2012 London Olympics Men’s Basketball: Russia defeats Lithuania

By: Kels Dayton

Inept referees!! Hairy foreign dudes!! Games at 9 am!!! It’s the Olympic Men’s Basketball Knockout Round!!!!

If you love basketball, the Olympic quarterfinals are for you. It’s August Madness; waking up at nine eastern and having an old-school Baltic rivalry among four games staring you in the face.

Timofey Mozgov and the Russian defense swarmed Lithuania in the paint. (AP/Charles Krupa)

The Russia-Lithuania game felt like a 1-seed/8-seed matchup in a small conference tournament. The Lithuanians hung in valiantly (with their season on the line), but ultimately didn’t have enough firepower to match the Russians’ Andrei Kirilenko and Timofey Mozgov.

It was a rugged, physical game, but Russia escaped 83-74, to advance to the Olympic semifinals. The Russians (5-1, #1 Group B) were dismissed as medal contenders coming into the Games, but now find themselves just one win away from a trip to the Gold Medal Game. Russia has not medaled in basketball since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

“This was a big step for our country, for our basketball,” said Sergey Mona.

Russia won Group B by defeating Brazil, Spain, Great Britain and China, twice winning in dramatic fashion. Vitaliy Fridzon hit a falling-down three-pointer to help the Russians take out Brazil. Russia dominated the heavily-favored Spanish after falling behind 20-2. The two teams will now meet for a likely shot at the U.S. and gold.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Timofey Mozgov was very un-Nugget-like, making it understandable that NBA teams would draft him. Mozgov scored 17 points and grabbed 4 rebounds, and played tough defense inside. Andrei Kirilenko was also terrific, scoring a game-high 19 points.

STAT LINE OF THE GAME: Russia shot 51% from two-point range and held the Lithuanians to just 35%. Lithuania also turned the ball over 14 times, twice down the stretch.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: Sergey Mona hit the second of two huge threes in the fourth quarter and turned a 59-55 game into a 64-55 advantage for Russia. The Lithuanians fought back and drew to within five at 77-72, but could not overcome a barrage of threes and timely baskets for the Russians, who kept them at arms’ length throughout the second half. Turnovers late in the game also killed Lithuania, especially a throw-away by Darius Songalia when Lietuva had the ball down by just five with a minute and a half to go.

STRANGEST QUIRK OF THE GAME: Russian head coach David Blass SPEAKS ENGLISH in the huddle. I have no idea why this is, it’s not like they have any Becky Hammons (she plays on the Russian women’s team) who were born in Fort Lauderdale and have never been to Russia. Blass even screams at the refs in English, so go figure. If there’s any more obvious evidence that the U.S. wiped the floor with the U.S.S.R. in the Cold War, I haven’t never seen it. Could anyone who was alive in the 1970s ever have imagined this? Blass is a nut; he’s constantly pacing and screaming and worrying and running up and down the sideline. He strolled into the postgame handshake with a nosebleed. Not even Calhoun is that nuts.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR TEAM USA: It would have been nice to see the upset, although Lithuania has been a thorn in the Americans’ side for years. There’s no doubt that Russia is the more talented team, with plenty of NBA players and a rejuvinated Mozgov, who dominated the Lithuanians inside, even throwing down a thunderous dunk off of a pick-and-roll midway through the third quarter. Russia also has plenty of size and plays terrific defense, clogging the paint and pressuring ballhandlers. Lithuania was held to 37 percent shooting in the game.