This is why everyone's afraid of Spain. The team didn't play particularly symbiotic in its semifinal win over Lithuania, but the sheer amount of talent wearing Spanish white made that irrelevant. Pau Gasol, the second leading scorer of the tournament, scored 19. Rudy Fernandez, who got clocked in the third and looked somewhere between dizzy and asleep on the bench as a masseuse worked on his neck, dominated the fourth quarter. On the night, he had 18 points in 27 minutes.

Ricky Rubio -- who played big minutes in the absence of injured Jose Calderon, even starting the second half -- was unspectacular in total. His fundamentals leave much to be desired at this point, as would be expected for a 17-year-old apprentice. He did, however, frustrate the spit out of Sarunas Jasikevicius on at least a few occasions. In one case the elfish Rubio drew a foul on Saras near the end of the first half by kicking out his leg on a jumper. Jasikevicius looked like he could stab fair Ricky. (Of course, Jasikevicius often looks like he could stab somebody.)

One thing which will be sure to cause non-Ricky partisans annoyance in the NBA: he draws really odd fouls. As a devoted Kevin Martin fan, I know how rooting for a slight guy who draws fouls with crafty behavior can put you at odds with other fans. Ricky takes this to the extreme. He molested Rimantas Kaukenas in the third, near midcourt. Kaukenas got called for the foul. He looked as if he'd punt Rubio into the third row.

Linas Kleiza was not a factor, except when he was missing shots and getting called for a (dubious) "unsportsmanlike foul" on Pau with less than five minutes left in the game. In Kleiza's stead, Simas Jasaitis of Tau Ceramica stepped up, hitting 5-of-7 on threes through the third quarter for a team high 19 points (matched by Jasikevicius). Jasaitis's biggest shot, however, failed in the late fourth, and basically became the knock-out punch for Lithuania.

Tattoo of the games: Robertas Javtokas's shark. It's too bad the Spurs have abandoned him as a prospect following his motorcycle accident a few years ago. That tat would fit right in with Manu's bald spot, T-Pizzle's rap career and Duncan's weekly D&D game. (Also, in a bit of actual analysis: Javtokas was a beast on both ends. He and Saras have a strong connection, and Rob's red elbowbands definitely help matters.)

During the remainder of the Olympic men's basketball tournament, FanHouse will give you 5 Things to watch for in each game.

Will Yao play mad? On Monday, Chinese coach Jonas Kazlauskas held Yao Ming to seven minutes in the second half. Yao was furious. We assume he's gotten over things. If he hasn't? Yao rarely plays angry; he's an extremely mature fellow, typically calm and reserved, unless he's getting mauled on the court. But he's had a bit of an edge to him this week. He's barked at Yi Jianlian and Sun Yue more than he ever has in Chuck Hayes' presence. He looked like he wanted to punch Kazlauskas when he was removed. He didn't talk to reporters. I've only seen Yao under the spell of bloodlust once, in Sacramento last season as some combination of Mikki Moore and (surprise!) Ron Artest aggravated the snot out of the big guy. He was ineffective and eventually got ejected. I imagine things are fine on Team China now. If there are, however, raw nerves, Yao might either play with a fire we haven't seen ... or he might be distracted into malperformance.

Trade secrets. One more Kaslauskas note: this Coach K is Lithuanian, and coached the Lithuanian national team until 2001, and knows the games of many of Lithuania's top players well. That sort of trade secret thing won't work without talent ... with China has with Yao and sometimes Yi. As a longtime Oakland Raider fan (pity me), remember the Jon Gruden Super Bowl.

Throughout the Olympic men's basketball tournament, FanHouse will prioritize the games of the day for you in Golden Ticket.

We have a slate of six to open up the Games, including a game the president had to beg for tickets for.

GOLD: USA vs China, 10:15 a.m. EST, NBC. This game isn't the best on paper. But Yao Ming is leading his country against the titans of basketball in his home nation -- this is important. It feels a bit like USA vs Brazil in the 1994 World Cup, doesn't it? Of course, the Americans aren't the home 'dogs in this one, and China really isn't good enough to dream of beating the United States. By all measures, this should be a blow-out. Even if it becomes one, I have a suspicion the game will still feel important.

