Tonight's Suns-related FIBA action starts with Brazil against Argentina at 5:30pm Pacific/8:30pm Eastern, followed by USA vs. Uruguay at 8:00pm Pacific/11:00pm Eastern. As usual, Brazil-Argentina will be on NBATV/NBA.com and USA-Uruguay will be on ESPN2. Argentina is generally considered to be the second best team in the tournament, even though they're missing some key players such as Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto. So, this should be a very challenging game for Brazil. Argentina is undefeated thus far, although they've yet to play Team USA. I still think Brazil can win, but they'll need to play like they did last night instead of like the night before.
Team USA has brushed aside every opponent in its path so far, and I can't see it being much different tonight. I haven't had a chance to watch Uruguay at all in this tournament, so this is another one of those predictions based solely on standings and rankings, but with a 2-3 record (of the games that count), and a #31 ranking, I'm pretty comfortable with Team USA's chances of extending their streak of mega-wins to seven.
Wish List:
- More Suns-like ball from Leandro Barbosa and Brazil (a repeat of last night would do nicely)
- Another good night for Amare Stoudemire
NBA.com has now posted links to complete replays for most of the games played thus far. This includes that Brazil vs. Virgin Islands game that was somehow not available as a live webcast on Saturday (much to the dismay of yours truly, who badly wanted to write about Leandro's big night). To watch that game or any other, visit the following link: http://www.nba.com/2007fibaamericas/schedule.html. And no, there won't be a belated recap of Brazil-Virgin Islands. That ship has sailed, unfortunately.