US on to semis, Aussies eliminated

Dwyane Wade （L） of the United States drives to the basket （Photo credit： Streeter Lecka/Getty Images）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

（BEIJING， August 20） -- Team USA advanced to the semifinals of the Olympic Men's Basketball tournament after knocking out Australia 116-85 on Wednesday， August 20.

The US team pressed hard on both ends of the court， grabbing 19 offensive rebounds and 38 defensive rebounds en route to a massive 57 boards， more than double the 28 on the Australian side.

Kobe Bryant led the winning side with 25 points and five rebounds while Lebron James poured in%26nbsp；16 points and nine rebounds. Carmelo Anthony netted 15 points， and Deron Williams and Chris Bosh had 10 apiece.

"We set in a little bit more defensively. Once we made that adjustment， we played much better，" said Bryant. "Our strength comes in waves in the second， third and fourth quarters."

The Oceania champion started fairly well， managing to deal with US full-court pressure in the first half and only trailing 25-24 after the first quarter. The teams went to the main break at 55-43 in the United States' favor.

The third quarter saw the margin further extended as Team USA came up with fantastic coordination to go on a 14-0 run shortly back from the half. Australia was unable to catch up with the US pace， conceding several turnovers which allowed their opponents to score more points on fast-break lay-ups. In the fourth period， a downtown three-pointer by Bryant made it 99-67 before James penetrated into the lane， draining a two-pointer and breaking 100 points.

"There was stage-fright there mate， definitely stage-fright there，" Australian guard Patrick Mills acknowledged. "In the end， you just have to see them （the United States） as ordinary players. You try to come out and put your best foot forward and see what happens."

Mills was the biggest contributor for Australia， scoring 20 points. Glen Saville weighed in with 13 points and Joe Ingles buried all of his attempts on his way to 11 points in 10 minutes.

Hammon, Russia downs China for bronze

Irina Osipova （L）of Russia looks to pass under pressure from Chen Nan of China （Photo credit： Quinn Rooney/Getty Images）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

（BEIJING， August 23） -- Chen Nan's game-high 26 points did not help the host team reach the podium as Russia rallied past China 94-81 in the bronze medal match of the Olympic Women's Basketball tournament on Saturday， August 23.

US-born Becky Hammon， who plays for the CSKA Moscow club and chose to compete for Russia shortly before the Beijing Olympic Games started， contributed a team-high 22 points and four assists.

Russia trailed 24-23 in the first quarter but went into the main break 52-39 thanks to 11 points from playmaker Hammon. Though the Chinese managed to narrow the margin to 11 points in the second half， they found themselves unable to shut down the sharp Russian offense and bowed 94-81.

"I feel upset. It is such a psychological fall. But we have done our best，" said a frustrated Sui Feifei of China.

"It has been 10 years （since I joined the national team）. I had thought this would be a chance （for a medal） and we wanted to go further.""

Beside Chen's 26 points， Bian Lan scored 17 points and grabbed six boards for China. Captain Miao Lijie netted 16 points and pulled down three rebounds.

Russia got double-digit baskets from four players with Hammon leading at 22 points. Tatiana Shchegoleva and Maria Stepanova sunk 15 points apiece and Ilona Korstin 11.

"I'm very happy. It was very important for us to win a medal，" said Korstin. "We came here to win the gold medal. We played an unfortunate game against the United States. But we fought for each victory， and we're happy to repeat what we did in Athens."

Photos: Russia beats China for bronze

Miao Lijie goes up for a shot over Ilona Korstin. （Photo credit： Quinn Rooney/Getty Images）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

Russia triumphed over host China 94-81 in the bronze medal match of the Olympic Women's Basketball tournament on Saturday， August 23.

Maria Stepanova lays the ball up over Bian Lan. （Photo credit： Jeff Gross/Getty Images）
Chen Nan drives to the basket. （Photo credit： Quinn Rooney/Getty Images）
Miao Lijie goes up for a rebound. （Photo credit： Jeff Gross/Getty Images）

Men's Basketball Day 2 Review: Spain spreads China thin in overtime

Spain takes China in overtime， where Yao Ming fouled out （Photo credit： Getty Images）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

（BEIJING， August 13） -- 2007 EuroBasket silver medal Spain got an overtime win， but European champion Russia did not fare as well， on day two of the Olympic Men's Basketball tournament on Tuesday， August 12.

Spain came back from trailing 14-points to force a tired China into overtime， where Yao Ming fouled out and Spain easily took the victory 85-75. The Chinese team is now 0-2， while reigning world champion Spain is even only with the United States with a 2-0 record in group B.

Spanish guard Ricky Rubio admits his team could have played better. "We started a little bit relaxed， thinking that China wasn't a good opponent for us，" he said. "We are the world champions but anyone can beat us."

China's Forward Li Nan ventured to guess why his team lost in overtime after such a promising second-half lead. "First， it's because of the decreasing physical strength，" Nan said. "Second， at the last moment， we doubted ourselves and hesitated on offense." He also noted that Yao's ankle wasn't completely 100 percent in time for Olympic competition.

