Olympic Men's Basketball, Day 1: Spain, Argentina, Russia Win Big

Olympic Basketball: Alexey Shved, Andrei Kirilenko Give Timberwolves Fans Something To Cheer About

Russian basketball isn't typically relevant when it comes to holding the interest level of Americans, but the 2012 London Olympics has changed that for at least one NBA fan base. Not for nothing, of course, but because the team includes a pair of recent Minnesota Timberwolves signees in Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved.

Kirilenko, a longtime member of the Utah Jazz before heading back home during last season's NBA lockout, finished with 35 points (while missing just three of his 17 shot attempts) while Shved pulled off an awesome double-double with 16 points and 13 assists.

Considering it was Shved's first time playing in the Olympics, Sunday's performance was quite impressive -- and the play of the two new Timberwolves wasn't lost on their coach, either.

Russia coach David Blatt on Kirilenko & Shved vs. Team GB: "If I'm the Minnesota Timberwolves ... I've got a big, fat smile on my face."

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 29, 2012

While Minnesota fans are happy and Blatt's quote says quite a bit, the best quip following Russia's victory on Sunday came from Kirilenko.

"Look at me," Kirilenko said, exulting after the game. "I am running like a young deer."

With Kirilenko feeling young and Shved dropping passes like this, it's not hard to see why Timberwolves fans would be excited about the upcoming season.

For complete coverage of the 2012 London Olympics, visit SB Nation's Summer Olympics hub.

What We Learned In The Olympic Basketball Openers

It was Russia -- not Spain -- who looked like the strongest team in Group B on Sunday. Beyond that, the biggest revelations of Olympic basketball group play may need to wait as chalk dominated on Day 1.

Tony Parker's Goggles May Help Spurs Teammate Manu Ginobili Defeat Him

Argentina Vs. Lithuania, Olympics 2012: Argentinians Shoot The Lights Out In Blowout Victory

The NBA experience and hot shooting of the Argentinian national team was too much to overcome for Lithuania in their late Sunday opener of the 2012 London Olympics, as the Argentines won 102-79. Olympic staple Luis Scola was dominant inside for Argentina, scoring 32 points for the game high.

Carlos Delfino led a barrage of outside shooting from the South Americans, scoring 20 points in 22 minutes. As a team, Argentina shot 11-27 from long range, good for a 41 percent clip, and shot 57 percent from the floor. Manu Ginobili was the catalyst for the offense -- not new Knick point guard Pablo Prigioni, who was largely silent while scoring nine points -- and he finished with 21 points.

Lithuanian starter, and future Toronto Raptor, Jonas Valanciunas was severely limited with foul trouble in the game, playing just 14 minutes and scoring six points. Without their big, athletic inside presence, Lithuania had no answer for the Argentinians, despite captain Linas Kleiza's 20 points, a team high. Former Wizard Darius Songaila chipped in 11 points in 14 minutes to do his part.

For complete coverage of the 2012 London Olympics, visit SB Nation's Summer Olympics hub.

Russia Vs. Great Britain, Olympics 2012: Andrei Kirilenko Scores 35 In 95-75 Russia Win

Andrei Kirilenko spent the 2011-2012 season in Russia playing for CSKA Moscow. His familiarity playing with the European rules must have made him feel extra comfortable going into the Olympics (especially considering he's Russia's LeBron James and all), and he showed it in his team's Olympic opener against the home team. Kirilenko exploded for 35 points on 14-17 shooting and led his team to an easy 95-75 victory over Great Britain.

Fresh off signing a two-year, $20 million contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Kirilenko was everywhere. Luol Deng, Great Britain's best player coming off his best year yet in the NBA -- he even was named an Eastern Conference All Star -- was good as well, scoring 24 points to lead his team. But much like against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the NBA playoffs, Deng showed he's best as a complementary piece, not the headliner.

It was Great Britain's first appearance in the Olympic basketball tournament since 1964, and it was far from an embarrassment. They're not expected to make it out of the knockout stage, but it would be nice to see them win at least one game in pool play in front of the home crowd. But with Russian players Alexey Shved and Sasha Kaun, who played at Kansas, displaying this level of chemistry, that win simply wasn't going to come against Russia.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu, a one-time Dallas Maverick and star of the George Washington University basketball team, scored 22 points for the Brits.

For complete coverage of the 2012 London Olympics, visit SB Nation's Summer Olympics hub.

Spain Vs. China, Olympics 2012: Pau Gasol Stars In 97-81 Victory

China played gamely against one of the 2012 Olympic favorites in men's basketball. But the talented NBA veterans of Spain held off the largely non-NBA Chinese for a 97-81 victory to open Olympic group play.

Pau Gasol's 21 points and 11 rebounds paced the Spaniards in both categories. He and Serge Ibaka (17 points, five boards) made up for the third member of the formidable Spanish front line, Marc Gasol, netting just five points and five assists while struggling with foul trouble. Spain also got 14 points from Juan Carlos Navarro and 12 from Jose Calderon, flashing balance that makes them the best challenger to Team USA, the presumptive favorite in London.

Yi Jianlian, the only current NBA player on China's roster, had a massive 30-point, 13-rebound double-double, but the Chinese fell behind in the second quarter and never made up ground as the game went on.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub. For more on Olympic basketball, follow the 2012 Olympic basketball section.

Brazil Vs. Australia, Olympics 2012: Marcelinho Huertas Leads Brazilians To Victory

Marcelinho Huertas is 29, and one of the few true stars of the 2012 Olympic men's basketball competition who has never played in the NBA. His performance in Sunday's group play opener against Australia in Brazil's 75-71 win proves that he might fit in just fine in the Association.

Huertas had 15 points and 10 assists against only one turnover, and piloted a Brazilian team stocked with NBA talent. Anderson Varejao had 12 points and seven boards, Nene Hilario (just Nene to most American fans) had eight points and seven rebounds, and Leandro Barbosa led all Brazilian scorers with 16 points.

Patty Mills led Australia with 18 points, and added seven rebounds and four assists, Joe Ingles added 15 points, and David Andersen had 14 points and eight boards, but the Aussies could not make a good enough run at a Brazilian team that led throughout to steal the game in the second half.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub. For more on Olympic basketball, follow the 2012 Olympic basketball section.

Nigeria Vs. Tunisia, Olympics 2012: Aminus Lead D'Tigers To 60-56 Win

The Nigerian national basketball team has a couple of players who have been NBA players in its frontcourt. But it was the Aminu who doesn't play in the U.S. that carried Nigeria to a 60-56 win over Tunisia on Sunday.

Alade Aminu had 15 points, nine rebounds, and a couple of steals for Nigeria in the victory, outpacing former NBAer Ike Diogu (13 points, 10 boards) and current Hornets forward Al-Farouq Aminu (10 points, nine rebounds, four steals), his younger brother. The elder Aminu plays for Elan Chalon in France, and has been signed before by the Miami Heat, but has never played a minute in an NBA game.

Tunisia's captain, Rzig Amine, had 18 points for his country in the loss, but the shooting guard only managed one rebound and one assist. Makram Ben Romdhane added 12 points, 12 rebounds and three assists, but committed seven turnovers on the day.

Nigeria shot just 38 percent from the field, but had 11 steals, and forced Tunisia to commit 21 turnovers.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub. For more on Olympic basketball, follow the 2012 Olympic basketball section.