2008 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men

The FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men 2008 was the final qualifying tournament for the 2008 Olympic men's basketball tournament. Organized by FIBA, it took place from 14 to 20 July 2008 at the OAKA Indoor Sports Arena, in Athens, Greece.[1] The draw for the tournament was held on 31 January 2008 at the Divani Caravel hotel in Athens.[2]

2008 FIBA World Olympic
Qualifying Tournament
For Men
Tournament details
Host country Greece
Dates14–20 July
Teams12
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Official website
1992
2012
Participating countries in the wildcard tournaments.
  Men
  Men and women
  Women

Through this tournament, the final three qualifying berths for the 2008 Olympics men's basketball competition were determined. A total of 12 teams competed in the 2008 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament from the five FIBA regions, and those 12 teams were 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 placed 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 placed one team (runner-up).

The 12 teams were divided into four groups of three teams each and played a single round robin. The two best placed teams from each group qualified for the quarterfinals, semifinals, finals and consolation games which determined the first three places and thus the teams that qualified for the Olympics.

The twelve participating teams were: Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Korea, Lebanon, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and Slovenia. The three teams that qualified through this tournament—Croatia, Germany and Greece—joined Angola, Argentina, Australia, China, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Spain and the US in the Beijing Olympics, and had roughly a month to practice and prepare as the Olympic basketball tournament took place on August 9–24.

Participating nations

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The teams were divided into three pots, corresponding to their continental zones:

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3

  Cameroon
  Lebanon
  South Korea
  Cape Verde

  Brazil
  Puerto Rico
  Canada
  New Zealand

  Greece
  Germany
  Croatia
  Slovenia

In case a team fails to attend, the next best team from their zone play as their replacements.

Squads

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Format

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  • The teams were divided into four groups (Groups A-D) for the preliminary round.
  • Round robin for the preliminary round; the top two teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinals. The last-placed team in each group was eliminated.
  • A single-elimination tournament was then held; the quarterfinals pairings were:
    • A1 vs. B2
    • B1 vs. A2
    • C1 vs. D2
    • D1 vs. C2
  • The semifinal pairings were A1/B2 vs. C1/D2 and B1/A2 vs. D1/C2. The semifinal winners qualified for the Olympics. No championship game was held.
  • The semifinal losers played for the last Olympic qualifying berth.

Preliminary round

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Qualified for the quarterfinals

Group A

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Team Pts. W L PCT PF PA Diff
  Greece 4 2 0 1.000 208 131 +77
  Brazil 3 1 1 .500 163 143 +20
  Lebanon 2 0 2 .000 116 213 −97
July 14
22:00
Greece   119–62   Lebanon
Scoring by quarter: 32–17, 22–10, 32–14, 33–21
Pts: Tsartsaris 15
Rebs: Diamantidis 6
Asts: Spanoulis 8
Pts: El Khatib 14
Rebs: three players 3
Asts: Khoury 4
July 15
22:00
Lebanon   54–94   Brazil
Scoring by quarter: 8–27, 13–21, 16–25, 17–21
Pts: Fahed 15
Rebs: Tawbe 6
Asts: Mahmoud 3
Pts: Huertas 17
Rebs: M. Machado 6
Asts: de Assis 6
July 16
22:00
Brazil   69–89   Greece
Scoring by quarter: 17–18, 13–22, 20–26, 19–23
Pts: Splitter 20
Rebs: Splitter 7
Asts: three players 1
Pts: Fotsis 18
Rebs: Fotsis 10
Asts: Spanoulis, Diamantidis 4

Group B

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Team Pts. W L PCT PF PA Diff
  Germany 4 2 0 1.000 193 139 +54
  New Zealand 3 1 1 .500 148 139 +9
  Cape Verde 2 0 2 .000 118 181 −63
July 14
13:00
New Zealand   77–50   Cape Verde
Scoring by quarter: 21–4, 21–16, 18–12, 17–18
Pts: Penney 25
Rebs: Horvath 8
Asts: Tait 5
Pts: Xavier 22
Rebs: Mascarenhas 11
Asts: Xavier 4
July 15
15:30
Cape Verde   68–104   Germany
Scoring by quarter: 11–34, 13–25, 16–22, 28–23
Pts: Xavier 21
Rebs: Mascarenhas 8
Asts: Xavier 3
Pts: Nowitzki 16
Rebs: Kaman 10
Asts: Roller 5
July 16
19:30
Germany   89–71   New Zealand
Scoring by quarter: 23–26, 24–7, 21–24, 21–14
Pts: Nowitzki 35
Rebs: Wysocki 8
Asts: Schultze 4
Pts: Penney 29
Rebs: Bradshaw 8
Asts: Tait 5

Group C

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Team Pts. W L PCT PF PA Diff
  Slovenia 4 2 0 1.000 174 146 +28
  Canada 3 1 1 .500 149 163 −14
  South Korea 2 0 2 .000 153 167 −14
July 14
15:30
South Korea   76–88   Slovenia
Scoring by quarter: 17–24, 20–29, 21–16, 18–19
Pts: Kim J.-s. 21
Rebs: Yoon H.-y. 4
Asts: Kim J.-s. 4
Pts: Nesterović 26
Rebs: Nesterović 9
Asts: Bečirovič, Dragić 4
July 15
13:00
Slovenia   86–70   Canada
Scoring by quarter: 27–22, 14–12, 23–15, 22–21
Pts: Lakovič 19
Rebs: Nesterović 9
Asts: Bečirovič, Joksimović 5
Pts: Barrett 16
Rebs: Kendall, Anthony 6
Asts: Anderson, English 2
July 16
13:00
Canada   79–77   South Korea
Scoring by quarter: 20–20, 13–29, 26–15, 20–13
Pts: Barrett 22
Rebs: Kendall 14
Asts: Anderson 3
Pts: Jeon J.-g. 19
Rebs: Oh S.-k., Yoon H.-y. 6
Asts: Joo H.-j. 9

