We are less than a month away from the Opening Ceremonies of the Paris Olympics, and things are ramping up for the basketball tournaments. USA Basketball Men’s Team opens training camp in Las Vegas on Saturday, and around the globe, Olympic Qualifying Tournaments are picking the final four teams to fill out the 12-team Olympic men’s tournament.
Here are the latest news and notes from around the globe:
• Luka Doncic vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo in qualifying showdown in Greece. One of those Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, the one being hosted by Greece, is going to see an epic clash of two of the best players and biggest stars on the planet:
Luka Doncic and Slovenia vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece. Slovenia stumbled early in this tournament but rebounded and advanced to this epic semifinal by beating New Zealand behind a 36-point, 11-rebound, and 10-assist triple-double from Doncic. The Slovenia/Greece game winner will face the Croatia vs. Dominican Republic game winner for a spot in Paris.
• NBA player power Bahamas advancing in other qualifying tournaments. Maybe the best story out of the other three Olympic Qualifying Tournaments is the Bahamas, which features Buddy Hield (who took a risk starting this tournament without having a deal in place for an NBA contract, he has one coming now in Golden State), the Trail Blazers DeAndre Ayton and the 76ers Eric Gordon.
The Bahamas are in the tournament in Spain and are on a collision course with the hosts and traditional European basketball power. The final four there are Finland vs. Spain and the Bahamas vs. Lebanon. The winners of those games will face each other for the one spot in the Paris Olympics from this tournament.
Two other Olympic Qualifying Tournaments are down to the final four. In Latvia, the semifinals are Brazil vs. the Philippines and Cameroon vs. Latvia. In Puerto Rico, the semifinals are Lithuania vs. Italy and Puerto Rico vs. Mexico.
All four finals will be played on Sunday, at which point we will know the full Paris Olympics tournament teams.
• Australia announces deep Olympic roster. There are not many countries so deep with basketball talent that an NBA-level player doesn’t make their Olympic roster, but Australia is one of those — Matisse Thybulle is out. It’s a surprise because Thybulle, who plays for the Trail Blazers, is a lock-down perimeter defender, but the Boomers went with the Pelican’s Dyson Daniels because of his more balanced game.
The 12-man roster for Australia is: Dyson Daniels, Matthew Dellavedova, Dante Exum, Josh Giddey, Josh Green, Joe Ingles, Nick Kay, Jock Landale, Will Magnay, Jack McVeigh, Duop Reath, and veteran guard Patty Mills.
