Men' Basketball Day 5 Preview: Contests to avoid fourth place

(BEIJING, August 17) -- With all quarterfinal spots essentially spoken for, a few teams who already know they are advancing to the next round will try to crawl out of last place in their groups on day five of Men's Basketball on Monday, August 18.

9:00 a.m. (UTC/GMT +8)

Iran vs. Croatia (group A)

Croatia and Australia are tied with a 2-2 record, but if Croatia wins as expected they will secure the third place in group A regardless of the result of Australia's match against undefeated Lithuania. If Croatia loses and Australia wins, then Croatia will finish fourth. Iran (0-4) will finish last in group A but is seeking a first Olympic win in 60 years.

The Asian champion team's center Hamed Ehadadi leads all players in rebounds, averaging 10.3 per game, and is tied with Russia' Andrey Kirilenko for blocked shots with an average 2.5 per game. Croatia's Zoran Planinic is the tournament's most accurate three-point shooter, with eight of 12 made for 66.7 percent from behind the arc, and the team as a whole is the most accurate from long range.

11:15 a.m. (UTC/GMT +8)

Australia vs. Lithuania (group A)

Lithuania is the only team with a 4-0 record in group A, and has clinched the group's top seed in the quarterfinal. Australia's Andrew Bogut had a big inside presence in his team's recent upset of Russia, and netted 22 points along with CJ Bruton for a big 95-80 victory over the EuroBasket champion. Assuming Croatia will dominate Iran, this game becomes irrelevant to the ranking, but if Croatia loses, Australia could move up to third place in group A if it defeats Lithuania.

Lithuania guard Sarunas Jasikevicius leads the tournament in assists, with 5.5 a game. Australia has committed the fewest turnovers for the tournament, averaging just 12.3 a game.

2:30 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8)

Greece vs. China (group B)

China just pushed Germany out of the quarterfinal round, and would love to turn that momentum into a win over Greece to move out of group B's fourth place. Regardless, the loser of this game will be facing Lithuania right off the bat in the quarterfinal, and the winner will finish third in group B.

China has the second highest team free throw shooting percentage with 80.3 percent accuracy at the foul line, and is also second in the tournament in terms of rebounding, averaging 37 boards a game, and blocked shots, averaging 4.5 a game. Greece ranks second among all teams for field goal accuracy, shooting 50.4 percent.

4:45 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8)

Angola vs. Spain (group B)

Spain was expected to give Team USA a run for its money on day four, but was met with a blowout. It seems safe to say this time that the 2006 world champion will easily win over 0-4 Angola, and Spain will finish second in group B no matter what. Spain leads all teams with an average of 40.5 rebounds per game, and Spain's Pau Gasol ties with the United States' Dwayne Wade for the most field goals made, an average of 6.8 per game.

8:00 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8)

USA vs. Germany (group B)

The 4-0 United States will finish on top of group B, regardless of what happens in this game, and Germany will finish fifth in the group. With the United States consistently blowing their opponents out of the water, this does not promise to be an even match, yet interestingly Dwyane Wade and Germany's Dirk Nowitzki are tied for third in tournament scoring with 17.8 points per game.

10:15 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8)

Argentina vs. Russia (group A)

Defending Olympic champion Argentina has a 3-1 win-loss record, and will finish second to Lithuania in group A regardless of who wins this game. Russia has the reverse record, 1-3, and its last round loss to Australia effectively ended its shot at the quarterfinal. Argentina's Manu Ginobili is the tournament's highest scorer with 21.5 points per game, and sits third in assists with 5.3 per contest. Russian point guard J.R. Holden is Russia's leading scorer with 17.3 points per game.