RIO DE JANEIRO -- Theres no getting around it for your internationally known Committee (of One).It was precisely 12 days ago in this cyberspace when we wrote that the United States would romp to the gold in Olympic mens basketball.And we flat-out got it wrong.Team USA is the only undefeated team left in the tournament at 5-0 ... but there has been precious little romping to date for the red, white and blue.Yet theres a happy consolation for everyone in the wake of our original, less-than-flawless forecast: This tournament has flung so many curveballs at us already that we had to come back with an updated edition of ESPN.coms Olympic Hoops Power Rankings heading into Wednesdays quarterfinals.So here, then, is our latest 1-to-12 diagnosis of the competition, with each countrys original ranking in parentheses:1. UNITED STATES (1)Close games in the Olympics for Team USA are not new. The new part is seeing Team USA scramble in the fourth quarter in three straight games, which suggests the group is making little progress in the wake of each scare.Throughout their first few weeks together, several of the American stars spoke repeatedly about how much they enjoyed playing defense, but major slippage at the un-fun end against Australia, Serbia and France dropped them to a hard-to-fathom fifth overall in the competition in terms of defensive efficiency entering the medal round.The alarm bells, not surprisingly, are thus ringing pretty loudly, amid a growing belief in basketball circles that this squad -- by all accounts far stronger than the group that dominated the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain and still a 1-to-20 runaway favorite, according to the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook -- could actually lose. I still say they end up grabbing gold, but its looking more and more as if itll have to be the offense that carries Team USA over the line.2. AUSTRALIA (8)It has been a while since the Committee (of One) missed on a team so badly. As one Aussie insider whispered to us after seeing the Boomers down at No. 8 when the tournament began: These tournaments are won with heart and grit and you clearly underestimated how much this group has been building toward this for years.Our informant went on to insist that no national team in the world wants a basketball medal more than the Aussies, who have never medaled in mens basketball. Theres obviously no way to accurately measure that, but the inspiration behind the claim is easy to understand: Australia truly believes it never has had a better shot at a top-three spot after drubbing favored France in its Olympic opener and playing the United States so tough following an impressive win over Serbia.Deep down, though, Australia has to be jittery as it heads into the first of Wednesdays four quarterfinals, because one off night (or morning) in the first game of the knockout round can ruin everything. Led by Patty Mills (20.5 PPG), Andrew Bogut (13.0 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 4.0 APG) and Matthew Dellavedova (8.6 APG), Australia had the third-most efficient offense and No. 2 defense in pool play. But it desperately needs at least one more win, specifically Wednesday over Lithuania, to truly hush any peaked-too-soon talk.3. SPAIN (2)In a tournament pleasantly (and unexpectedly) filled with surprises, Spains 0-2 start scores as high on the shock meter as anything weve seen. Yet we couldnt bear to drop Pau Gasol?& Co. more than a spot from our pre-Olympics ladder, because this is still the team that USA Basketball staffers privately fear the most.Its not just Spains pedigree that has the Americans attention, either. A team routinely dismissed as too old, by yours truly as much as anyone, just beat Lithuania and Argentina by a combined 69 points after the stunning early slipups to Croatia and Brazil.With brother Marc Gasol unavailable through injury, Pau has averaged nearly 20 and 9 and, at age 36, looks as dangerous internationally as ever. Group A was widely regarded as the weaker of the two groups coming into Olympic play, but theres nothing easy about Team USAs path to the gold-medal game now, with either Spain or France waiting in the semifinals provided Mike Krzyzewskis squad prevails Wednesday night.4. FRANCE (3)Even before the quarterfinal pairings were made official, France coach Vincent Collet had a premonition that his country would be drawn against Spain in the final eight. Its a habit for us, Collet quipped.France indeed stunned Spain -- in Spain -- in the quarterfinals of the 2014 FIBA World Cup. Spain then avenged that loss, in France, in the semifinals of the 2015 Eurobasket. Wednesdays third installment in the series will send the winner to a likely semifinal showdown with the United States, while eliminating one of the pre-tournament favorites earlier than expected.Collet says he still has no explanation for the hammering France absorbed from Australia in the tournament opener -- We didnt play as a team that day and I dont know why, he said -- but has to be heartened by the way his team has rebounded. Sundays three-point loss to the United States came without Tony Parker, who will certainly play on that bruised toe in the quarters against Frances longtime Spanish rivals.5. SERBIA (5)All the focus back home is naturally on the Team USA crisis, if we can call it that, but the quarterfinals are truly headlined by a showdown of European powers (Spain vs. France) and a matchup that throws bitter rivals Serbia and Croatia onto the same floor for a spot in the final four.The Serbs, furthermore, played so well in their Friday night date with the United States that its easy to forget they lost the three most significant games they played in Group A, falling to France by one and Australia by 15 in addition to