Russia vs. Lithuania
Russia enters as the definitive favorite over a Lithuanian squad that finished fourth in Pool A with a 2-3 record. They didn’t play remarkably well as they merely defeated two lesser teams in Nigeria and Tunisia.

On the other hand, Russia was the surprise of preliminary play following their relatively surprising victories over Spain and Brazil. While they didn’t dominante in either victory, it’s clear that Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved are competent enough to make up for their deficiencies — namely talent level, which will only come in to play as they advance deeper into the knockout round.

For Lithuania, they’re the only country that played well for 40 minutes against the United States but, admittedly, they look a little soft. If Russia can neutralize Lithuania’s frontcourt (Linas Kleiza and Jonas Valanciunas), under the excellent coaching of David Platt, they’ll continue their journey to the semifinals — at the very least.

Prediction: Russia

France vs. Spain
These two teams have produced a slew of excellent NBA players. The key to defeat France will be to wall off the paint, send extra defenders at the pick-and-roll and force France to convert from behind the arc. This strategy, if executed correctly, stands to be highly effective against Les Bleus as they have converted on 28.3% of their 3-point attempts. With Spain’s personnel, I fully expect them to succeed.

Prediction: Spain

Brazil vs. Argentina
While this matchup doesn’t match the grandeur of the typical Brazil-Argentina soccer match, it will likely be highly entertaining.

This match will be especially significant for Argentina as this is essentially their last chance for the core of Carlos Delfino, Manu Ginobili, Andres Nocioni, Pablo Prigioni and Luis Scola to add another medal to their decorated resumes. Argentina hasn’t replenished their team hence their over reliance on Ginobili and Scola, both upwards of 30 years old.

Brazil, for all intents and purposes, looks prime to supersede the Argentinean dynasty. Nene, Anderson Varejao and Tiago Splitter form a legitimate frontcourt and the luxury of having a floor general like Marcelinho Huertas is immense — their offense is impervious to pressure defense and, combined with Splitter, they have an effective crutch on offense, the pick-and-roll.

But I’m a big believer in experience and Manu, and I believe Argentina will stave off their imminent threat to South American supremacy.

Prediction: Argentina

United States vs. Australia
USA’s perimeter defense and their array of talented scorers who can score from anywhere on the floor severely outweigh Australia and their top heavy attack of Patty Mills, Joe Ingles and David Andersen. The result should be pretty obvious, right? Barring any unforeseeable upset, the United States will continue to prove to the whole world that they are still the team to beat.

Prediction: USA

For Argentina, at least, the matchup between Spain and Brazil will be pretty important as they will assuredly be pitted against one of the two in the quarterfinals.

It’s probably a more important game than their own because an upset over the United States likely wouldn’t change much in the standings. Manu Ginobili, whose brutal efficiency has been an immense coup for the 3-1 Argentinians, offered his take on Spain and Brazil, adding that Argentina can beat both.

    ”Spain is obviously the most talented team in the world, with great     size,” Ginobili said. “Even if (Juan Carlos) Navarro is not at his     best, (Jose) Calderon is a great player, Sergio Rodriguez, Rudy     (Fernandez) … highly structured team playing together for a long     time. It is certainly a danger, even though they lost a game …

    Brazil is a team that plays very physical, also with good size, which     defends very hard, it’s not easy to score on them … but I think we     can beat them both. I have no doubt. In fact it has happened.”

Argentina’s best game, Ginobili believes, was their 23-point victory over Lithuania. Ginobili poured in 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while Luis Scola and Carlos Delfino added 52 points combined.

Given Argentina’s defensive fortitude, they’ve allowed the least points in Group A and fourth overall behind Brazil, Russia and Australia, it would make sense to focus on offense. But they’re excelling offensively, too, as they only rank behind the United States in points scored with 351 through four games.

    ”The best game was the first, and possibly a game that we can not overcome,” Ginobili said. “I think we are     better defensively than I thought we would … We have not suffered … in preparation, and on the rebound     either, although Nigeria is a specialist and sent four players to fight in the post.

    But defensively we are well and have to improve in attack and better distribute the ball. It is very important     that every player on the court feels useful, part of the game.”

They will need their entire repertoire at their best to defeat Spain or Brazil, two teams that will likely enter the quarterfinals as favorites over Argentina, whose advanced age hasn’t deterred them from winning in London.