Group D

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Team Pts. W L PCT PF PA Diff
  Croatia 4 2 0 1.000 188 160 +28
  Puerto Rico 3 1 1 .500 162 167 −5
  Cameroon 2 0 2 .000 151 174 −23
July 14
19:30
Croatia   93–79   Cameroon
Scoring by quarter: 19–16, 26–9, 20–28, 28–26
Pts: Tomas 22
Rebs: Prkačin 6
Asts: Kus 6
Pts: Nana 24
Rebs: Boumtje-Boumtje 10
Asts: Bitee 6
July 15
19:30
Cameroon   72–81   Puerto Rico
Scoring by quarter: 7–22, 22–24, 19–15, 24–20
Pts: Nana 22
Rebs: Nana 14
Asts: Ekanga-Ehawa 3
Pts: Sánchez 17
Rebs: Sánchez 9
Asts: Rivera 4
July 16
15:30
Puerto Rico   81–95   Croatia
Scoring by quarter: 26–14, 14–29, 18–27, 23–25
Pts: Ayuso 22
Rebs: Ramos 6
Asts: Arroyo 4
Pts: Kus, Tomas 15
Rebs: Ukić, Banić 6
Asts: Ukić 5

Knockout stage

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Note: Italicized teams qualify for the Olympics.
Quarterfinals
July 18
Semifinals
July 19
A1  Greece75
B2  New Zealand48
  Greece88
  Puerto Rico63
C1  Slovenia70
D2  Puerto Rico81
B1  Germany78
A2  Brazil65
  Germany70Third place
  Croatia76
D1  Croatia83
  Puerto Rico82
C2  Canada62
  Germany96

Quarterfinals

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July 18
13:00
Croatia   83–62   Canada
Scoring by quarter: 18–16, 18–13, 26–13, 21–20
Pts: Popović 17
Rebs: Nicević 6
Asts: Planinić 3
Pts: Famutimi 14
Rebs: Anthony 11
Asts: Anderson 2
July 18
15:30
Slovenia   70–81   Puerto Rico
Scoring by quarter: 15–21, 19–13, 18–25, 18–22
Pts: Slokar 16
Rebs: Nesterović 11
Asts: Lakovič, Bečirovič 3
Pts: Arroyo 17
Rebs: Mojica 7
Asts: Arroyo 5
July 18
19:30
Germany   78–65   Brazil
Scoring by quarter: 14–13, 31–13, 17–13, 16–26
Pts: Nowitzki 20
Rebs: Kaman 14
Asts: Nowitzki 5
Pts: Splitter 16
Rebs: Batista, Splitter 6
Asts: E. Machado 4
July 18
22:00
Greece   75–48   New Zealand
Scoring by quarter: 22–12, 15–8, 18–16, 20–12
Pts: Spanoulis 14
Rebs: Diamantidis 8
Asts: Diamantidis 2
Pts: Tait 9
Rebs: Bradshaw 10
Asts: Vukona 3

Semi-finals

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July 19
19:00
Germany   70–76   Croatia
Scoring by quarter: 14–24, 17–12, 17–11, 22–29
Pts: Nowitzki 30
Rebs: Nowitzki 13
Asts: Jagla 2
Pts: Tomas 21
Rebs: Barać 7
Asts: Popović 6
July 19
21:30
Greece   88–63   Puerto Rico
Scoring by quarter: 19–11, 29–24, 20–15, 20–13
Pts: Diamantidis 15
Rebs: Vasilopoulos, Fotsis 7
Asts: Papaloukas 10
Pts: Barea 16
Rebs: Falcon 8
Asts: Arroyo 3

3rd place match

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July 20
19:30
Germany   96–82   Puerto Rico
Scoring by quarter: 22–23, 26–16, 26–19, 22–24
Pts: Nowitzki 32
Rebs: Kaman 12
Asts: Hamann, Roller 4
Pts: Barea 18
Rebs: Ramos 9
Asts: Barea 4

Final standings

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Position Team Games Won Games Lost Points Scored Points Against Point Differential Qualification
    Greece 4 0 371 242 +129 Qualified to 2008 Summer Olympics
    Croatia 4 0 347 292 +55 Qualified to 2008 Summer Olympics
    Germany 4 1 437 362 +75 Qualified to 2008 Summer Olympics
4th   Puerto Rico 2 3 388 416 −28 Did not qualify to 2008 Summer Olympics
5th   Slovenia 2 1 244 227 +17 Did not qualify to 2008 Summer Olympics
6th   Brazil 1 2 228 221 +7 Did not qualify to 2008 Summer Olympics
7th   New Zealand 1 2 196 214 −18 Did not qualify to 2008 Summer Olympics
8th   Canada 1 2 211 240 −29 Did not qualify to 2008 Summer Olympics
9th   South Korea 0 2 153 167 −14 Did not qualify to 2008 Summer Olympics
10th   Cameroon 0 2 151 174 −23 Did not qualify to 2008 Summer Olympics
11th   Cape Verde 0 2 118 181 −63 Did not qualify to 2008 Summer Olympics
12th   Lebanon 0 2 116 213 −97 Did not qualify to 2008 Summer Olympics

References

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