the 94-91 heartbreaker against the heavy, heavy Olympic favorites.I guess were as guilty as anyone, frankly, of buying into the Serbs potential after a firsthand look at how they hung with Team USA, because were firmly predicting a Serbia derby win despite the preceding paragraph. The truth is, those of us watching cant lose either way, because we get to see Bogdan Bogdanovic square off against Croatias Bojan Bogdanovic in an irresistible battle for Slavic surname supremacy.6. CROATIA (9)Its conceivable that were being too hard on the Croats. Very conceivable once you point out that they upset Spain in the teams Group B opener, courtesy of Dario Sarics win-clinching rejection at the rim of Pau Gasol, and the fact that they actually won the group that also housed Spain, Lithuania, Argentina and Brazil.However ...The Committee cant resist docking Croatia for its loss to Nigeria, which was as hard to believe as anything that has happened in Rio since these Olympics began. Bojan Bogdanovic (24.8 PPG) and the Dario & Mario (Hezonja) Show can really only avenge that slipup, at least with us, by overcoming a long history of painful defeats against the old enemy.7. LITHUANIA (4)The Lithuanians have made it a habit of their own over the years to A) cause Team USA numerous problems and B) get stronger as major tournaments dribble on. But the quality of their play has actually declined since an impressive 3-0 start in Group B, which makes it rather likely that Lithuania will never make it onto the same floor with the Yanks in Rio after tormenting them at the 2012 London Olympics.Following wins over Brazil, Nigeria and Argentina, Lithuania was drilled by the desperate Spaniards by 50 -- yes, fiddy -- before a loss to Croatia in Monday nights Group B finale, when a win could have clinched first place in the group.The quarterfinal matchup with Australia pits perhaps the two grittiest teams in the field against each other for a spot in the final four, but Charles Barkleys favorite foreign center, Torontos Jonas Valanciunas,?will have to do much more against Bogut and Aron Baynes than he did against Pau Gasol in the debacle against Spain.8. ARGENTINA (6)Argentinas traveling band of fans is so good that Wednesdays quarterfinal meeting with the United States is sure to be entertaining ... even if the aging underdogs cant really hang.Team USA won by a breezy 37 points when the teams met in July in an exhibition in Las Vegas, and, given the choice between facing Argentina and its many 30-somethings or feisty and unpredictable Croatia, its a safe bet that the Americans, whether theyll ever admit it, are quietly pleased that the Croatians beat Lithuania on Monday night to avoid that assignment.Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Andres Nocioni and Carlos Delfino surely want to put on a good show in what is widely expected to be their final significant game for Argentinas proud and historic national team. Yet you only have to read our Tuesday morning postcard, filled with good insights from Ginobili and Scola, to understand how big the challenge looks to the Argentinean legends themselves.(Editors note: All four teams below have been eliminated from the competition.)9. BRAZIL (7)The hosts stunned Spain. They played a huge part in the game of this Olympiad by dueling longtime regional rivals Argentina for two overtimes before succumbing, 111-107. And yet they still ultimately validated all of our pre-tournament fears about their age and other shortcomings.Remember how we had Brazil down at No. 7 coming into the competition? Going 2-3 was all too predictable and presumably brings a sad end to an era headlined by Committee favorites such as?Leandro Barbosa and Marcelinho Huertas.Hard to watch.10. NIGERIA (10)The Committee, for the record, is still trying to arrange our must-have Olympic selfie with former Cal State Fullerton standout Josh Akognon, who made his fellow Titan Tech alumni so proud by earning a spot on this roster and scoring 16 points in Nigerias Group B finale against Brazil.Thats the unfinished business portion of Nigerias memorable trip to South America.Despite falling short of its dream to become the first African nation to advance to the single-elimination portion of the mens basketball tournament, Nigeria did get a lot done here, recording an unforgettable win over Croatia and giving mighty Spain quite a scare.11. VENEZUELA (11)With its only recognizable name unavailable throughout injury, leading scorer John Cox did the sidelined Greivis Vasquez and all of their countrymen proud by eliciting this memorable tweet from his cousin Kobe Bryant during Venezuelas game attempts to hang with the United States:Unbelievable feeling watching my lil coz @zipzero33 on @NBCSports vs @usabasketball showing the world what he is capable of as a player- Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) August 8, 2016Combine that moment with Venezuelas victory over China in the only winnable game it had on its Rio schedule, and you can only conclude that La Vinotinto hit their Olympic ceiling.12. CHINA (12)You were warned here going in that China had the weakest team in the 12-nation draw. So you shouldnt have been surprised to see that former NBA lottery pick Yi Jianlian didnt have nearly enough help to make the Committee eat its words a la Australia.Of course, as always in basketball-obsessed China, much more was expected back home in spite of our caution. An 0-5 showing in Rio -- more specifically Chinas failure to handle Venezuela in the only winnable game on its schedule -- hasnt been well-received.The good news: China has two-plus years to make strides before hosting the next FIBA World Cup in 2019. The bad news: Its bound to be treated as a full-blown national embarrassment in that 32-team event if the Chinese cant manufacture at least something resembling success or progress. Stitched Soccer Jerseys . The scientists believe the small earthquake during a Marshawn Lynch touchdown was likely greater than Lynchs famous "beast quake" touchdown run three years ago, which also came against New Orleans during a playoff game. Cheap Nike Soccer Jerseys . -- Jaye Marie Green shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday to increase her lead to five strokes after the second round of the LPGA Tours qualifying tournament. http://www.cheapsoccerjerseyswholesale.com/ . Catch all the action on TSN2 at 11pm et/8pm pt. The nine-time Big 12 champion Jayhawks are positioning themselves for another title, as they have run out to a flawless 6-0 mark in conference play thus far. Cheap Soccer Jerseys . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. Adidas Soccer Jerseys From China . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. NEW YORK -- The last time the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning saw one another, they were battling for the right to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.On Tuesday, the teams will be looking to regain the form that sent them deep into the Stanley Cup playoffs six months ago.The Islanders will continue a five-game homestand by hosting the Lightning at Barclays Center. It will be a rematch of an Eastern Conference semifinal from last spring, when Tampa Bay outlasted New York in five games.The Islanders (4-5-0) snapped a two-game losing streak on Sunday with a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Lightning (5-4-0) lost their third straight contest on Sunday with a 6-1 setback to the New York Rangers.The losing streak -- during which the Lightning have been outscored 12-3 -- has dropped them into a tie for third place in the Atlantic Division. Tampa Bay resides seven points behind the red-hot Montreal Canadiens, who remain unbeaten in regulation.The Lightning allowed just 17 goals in their first six games.I think every team goes through a stretch of games where youre off your game, Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman said Sunday night. Thats obviously where we are right now. It doesnt matter if its now or midseason (or) later in the season. Its about stopping the bleeding, fix the wrongs and do right. And Im sure we have the quality to do that.The Islanders played perhaps their most complete game of the year Sunday night, when they scored twice in the first eight minutes of the first period and three times in the third. Entering Sunday, New York had scored just four first-period goals all season and had allowed the tie-breaking tally late in the third period in each of its two previous losses.ddddddddddddThe win came too late to salvage a winning October for the Islanders but provided valuable points for a team that rode strong starts to playoff berths in each of the last two seasons.Points are just as crucial now as they are in April, said defenseman Travis Hamonic, whose goal 61 seconds into the game Sunday gave New York a lead it wouldnt relinquish. You need to be aware of that, and certainly we are. You want to try and collect as many early on, because it becomes so close at the end of the season. Handfuls of points can dictate a division title or missing the playoffs.Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop is likely to draw the start against Thomas Greiss, who may be emerging as New Yorks No. 1 netminder as general manager Garth Snow tries to trade the disgruntled Jaroslav HalakBishop is 5-4-1 in 10 regular-season appearances against the Islanders. He took the defeat the last time he opposed New York in a regular-season game on April 4, as he was pulled in the third period after stopping 18 of 23 shots in the Lightnings 5-2 loss at Barclays Center.Greiss is 3-1-0 in four regular-season games against the Lightning. He earned the win for the Islanders on April 4, when he stopped 32 of 34 shots.If Greiss starts Tuesday, it will be his second start in as many games since Halaks agent tweeted his displeasure with his client getting in only one practice prior to last Thursday, when Halak took the loss as New York fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins. 4-2.Newsday reported Monday that Snow has let other general managers know Halak is available in a trade. Cheap Throwback Baseball Detroit Tigers Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Colorado Rockies Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Houston Astros Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Kansas City Royals Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Los Angeles Angels Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Los Angeles Dodgers Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Miami Marlins Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Milwaukee Brewers Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Minnesota Twins Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball New York Mets Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball New York Yankees Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Oakland Athletics Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Philadelphia Phillies Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball San Diego Padres Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball San Francisco Giants Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Seattle Mariners Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball St. Louis Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Tampa Bay Rays Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Texas Rangers Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Toronto Blue Jays Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Washington Nationals Jerseys ' ' '