The 2020 Summer Olympics: How Each of the Men’s Basketball Teams Fared

August 15^th, 2021

After taking a break to go to the NBA summer league in Las Vegas, I have decided to revisit how well each of the teams fared in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this summer. Some of the teams did very well, some more so than others. It was a very eventful and interesting set of games that culminated in the United States winning in the Gold Medal game over France, and with Australia taking home the bronze medal over Slovenia afterwards. Here are my thoughts on each of the countries fared at this event. For those that want a refresher of how each of the teams did, here is the link.

United States

At first, the United States appeared to get off to a rocky start by losing in their first two exhibition games to Nigeria and Australia, and it seemed largely due to a lack of familiarity. They managed to recover by defeating Argentina and Spain in the exhibition games later on. Though they lost to France in group play, the United States were able to reel off successive wins over Iran and the Czech Republic, and they later defeated Spain, Australia, and France to eventually win the gold medal.

When the United States had lost in their first two exhibition games, there were lots of criticisms that were harped upon them, and they had not even gotten to the Olympics yet. This 2020 Tokyo Olympics team already seemed to be facing the large shadow of previous U.S. teams that had won Gold medals years before. When they lost to Nigeria and Australia in the exhibition games, this U.S. team drew skepticism and blame that ranged from their harshest critics to silver-tongued social media experts, and even from their hardcore fans alike.

People were fearing that they could end up like the 2004 team that lost to Argentina and failed to bring home the Gold Medal that year, or worse yet, the 2019 World Championship team that didn’t even medal at all. They managed to defeat Argentina and Spain in the exhibition games, but the worries came back when they lost to France in the opening round of the round robin. Boston Celtics’ forward, Evan Fournier scored 28 points to defeat the U.S. in that game, and there were concerns that the U.S. could get knocked out if they finished in the bottom half of their group in the pool play.

But this team was resilient, and this U.S. team proved that they would not go down without a fight. Superstar forward, Kevin Durant was terrific in the Olympics, and he provided sure-handed, steady scoring, as he now owns the U.S. career record for most points in the Olympics. The U.S. also looked to move the ball more, they defended better, and they really clamped down on the defensive end. Jrue Holiday was very good at this event, as he played stellar defense, Jayson Tatum excelled as a two-way forward for the U.S. The U.S. managed to pull out tough wins over Spain and Australia to get to the Gold Medal game against France.

When they faced off against France, they were able to get off to a sizable lead due to their strong offense and tremendous play of Kevin Durant. France was able to get back in the game due to playing tough defense and by making timely shots to stay in it, but the U.S. did a great job of forcing turnovers, scoring on fast breaks, and making key plays to run away with the victory and the Gold Medal. In the end, not only did the U.S. manage to win the gold, but their coaching staff led by Gregg Popovich deserves a lot of credit for helping the team gel to finish in first place in the Olympics.

2020 Olympic Expectations: Gold Medal
Actual 2020 Olympic Finish: Gold Medal
Did they meet or surpass their expectations? Yes, the United States won the gold medal as expected, though they had some early hiccups in the beginning.
Overall Team Grade: A

France

In the 2020 Olympics, France had a very good showing at this event overall. They managed to defeat the United States in the preliminary round, and they received a tremendous, 28-point showing from new New York Knicks’ guard, Evan Fournier, as well as strong all-around play from 3-time Defensive Player of the Year award winner, Rudy Gobert.

They managed to go undefeated in the round robin, preliminary round. France also pulled out a tremendous win, as Los Angeles Clippers’ forward, Nicolas Batum made a game-saving block to help his team get a 1-point win over Slovenia to get to the Gold Medal game. France made it a really tough game against the United States in the Gold Medal game, but they were unable to hold on, as they ended up losing by five. They only lost one game in Tokyo, and they lost to a really good United States team that was led by Kevin Durant and Gregg Popovich. France did very well overall in the 2020 Olympics.

