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24 teams are scattered in 4 groups (6 teams each group) to battle for the final 4 slots for the 2024 Paris Olympics - men's basketball competition.

It's NBA offseason obviously, but some NBA players *might* be playing for their respective national teams to try to help them get to Paris. Big names obviously include Luka (Slovenia) and Giannis (Greece) and with the tough format (1 loss could be enough to boot you out, depending on point difference) these NBA players might be playing despite the season just finishing just two weeks ago.

Schedule: July 2 to 7, 2024
OQT Locations: Greece, Latvia, Puerto Rico and Spain
Competition format:
- Single round robin in inital group (2 games) of three (3) teams.
- Top two (2) teams make the crossover semifinals;
- SF winners battle it out for that single Paris spot from that OQT group

OQT Valencia, Spain
Group A - Lebanon, Angola, Spain
Group B - Finland, Bahamas, Poland

OQT Riga, Latvia
Group A - Latvia, Georgia, Philippines
Group B - Brazil, Cameroon, Montenegro

OQT Piraeus, Greece
Group A - Slovenia, Croatia, New Zealand
Group B - Greece, Dominican Republic, Egypt

OQT San Juan, Puerto Rico
Group A - Lithuania, Ivory Coast, Mexico
Group B - Italy, Puerto Rico, Bahrain

So who'll make it out from their respective OQTs? Which NBA players are guaranteed to suit up for their flag? Which are the favorites in each group adn who do you see pulling off an upset or two to make it to Paris?

Edit (Adding teams who already have qualified to the Olympics and the groups in Paris, in parenthesis the projected favorites that are likely to make it)

GROUP A
Australia
OQT - Greece (Slovenia/Greece)
Canada
OQT - Spain (Spain/Bahamas maybe? Finland?)

GROUP B
France
Germany
Japan
OQT Latvia (Latvia/ Brazil and Montenegro punchers' chance?

GROUP C
Serbia
South Sudan
OQT Puerto Rico (Lithuania/Italy)
USA


Edited: For some reason i still have London in mind where the Olympics is rather than Paris, had to edit a bunch LOL

I've got Bahamas, Latvia, Greece and Italy advancing.

Is Latvia's PG still injured? That would be a significant hit, though Porzingis would be playing now instead. A full Greek squad probably stronger than this current iteration of Slovenia, though I could see Dom Rep catching fire for a couple of games and somehow making it.

The Bahamas on paper is somewhat similar to Nigeria last time around when they just spammed a bunch of NBA guys, however, Klay, Hield, Gordon can all shoot, while Jones adds a ton of athleticism and Energy. Ayton is also a solid offensive bigman option in international play, despite being bad on defense.

Spain, Latvia, Slovenia, Lithuania

Bahamas are going to be dangerous but we still dont know who's gonna be on the team and they have pretty much never played together unlike Spain whose core has been playing together for years.
Latvia are the favorites at home and have the best squad even without KP. Just like the OQT in Puerto Rico it's a fairly easy draw for them. Georgia is a country that's on the rise in basketball and many other sports but they're not there yet.
Greece is missing Sloukas, Rogkavopoulos, Papapetrou and more and there's the tensions still brewing from the greek league finals. And Giannis is hobbled. Even though Greece are still clear favorites, I'd be willing to bet on the upset for Slovenia if Luka is in good shape.
Just like their baltic cousins Lithuania is benefiting from an easy tournament, Italy and Puerto Rico are the only threats but I dont think they're anywhere close. Italy will be better in future events, they have some nice prospects coming up.

lambchop wrote:I've got Bahamas, Latvia, Greece and Italy advancing.

Is Latvia's PG still injured? That would be a significant hit, though Porzingis would be playing now instead. A full Greek squad probably stronger than this current iteration of Slovenia, though I could see Dom Rep catching fire for a couple of games and somehow making it.

The Bahamas on paper is somewhat similar to Nigeria last time around when they just spammed a bunch of NBA guys, however, Klay, Hield, Gordon can all shoot, while Jones adds a ton of athleticism and Energy. Ayton is also a solid offensive bigman option in international play, despite being bad on defense.