While Spain won today， 2007 EuroBasket gold medal Russia was forced to split its record 1-1， as World No. 20 Croatia took its second consecutive game. Russia was leading in most of the first half， but Croatia closed the second quarter 42-36 and ran away with the score from there to an 85-78 final.

Now Croatia and Lithuania stand atop group A with 2-0 records.

Lithuania's game fell more to the category of "blowout." Lithuania beat Iran 99-67 in an even bigger routing than the United States vs. Angola game， which ended 97-76. Coming off a late win against Argentina， Lithuania was behind for the beginning of the match until point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius took over. His basket from in the paint ignited an 18-0 onslaught that carried Lithuania through the game. The 22-point high scorer of that match was Linas Kleiza， but Iran's center Hamed Ehadadi was on his heels with 21 points and nine rebounds.

That the United States took Angola was no surprise， but Angola was particularly handicapped by the absence of their star forward Olimpio Cipriano， who was still suffering from a shoulder injury sustained in his tournament opener against Germany. Angola's Carlos Morais led the game in scoring for 24 points， and the top rebounder was teammate Joaquim Gomes. Dwayne Wade led Team USA with 19 points.

With a strong defense that was able to contain the likes of Chris Kaman， the Greek team powered through an 87-64 pounding of Germany. Greece's Vasileios Spanoulis had a game-high 23 points， while Dirk Nowitzki topped the German team with 13 points and six rebounds.

Finally， defending gold medal Argentina got their first tournament win， defeating Australia 85-68. Argentina went to the final quarter 63-46， but the Boomers staged a terrific comeback to make it 74-64 on a 10-0 run. Manu Ginobili led the winning team with 21 points， while Australia's guard Patrick Mills scored a game-high 22.

Spain trails, in overtime prevails

Yao Ming （R） of China goes up for a shoot. （Photo credit： Meng Yongmin/ Xinhua）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；%26nbsp；

（BEIJING， August 12） -- China stunned Spain with leads as big as 15 points， but ultimately the world champion Spanish Men's Basketball team prevailed in overtime， 85-75， in an exciting group B preliminary match on Tuesday， August 12.

World No. 3 Spain's Pau Gasol was the game high-scorer， netting 29 points and grabbing eight rebounds. His teammate Rudy Fernandez contributed 21 points， eight rebounds and six assists.

China had four players finishing in double digits， including Liu Wei with 19 points， Zhu Fangyu and Wang Zhizhi with 15 points， and Yao Ming with 11 points.

The first half saw the two teams' scores neck-and-neck， reaching 11-10 midway through the first quarter and ending the whole ten minutes with Spain leading 20-18. China did a stunning job in the second quarter， gaining 28 points while Spain scored only 17. China made four three-pointers in this period， with forward Zhu contributing two of them， and Spain was left behind 46-37 at halftime.

China kept in good form in the third quarter， gaining 15 points， five more than the Spanish team. Wang Zhizhi， who came onto the court halfway in this quarter， put away a quick seven points in four minutes.

The fourth quarter， however， saw an increasingly tired China fail to meet a big push from Spain， who grabbed 25 points while China could only net 11. The shooting percentage of the Chinese players decreased sharply in this period，which spelled disaster as Spain jacked up their score. A two-pointer by Wang Zhizhi helped China to pull ahead to one final lead， 72-70， but with only one minute to go Spain was able to equalize the score and propel the game into overtime.

The crowd was behind them in a big way， but China's players could not maintain their performance and energy in the extra five minutes of overtime. On an attempted block against Spain's biggest weapon of the night， Pau Gasol， Yao got called for his fifth personal foul and had to leave the game early. A match that was filled with excitement came to a less than spectacular end， with Spain dominating the overtime and taking the game 85-75.

Photos: China loses to Spain 85-75 in men's basketball group match

Yao Ming （R） of China goes up for a shot. （Photo credit： Meng Yongmin/Xinhua）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

The group B preliminary round game between Spain and China in Men's Basketball was held at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium in Beijing， China on August 12， 2008. Spain beat China 85-75.

Rudy Fernandez （C） of Spain passes the ball. （Photo credit： Meng Yongmin/Xinhua）
Yi Jianlian of China hammers a dunk. （Photo credit： Wang Lei/Xinhua）

Photos: United States beats Greece 92-69

Dwayne Wade jumps past Sofoklis Schortsanitis of Greece to score. （Photo credit： Jeff Gross/Getty Images）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

United States had no problem beating Greece 92-69 in their Men's Basketball group B clash on Thursday， August 14.

Greece managed to keep the first quarter close， losing just 20-16. However， the United States kicked into gear in the second quarter and extended their lead to 51-32 at halftime. The third quarter was tight again， but the United States won 92-69 in the end.

United States now tops the group with three wins in their hand.

Dimitrios Diamantidis of Greece is closed down by Dwayne Wade. （Photo credit： Jeff Gross/Getty Images）
Vasileios Spanoulis of Greece is double teamed by Deron Williams and Chris Bosh. （Photo credit： Jeff Gross/Getty Images）
Sofoklis Schortsanitis of Greece holds the ball as Carmelo Anthony plays defence. （Photo credit： Jeff Gross/Getty Images）