This team is ready.

The real tournament starts Saturday, when the Americans will face Puerto Rico to open up Group D action. And with all due respect to Carlos Arroyo, Yao Ming, and (insert Slovenian superstar here), but the real test for Team USA isn't in the preliminary round. It's in the knockout stages, where the team will first likely meet Turkey or Lithuania, and then either Germany or Spain or France or Serbia. When it's down to eight teams, that's when the team has to perform at or near its peak to win.

And that's exciting. Yeah, the Dream Team was great. But you knew Angola and Australia had no shot. There was no drama. (Well, except for wondering if Christian Laettner would get into the game. Always a crapshoot.) There's going to be drama in early September. Whether it's self-inflicted or caused by a team on a roll (Spain), a young team finding itself (France), or the defending gold medalists asserting their will (Argentina), it'll be something we don't typically get out of international basketball.

Here are my predictions for the tourney. The top four teams from each group make it to the knockout stage, and I've listed them in the order I think they'll finish. After that, it's pretty self-explanatory. The pairings for the knockout rounds can be found here.

losers bracket. Okay, what the hell. Brazil beats Japan, China beats Germany, China beats Brazil for 5th. Germany beats Japan for 7th. And Turkey beats Spain in the third-place game.

The best game of the prelim round will be Spain v. Germany, unless France gets its act together and puts up a fight against Argentina. (They had better hurry - this game is Saturday.) In the round of 16, I look forward to possible matchups between Germany and France, and Brazil and Puerto Rico. If the semifinals end up as I predict, that will be some damn exciting basketball. Hell, even the third-place game would be awesome!

Let's hear your predictions in the comments.

I read all four and I suggest you do the same, especially if you're like me and thirsting for more NBA content. I'm not just saying this to set the stage for when the Detroit edition appears — there are a lot of really talented writers out producing quality coverage for blogs, and it's always nice to see when the national media puts them in lights.

The Bulls signed Ben Wallace (and acquired P.J. Brown and one year of his contract for Tyson Chandler's enormously long/overpriced deal)
The Hornets went insane and signed Peja Stojakovic, Bobby Jackson, and traded for Tyson Chandler.
The Lakers signed Vlad Radmanovic.
The Clippers signed Tim Thomas.
The Hawks signed Speedy Claxton.

Like I said...a whole new NBA. And the free agent signing period hasn't even officially began.

I tried to avoid doing this after all the confusion regarding these playoff tiebreakers , but I can't help myself:

Tomorow's games:
Bulls vs. Toronto
Washington at Detroit (i.e. the Tony Delk show)
Indiana vs. Orlando

If Bulls win(Bulls guaranteed higher seed than Milwaukee):

• AND Washington wins AND Indiana wins:
  • Washington is 42-40, Bulls/Indiana are tied at 41-41
  • Indiana wins tiebreaker (division record)
  • Bulls are the 7th seed
• Washington loses, Indiana wins:
  • Bulls/Indiana/Washington are tied at 41-41
  • Bulls win tiebreaker (highest winning percentage in games among the 3 teams)
  • Bulls are 5th seed
• Washington loses, Indiana loses:
  • Bulls/Washington are tied at 41-41, Indiana is at 40-42
  • Bulls win tiebreaker (head-to-head versus Washington)
  • Bulls are 5th seed

If Bulls lose(Bulls guaranteed lower seed than Washington):

• Indiana loses
  • Bulls/Indiana/Milwaukee are tied at 40-42
  • Bulls lose tiebreaker (lowest division record)
  • Bulls are 8th seed
  • I cry myself to sleep
• Indiana wins
  • Indiana at 41-41, Bulls/Milwaukee tied at 40-42
  • Bulls lose tiebreaker (lower division record)
  • Bulls are 8th seed
  • I cry myself to sleep

Feel free to check my work, the real wrinkle was the Bulls being 3-1 against Washington during the season, which set them apart from Indiana (who split their games against the Bulls and Washington) and Washington.

 I'd say the most likely situation is the first, with everyone winning and the Bulls earning the 7th seed.

And if I needed to remind everyone:
5th seed - face Cleveland
7th seed - face Miami
8th seed - face Detroit, I cry myself to sleep.

HowEVA (© Stephen A. Smith)… right behind them, we have the Orlando Darkos, probably the best team of the group. They’re mathematically alive, but barely. At the moment, they’re three games out of a spot with three to play, despite their current 7-game winning streak that includes wins against maybe the best five teams in the NBA, the Spurs, Pistons, Mavericks, Suns, and Heat. The Darko trade has been great for them (no, seriously), and they’ve got a bright young line-up with Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, and of course, Darko. This is probably the last time in a while that they’re not going to be in the playoffs.

Key games remaining:

Sixers @ Magic, Tonight.
Bucks @ Wizards, Tuesday.
Magic @ Pacers, Wednesday.
Bulls @ Magic, Monday.