2020 Olympic Expectations: Bronze Medal
Actual 2020 Olympic Finish: Silver Medal
Did they meet or surpass their expectations? Yes, they exceeded them to win the Silver Medal.
Overall Team Grade: A

Australia

At this event, Australia was able to get the elusive medal that seemed a bit out of their grasp in previous years. Australia won all of their games in the preliminary round, and they trounced Argentina in the quarterfinals. They ran into a very tough United States squad in the semifinals, and while they kept up in the first half, they ran out of gas as they ended up losing by double-digits to them. Australia recovered nicely after the semifinals loss, and they had a solid, well-run squad led by Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Jock Landale, Matisse Thybulle, Matthew Dellavedova, and Chris Goulding, and they managed to defeat Luka Doncic’s Slovenia team to take home the bronze medal.

2020 Olympic Expectations: 4^th place finish
Actual 2020 Olympic Finish: Bronze Medal
Did they meet or surpass their expectations? Yes, they exceeded them to win the Bronze Medal.
Overall Team Grade: A-

Slovenia

With Luka Dončić there to lead their team, Slovenia played very well in the Olympics, and they went much further than how they fared previously. Despite not medaling, Slovenia had a really strong showing at this event. Dallas Mavericks’ superstar point forward, Luka Dončić took them to many wins in the Olympics, and they went undefeated in the preliminary round. Doncic was dominant as he provided strong all-around play, and they also received strong performances from Mike Tobey and Zoran Dragic. In the bronze medal game, they had a crushing, one-point loss to France, as Batum blocked Slovenia’s Klemen Prepelic’s layup attempt at the buzzer.

2020 Olympic Expectations: 5^th-8^th place finish.
Actual 2020 Olympic Finish: 4^th place finish
Did they meet or surpass their expectations? Yes, they exceeded them to get fourth place in the Olympics
Overall Team Grade: A-

Italy

They weren’t really expected to medal, as there were some very tough teams in the field, but Italy managed to win 2 out of 3 games in the preliminary round, and they received some strong performances from Nicolo Melli and Nico Mannion.

2020 Olympic Expectations: 9^th to 12^th place finish
Actual 2020 Olympic Finish: 5^th place finish
Did they meet or surpass their expectations? Yes.
Overall Team Grade: B

Spain

Spain has been known to be a very good team in FIBA competition, but they had a tough 2020 Olympics this year. They won 2 out of their 3 games in the preliminary round, but they ran into a very tough United States team in the quarterfinals, and only one of them would be able to advance to the next round.

Cleveland Cavaliers’ new point guard, Ricky Rubio was phenomenal in his team’s showing against the United States, as he scored 38 points in the quarterfinals. Usman Garuba‘s solid play in limited minutes in the Olympics certainly will have Houston Rockets’ fans excited for the upcoming season. He was able to score on some hustle plays, and he also provided solid defense, as he had a big block on Jayson Tatum. Unfortunately for Spain though, after a strong first half against the U.S., they really struggled in the third quarter, as they ended up losing to the United States and getting knocked out of the Olympics.

2020 Olympic Expectations: Silver Medal finish
Actual 2020 Olympic Finish: 6^th place finish
Did they meet or surpass their expectations? No.
Overall Team Grade: C

Argentina

At times, Argentina looked to be very competitive, and they have a fairly solid set of players in Luis Scola, Facundo Campazzo, Gabriel Deck, and Nicolas Laprovittola, but Argentina had trouble stringing together many wins in the Olympics. They were dealt with a tough group in the preliminary round, but by managing to keep their games close in that round along with defeating Japan in one of those games, Argentina was able to advance to the quarterfinals. They were no match for Australia though, as they ended up getting blown out by them in the quarterfinals.

2020 Olympic Expectations: 5^th to 8^th place finish
Actual 2020 Olympic Finish: 7^th place finish
Did they meet or surpass their expectations? Yes, sort of, but Argentina was handed a lopsided loss in the quarterfinals.
Overall Team Grade: C-

Germany

After winning just 1 of 3 games in the preliminary round, Germany managed to get into the quarterfinals, but they faced off against a tough, Slovenia squad that was led by superstar forward Luka Doncic, as well as veterans Mike Tobey and Zoran Dragic. Without Dennis Schröder there to represent them in the Olympics, it was going to be very tough for Germany to try to medal in the Olympics.

