Post-Olympics Power Rankings

Bryan Armen Graham, SI.com

Whatever remaining relevance the FIBA World Rankings had went swirling down the toilet on Sunday. After winning eight straight games in mostly spectacular fashion to clinch Olympic gold, the United States dropped one spot to No. 2.

The world's top hoops squad according to the rankings is Argentina, a team the U.S. overwhelmed 101-81 on Friday in the semifinals.

Say what?

Rankings so counter-intuitive and oblivious to the "smell test" are barely worthy of discussion, but here's a brief explanation for those who don't feel like weeding through FIBA's methodology.

The FIBA World Rankings take into account tournaments from the past eight years, awarding points based on order of finish and giving more weight to major events like the Olympics or the FIBA World Championship, with lesser emphasis on continental events like the FIBA Americas Championship or EuroBasket.

The completion of the Olympic tournament on Sunday meant the results from the Sydney Olympics fell out of the eight-year range. So the U.S. added a gold medal to its tally and lost its gold medal finish from 2000. The Argentines added Sunday's bronze medal -- but their non-participation in the 2000 Olympics was no longer counted against them.

Whatevs. FIBA's loss of credibility is SI.com's gain, since our Post-Olympics Power Rankings simply call it like we see it. Here's a look at the international pecking order in the wake of America's redemption song:

Post-Olympics Power Rankings

1 Pre-Olympics: 2	United States Team USA's better opponents salvaged moral victories by just hanging around into the second half, while the lesser ones looked like those glassy-eyed challengers walking into the ring to face Mike Tyson circa 1988. The U.S. team managed to overachieve in Beijing, winning eight straight games by four touchdowns on average. It was a virtuoso performance from wire to wire. But the the defining moment came in the fourth quarter of the gold medal game, after Rudy Fernandez canned a three-pointer to pull Spain within 91-89. Nobody knew exactly how the previously untested Redeem Team would respond with their backs up against it -- perhaps not even the Americans themselves. But seven rapid unanswered points keyed a commanding game-breaking stretch, clinching Team USA's first championship in a major international tournament since 2000.
2 Pre-Olympics: 1	Spain The trendy pre-tournament pick of Team USA fatalists worldwide, Spain suffered a humiliating 119-82 defeat at the hands of the Americans during group play. Which made its gutsy performance in the gold medal game -- in the absence of injured floor general Jose Calderon -- such a remarkable achievement. Pau Gasol averaged a tournament-best 19.6 points (on 67.8 percent shooting) and grabbed 7.0 rebounds. But it was Spain's impressive team play on offense which left the strongest impression. Yes, the Americans ended up outscoring the Spanish on Sunday -- but they never figured out a consistent solution for Spain's masterfully executed half-court offense. With seven former or current NBA players in the fold -- and 17-year-old phenom Ricky Rubio looking assured of joining those ranks down the road -- look for Spain to enter EuroBasket 2009 as the prohibitive favorite.
3 Pre-Olympics: 3	Argentina It's doubtful the Albiceleste is celebrating its newly secured place atop the FIBA rankings -- not after its Olympic title defense was ended abruptly by the United States in Friday's semifinals. But the Argentines have nothing to hang their heads about. After surrendering 18 unanswered points and losing Manu Ginobili to a tournament-ending foot injury during the first quarter against the U.S., Argentina made a spirited comeback to pull within six points before falling 101-81. Two days later, the South Americans avenged an Olympic-opening loss to Lithuania with an 87-75 victory to clinch the bronze. Per usual, Manu shone. But Luis Scola really stood out, averaging 18.9 points and 6.6 rebounds -- including a game-high 28 points against Team USA and a 37-point outburst to eliminate Russia in group play.
4 Pre-Olympics: 5	Lithuania Remember when Lithuania took the medal stand to the left of the Dream Team in 1992, sporting those heady tie-dyed warmups compliments of the Grateful Dead? Since winning that bronze in Barcelona -- the tiny country's first appearance as an independent nation -- no country besides the U.S. has enjoyed a more consistent Olympic record. With a 94-68 victory over China, the Lithuanians ensured their fifth straight appearance in the semifinals. (They've come away with three bronze medals in those five trips.) Despite just two players with NBA experience -- former Indiana guard Sarunas Jasikevicius and current Denver forward Linas Kleiza -- Lithuania entered the semis as the third-highest scoring team in the tournament.
5 Pre-Olympics: 4	Greece Fifth makes sense for the Greeks. They played Argentina to the wire in the quarterfinals but dropped a 80-78 decision, ensuring a third consecutive fifth-place finish at the Olympics. With 10 of their 12 players toiling domestically for Olympiakos or Panathinaikos, the Greek system is founded on a preternatural team chemistry and an equal-opportunity offensive approach. But one individual who stood out was Vassilis Spanoulis, the team's primary offensive conduit with team-best averages of 14.6 points and 3.0 assists.
6 Pre-Olympics: 8	Australia The Boomers boasted perhaps the most formidable frontcourt at the Olympics, with twin seven-footers Andrew Bogut and Chris Anstey joining 6-11 David Andersen and 6-10 Matt Nielsen. With defiance to spare, Australia gave the U.S. a stiff challenge in the final pre-Olympic exhibition and briefly tested Team USA in the quarterfinals. If Bogut can manage to limit the fouls and improve his toughness against elite international sides, this group could be a sleeper Final Four pick at the 2010 FIBA Worlds in Turkey.
7 Pre-Olympics: NR	Croatia Croatia shone in its first Olympic trip in 12 years, winning its first two games in the preliminary round against Australia and Russia to emerge as dark horses for the bronze. Combo guard Zoran Planinic, who spent three years with the Nets, averaged has averaged a team-best 11.8 points -- but was limited to 1-of-6 from the floor in the quarterfinal loss to Spain. They've already qualified for EuroBasket 2009, where they'll get a chance to qualify for the 2010 FIBA Worlds.
8 Pre-Olympics: 9	China The hosts dug out of an 0-2 hole to salvage a place in the medal round thanks to victories over Angola and Germany. Yao Ming was predictably magnificent, averaging 19.0 points and 8.2 rebounds. But his overmatched teammates never really stood a chance against elite-level opposition, as their 94-68 quarterfinal loss to second-tier world power Lithuania would suggest. But just qualifying for the medal round represents a significant improvement on the heels of a disappointing 15th-place showing at the 2006 FIBA Worlds.
9 Pre-Olympics: 6	Russia The reigning European champions underwhelmed observers in Beijing, dispensing of lowly Iran in the opener before dropping four straight decisions to Croatia, Lithuania, Australia and Argentina and failing to make the knockout stage. Combo forward Andrei Kirilenko turned in a par-for-the-course performance, averaging 15.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists. American-born floor general J.R. Holden -- a former All-Patriot League selection out of Bucknell -- averaged a pair of team-bests with 17.6 points and 4.8 assists. Next year's EuroBasket tournament should go a long way toward determining whether last year's European crown was a fluke.
10 Pre-Olympics: 7	Germany Don't blame Dirk Nowitzki for Germany's supremely underwhelming 59-55 loss to China on Aug. 16, a result which eliminated the Germans from medal round contention. Dirk poured in 11 of his team-high 24 points in the fourth quarter, grabbing a game-high 17 rebounds for good measure. Chris Kaman didn't exactly set the pagoda on fire, averaging a modest 10.4 points and 6.0 rebounds. The offensively challenged Germans mustered just 66.0 points per game. Only winless Angola and Iran scored less.