ANG/AUS/CHN/IRI/ANG/SRB – Final Preview for Diamond Ball

NANJING (Olympics) – Argentina and Australia will meet in a preview of their Group A showdown at the Beijing Games in an intriguing final of the FIBA Diamond Ball on Friday.

The South Americans, who will be defending their title in China, pulled away from Serbia for a 75-60 victory to reach the title showdown while Australia needed a CJ Bruton three-pointer at the buzzer to see off Angola to stay unbeaten in Nanjing.

Andrew Bogut will take center stage for the Australians after a 32-point, 11-rebound performance against the Africans.

His main concern is to get ready for the Olympics.

"All of these preparation games are really important to get a feel for the ball, for the different style of refereeing,” he said.

“It's more a European style of game and that is different from the Australian and NBA game and we have to get used to that.”

Bogut missed most of this summer’s preparations while he was negotiating a contract extension with Milwaukee Bucks.

"It has been a tough adjustment for some of the guys, but the guys have accepted me well,” he said.

“It has been good.

“As long as we go and play hard as we have done in the past two games, we will be okay."

Bogut and Australia will have their hands full against the Argentinians, who have San Antonio Spurs Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto, Houston Rocket Luis Scola and Chicago’s Andres Nocioni in their talented squad.

Argentina carried a hangover from two heavy defeats at world champions Spain into the Diamond Ball and did not impress in their win over Iran on Tuesday but against Serbia, the team found its rhythm on defense after half-time and took an important step in their Olympic preparations.

Nocioni was particularly outstanding on both ends of the floor and finished with 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds.

Ginobili, meanwhile, erupted for 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter.

China will take on Iran in another battle of Olympic teams while FIBA Africa champions Angola will take on Serbia.

China expect to have Liu Wei in the line-up. The point guard left the first quarter of their defeat to Australia with a suspected rib injury.

China coach Jonas Kazlauskas said on Thursday: “I hope that Liu will be okay. He went to the hospital and had an MRI which confirmed there was nothing serious. We worried that he might have an injury but he will be able to play on Friday.”

The other game will see Serbia take on African champions Angola.

“Tomorrow we have a game against Angola and we have an opportunity to show what we can do,” said Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic.

“This tournament is a good learning experience for my players.”

FIBA