Porzingis won't play, unless a miracle happens. But the PG you are referring to - Artūrs Žagars - is healthy and ready to play. We'll be missing one other key player from that FIBA WC squad though - Andrejs Gražulis. So I'm a bit worried about our frontcourt, although we do have some depth there.
On the other hand, the backcourt looks to be deeper this year with two guards, who could play key roles (Rihards Lomažs and Jānis Strēlnieks) being healthy compared to last year.

You SOB, I was planning to bump my own thread I made aftet drawing happened But seriously, good, about time we start having this discussion, starts next week.

My personal health is pretty bad, I hope I will manage to get invested in this, not sure tho, over my life, FIBA time always been the most wonderful time of year.

UcanUwill wrote:You SOB, I was planning to bump my own thread I made aftet drawing happened But seriously, good, about time we start having this discussion, starts next week.

My personal health is pretty bad, I hope I will manage to get invested in this, not sure tho, over my life, FIBA time always been the most wonderful time of year.

Personally, wanted to take off from basketball too. Always, the NBA offseason is the perfect time to do that (and our local leagues have ended too). BUT, since it's an Olympic year, F**k rest i guess and more basketball and more betting for these games. LOL

For our American/NBA friends who don't know and care (so about 80% of RealGM. LOL) the full context is that these 4 teams from the OQT will be joining the rest of the teams already qualified in Paris:

GROUP A
Australia
OQT - Greece (Slovenia/Greece)
Canada
OQT - Spain (Spain/Bahamas maybe? Finland?)

GROUP B
France
Germany
Japan
OQT Latvia (Latvia/ Brazil and Montenegro punchers' chance?

GROUP C
Serbia
South Sudan
OQT Puerto Rico (Lithuania/Italy)
USA


For the sake of top level competition, we hope no major upset happens in the OQTs AND the NBA players (Hello Giannis, Luka) actually suit up for their respective teams.

As you can see from above, it's a total 12 teams and most of them are quality teams except for a couple.

The Favorites - USA

Top Tier, can beat USA any given day (still the underdog, but still, this is not the 90s anymore) on assumption all are full strength (meaning, the players actually want to play for flag over their NBA contracts. LOL): Canada, France, Germany, Serbia

The participation trophy of course will go to: South Sudan, Japan and Australia

So it's vital that we get the favorites to play their level in the OQTs and make it to Paris so we can get an Olympics with parity (LOL).

Imagine Group A if Greece and Spain makes it (once again, if their top NBA players actually show up in Paris): Canada will be joined by Australia (not a patsy) then Greece and Spain from the OQT.

Group B should have France and Germany, Japa and Latvia possibly.

Group C will have Serbia, South Sudan, maybe Lithuania and USA.

Philippines represent!!!

Bahamas, Brazil, The DR and Puerto Rico.

Meeksology wrote:Philippines represent!!!

Should be +20.5ish in the betting odds in both group games is my prediction. LOL

durden_tyler wrote:

Meeksology wrote:Philippines represent!!!

Should be +20.5ish in the betting odds in both group games is my prediction. LOL

Im just happy we made it! LOL

durden_tyler wrote:For our American/NBA friends who don't know and care (so about 80% of RealGM. LOL) the full context is that these 4 teams from the OQT will be joining the rest of the teams already qualified in Paris:

GROUP A
Australia
OQT - Greece (Slovenia/Greece)
Canada
OQT - Spain (Spain/Bahamas maybe? Finland?)

GROUP B
France
Germany
Japan
OQT Latvia (Latvia/ Brazil and Montenegro punchers' chance?

GROUP C
Serbia
South Sudan
OQT Puerto Rico (Lithuania/Italy)
USA


For the sake of top level competition, we hope no major upset happens in the OQTs AND the NBA players (Hello Giannis, Luka) actually suit up for their respective teams.

As you can see from above, it's a total 12 teams and most of them are quality teams except for a couple.

