Men's olympic basketball 2008 question?

Question

so far usa has already beaten china, angola, greece, and spain...i'm just a bit confused on how the men's olympic basketball system/elimination works..does it mean they just beat would never have a place in first place? how come usa hasn't played argentina yet?

Answer 1

the men's basketball event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games features 12 teams including the host nation, CHINA PR. the teams have been drawn into 2 groups of 6 teams each & each team will play against each other in the same group only once. the groups are allocated as follows:

Group A

- CROATIA

- IRAN

- LITHUANIA

- ARGENTINA

- RUSSIA

- AUSTRALIA

Group B

- CHINA

- SPAIN

- MALI

- NEW ZEALAND

- UNITED STATES

- CZECH REPUBLIC

the top 4 teams from each group will progress to the quarter-finals which teams from Group A faces teams from Group B for a place in the semi-finals. the quarter-finals & semi-finals fixtures are as follows:

quarter-finals fixtures:

- 2nd in Group B v 3rd in Group A (match 65)

- 1st in Group A v 4th in Group B (match 66)

- 2nd in Group A v 3rd in Group B (match 67)

- 1st in Group B v 4th in Group A (match 68)

semi-finals:

- winner match 65 v winner match 66

- winner match 67 v winner match 68

the bronze & gold medal match takes place on Sunday, 24 August 2008 from 12:00 local time.