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FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2008 for men is the last qualifying tournament for basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Organized by FIBA, it will take place 14–20 July 2008 in Athens, Greece.



Through this tournament, the final three qualifying berths for the 2008 Olympics men’s basketball competition will be determined. A total of 12 teams will compete in the 2008 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament and those 12 teams are based on finishes in each of FIBA’s five zone qualifying tournaments. The FIBA Africa Zone placed two teams (runner-up and third place), the FIBA Americas Zone advanced three teams (third place, fourth place and fifth place), the FIBA Asia Zone placed two teams (runner-up and third place), the FIBA Europe Zone placed four teams (fourth place, fifth place, sixth place and seventh place), and FIBA Oceania Zone advanced one team (runner-up). The 12 teams will be divided in four groups of three teams each and will play a single round robin. The two best placed teams from each group will qualify for the quarterfinals, semifinals, finals and consolation games which will determine the first three places and thus the teams that will qualify for the Olympics.



Originally planned to be held from July 7-13, FIBA and the International Olympic Committee decided to push the tournament one week later than originally planned to "allow the participating teams to enjoy a longer preparation phase and count with the presence of their best players."



Participating nations:




Europe:



Greece

Slovenia

Croatia

Germany



Americas:



Puerto Rico

Brazil

Canada



Africa:



Cameroon

Cape Verde



Oceania:



New Zealand



Asia:



Lebanon

Korea



Format:



* The teams will be divided into four groups (Groups A-D) for the preliminary round.

* Round robin for the preliminary round; the top two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals. The last-placed team in each group are eliminated.

* A single-elimination tournament will then be held; the quarterfinals pairings are:

o A1 vs. B2

o B1 vs. A2

o C1 vs. D2

o D1 vs. C2

* The semifinal pairings will be A1/B2 vs. B1/A2 and C1/D2 and D1/C2. The semifinal winners are qualified for the Olympics. No championship game will be held.

* The semifinal losers will play for the last Olympic qualifying berth.
I see a real possibility that all 3 teams will be from Europe. Greece are obviously one of the strongest teams among these qualifiers. Playing in front of home crowd should put them as the best team. I'd also like to see Croatia and Slovenia going to Beijing. The biggest opponent for European teams are Puerto Rico and Brazil. Other teams shouldn't cause many problems. The good thing is that we will see more strong teams in olympics. Annother positive aspect is that some of these teams wouldn't even have a chance to go to olympics because of their place in continental championship. The negative side of this tournament is that other continents would get less represetitives in Beijing because I can't see teams like Korea going through.
The draw will take place tomorrow at 17:00 CET in Athens.
Group A: Brazil, Greece, Lebanon.

Group B: Cape Verde, Germany, New Zealand.

Group C: Canada, South Korea, Slovenia.

Group D: Cameroon, Croatia, Puerto Rico.



I think we can easily name the top two teams in each group maybe with the exception of Group C.
Brazil, Greece, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, Slovenia, Croatia, Puerto Rico will finish top. Greece, Germany, Croatia will play in Olympics.
For me there are two clear favorites to win 2 tickets: Greece and Slovenia.
[quote name='"Arkadios":1nicihy1']For me there are two clear favorites to win 2 tickets: Greece and Slovenia.[/quote]



Yep. Greece, Slovenia and maybe Germany can do something, if Dirk will be available of course...
Dirk is always available. But Germany will ho HUGE if they manage to convince Chris Kaman to play for them...
[quote name='"Arkadios":3uu5lsbg']Dirk is always available. But Germany will ho HUGE if they manage to convince Chris Kaman to play for them...[/quote]

Is Kaman german or is he getting a citizenship?
Both I guess. His parents are German. He doesn't have the citizenship (yet). They are trying to convince him...
[quote name='"Arkadios":2nd3lcyd']Both I guess. His parents are German. He doesn't have the citizenship (yet). They are trying to convince him...[/quote]

Afaik his great-grandparents were German, but by the looks of it he's not very keen on playing for Germany. The Germans are trying to convince him, and I agree it would be a great addition for the NT.



