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Results have been a lot different than expected of the team that most looked as the 2nd best in Olympic play. After dropping their first two games in down-to-the-wire affairs to Croatia and Brazil, Spain finally netted a win in a pretty closely contested affair versus Nigeria.
In general, this Olympic Basketball tourney has said a lot about the state of basketball outside the US. For one, globally the game is getting better and receiving more exposure. We see it year-to-year in NBA where more and more international players are being drafted in the first round and, in general, littered around NBA rosters. Heck, the Philadelphia 76ers are close to having the United Nations as their starting 5.
One of Philly's potential starters is Spain's Sergio Rodriguez, who has been an important contributor for Spain in whatever capacity they need him to be. Last game, against Nigeria, The Spanish Beard played a little less than 13 minutes and put up a modest 5 points, 3 boards and 3 assists. Still, Rodriguez has been a pretty stabilizing force for Spain's back if fellow back court mates are struggle (Hello, Ricky Rubio).
This evening's match-up brings Rodriguez, Pau Gasol and company up against an undefeated Lithuania team that's coming off a win against Argentina. Lithuania has a few notable NBA names from Toronto's Jonas Valanciunas and new OKC rookie Domantas Sabonis.
The game can be streamed online via NBAOlympics.com or found on Verizon Fios' Olympic basketball channel (591). Potentially the game may be found on NBCSN or NBCSP, so check your local listings. Game time should be 6pm (EST).
[Edit. 9:00 PM]
Apparently, I did a poor job at reading the schedule because The Homie Dario Saric is also in action tonight against a Nigerian team that had a pretty decent showing against Spain in their last game. Game time should be around 9:30pm (?). Again, check your local listings and check out the Liberty Ballers twitter account as I'll try to relay the information as best as I can.