Brazil vs. Argentina

Brazil wins if… They forget that close loss to Argentina from three days ago. They need both Nene (Maybner Hilario) and Leandro Barbosa to have their best games. Brazil has been on and off in this tournament, and unfortunately for them, they have been off against the best teams (Argentina, USA). Tiago Splitter has been consistent, but without Nene playing well his hustle is not worth that much.

Argentina wins if… Luis Scola leads his team once again. Scola is just the true leader. He does everything, he does not shy away from the dirty work and he even does those little things that mean wins in the end of the day. Argentina might not have its biggest stars around, but this is a cohesive unit, and that could be their most important feature.

'Tiago Splitter has been consistent, but without Nene playing well his hustle is not worth that much'


Player to watch… Actually make that players to watch. Brazil has two of them in Splitter and Marcus De Souza. Both will be on an NBA roster this season, but neither is well known in the USA. Splitter has of course been a stellar player in the Spanish ACBL, who has flirted with the NBA draft for what seems to be decades now, although it has just been two or three years. Souza is a small forward with size and agility.

Argentina boasts another player who has been flirting with the NBA for many years in Luis Scola, but we all know about him, don’t we? How about Carlos Matias Sandes? It would be nice to see what the youngest member of the team can do against some of the best in the world. The forward, who plays for Tau in Spain, is certainly a huge talent,. Question is will he get enough playing time with close games expected?

 USA vs. Puerto Rico

The USA wins if… They stick to the gameplan and unleash Kobe Bryant on whoever gets hot from a deep Puerto Rican backcourt. The US won their previous meeting three days ago 117-78, and that is pretty much the realistic difference between these two. Of course, the US needs to take this game seriously, or they might be upset.

Puerto Rico wins if… Carlos Arroyo and Elias Ayuso go simply unconscious from downtown. The key for the Puerto Ricans is to open up the game, the only way they can do that is if their backcourt manages to draw out the defense. They might also be advised to experiment with sending size against the US. Sure it will make them too slow, but the US has been vulnerable against tall teams, and they really are lacking size. A Peter John Ramos, Daniel Santiago twin tower outing is a big risk, but here you need to win in a big way, and you need to take big risks to pull that off.

Player to watch… Jose Barea might be in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks, but his game is still relatively unknown around here. Barea has a chance to steal the show. If he has a big game, that might just be enough to get Puerto Rico close enough to make this an interesting game even in the last minute.