On Monday, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) announced the locations – Manila, Belgrade and Turin – and schedules for the three last-shot tournaments for 18 countries trying to qualify for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
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Three spots remain to be filled in the men’s Olympic tournament.
And then it honked it all away.
To make it to Rio, the Philippines must top the Olympic qualifying tournament it will host. If we win one and hope New Zealand loses to France we will enter the crossover semi finals probably against Canada or Turkey..
It is a tough draw, but Canadian coach Jay Triano said an alternative – facing No. 6-ranked Serbia in Belgrade – was not appealing either. Indeed, it is rare that a crushing loss is followed with a make-good attempt. Italy, Czech Republic and Canada were in the second.
France, Turkey, Canada, Senegal and Philippines stand in New Zealand’s way. The U.S. has won the last four major worldwide tournaments and 45 straight games under head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who will step down after the Olympics. However, the last one was 34 years ago.
But, speaking of qualifiers, there’s another one: the word “should”.
Clarkson said in an interview with Mike Trudell of Lakers.com that they are now working on the needed requirements to become eligible to play for the Philippine team, which is known in the country as the “Gilas Pilipinas” squad. As in, which players show up.
Apart from Wiggins, the 2015 NBA Rookie of the Year, Canada also flaunts the likes of Boston Celtics big man Kelly Olynyk, Toronto Raptors point guard Cory Joseph and Cleveland Cavaliers’ rebounding demon Tristan Thompson.
The day after, Gilas Pilipinas will next play New Zealand after the Canada-Senegal game. “This won’t be an exhibition or a tune-up or a pocket tournament”, he said. Samahang Bassketbol ng Pilipinas president Manny Pangilinan in a text message to us shortly after the draw said, we got strong teams in our group.
Here is a video explaining the draw procedure for the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs) in full.
The Tall Ferns will meet France and Cuba in group play in its qualifying in Nantes in June. It is a good problem to have. That’s a Golden State Warriors-level thumping. When teams from different regions are mixed in a same pot, another factor taken into account is the relative strength of the continents, based on their results at the 2014 FIBA Women’s World Championship.
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The July 4-10 dates fall squarely within the NBA’s free agency moratorium period as players can’t sign new contracts until July 9.
