Over the weekend, lots were drawn in Beijing to determine the preliminary round groupings for basketball tournaments during the Olympics. On the men’s side, Iran, Lithuania, Argentina, Russia, Australia, and one qualifier to be determined from Olympic qualifying tournaments were selected to play in group A; China, Angola, Spain, USA, and two qualifiers from Olympic qualifying tournaments were selected to play in Group B. The Olympic basketball tournament will run from August 9-24. The group matches are in a round robin format, with the top four teams advancing to the knock-out stage.

China will face off with the USA’s NBA stars on August 10. China’s basketball team is expected to be led by Houston Rocket center Yao Ming.

UPDATE:

If you missed USA vs China round 1 Olympic basketball action, go here to watch it.

Part 1 of the 2008 Olympics Basketball Draw

Part 2 of the 2008 Olympics Basketball Draw