The Favorites - USA

Top Tier, can beat USA any given day (still the underdog, but still, this is not the 90s anymore) on assumption all are full strength (meaning, the players actually want to play for flag over their NBA contracts. LOL): Canada, France, Germany, Serbia

The participation trophy of course will go to: South Sudan, Japan and Australia

So it's vital that we get the favorites to play their level in the OQTs and make it to Paris so we can get an Olympics with parity (LOL).

Imagine Group A if Greece and Spain makes it (once again, if their top NBA players actually show up in Paris): Canada will be joined by Australia (not a patsy) then Greece and Spain from the OQT.

Group B should have France and Germany, Japa and Latvia possibly.

Group C will have Serbia, South Sudan, maybe Lithuania and USA.

Australia always compete for medals. I know some other teams got better, but putting Australia in token participant group, I mean come on man, mates would give you some spanking if they werent 17 hours flight from everyone...

Also, do not forget Croatia in Greek tournament. Greece and Slovenia are slight favorites, but it wouldn't be shocking at all if Croatia wins that and we get neither Luka nor Giannis.

Also, Puerto Rico playing at home can beat Lithuania or Italy. I think Lithuania is huge favorite there, maybe the biggest out of all qualifiers, but Puerto Rico has guards who can just catch fire.

lambchop wrote:I've got Bahamas, Latvia, Greece and Italy advancing.

Is Latvia's PG still injured? That would be a significant hit, though Porzingis would be playing now instead. A full Greek squad probably stronger than this current iteration of Slovenia, though I could see Dom Rep catching fire for a couple of games and somehow making it.

The Bahamas on paper is somewhat similar to Nigeria last time around when they just spammed a bunch of NBA guys, however, Klay, Hield, Gordon can all shoot, while Jones adds a ton of athleticism and Energy. Ayton is also a solid offensive bigman option in international play, despite being bad on defense.

It's not a full Greek squad. No Kostas Sloukas, no Ioannis Papapetrou, no Nikos Rogkavopoulos, no Tyler Dorsey, no Dimitris Agravanis. That's at least 4-5 of Greece's best players not playing.

Thanasis Antetokounmpo isn't playing either, but his absence doesn't really count as missing for a full Greek roster, because he's not remotely close to actually being one of Greece's best players.

UcanUwill wrote:

durden_tyler wrote:For our American/NBA friends who don't know and care (so about 80% of RealGM. LOL) the full context is that these 4 teams from the OQT will be joining the rest of the teams already qualified in Paris:

GROUP A
Australia
OQT - Greece (Slovenia/Greece)
Canada
OQT - Spain (Spain/Bahamas maybe? Finland?)

GROUP B
France
Germany
Japan
OQT Latvia (Latvia/ Brazil and Montenegro punchers' chance?

GROUP C
Serbia
South Sudan
OQT Puerto Rico (Lithuania/Italy)
USA


For the sake of top level competition, we hope no major upset happens in the OQTs AND the NBA players (Hello Giannis, Luka) actually suit up for their respective teams.

As you can see from above, it's a total 12 teams and most of them are quality teams except for a couple.

The Favorites - USA

Top Tier, can beat USA any given day (still the underdog, but still, this is not the 90s anymore) on assumption all are full strength (meaning, the players actually want to play for flag over their NBA contracts. LOL): Canada, France, Germany, Serbia

The participation trophy of course will go to: South Sudan, Japan and Australia

So it's vital that we get the favorites to play their level in the OQTs and make it to Paris so we can get an Olympics with parity (LOL).

Imagine Group A if Greece and Spain makes it (once again, if their top NBA players actually show up in Paris): Canada will be joined by Australia (not a patsy) then Greece and Spain from the OQT.

Group B should have France and Germany, Japa and Latvia possibly.

Group C will have Serbia, South Sudan, maybe Lithuania and USA.

Australia always compete for medals. I know some other teams got better, but putting Australia in token participant group, I mean come on man, mates would give you some spanking if they werent 17 hours flight from everyone...