Regarding Brazil, Nenê will miss the qualies, since he's undergoing chemotherapy due to a malignant tumour. Still, if Brazil qualifies, he might play in Beijing.
Don Nelson Jr will be the China NT's assistant coach at the Olympics. Having a strong bound with Lithuanian basketball, it's not a thing to admire.
[quote name='"rikhardur":36fq1hzg']Don Nelson Jr will be the China NT's assistant coach at the Olympics. Having a strong bound with Lithuanian basketball, it's not a thing to admire.[/quote]

He wasn't invited to join Lithuanian NT in Eurobasket 2007. Nelson worked with Jonas Kazlauskas in Lithuanian NT so they know each other well. I prefer all Lithuanian staff team to be honest so I am not disappointed with this decision.
I think that just because someone is an NBA coach doesn't mean he is a good coach...
Schedule has been announced.



Preliminary Round:



14th July 2008

13:00 : New Zealand vs.Cape Verde

15:30 : Korea vs. Slovenia

19:30 : Croatia vs. Cameroon

22:00 : Greece vs. Lebanon



15th July 2008

13:00 : Slovenia vs.Canada

15:30 : Cape Verde vs. Germany

19:30 : Cameroon vs. Puerto Rico

22:00 : Lebanon vs. Brazil



16th July 2008

13:00 : Canada vs.Korea

15:30 : Puerto Rico vs. Croatia

19:30 : Germany vs. New Zealand

22:00 : Brazil vs. Greece



The teams placed 1st and 2nd in each group will advance to the Quarter-Finals; the teams placed 3rd in each group will be eliminated and may return home.



17th July 2008 Rest Day



Quarter-Finals



18th July 2008

Game 13: A1 vs. B2

Game 14: B1 vs. A2

Game 15: C1 vs. D2

Game 16: D1 vs. C2



The games of the Quarter-Finals will be played at 13:00 hours, 15:30 hours, 19:30 hours and 22:00 hours. The order of games will be confirmed after the end of the Preliminary Round.



Semi-Finals



19th July 2008

Game 17: Winner 13 vs. Winner 15

Game 18: Winner 14 vs. Winner 16



The Semi-Final games will be played at 19:00 hours and 21:30 hours. The order of games will be confirmed after the end of the Quarter-Finals.



The two winners of the Semi-Finals will qualify for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The two losers will play the game for the 3rd place (Game 19 below) for one remaining Olympic spot.



Finals



20th July 2008

Game 19 (20:00 hours): Loser 17 vs. Loser 18



The winner will qualify for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Croatian coach Jasmin Repeša anauced 18 candidats that will try to make to roster for olympics qualifycations. Team meats 12th july, will play pre games first 2vs Slovenia in Slovenia then vs Australia and Iran in Croatia and vs Greece, Australia and Brazil in Acropolis cup



Roko Leni Uki? PG 195 84. Lottomatica(ITA)

Marko Popovi? PG/SG 184 82. Žalgiris(LTU)

Zoran Planini? PG/SG/SF 200 82. Tau Ceramica(ESP)

Davor Kus PG/SG 190 78. Uncija(ESP)

Jakov Vladivo? PG 185 83. Zagreb(CRO)

Krunoslav Simon SG 196 85. Zagreb(CRO)

Branimir Longin SG 196 78. Oldenburg(GER)

Marko Tomas SG/SF 201 85. Fuenlabrada(ESP)

Damjan Rudež SF/PF 206 86. Split(CRO)

Marin Rozi? SF 201 83. Cibona(CRO)

Marko Bani? PF 204 84. Bilbao(ESP)

Damir Markota PF 210 85. Žalgiris(LTU)

Nikola Prka?in PF/C 208 75. Panathinaikos(GRE)

Krešimir Lon?ar PF/C 210 83. Lokomotiv(RUS)

Sandro Nicevi? C 210 76. Besiktas(TUR)

Stanko Bara? C 217 86. Pamesa(ESP)

Ante Tomi? PF/C 216 87. Zagreb(CRO)

Dalibor Bagari? C 217 80. Bologna(ITA)

Mario Kasun C 215 80. Barcelona(ESP)-will join team if doctors allowed him



Gordan Giri?ek(PHO), Nikola Vuj?i?(Maccabi), Andrija Žiži?(Panathinaikos) and Mario Stoji?(Menorca) will skip this summer.
Hey man, nice to see you making your first post. How would you rate Croatia's chances of qualifying? They have some decent players.



