Men's Basketball Day 6 Preview: The fight to the final four

(BEIJING, August 19) -- Lithuania and the United States have a decisive winning history over their respective opponents China and Australia, but world champion Spain will be challenged by a Popovic-less Croatia, and defending Olympic gold medal Argentina will have to play strong against Greece, in the Men's Basketball quarterfinal round on Wednesday, August 20.

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

Spain vs. Croatia

Croatia holds a 3-2 record over Spain, their last meeting an 85-84 victory to Croatia in the 2007 European Championship. Croatia is hitting a tournament-best 47.5 percent from beyond the arc. Its two leading scorers are both under injury clouds coming into the match. Zoran Planinic has a hip problem, while Marko Popovic has a torn tendon and is only expected to return if his team reaches the semifinal.

Spain is the leading rebound team in the tournament, pulling down 41.4 boards a match. Center Pau Gasol is the team's leading scorer with 19.4 points per game and 17-year-old Ricky Rubio is leading the steals statistic with 2.6 per match.

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

Lithuania vs. China

Lithuania holds a 4-0 record over China, their most recent meeting a 95-75 victory to Lithuania at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Forward Linas Kleiza is his team's leading scorer with 13.8 points per game and guard Sarunas Jasikevicius is the leading assist-maker with 5.4 a match.

Kleiza is not taking his opponents lightly. "China is more than just the two-man team. They are balanced with inside player Yao Ming and the guards. We need to take their three-pointers out."

China's Yao is averaging 19 points per game and sits fourth in tournament scoring. Yao is also the best rebounder of the quarterfinal teams, pulling down 8.4 boards a game. China is the leading shot-blocking team, averaging 4.2 a match.

"It's always tough to play the home team," concedes Kleiza. Lithuania guard Jasikevicius adds, "It depends on how we play. If we let them get ahead the crowd will become a factor. The crowd will not become a factor if we stay in the game and control it."

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

United States vs. Australia

The United States holds a 12-0 record over Australia in major international tournaments. Team USA most recently beat the Boomers 113-73 in the 2006 World Championship. The United States leads in six statistical categories, including field goal percentage (55.3), points per game (103) and assists (20.4). Dwayne Wade is the team's leading scorer, shooting 77.8 percent for 16.2 average points per game.

Australia has the second best three-point shooting percentage, 44.5 percent, behind only Croatia. Center Andrew Bogut is Australia's leading scorer with 14.4 points per game.

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

Argentina vs. Greece

Greece holds a 2-1 record over Argentina, their last meeting coming at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, where Argentina was victorious by a five-point margin, 69-64. Greece has the second highest field goal percentage at 51.3 and is the third best rebounding team, pulling down 36 boards a match. Vasileios Spanoulis is the leading scorer for Greece, hitting 54.5 percent of his shots for 15.4 points per game.

For the defending Olympic champion side, Emanuel Ginobili leads tournament scoring at 19.6 points per game, and Luis Scola comes in third overall with 19.2 points per game. Argentina commits the fewest turnovers and dishes out 17.4 assists per match.