Australia vs. Serbia 2016, Olympic basketball: Time, TV schedule and live stream for men’s semifinal

Australia wants to crown a fantastic tournament with an appearance in the gold medal game but to do so, they will have to beat a traditional European power.

by Jeje Gomez

Aug 19, 2016, 12:00 PM UTC

Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

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2016 Olympic men’s basketball results: Team USA beats Spain, faces Serbia in gold medal game

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After a fun group stage and quarterfinals, we are now down to the best four men’s basketball teams in the Olympics. While Team USA’s battle with Spain will get most of the attention in the semifinals, Serbia and Australia have showed that they are not far behind in terms of talent. Whichever gets the spot in the gold medal game will be worthy of the honor.

Australia has been a revelation in these Olympics. After barely making it past the group stage in London 2012 and being eliminated by the U.S. in the quarterfinals, the Boomers have taken a major step forward. They finished second in their group and came close to beating Team USA. Then they completely dismantled Lithuania in the first game of the knockout stage. With their core of NBA players leading the way, they have looked like the second-best team in the tournament, showing more consistency in their effort than Spain.

As good as they have been, however, their place in the finals is far from secured. They will have to get past a traditional power like Serbia, which always makes noise in international competition. They have a mixture of experience and youth that makes them dangerous. Veterans Milos Teodosic -- arguably the best player not in the NBA -- and Miroslav Raduljica anchor the team, while Bogdan Bogdanovic and budding star Nikola Jokic can change a game with their talent. They are fresh off a victory over regional rivals Croatia, so their confidence should be sky high.

Australia has to be considered the favorite to advance. Patty Mills is scoring over 20 points per game, while Matthew Dellavedova should keep Teodosic in check. Andrew Bogut and Aron Baynes can match Raduljica's physicality and hold their own against the multi-talented Jokic. The Boomers are just too deep and experienced, as they proved in their win in the group stage over their Friday's opponent.

Counting out Serbia completely is never a good idea, though. If the streaky Teodosic and Bogdanovic are having a good day and the battle inside is close, an upset is certainly possible.