P.S. It's not LIT it's LTU <!-- sWink -->[img]{SMILIES_PATH}/wink.gif[/img]<!-- sWink -->
thanks, and sorry for my bad english.



well it's hard to predict anything since we are not complete and players are quite young and also it depends on other teams, will they be complete. I guess we are not without chances. Reading that Slovenia is having big problems with their roster, Brazil, Puerto Rico and Canada as well. Slovenia will be without Udrih, Vuja?i?, Nahbar, Lorbek and Brezec. Some other players are questionble to. Such a sad thing for basketball <!-- sSad -->[img]{SMILIES_PATH}/sad.gif[/img]<!-- sSad --> They should all look up to Dirk. It is beautiful how he plays for his country. But I think 3 euro teams will qualify. Greece is 99% sure. good team, hom court and ref's. Despite missing some players Slovenia still having strong squad, but in my mind bigest problem for them is bad coach. Germany depends bit to much on Dirk because lack of talent. But they are veri disciplind and when Dirk is hot thec can bet anybody. Purto Rico is intrestig to, they are pretty wild team, playing wild basketball in wich they are very dageros. As for us we have big problems at SG position since Giri?ek is not playing. Longin or Simon are not quality we need so Repeša needs to mix up with our point guards. Good thig is that all our PG can play at SG, also Tomas in moments can play that position. We are also quite thin at centar. Vu?i? is not playing, Kasun is questionble because of heart problems, Prka?in and Nicevi? are not in best years, Bara? and Tomi? are great talents but still to young, Bagari? <!-- sSuicide -->[img]{SMILIES_PATH}/suicide.gif[/img]<!-- sSuicide --> while Lon?ar is big questionmark for every croation fan since not to many people have chance to see him playing. Had good season by numbers in Russia. But our strenght should be in our youth, agresive press defence and fast breaks.
Denver Nuggets forward Nene will not play for Brazil in Olympic qualifying next month.



Nuggets team doctor Steven Traina sent a letter Friday to the Brazilian Basketball Confederation, explaining Nene required more time to recover after treatment for testicular cancer and other injuries.



"This has been a difficult season for me," Nene said. "Not only on the technical side, but the emotional as well."



Nene's absence is another blow to the Brazilians, who already are without injured Cleveland Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao. Varejao twisted his left ankle and tweaked his quadriceps during the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals series loss to the Boston Celtics.



Brazil had hoped to have Nene and Varejao for the Olympic qualifying tournament next month in Athens, Greece. Brazil has not qualified for the Olympics in basketball since 1996.
Quote:GER - Herber Out For Germany, Rouven Roessler Called In



HAGEN (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men) – Johannes Herber will not be able to help Germany in their bid to reach the Beijing Games because he has yet to return to full fitness following a knee operation.



Herber went under the knife after tearing a knee ligament in practice with Alba Berlin last October.



His absence will be a big blow for the Germans as they attempt to claim one of three spots for Beijing at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens.



Germany coach Dirk Bauermann said: "It's a shame for us because Joe has been a very important part of the national team the last two years.



“We wish him a prompt and complete recovery."




Herber averaged 5.0 points and 1.7 rebounds - including scoring 15 and grabbing six boards against Italy to help Germany reach the quarter-finals.



Rouven Roessler of Giessen has been called in to the preliminary squad.



Germany are in Group B of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament with New Zealand and Cape Verde.

[url="http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/lateNews/p/newsid/25844/arti.html"]http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/late...25844/arti.html[/url]
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