Take it to the hole!

My friend Cikku was reading the latest news in the most informative newspaper in the world: The Times of Malta!

Suddenly Cikku grimaced and proceeded to turn the newspaper upside down.

This did not seem to have the desired effect because he shrugged his shoulders impatiently and commenced to take the newspaper through a wide degree of angles, all seemingly with the same result.

Finally Cikku got up and exclaimed that he couldn't believe that the USA finished fourth in qualifying Group B at the 2004 Olympic Games.

Spectacular stuff

Cikku is the typical teenage basketball junkie who lives for the moments he gets to watch the stars in the NBA perform their hotdog dribbles or highlight reel dunks.

Team USA is not the Dream Team that graced the hardwood of Barcelona and gave everyone a lesson in basketball.

Some of the top players in the NBA did not accept their call-up for the national team for various reasons and despite having stars on the roster like Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson, Team USA has too many young and inexperienced players who do not appreciate the finer points of the game.

Indeed, the most spectacular element in the Olympic tournament has been the amazing teamwork that Spain and Lithuania, in particular, have shown.

This, combined with great perimeter shooting (something the Americans have struggled with from the start), has left both teams unbeaten in the group stages of a tournament that was meant to be dominated by Serbia-Montenegro, Argentina and USA!

Group A finished with Espana in first place, followed by Italy and Argentina with three wins, China scraping through with two wins and New Zealand and Serbia & Montenegro dropping out of the medal possibilities.

Group B was led by basketball-crazy Lithuania, followed by Greece, Puerto Rico and the USA all with three wins. Australia only gained one win in their post-Gaze days, while Angola failed to win a game despite showing much better performances than in previous tournaments.

By the time you read this, the quarter-final results - Spain vs US, Lithuania vs China, Italy vs Puerto Rico and Greece vs Argentina - will be known. Judging by what we have seen so far, the remaining matches of the men's tournament should be close affairs.

In the women's tournament, which has reached the semi-final stage, USA and Australia are favourites against Russia and Brazil respectively. Both the USA and Australia have still to lose a game with rosters packed with WNBA stars.

A final between these two teams would be a great statement for women's basketball since both teams play the game at a very high technical level.

Book me please

Both finals will be played tomorrow so buy a few packets of peanuts, make sure you have a good supply of cold drinks and ice and prepare yourselves for a basketball feast. I've already booked my TV-Side seat!