Who was the most impressive player of the Group Stage in Tokyo?

TOKYO (Japan) - The first part of the competition in Japan is over, and on the eve of the Quarter-Finals, we are ready to hear your thoughts. Who impressed you the most during these Olympic Games?

We narrowed the list down to nine players, eight from the teams that advanced to the Knockout Phase, and one more from an eliminated team because his performances were too good to ignore, despite going 0-3 and failing to reach the elite eight part of the competition.

You can vote for the most impressive player right here.

 

Rui Hachimura (Japan)

Date of birth: 08/02/1998
Height: 6'8''/2.03m
Stats in Tokyo: 22.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists per game

In was almost unfair to be drawn into the same group with the World Cup winners, World Cup runners-up and the FIBA EuroBasket title holders. Rui Hachimura can be proud of what he did for his team, and Japan can be proud of him, too. They have a 23-year-old leader who is able to score 34 points in a game against Slovenia.

Luka Doncic (Slovenia)

Date of birth: 28/02/1999
Height: 6'7''/2.01m
Stats in Tokyo: 28.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.7 blocks, 1.0 steals per game

Not much to add, really.

Maodo Lo (Germany)

Date of birth: 31/12/1992
Height: 6'4''/1.92m
Stats in Tokyo: 14.3 points, 6.0 assists, 3.3 rebounds per game

Lo is enjoying the summer of his career, becoming a certified world class player in leading Germany to the Olympics and now to the Quarter-Finals. He did have a slow day at the office against Australia, but his 24-point explosion against Italy and the 13-point, 9-assist outing versus Nigeria got him a spot on this list.

Patty Mills (Australia)

Date of birth: 11/08/1988
Height: 6'0''/1.80m
Stats in Tokyo: 21.7 points, 5.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals per game

The leading scorer of the 2012 London Olympics and the second best scorer of the 2016 Rio Olympics is back scoring 20+ points per game, again. Stories will be told about FIBA Patty one day when he decides he had enough, we just hope that day is not coming any time soon.

Ricky Rubio (Spain)

Date of birth: 21/10/1990
Height: 6'4''/1.93m
Stats in Tokyo: 21.3 points, 7.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds per game, done on 43.8 percent shooting on five attempts per game from beyond the arc

The MVP of the run two years ago that saw Spain win gold in China, Ricky Rubio is enjoying his role as a leader next to some of the biggest names of Spanish basketball. He only had one game with 20+ points for Spain before coming to Tokyo, then had 20, 26 and 18 over these three games so far, with the second best rate of assists per game, trailing only Tomas Satoransky.

Luis Scola (Argentina)

Date of birth: 30/04/1980
Height: 6'8''/2.04m
Stats in Tokyo: 19.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, identical shooting from deep as Rubio

Men all over the world wish they were capable of Scola things at 41.

Simone Fontecchio (Italy)

Date of birth: 09/12/1995
Height: 6'8''/2.03m
Stats in Tokyo: 18.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.7 steals per game, shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc

This entire year was about Italy in all kinds of competitions, sports or not, and the basketball team is making sure the dream goes on. Simone Fontecchio is the hero for their squad, not a lot of people can say they opened up their Olympic account with 5-of-5 shooting from three-point range in the first game.

Evan Fournier (France)

Date of birth: 29/10/1992
Height: 6'6''/1.99m
Stats in Tokyo: 17.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists per game

This man scored 28 points in a win over the USA. Simple as that. The numbers only took a dip because the coach rested him against Iran, giving him only 14 minutes in that one.

Kevin Durant (USA)

Date of birth: 29/09/1988
Height: 6'9''/2.05m
Stats in Tokyo: 14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.3 blocks in 22.6 minutes per game

Life is easy when you have Kevin Durant to rely upon. The superstar came through for the USA in the most important game of the event so far, torching Czech Republic with 23 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists in 28 minutes of playing time. The main reason why the defending champs could end up on top again.

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