Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

2008 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men

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

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]

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

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

Format

  • 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

Qualified for the quarterfinals

Group A

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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