will give it to a winnet and it will.be USA but it is complete bs to have them.over Jokic/Wagner right now...

To be fair, Germany looked just as good without Wagner last year when he couldn't play due to a sprained ankle. He eventually returned to the lineup and looked great. He obviously is a key player, but what I'm saying is that Germany has proven that they can play really well without him.

They did it by simply playing Maodo Lo more minutes to make up for the lack of scoring. It's a challenge for the other players cause they have to defend harder due the lineup being smaller with both Lo and Schroder on the floor.

But I doubt they could win a medal, if he weren't playing.

[Pachinko_]

Can you imagine watching a league where Mike James is MVP? I can’t.

In America? Nah I wouldn't either. In Europe? Fk yeah.
I watch it for the fact that every game matters and they're killing themselves every night, for the fans who are essentially a show within a show, the better rules and refs, the fact that I can hear what the coach says in the timeouts, the lack of commercial breaks and (IMO) the best coaches in the world.

[durden_tyler]

Can you imagine watching a league where Mike James is MVP? I can’t.

In America? Nah I wouldn't either. In Europe? Fk yeah.
I watch it for the fact that every game matters and they're killing themselves every night, for the fans who are essentially a show within a show, the better rules and refs, the fact that I can hear what the coach says in the timeouts, the lack of commercial breaks and (IMO) the best coaches in the world.

i can see the appeal why some fans settle for lower quality of the players/product if it means a more competitive atmosphere (like college basketball).

[RB34]

Seem like there is a substantial bias being shown in the MVP rankings.

[CodeBreaker]

Without Jokic, Serbia wouldn't even have advanced into the Knockout tournament. He's the MVP.

[durden_tyler]

Without Jokic, Serbia wouldn't even have advanced into the Knockout tournament. He's the MVP.

Emphatically proving this the last game. Down 24, down big at halftime, down 3 late and Australia in control. i think this happened in nearlyt consecutive plays when they were down 90-87:

Jokic blocked shot
(then Serbia makes 2 FTs to cut the lead 89-90)
Jokic steal
Jokic semihook (gets Serbia the lead 91-90)
Jokic rebound
Jokic turnaround shot (baseline) gives Serbia 93-90 lead

That saved Serbia's Olympic stint.

[CodeBreaker]

Without Jokic, Serbia wouldn't even have advanced into the Knockout tournament. He's the MVP.

Emphatically proving this the last game. Down 24, down big at halftime, down 3 late and Australia in control. i think this happened in nearlyt consecutive plays when they were down 90-87:

Jokic blocked shot
(then Serbia makes 2 FTs to cut the lead 89-90)
Jokic steal
Jokic semihook (gets Serbia the lead 91-90)
Jokic rebound
Jokic turnaround shot (baseline) gives Serbia 93-90 lead

That saved Serbia's Olympic stint.

Absurd closing stretch from Jokic to finish the BIGGEST COMEBACK IN OLYMPIC HISTORY

[durden_tyler]

Final bets for Olympics final four

Semifinal bets

France +5.5 vs Germany
France-Germany Under 157.0

i really like Germany to advance but anticipating one last hurrah from the refs in France-- they'll make the game close but lose the game. Under a bit too easy too so not too comfortable with this bet but i think it's another grind it out affair.

USA -16.5
USA-Serbia Over 188.5

Line moved already (from 17.5) so probable that bets on Serbia came early but this could still change as American bettors can still move this line (back to 17.5 or higher. Serbia already lost the first two meetings via big blowouts and i expect the same. Perhaps close until early 3Q but i feel US once again tires out Serbia (especially Jokic) late third and they pull away in the fourth. Scary over/under too (188.5 is too high even with all the weapons from both sides) but sticking with the over as i feel US wants to make a statement again.

[lambchop]

Line moved already (from 17.5) so probable that bets on Serbia came early but this could still change as American bettors can still move this line (back to 17.5 or higher. Serbia already lost the first two meetings via big blowouts and i expect the same. Perhaps close until early 3Q but i feel US once again tires out Serbia (especially Jokic) late third and they pull away in the fourth. Scary over/under too (188.5 is too high even with all the weapons from both sides) but sticking with the over as i feel US wants to make a statement again.

It's not that Serbia can't beat the US. If KD has a normal shooting night, this game could actually be close, but I feel as though someone is bound to play well. Also, I'd be surprised if Curry doesn't have at least one good game shooting wise at this tournament. But, yea, if Booker, KD, Curry all have off nights, while the Serbs knock down shots, it could be wide open. Very unlikely though.

[NoStatsGuy]

Me: saying my opinion
Some other user: blames me with hating, says my opinion is strange and says I didn't watch any game without knowing anything about me.
Good luck.

Half of your posts on this board are about LeBron. Strange to have this type of hate for someone who doesn’t even know you’re alive.

Why do you think that if I write that KD is the best player for the US it's about LeBron? It's about KD.
It's about LeBron exactly as it's about AD, Ant or Booker.
Please stop make everything like it's about LeBron. He is not the center of the world.

Watch on YouTube

as you said yourself, it is about lebron. just as much as about all the other players. because if you say someone is the best it has certain implications and is an indirect comparision to the rest of the team.

also, this is not a socialism contest. this is not that allstar game, where coaches try to share minutes or in this case "starts".

USA is winning every game by 20. And every good coach rides with what they did up til then until theres signs of it not working anymore. besides i think your point is pretty obvious lebron hating or you just dont know what you are talking about. its one of those two things. just because its "your opinion" doesnt make your statement true. lebron is clearly THE guy on team usa.

for example, melo did score just like KD does in the olympics. he might even had better scoring games than KD had in international play (nigeria game in 2012 e.G.). but no one said melo was the best player on the team, rightfully so.

[dantas]

There is no opponent as strong as Manu's Argentina of 2004 and the Gasol brothers' Spain of 2008. USA should win easily.