SILVER: Spain vs Greece, 2:30 a.m. EST. Spain won the 2006 FIBA World Championship and came within a missed basket of capturing the Euro title last summer. As deep as anyone and bright as a highlighter, Spain figures to at least challenge Team USA for gold. Greece is a good team -- a bit streaky, a world-beater who could lose to Australia, too. This game's incredibly important for the Spaniards. A loss to the Greeks puts Spain in line to get the Group B third seed at best (barring a win over Team USA), which sets up a match with Group A champs, possibly Lithuania or Argentina. Speaking of which ...

BRONZE: Lithuania vs Argentina, 4:45 a.m. EST. In the U.S., this one will be online only, unless you have that crazy 100% Olympic basketball channel on DirecTV. Being online only, those TiVo options are limited (unless you're severely efficient in tech matters) so you'll need to stay up late/get up early. Still, it might be worth it. Sarunas Jasikevicius and Manu Ginobili may not guard each other, but an epic battle can be easily imagined. The winner should brawl with Russia for the Group A top spot, which draws the worst elimination qualifier of Team USA's pool in the quarters.

In other action: Russia vs Iran, Germany vs Angola, Australia vs Croatia.

As the "rest of the world" catches up to the United States in the sport of basketball, it seems worth considering how other world events have impacted the global hoops scene. Namely, the end of Communist imperialism has split up a few would-be basketball powers.

Consider the former U.S.S.R., which includes present day nations Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, the Ukraine and more. Lithuania is among the best teams going into the Olympic hoops tournament. Russia is the reigning European champion, having beat Spain in Spain last summer. Here's a sample starting line-up for the mythical Team U.S.S.R.

Sarunas Jasikevicius: The top non-NBA point guard in the world.
Ramunas Siskauskas: The reigning Euroleague MVP.
Linas Kleiza: A top-flight scorer and rebounder from the forward position.
Andrei Kirilenko: The best Russian ever to play in the NBA.
Andris Biedrins: $63 million.

Off the bench: Zaza Pachulia, Darius Songaila, Viktor Khryapa, Martynas Andriuskevicius, Arvydas Macijauskas, maybe Zydrunas Ilgauskas, if he disobeys the Cavaliers. That's not a gold medal team perhaps. But it is sure good enough to make Team USA sweat.

Team Yugoslavia wouldn't be as potent, though a Beno-Sasha-Peja-Nenad-Darko squad actually looks pretty good.

As seen on Ball In Europe, that's Sarunas Jasikevicius arriving in Athens earlier this week. He probably could have found another NBA job after having his contract bought out by Golden State, but why would he want to? Do you think he would have received this kind of hero's welcome were he to sign with any other team in the states? Sometimes making NBA money just isn't worth riding the pine and living in obscurity, not when you're a living legend in your home country. Maybe Jasikevicius returns to the NBA someday, maybe he doesn't, but from the looks of things he's going to live a very comfortable and happy life either way.

(Also, I know that Jasikevicius is Lithuanian and not Greek, but those are Greek fans cheering his return...)

(chest-bump The Basketball Jones)

First, Charlie Bell nearly went overseas. An American opting for Europe over the NBA would've been a real eye-opener. Then, Andrei Kirilenko suggests that he'd be willing to give up millions to play in front of his people year-round.

You can add one definite, and one maybe, to this growing list. SPORT (translated by Hoops Hype) tells us that dispelled Warrior and singing hero Sarunas Jasikevicius is headed to Panathinaikos, reigning champs of the Euroleague. He'll get about $9.8 mill for two years, plus some money to help with the buyout. Jasikevicius's arrival in the NBA was supposed to be a big deal. But he never really found a niche, and certainly never got a chance to matter like he does internationally.

And Sasha Pavlovic, who may or may not be key to the Cavs' future, is at very least using Europe as leverage in his contract talks. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, the two parties are nowhere close to agreeing on a figure; as a restricted free agent, Pavlovic has to go back for at least one season unless he heads for another league.

Jasikevicius is the poster child for this movement, since his NBA salary was relatively low and his contract would be high by European standards. Pavlovic has much more in common with Kirilenko; as famous as AK-47 is, no non-NBA team could ever afford to pay him a max-type deal. Pavlovic, on other hand, simply benefits from inflation. He'd be good in Europe, probably, but "good" over there just don't pay like it does here. That's why, in the end, both those guys will probably find a way to suck it up and play in the NBA in 2007-08.

