Team USA takes on Australia in Wednesday's final game. (Getty Images)

If you're an NBA fan counting down the seconds until the start of the 2012-13 season, you need to be in front of your television/streaming video conduit of choice on Wednesday. The four quarterfinal matchups in the Olympic men's basketball tournament — lovingly previewed on Tuesday at Y! Olympics blog Fourth-Place Medal — will feature a boatload of NBA talent, and not just on Team USA. The day's first game will see Group B winners Russia — who feature the recently signed Minnesota Timberwolves tandem of Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved, as well as Denver Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov — take on a Lithuanian team are led by the Toronto Raptors duo of forward Linas Kleiza and promising young rising rookie center Jonas Valanciunas, who will make his NBA debut for the Raptors this season.

France vs. Spain will be a star-studded affair, with an NBA-heavy Spanish side (Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Jose Calderon, plus several former NBA pros now playing in Europe) squaring off against a French squad led by the San Antonio Spurs trio of Tony Parker, Boris Diaw and new import guard Nando De Colo, plus Portland Trail Blazers swingman Nicolas Batum and developing Washington Wizards big man Kevin Seraphin. And Brazil vs. Argentina ought to be a barn-burner, with the incomparable Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola leading fellow NBA'ers Carlos Delfino, Andres Nocioni and Pablo Prigioni into battle against a Brazilian team that's anchored up front by Tiago Splitter, Anderson Varejao and Nene, and that gets its scoring punch from NBA vet (and current free agent) Leandro Barbosa.

And then, of course, there's the main event of the day — the 5:15 p.m. ET matchup between Team USA's galaxy of stars and an Australia team led by Spurs point guard Patty Mills. The U.S. is heavily favored, but the tough, hardscrabble Boomers won't just hand over a trip to the semifinals.

Join us back here at 5 p.m. Eastern time for a joint BDL-FPM live chat of USA vs. Australia and watch two talented teams vie for a trip to the Olympics' final four. (Just a reminder: We won't be able to get to every question or comment, though we'll try our best, and please remember to keep things PG-13 and civil. Much obliged.)

Take the jump to chat:

Roy Hibbert's about to take an important trip. (Getty Images)As my colleague Eric Freeman noted last month, Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert has long since earned a place in Pacers fans' hearts for his willingness to connect with them in interesting ways, like starting a 7-footer-friendly cheering section called Area 55 and inviting members out for a private game of Laser Tag. His affability and relationship to Indy's fan base likely wasn't a prime factor in the team's decision to match a four-year, $58 million offer sheet to keep Hibbert patrolling the Pacers' paint, but it probably didn't hurt, and his return sure made a lot of Pacers fans happy.

Now, Hibbert's going to make them proud. The rest of us, too.

According to Mike Wells at the Indianapolis Star, a 12-year-old fan in Sacramento, Calif., named Lee Eddins was really looking forward to seeing Hibbert, "his idol," in person when the Pacers stopped in town to play the Sacramento Kings in November. Unfortunately, young Lee is not well.

Diagnosed with stage four leukemia six months ago, Lee has been told he might only have a couple of weeks left to live.

So Hibbert has planned a special surprise. Later this week, he is flying to Sacramento to meet Lee.

"Once I heard he had a dying wish, I knew I had to do something more than send him presents and Skype with him on the computer," Hibbert said.

The apparently bogus kicks. (Image via @karimelkhatib)

Excited for Team USA's quest for gold in London? Join the BDL crew for a live chat during Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup with Australia. We'll be cracking jokes, sharing observations, taking questions and talking about the game with fans like you. You can participate in the chat here at BDL or over at Y! Olympics blog Fourth-Place Medal, and don't forget to follow @YahooBDL for your daily NBA fix.

Poor Karim Khatib. The young ballplayer and attendee of the Michael Jordan Flight School skill development camp in Goleto, Calif., thought he'd just snared a phenomenal piece of swag when he won a pair of kicks bearing the John Hancock of a certain Jordan Brand star who just earned his second NBA championship ring with the Miami Heat:

Excitement. (Screencap via @karimelkhatib)

You can understand why Khatib was so thrilled; a pair of shoes autographed by Dwyane Wade seems like a pretty rad piece of memorabilia. Unfortunately, the thrill was short-lived — just 20 minutes later, the eight-time All-Star and 2006 NBA Finals MVP offered Khatib a bit of bad news:

Oops. (Screencap via @DwyaneWade)

Welp.

Jonas Valanciunas challenges LeBron James, a player most defenders guard without incident (Getty).

Excited for Team USA's quest for gold in London? Join the BDL crew for a live chat during Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup with Australia. We'll be cracking jokes, sharing observations, taking questions and talking about the game with fans like you. You can participate in the chat here at BDL or over at Y! Olympics blog Fourth-Place Medal, and don't forget to follow @YahooBDL for your daily NBA fix.

In the first of Wednesday's Olympic quarterfinal games, Group B winner Russia takes on Lithuania, the squad that gave Team USA its biggest scare of the preliminary round. Yet, while the Lithuanians impressed in that game and several others, one of their more high-profile talents hasn't been at his best.

