By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The infamous quote of Russian guard Alexey Shved goes something like this: “The FIBA decision to choose Venezuela is completely mystifying. A long-haul flight, big time difference. Everyone thought that the qualification tournament would be held in Lithuania”.
However, on the 2nd of July the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament starts at stadium “Poliedro” of Caracas, Venezuela and the question is can Europeans excel in South America in order to get the three tickets to London that are for grabs? The answer is not as easy as it seems. Three teams from the old continent have the tradition, the roster and the know how of big games. Yes, Russia, Lithuania and Greece, or it you prefer Kirilenko’s, Jasikevicius’ and Spanoulis’ teams will feel right at home at London Olympics. Also nobody can write off the big surprise of last year’s Eurobasket, FYROM, and their fearless leader, naturalized American Bo McCalebb.
So, is there anyone able to challenge the four European teams? Puerto Rico, a team with great tradition and experienced guards, like Carlos Arroyo who finished the season in Besiktas and J.J.Barea from Minnesota Timberwolves, never backed down to Europeans and already beat FYROM in a preparation game 96-77. Dominican Republic led by coach John Calipari – the boss of University of Kentucky and reigning NCAA Champion – and two NBA players, Al Horford (Atlanta Hawks) and Francisco Garcia (Sacramento Kings), is also an ambitious bunch, having already won the Centrobasket title by beating Puerto Rico in the final 80-72. And also the host nation, Venezuela, with former NBA coach Eric Musselman on its bench and New Orleans Hornets guard Greivis Vazquez on the court, will try for the best.
Those seven teams, unless a major upset happens, will be at the quarterfinals and in those knock out games we could see three duels between Europeans and South Americans. At this point it will be decided if the favorites from Europe deserve their title and a place in London’s Olympics. Here is the link to the official website of the tournament and also the four groups of the first phase (click and see the rosters).
Group A: Greece, Puerto Rico, Jordan
Group B: Nigeria, Lithuania, Venezuela
Group C: Russia, Dominican Republic, Korea
Group D: FYROM, New Zealand, Angola