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Euroleague stars set to shine at Olympic Qualifying Tournament
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The 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men is set to start in Athens, Greece on July 14, as 12 teams from all five continents will fight for the three remaining spots to get to the 2008 Olympic Games that start in Beijing, China on August 8. Teams have been divided into four groups of three teams. The best two teams in each group will make it to the single-game quarterfinals on Friday, July 18. The semifinals will be played on Saturday, followed by the title game on July 20. All games will take place in the state-of-the-art OAKA Sports Arena, home court of Euroleague powerhouse Panathinaikos. As usual and like in each worldwide competition, dozens of Euroleague and Eurocup players are set to play in the event, as all 12 teams try to join Angola, Argentina, Australia, China, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Spain and the United States at Beijing 2008. Follow the event has it happens LIVE - also with the help of our new blogger Jan Jagla of DKV Joventut - right here on Euroleague.net!
 Greece is the heavy favourite to win Group A against the Lebanon and Brazil, as not only it plays at home, but just won the Acropolis tournament with wins against Australia, Brazil and Croatia. "I believe that we are in the right track," Euroleague superstar Theo Papaloukas of Olympiacos said. "The important thing for us is how we play, not the manner in which our rivals choose to compete," he added. Papaloukas leads Greece along with Olympiacos teammates Panos Vasilopoulos, Sofoklis Schortsianitis and Giannis Bouroussis, Panathinaikos stars Dimitris Diamantidis, Vassilis Spanoulis and Antonis Fotsis or CSKA Moscow guard Nikos Zisis. All 12 players in the Greek national team are set to play either in the Euroleague or the Eurocup next season. Brazil, now coached by Spanish veteran Moncho Monsalve, will try to upset Greece and win Group A. All-Euroleague center Tiago Splitter leads the Brazilian national team along with DKV Joventut playmaker Marcelinho Huertas, former Zalgiris shooter Marcelinho Machado or Maccabi Electra combo guard Alex Garcia. The Lebanon already upset France at the 2006 World Championship and hopes to make some noise in the event behind scoring ace Fadi El Khatib, its best player by far.
 In Group B, Germany is the team to beat as it features Dirk Nowitzki, always ready to play for his national team. Coach Dirk Bauermann will try to run its offense through Nowitzki but also get some other players involved such as Jagla, Demond Greene of Brose Baskets, Patrick Femerling and Steffen Hamann of Alba Berlin or Sven Schultze. The late addition of center Chris Kaman, who recently got a German passport, could turn Germany into a tough opponent for everyone not only in the Qualifying Tournament, but at the Olympic games. New Zealand and Cape Verde are set to fight for the second spot in this group, unless any of them manages to upset Germany. The Tall Blacks count on former Efes Pilsen center Craig Bradshaw and strike shooter Kirk Penney, who played the 2006 Euroleague final with Maccabi Tel Aviv, as their main weapons. As for Cape Verde, center Peter Cipriano, top gun Josh Gomes and playmaker Jeff Xavier come to help some of the players that won the bronze medal in Afrobasket 2007. Gomes was the Israeli second division top scorer at 29.7 points per game.
 Despite the loss of CSKA superstar Matjaz Smodis, out with an injury, Slovenia is arguably the best team in Group C. Sani Becirovic of Virtus Roma, Jaka Lakovic of FC Barcelona and Rasho Nesterovic are the leaders of a team that also features players like Aleksandar Capin of Azovmash, Miha Zupan of Union Olimpija, Nebojsa Joksimovic of Hemofarm or Goran Dragic of Tau Ceramica. Its great performance at EuroBasket 2007, in which only a heartbreaking loss against Greece prevented Slovenia from reaching the semifinals, allows the team to be optimistic and keeps its chances to play the Olympics for the first time. Canada will be without Steve Nash but center Samuel Dalembert is expected to play. Dalembert will be the player to watch along with sharp shooters Carl English, who played for Gran Canaria last season, and former Chalon scorer Rowan Barrett. Joel Anthony and Panionios big man Levon Kendall are set to play a major role, too. Korea is the most unknown team in the entire tournament, with 221cm center Ha Seung Jin, playmaker Joo Hee-Jung and forward Kim Joo-Sung as its reference players.
 Group D is perhaps the most balanced one, with Croatia and Puerto Rico ready to fight for first place and Cameroon ready to qualify by upsetting any of its opponents. Croatia features CSKA playmaker Zoran Planinic as its own superstar, but is full of talent everywhere with players like Davor Kus of Unicaja, Marko Banic of Bilbao Basket, Marko Tomas of Real Madrid, Stanko Barac of Tau Ceramica, former Virtus Roma playmaker Roko Ukic, scoring guard Marko Popovic or his Zalgiris teammate last season Damir Markota. Croatia will have a tough opponent in Puerto Rico, who will offer its classic run-and-gun, fun-to-watch basketball. Centers Daniel Santiago of Unicaja and Peter John Ramos will offer size and power around the baskets while players like Carlos Arroyo, Jose Juan Barea, former Cibona scoring machine Larry Ayuso or Filiberto Rivera will be ready to pull the trigger from the backcourt. Puerto Rico had so many outside players like former Turow playmaker Andres Rodriguez or Besiktas Cola Turke guards Christian Dalmau or Rick Apodaca did not make the team. Cameroon is underdoing some problems in its preparation, with players not satisfied at all with the preparation. Former Alba center Ruben Boumtje Boumtje, Joachim Ekanga of Elan Chalon, Stephane Pelle or Cyrille Makanda are supposed to be the team leaders but its lineup will not be defined until the start of the tournament, as superstar Luc Mbah a Moute may not play.
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Javier Gancedo, Euroleague.net
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