Jonas Valanciunas, the fifth pick in the 2011 NBA draft and soon-to-be Toronto Raptors rookie, is a well-regarded young big man with a lot of promise. In this tournament, however, he has played only 54 minutes in five games, averaging 3.6 points per game on 52.9 percent shooting and 3.0 rebounds per game. He has not out-and-out embarrassed himself, but he also hasn't been close to the player that many expected him to be.

HIs coach, Kestutis Kemzura, has also not been especially pleased. From Sean Deveney for The Sporting News (via PBT):

When Jeremy Lin left the New York Knicks for the Houston Rockets a few weeks ago, the team's fans got very upset. Some even went so far as to reconsider their allegiances, ending decades of fandom over an especially awful decade. Somehow, the Knicks experience has been embarrassing enough lately that such a decision didn't seem quite so ridiculous.

However, one of the most notable upset Knicks fans can't claim a decade of rooting on the team. Around the time Lin switched teams, the YouTube user "hmpeopleinmyhead" posted a clip of his five-year-old son Naim crying and wondering how the Knicks possibly could have let his favorite player leave. The video has been viewed more than 30,000 times and became something of a viral sensation.

When Lin heard about the video, he took action and scheduled a video conversation on Mac's FaceTime application with Naim. You can watch nine minutes of the session at the top of this post (via IamaGM.com). The first question is about spending time with Toney Douglas and Josh Harrelson in Houston, which seems like one of the most random NBA hangout trios possible.

Danny Granger bows to no team, save for Juwan Howard's Miami Heat (Getty Images)

Indiana Pacers wing Danny Granger would like you to know that he thinks his team is the second best team in the Eastern conference right now, falling only behind only the NBA champion Miami Heat in that particular ranking. At least Danny can concede that Indiana isn't better than the champs, he'll give you that. Not better than the team that dumped them in six games last year. How kind and accurate of him.

Still, tell me why he should feel wrong, as you walk away from reading his thoughts. Why should Granger, after a tumultuous and strange NBA offseason, feel any different than this? Talk to me, after taking in Granger's musings to the Indianapolis Star's Mike Wells:

"It's going to be tough," he said. "Brooklyn, they are going to be a threat. Obviously Miami is going to be there, but I think we still view ourselves as a top-2 team in the East.

Keep working on your crossover, President Barack Obama. M.J.'s coming. (Getty Images)

UPDATE: Looks like the announced fundraiser isn't Version 2.0 of the all-star game that was planned back in December and postponed due to the end of the lockout.

According to an Obama campaign spokesman, while potential donors are being enticed by the prospect of "shooting hoops with Carmelo Anthony, Patrick Ewing, Sheryl Swoopes, Kyrie Irving and Alonzo Mourning," "hit[ting] the court with Patrick Ewing and Melo" and "suiting up with hoops stars," there won't actually be a game played at the upcoming fundraiser. Furthermore, Michael Jordan's participation will be limited to co-hosting a dinner with President Barack Obama following the shootaround/meet-and-greet, according to Ben Finkenbinder, a regional press secretary for Obama for America.

No word yet on when (or if) the postponed game is scheduled to be made up, but again: This, unfortunately, ain't it.

It's been a little more than three weeks since President Barack Obama weighed in on the tempest-in-a-teapot "Dream Team vs. 2012" debate, telling ESPN he'd take the 1992 U.S. men's Olympic basketball team over this year's version of Team USA if the two squads were to square off. The first player that Obama, a longtime Chicago Bulls fan's mouth, referenced in doing so was, of course, Michael Jordan. Now, according to Nina Mandell of BuzzFeed Sports, M.J. is set to repay the commander in chief's compliment, agreeing to appear at a star-studded upcoming celebrity event aimed at raising funds for Obama's bid for re-election this November.

In addition to Jordan, the "2012 Obama Classic" will also feature Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks All-Star Carmelo Anthony, and multiple other NBA and WNBA stars past and present, with donors in attendance and their guests getting to "meet the President — and shoot hoops with some of the best basketball players alive," according to Obama's campaign website.

Politico's Byron Tau shared copy from the campaign email announcing the event:

"Imagine shooting hoops" with those stars, deputy national field director Marlon Marshall wrote in an email to supporters. Other attendees include Sheryl Swoopes, Kyrie Irving and Alonzo Mourning.

"Now stop dreaming and make it happen. You and a guest of your choice could join President Obama and some of the greatest basketball stars for a special night at the Obama Classic," Marshall wrote.

"Pitch in $3 or whatever you can, and you'll be automatically entered for a chance to win," Marshall wrote. "Hit the court with Patrick Ewing and Melo? Trade stories with the President? This is the kind of stuff your kids will tell their kids, and no one will believe it until you show them a photo."

Gold-medal favorites in yelling. (AP)

And Carlos Delfino is freakin' spooked.

Best caption wins a vociferous reminder that it is time to go to work, thanks to the Denver Nuggets' coaching staff. Good luck.

In our last adventure: Team USA assistant Nate McMillan wants you to get out of here, Tyson Chandler.