Here is my mock draft, usually when a player does well in the tournament, their stock goes up in the draft. Teams are gonna pass on Sheldon Williams, due to poor tournament performance. He’ll be the next Elton Brand and will help that Hornets go to the playoffs next year. I put Reddick with the Jazz, looking at the Jazz's draft history they pick over hyped white dudes, who can’t play in the NBA. Hopefully the Sonics get Brandon Roy, he and Ridnouer will form the best back court in the league circa 2110. I only did college players that I have seen play and one Eurotrash dude that Espn ranked high. I guessed the teams that will end up with the highest lottery picks.

 1. Bulls from knicks- joekim Noah.  Had a good tournment, he could really develop 

2. Portland Trailblazers- Adam Morrison. Keep him local.  

3. Charlotte Bobcats-  Tyrus Thomas

4. Atlanta Hawks-Lemarcus Aldridge

5. Toronto Raptors-  Randy foye

6. Orlando Magic- Josh Mcroberts

7. Golden state- Andrea Bargani. The bay area better have ample olive oil and garlic.

8. Boston Celtics- Dee Brown

9. Timerwolves- Rodney Carney

10. Supersonics- Brandon Roy

11. Rockets- Al Hortford

12. Bulls- Ronnie Brewer

13.Utah jazz- J.J reddick. Another white person playing basketball in Utah, I don’t understand.

14 Hornets- Sheldon Williams. Every team will regret passing on him

15. 76ers- Maurice Ager

16 Indiana- Jordan Farmar.  

17. Sacramento-leon powe

Rudy Gay was going pretty high but he will end up a second rounder, due to poor performance in the tournement    

Now I may not be able to wax poetic about the days of Dave Bing and Bob Lanier (I'll leave that to the gen before me), but I can spin a yarn or two over the Bad Boys, circa 1988-1990. But rather than listen to me preach, I'll let the below list of quotes — and one famous poster shot — begin to tell the tale of the baddest of the Bad. [And please note: as usual, I'm showing a considerable bias towards #40, Bill Laimbeer. But Detroit Bad Boys would be forever grateful for any additional memories/stories/links/etc. that you could provide on any Piston player or era that you hold near and dear. We all share a common love for the Boys in Blue; therefore, if you feel so moved, hit us up in the comments section.]

Without further ado, enjoy.

Henry Schulman, sportswriter, "If you laid Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, and the rest of the Detroit Pistons end to end in the Mojave Desert, it would be a good idea to leave them there."

Bob Costas and Pat Riley, covering a game with the Pistons, at halftime had this exchange:
Bob Costas: "Well, one look at our Cheap Shot Scoreboard shows the Pistons up 8-1. Rodman is having a fine half with five, and Laimbeer is running second with two. What do you think, Pat?"
Pat Riley: "Well, every time Chicago has the ball, five Pistons are committing fouls. It's as if to say, 'Well, the officials can only call one at a time, so we get away with four.' You know, Michael Jordan said before the game, 'People want to push this kind of basketball out.' The Bulls are 24 minutes away from doing just that."

Former Laker, Kurt Rambis, on Laimbeer: "I assume his parents like him. But you'd have to verify that."

Former Utah Jazz GM, Frank Layden, on Charles Barkley: "I would gladly chip in and pay part of his fines every time he smacks Bill Laimbeer."

Sportswriter Tim Sullivan, writing about the NBA moving the Finals to pay-per-view: "The NBA Finals is worth about $10 per game unless it involves Michael Jordan ($20) or Bill Laimbeer ($2)."

Sportswriter Jan Hubbard: "Detroit center Bill Laimbeer was considering seeking an injuction against the Olympic selection process because he was deprived of a chance to make the team. Laimbeer said that as a tax-paying citizen, he should have had the opportunity to try out for the team. It would have been great if he could have tried out for the team, because then he would have been excluded on merit rather than logic."

Ted Davis, longtime announcer for the Milwaukee Bucks, on Laimbeer: "Dirtiest player: Bill Laimbeer. The dirtiest of the dirty. Actually tried to hurt his opponent. Actually tried to hurt his teammates in practice. Was WWF before WWF was cool."

Davis, again: "Set the best screens: Two. Laimbeer would hit you with elbows and knees. Rick Mahorn, the size of a Winnebago."

Legendary Piston coach, Chuck Daly, on Laimbeer."He would drive people insane and then just walk away. He was like Gandhi."

We've posted this one before, but it merits repeating:

Letter from Charles Barkley to Bill Laimbeer, I think in 1989:
Dear Bill,
F*ck You.
Charles

Quotes above are courtesy of:
Basketball quotes [Block 37]
Bucks' voice Davis has seen it all [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
NBA Daily Humor
Charles Barkley Quotes, 6.0 [Clintcam]

Previously on Detroit Bad Boys:
Keep your hands off my hair-band