Also, do not forget Croatia in Greek tournament. Greece and Slovenia are slight favorites, but it wouldn't be shocking at all if Croatia wins that and we get neither Luka nor Giannis.

Also, Puerto Rico playing at home can beat Lithuania or Italy. I think Lithuania is huge favorite there, maybe the biggest out of all qualifiers, but Puerto Rico has guards who can just catch fire.

Perhaps in previous years but not this cycle. Australia's quality is nearer to that of South Sudan and Japan. Sure maybe slightly better but in no way or form they are in the same level as the other top teams.

durden_tyler wrote:
Perhaps in previous years but not this cycle. Australia's quality is nearer to that of South Sudan and Japan. Sure maybe slightly better but in no way or form they are in the same level as the other top teams.

You are being too harsh. I do not know their current roster, did everyone decline? THey still have Giddey, Daniels, Exum, Landale, Thybulle, Josh Green, Ingles, Cooks. That team is sweat.

UcanUwill wrote:

durden_tyler wrote:
Perhaps in previous years but not this cycle. Australia's quality is nearer to that of South Sudan and Japan. Sure maybe slightly better but in no way or form they are in the same level as the other top teams.

You are being too harsh. I do not know their current roster, did everyone decline? THey still have Giddey, Daniels, Exum, Landale, Thybulle, Josh Green, Ingles, Cooks. That team is sweat.

Sure, they can make some games competitive with that line-up but calling them medal contenders, that's disrespect to the top teams

Recent warm-up games involving teams participating in the OQTs the last few days:

Finland 73, New Zealand 70
Slovenia 70, Lithuania 68
Greece 86, Montenegro 57
Italy 87, Spain 84
Dominican Republic 80, Portugal 79
Latvia 84, Egypt 63
Croatia 91, Brazil 81
Montenegro 93, Bahamas 80

Mirotic12 wrote:

lambchop wrote:I've got Bahamas, Latvia, Greece and Italy advancing.

Is Latvia's PG still injured? That would be a significant hit, though Porzingis would be playing now instead. A full Greek squad probably stronger than this current iteration of Slovenia, though I could see Dom Rep catching fire for a couple of games and somehow making it.

The Bahamas on paper is somewhat similar to Nigeria last time around when they just spammed a bunch of NBA guys, however, Klay, Hield, Gordon can all shoot, while Jones adds a ton of athleticism and Energy. Ayton is also a solid offensive bigman option in international play, despite being bad on defense.

It's not a full Greek squad. No Kostas Sloukas, no Ioannis Papapetrou, no Nikos Rogkavopoulos, no Tyler Dorsey, no Dimitris Agravanis. That's at least 4-5 of Greece's best players not playing.

Thanasis Antetokounmpo isn't playing either, but his absence doesn't really count as missing for a full Greek roster, because he's not remotely close to actually being one of Greece's best players.

I was with you until you said Agravanis LOL

durden_tyler wrote:Recent warm-up games involving teams participating in the OQTs the last few days:

Finland 73, New Zealand 70
Slovenia 70, Lithuania 68
Greece 86, Montenegro 57
Italy 87, Spain 84
Dominican Republic 80, Portugal 79
Latvia 84, Egypt 63
Croatia 91, Brazil 81
Montegro 93, Bahamas 80

39pts for Hezonja on 16/26 FG 5/11 3P and 6 rebounds. Great game from Saric as well with 20/9/6.

_jin wrote:

durden_tyler wrote:Recent warm-up games involving teams participating in the OQTs the last few days:

Finland 73, New Zealand 70
Slovenia 70, Lithuania 68
Greece 86, Montenegro 57
Italy 87, Spain 84
Dominican Republic 80, Portugal 79
Latvia 84, Egypt 63
Croatia 91, Brazil 81
Montegro 93, Bahamas 80

39pts for Hezonja on 16/26 FG 5/11 3P and 6 rebounds. Great game from Saric as well with 20/9/6.

I am telling you guys, we might not see Giannis nor Luka in these Olympics.