FIBA World Cup 2014 schedule: South American rivals square off in Round of 16 finale

Spain, France, Slovenia and the U.S. are already in the quarterfinals. After Sunday’s action, the other spots will be set. Four games will take place throughout the day, culminating in a showdown between two South American rivals. Here is the Round of 16 schedule for Sunday.

What you need to know about New Zealand: It doesn’t have eclectic Oklahoma City Thunder big man Steven Adams, yet it fought to get to the elimination round by winning two straight Group C contests over Ukraine and (barely) Finland after losing its first three.

Veteran guard Kirk Penney, who you might remember if you’re a University of Wisconsin fan, leads the team with an average of 11.8 points per game. At 33, he isn’t the player that poured in 37 points against this same Lithuania team in the 2010 FIBA World Championship group stages, but he’s still the team’s leader. Corey Webster is a solid secondary scorer, while big man Isaac Fotu came up big in New Zealand’s win over Finland in the group stage finale.

What you need to know about Lithuania: The pre-tournament favorites for the bronze medal overcame setbacks to win Group D and stay clear of Team USA until the semifinals. The first blow came before the tournament began when captain and starting point guard Mantas Kalneitis suffered a clavicle injury in one of the team’s warm-up matches. Despite his absence, Lithuania won three of its first four group stage games, losing only to Australia. In the final group stage game against Slovenia, Lithuania fell behind by double digits before rallying in the fourth quarter for a 67-64 victory.

Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas and Rockets forward Donatas Motiejunas are the team’s top offensive players, but Lithuania is deep, spreading the ball and playing time around. In fact, the two NBA big men were on the bench as Lithuania made its comeback against Slovenia.

What you need to know about Greece: What a surprise. Greece was expected to compete in Group B, but few expected it to win all five games by an average of 13 points. Better yet, it’s succeeded with budding Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo playing a small role off the bench. Greece has rode a balanced effort and stifling defense to this point, but can it put themselves in a position to medal with big guns Brazil and Argentina in their path?

What you need to know about Serbia: This traditional power possess one of the top inside-out combinations in the tournament in former Bucks big man Miroslav Raduljica and veteran guard Milos Teodosic. Serbia is far stingier than a typical fourth seed in a group because it was stuck with Spain, Brazil and France. It’s not inconceivable to see Serbia go on a run by upsetting Greece, then either Brazil or Argentina to reach the semifinals.

What you need to know about Turkey: This isn’t 2010 anymore. That year, Turkey rode its home court and NBA bona fides Ersan Ilyasova, Hedo Turkoglu and Omer Asik to the silver medal. Only Asik remains from that trio.

But Turkey is still a threat, albeit a much reduced one. It took a five-point lead against Team USA into halftime before succumbing in the fourth quarter and won three of its four other Group C contests to earn the second seed from that pod. Asik has been a force inside, while longtime overseas veteran Emir Preldzic has been excellent from the perimeter.

What you need to know about Australia: It’s wrapped up in controversy after benching several key players in its group stage finale to Angola. The reason: losing gave it a better chance of finishing third rather than second, and finishing third means avoiding the U.S. until the semifinals. Australia had won three straight games in Group D after dropping its opener to Slovenia, including a victory over Lithuania. Aron Baynes and Joe Ingles have been fantastic, but 19-year-old top-five pick Dante Exum has barely played.

But Brazil must face its continental nemesis in Argentina earlier than expected. Argentina has been the traditional power in South America and eliminated Brazil in its last two major international tournaments, including a tense quarterfinal at the 2012 Olympics.

What you need to know about Argentina: This isn’t 2004 anymore, so to call Argentina a contender is a stretch. But there are still remnants from the golden generation, including power forward Luis Scola, who is second in the tournament in scoring. Pablo Prigioni, Walter Hermann and Andres Nocioni are still key cogs of the team even in their advanced age. Argentina finished 3-2 in Group B, the same record it had in its group in the 2012 Olympics.