Women's Basketball Group A Preview: Australia, Russia could go all the way

(BEIJING, August 2) -- The answer to the United States' three consecutive Women's Basketball Olympic gold medals may lie in group A, with Athens runners-up silver medalist Australia, bronze winner Russia and fourth place Brazil.

The main team to watch in this group is Australia, who has been closing in on the gold ever since winning their first medal, the bronze in the 1996 Atlanta. In the next two Games Australia won the silver just behind the U.S., but the tide may have changed since the last Olympics, with Australia winning the gold in the 2006 FIBA World Championship over a US bronze.

Australia's "Opals" are led by their star center Lauren Jackson, a Sydney-native who currently lives in Seattle and stands tall at 1.95 meters. She may quite possibly be the world's best female basketball player, but she is certainly the biggest Aussie talent ever in this sport. In the 2006 world championships she led all players in scoring at 21.3 points.

Jackson and other Australian players suit up for various teams abroad throughout the year, and recently many have led their teams to their respective championships. Jackson brought Spartak Moscow to the EuroLeague championships in 2006 and 2007, and took the Seattle Storm to capture the WNBA title in 2004, just as fellow Olympic teammate Penny Taylor did for the Phoenix Mercury in 2007. Taylor was also named Most Valuable Player of the 2006 World Championship final.

Besides being league MVP in the WNBA in 2001 and 2007, Jackson has also played professionally in the Republic of Korea, where she was the league MVP in 2007. Basically, Jackson has topped the women's basketball leagues of many of the countries Australia will face during these Games, which puts her team in a very competitive position.

"The strongest Australian women's basketball team ever has been assembled for the 2008 Olympic Games," said the Australian Basketball Federation. "The World Champions have the firepower to topple the United States."

Russia should not be overlooked either, especially with the welcome addition of American Becky Hammon. Although her achievements came close to Jackson's by being a runner-up for MVP in the 2007 WNBA season, Hammon was not offered a place on the US squad and consequently chose to play for Russia, where she already was a member of CSKA Moscow and had been granted citizenship. Russia also placed above the US in the 2006 FIBA World Championships with the silver, so they hope as well to top their 2004 performance and make a run for the gold in Beijing.

Although Brazil lost in a surprising overtime blowout to first-time Olympics competitors Belarus, they were the 2008 South American FIBA champions and fourth place in the Athens Games, so they will be as hungry as Russia and Australia to improve upon their last Olympics standings. Latvia's squad boasts Anete Jekabsone, named the best female basketball player in Europe in 2007 for her performance with the Moscow Dynamo. Latvia's recent Diamond Ball win over Russia, led by Jekabsone's game-high 34 points, is a reminder not to overlook Latvia's team, the only representatives of their country at the Beijing Games.

Aside from the previous Olympics' frontrunners, FIBA 2007 Asia champions Republic of Korea is eager to succeed, and Belarus is making its first Olympic appearance ever in this event. Belarus upset Brazil by seven points in a stunning overtime to win the berth during the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women.

After group A teams all meet each other in round robin play, the top four teams will proceed to the quarterfinals, where they will each face a team from group B. Once they advance to the semifinals and beyond, teams from within group A may have a chance to square off again. While it seems like Australia and Russia are shoe-ins for quarterfinals slots and beyond, Brazil's loss to Belarus in the qualifiers and Latvia's win over Russia in the Diamond Ball warm-up both show that the rest of the spots are up for grabs and the opportunity for exciting play is high in group A.

Group A will start battling when Australia faces Belarus in the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium on August 9.