The ladies’s basketball quarterfinals on the 2024 Paris Olympics will start this Wednesday, Aug. 7, when Serbia (Group A) takes on Australia (Group C) at 5:00 a.m. ET. Shortly thereafter, Spain (Group A) will play Belgium (Group C) at 8:30 a.m. ET. Each quarterfinal video games will likely be streamed dwell through NBC Peacock.
The Olympic quarterfinals start after a quick group (or “pool”) part wherein every staff performed its respective group opponents as soon as. Group data within the pool part decide quarterfinal seeding; of the 12 groups collaborating within the pool part, eight advance to the quarterfinals, with the quarterfinal draw emphasizing that every staff will play an opponent that they had not already confronted in pool play, in line with the FIBA competitors system. Given that every staff solely performs three video games apiece within the pool part, their data (and thus, quarterfinal seeding) will not be solely indicative of their stage of expertise.
Moreover, the quarterfinals are single-elimination video games, which means that the successful groups advance to the semifinals whereas the dropping groups are achieved for the remainder of the Olympics. As with the remainder of the Olympics as an entire, groups should carry their greatest, and there’s no margin for error in entrance of their worldwide viewers.
Serbia vs. Australia
5:00 a.m. ET; winner performs both Nigeria or the US
Australia has had one of many strongest nationwide packages on this planet because the flip of the century, however they’re coming off a disappointing efficiency in 2020, once they gained only one recreation within the Tokyo Olympics and had been bounced within the first spherical of the quarterfinals by the US. They’ve been higher to date in Paris, and whereas the Aussies nonetheless don’t look fairly just like the powerhouses they had been within the early 2000s, they’ve gotten sufficient contributions from veterans similar to Sami Whitcomb, Tess Madgen and Cayla George to supplant younger stars Ezi Magbegor, Alanna Smith and Jade Melbourne as they enter their athletic primes.
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The shortage of a go-to star harm Australia of their opening loss to Nigeria, however staff efforts towards Canada and France later in pool play secured their ticket to the quarterfinals. Neither win was overwhelming, however Australia has confirmed that it might beat opponents in quite a few methods and with quite a few standout gamers; take the combo guard play of Whitcomb (19 factors and 10 assists vs. Canada) for instance, or the jack-of-all-trades skillset of Steph Talbot (seven factors, six rebounds and 5 assists vs. France).
Whereas Australia is in search of a bounce-back effort from the earlier Summer time Olympics, Serbia will likely be seeking to construct upon what they beforehand achieved. With a third-place (bronze medal) end in Rio in 2016 and a fourth-place end in Tokyo in 2020, Serbia’s nationwide program is on the rise, they usually’ve been spectacular in Paris, too, going 2-1 in pool play with the very best cumulative level differential (+17) in Group A.
A lot of that time differential comes from a large 22-point win Serbia earned towards China, and regardless of dropping an in depth recreation to Group A winners Spain, Serbia seems to have momentum on their aspect getting into the quarterfinals. They’ve one of many competitors’s prime playmakers in Yvonne Anderson (13.3 factors and 7 assists per recreation) and three of their gamers averaged not less than two steals per contest in pool play. Additionally they allowed the fewest factors per recreation (61.3) of any nation in the course of the competitors’s preliminary part.
Spain vs. Belgium
8:30 a.m. ET; winner performs both Germany or France
Judging solely by pool play report, Spain is among the prime groups remaining within the competitors, getting into the quarterfinals with an ideal 3-0 mark. None of their wins had been blowouts—they defeated each China and Puerto Rico by one level and Serbia by eight—however they boast one of the proficient guard/large duos in Leonor Rodriguez and Megan Gustafson, who’re averaging 15.7 and 17 factors per recreation, respectively. Gustafson, particularly, has been magnificent, capturing 61.1 % from the sphere whereas additionally chipping in 10 rebounds per recreation.
Spain will want each little bit of that and extra towards Belgium, who could have essentially the most deceptive pool play statistics of any staff within the quarterfinals. Belgium went 1-2 towards Group C opponents, with losses to Germany and the United States, however stays an extremely harmful staff once they’re rolling, as Japan realized in a 27-point drubbing that in the end allowed them to sneak into the quarterfinals.
Taking middle stage for Belgium is worldwide celebrity Emma Meesseman, who brings a wealth of talent and expertise to the nation’s frontcourt. Meesseman recorded maybe essentially the most spectacular stat line of any participant in pool play towards Japan, racking up 30 factors, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 blocks; she was joined in double-figure scoring by Elise Ramette, Antonia Delaere and Maxuella Lisowa-Mbaka in a dominant Belgian victory.
Evidently, it’s the very best Belgium has ever appeared on the Olympics, having solely certified for the competitors as soon as earlier than in 2020. Spain, then again, has far more historical past on their aspect, although one might additionally argue that they’ll be underneath strain to return to the shape that earned them a silver medal within the 2016 Rio Olympics after underachieving in Tokyo in 2020. Whatever the consequence, the person matchup of Meesseman vs. Gustafson is bound to be one, and there’s greater than sufficient complementary expertise on both aspect to ship an on the spot basic.
