Angola Will be First to Face U.S. Basketball Team in Barcelona

The U.S. men’s basketball team, a one-sided winner of the Tournament of the Americas, will open its quest for an Olympic gold medal at Barcelona with a game against Angola on July 26.

“We know absolutely nothing about Angola,” said Brendan Suhr, a scout for the United States team. “All we know is that they qualified for the Olympics and they are from Africa. But it’s not that easy a group. After all, we’ve got Spain playing on their home court--that won’t be easy--and Germany is going to be tough.”

The United States went into Group A along with Spain, Croatia, Brazil, Germany and Angola. Group B includes Lithuania, Australia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, China and the Unified Team.

After round-robin play in the first round, the top four teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals. The gold medal game is scheduled Aug. 8.

The women’s draw was also held Sunday, and the United States was matched against Czechoslovakia for the Olympic opener on June 30. Joining the United States and Czechoslovakia in Group B were China and Spain.

Group A is made up of Cuba, Brazil and the Unified Team. Yugoslavia is currently listed as the fourth team in that group, but the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has selected Italy as a replacement if civil war-torn Yugoslavia is denied permission to compete by the International Olympic Committee.