I don't know nearly as much about international ball as some of my colleagues; I had to get Ziller to tell me that this is from Lithuania's 2003 EuroBasket title. But I do recognize Sarunas Jasikevicius, and I know American Idol-caliber talent when I see it. He doesn't just sing with all his might--he connects with the audience, mugs for the camera, and just generally makes you want to fly. Maybe he and the Warriors couldn't see eye-to-eye on basketball, but they could've used him as their resident troubadour.

In other news, this is why Dick Vitale was so wary of Euros. They do stuff like this, or jock David Hasselhoff. They will never belong in this league, even once they take the whole thing over and all our stars are playing in Italy.

Our long Lithuanian nightmare is over: RealGM reports (via CelticsBlog) that Golden State has reached a buy-out agreement with guard Sarunas Jasikevicius. Golden State has since confirmed the reports.

Saras was understandably frustrated with his limited role under Don Nelson last year, and his agent has been working to get him traded. As in the Mickael Pietrus situation, Chris Mullin has been duly responsible in refusing to take undesirable contracts back in exchange for a player's freedom. No word from the team on how much the Warriors agreed to pay (Jasikevicius was owed $4 million this year), but I'd anticipate some clause by which dollars Saras makes with another NBA team would be subtracted from Golden State's obligation.

So where will he go? My estimate would be Europe -- more specificially, Greece. Olympiakos lost out on suddenly loved Charlie Bell, and they'd been working on Saras previously. The NBA has been unkind to the former Euroleague MVP, and the old stomping grounds (at a higher salary than he'd get here) must look pretty nice. But since Miami has now gotten jilted by Bell via Larry Harris' balls, will Pat Riley given Saras a call?

Lithuanian guard Sarunas Jasikevicius -- one of those players who's an MVP in Europe but for some reason can't escape the bench in the NBA -- tells ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan he doesn't understand the Golden State Warriors. The Dubs, he says, have had a variety of opportunities to trade Saras to various teams with various types of return packages offered. They haven't bitten.

Don't worry, Saras: You understand the Warriors perfectly.

This is what they do. They make things harder for themselves. There is no easy summer for Golden State. Look, they just ran rampant through a 68-win team in the playoffs, which followed a tremendous second half of the season. Only two roleplayers were on the free agent market. It should have been an easy summer -- you re-sign one of said roleplayers, you pick a frontcourt player with your late-teens draft choice, you get ready for 2007-08.

Instead... they traded their best scorer for a kid who may not play 500 minutes this year, spurned the straw whom stirs the drink (err, Don Nelson) by refusing a nominal pay raise, haven't made an effort to extend Monta Ellis' contract, have ignored Baron Davis' claims to an extension and generally pissed off the fanbase. You don't understand Golden State, Saras? No, you understand them just fine. This is who they are, this is what they do. I'd be worried if the franchise had an effective summer where nothing went wrong.

Well, besides the second round of Eurobasket. (I always forget how good Lithuania is. If that team were an NBA team, it might be my favorite. That's mostly because of Linas Kleiza.) Anyway, Sarunas Jasikevicius -- one of the best guards in Europe, yet a fellow who has been criminally underused in both his NBA stops -- is reportedly looking to get on with a top-flight European club. Roughly 207 teams have been rumored as the favorite... yet very little has been said about Saras' existing contract with Golden State. (The Bay Area media has been understandably pre-occupied.)

I have no personal doubt Chris Mullin could find an NBA home for Jasikevicius. Boston, if Wyc Grousbeck is willing to spend the luxury tax associated with Saras' $4 million contract, would be an easy guess. Teams like Cleveland, Miami, even Milwaukee or Orlando should be willing to hand Saras a spot for a season. Hell, he's an expiring contract... Sacramento, anyone? I can count the teams who have no use for an average-at-worst point guard on one hand.

But the real interest for Jasikevicius, like Charlie Bell before him, lays in familiar Europe. Barcelona has been mentioned (but seems to be going after Bell), and Olympiacos is also heavily rumored. I haven't seen a word about Maccabi Tel Aviv, Saras' pre-NBA club... but that pairing wouldn't make terrible sense since you'd think Saras would want to go somewhere with a legit chance to win another Euroleague MVP.