Tony Parker and Co. helped France continue their hot streak, Patty Mills enjoyed the performance of a lifetime and Manu Ginobili, for once, was not the dominant force for Argentina in Day 4 of the Olympic basketball tournament’s first round.
Tony Parker: 22 points (9 for 13 shooting), 3 assists, 3 steals in over Tunisia. Parker has been outstanding since the final minutes of the Argentina game, averaging just a hair under 25 points in his last two outings. He did most of his damage early as the French built a big lead in a game that wasn’t quite as close as the final score would indicate. Thanks in large part to Parker’s resurgence, France is a victory over Nigeria away from clinching the second spot in Group A.
Boris Diaw: 0 points (0 for 0 shooting), 4 rebounds, 5 assists. Diaw seems to have two distinct modes, homeless man’s Magic Johnson and homeless man’s Boris Diaw. He was the latter against Tunisia, coasting through most of his team-high 31 minutes.
Nando De Colo: 6 points (2 for 6 shooting), 3 rebounds, 4 assists. Shot poorly (again) and was sloppy with the ball (again). But as has been the case for most of his Olympic games, you can at least see the foundation of a smart, heady basketball player who tries to make the right plays. He had a key offensive rebound late, and his behind-the-back bounce pass to Nicolas Batum for a fast break dunk was arguably the play of the game.
Tiago Splitter: 12 points (5 for 11 shooting), 4 rebounds in over China. Splitter dominated when he was on the floor. That wasn’t very often, however; with Brazil pasting China from the opening tip, he was only needed for 13 minutes.
Patty Mills: 39 points (14 for 22 shooting), 5 3-pointers in over Great Britain. Was that San Antonio’s backup point guard or the second coming of Allen Iverson? Mills was simply awesome against the Brits, validating coach Brett Brown’s decision to give him the green light with 25 points in the second half – including 13 during a four-minute stretch of the third quarter – to help the Boomers dig themselves out of a big hole against the host nation.
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Manu Ginobili: 13 points (3 for 6 shooting), 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals in over Nigeria. It was a nice, comfortable day for Ginobili, who ceded control to his veteran teammates after leading the charge in Argentina’s first three outings.