How basketball works at the Olympics
HOW BASKETBALL WORKS AT THE OLYMPICS:
THE COMPETITION
* There are 12 teams in both the men's and women's competitions. Both feature two groups of six.
* Australia's men have been drawn in Group A, alongside United States, Venezuela, China and two qualifiers.
* Argentina, Spain, Brazil, Lithuania, Nigeria and one other qualifier are in Group B.
* Australia's women have been drawn in Group A, alongside Japan, Brazil, France, Belarus and Turkey.
* Canada, United States, Senegal, Serbia, China and Spain are in Group B.
* In the group stage, each country plays every other team in their group once.
* Two points are awarded for a win, one for a loss.
* At the completion of the group stage, the top four teams from each group progress to the knock-out stage.
* The top qualifying team crosses over to play the fourth-ranked team from the opposite group. The second-ranked team faces the third ranked team from the opposite group.
* The four winners progress to the semi-finals. The two winners meet in the gold medal match with a play-off for bronze.
THE GAMES
* Each game is played in four periods of 10 minutes.
* Teams have five players on the court at any one time.
* Five-minute overtime periods follow if a game is tied at the end of four quarters.
* Teams score two points from inside the three-point line, three points from outside and one point for each successful free-throw.