Against Slovenia, Maodo Lo put together a solid shooting display, especially in the first half, and new Toronto Raptors’ forward, Isaac Bonga managed to string together solid plays on both ends of the floor, but Germany struggled to keep up as they looked to be overmatched in the second half, and they ended up losing to Slovenia by double digits.

2020 Olympic Expectations: 5^th to 8^th place finish
Actual 2020 Olympic Finish: 8^th place finish
Did they meet or surpass their expectations? Yes, pretty much.
Overall Team Grade: C

Czech Republic

They were in a very tough group in their preliminary round, and without a doubt, France and the United States were going to advance, as both teams clearly had stronger teams top to bottom. The Czech Republic did manage to win a game, as they had some solid performances from Tomáš Satoranský and Blake Schilb, but they weren’t able to advance to the quarterfinals.

2020 Olympic Expectations: 9^th to 12^th place finish
Actual 2020 Olympic Finish: 9^th place finish
Did they meet or surpass their expectations? Yes.
Overall Team Grade: C

Nigeria

Before the start of the 2020 Olympics, Nigeria was able to reel off an impressive, 90-87 exhibition game win over the United States due to the strong coaching of Golden State Warriors’ assistant coach, Mike Brown, which certainly had people buzzing about their strong performance in that game. Nigeria was also bolstered by the hot shooting of Miami Heat guard, Gabe Vincent, and also by the strong defensive play of new Toronto Raptors’ big man, Precious Achiuwa. Things looked up on the horizon for the young Nigerian squad, and their exhibition game win over the U.S. looked to be something to build off of.

However, that turned out to be their best moment of the summer, and Nigeria was unable to get a win in the preliminary round in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Their exhibition game win against the United States turned out to be the apex mountain for Nigeria, and the preliminary round ended up being very rough for them. Nigeria lost all three of their games in the Olympics, including two close ones to Germany and Italy, and team Nigeria was eliminated after the conclusion of the preliminary round.

2020 Olympic Expectations: 5^th to 8^th place finish
Actual 2020 Olympic Finish: 10^th place finish
Did they meet or surpass their expectations? No, not quite.
Overall Team Grade: C

Japan

In the 2020 Olympics, Japan faced off against three tough group C teams in the preliminary round in Spain, Slovenia, and Argentina, and so Japan was not expected to advance past that stage. Japan did manage to keep up before losing by 11 to Spain, and Washington Wizards’ forward, Rui Hachimura was consistently solid in group play for Japan. They also received some solid performances from Toronto Raptors’ forward, Yuta Watanabe, and Yudai Baba also played well in his team’s loss to Argentina as well.

2020 Olympic Expectations: 9^th to 12^th place finish
Actual 2020 Olympic Finish: 11^th place finish
Did they meet or surpass their expectations? Yes.
Overall Team Grade: C-

Iran

As they faced a really strong group of teams in their pool play in the preliminary round, Iran was not expected to advance past that. Former NBA center, Hamed Haddadi played very well in the first half against the United States, and he showed off some low post scoring savvy and some nice passing skills. Iran also were able to knock down some outside shots early on. However, the United States’ squad was too much for Iran, as their speed, defense, and tremendous skill level made it tough for Iran to keep up with the U.S. Iran’s closest game in the 2020 Olympics was their first one, as they lost by 6 to the Czech Republic.

2020 Olympic Expectations: 9^th to 12^th place finish
Actual 2020 Olympic Finish: 12^th place finish
Did they meet or surpass their expectations? Yes.
Overall Team Grade: C-

In all, it was fun to watch the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and it was quite interesting to see how the teams ended up faring at this event. In the end, the United States were able to come together to get the Gold Medal, and France and Australia also played well as they both were also able to come away with medals. I had fun watching the Olympics, and to me, Kevin Durant and Luka Doncic looked to be the best players of this event. Thanks for reading.