FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2016: Final Teams, Results and Highlights
The final three spots for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games men's basketball tournament have been awarded. Spearheaded by a 26-point performance from Tony Parker, France captured the last opening Sunday with an 83-74 win over Canada in Manila.
France joins Serbia and Croatia among the three teams to win their FIBA qualifying tournament. Missing out on the Rio Games would have been near-catastrophic for the French. They have qualified for every Olympic Games since basketball became a full-time addition in 1936.
FIBA announced France will be part of Group A in Rio, which features the United States as the overwhelming favorite:
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Parker, who topped 26 points once all last season in San Antonio, was brilliant. He knocked down nine of his 14 shots, including three from three-point range, while adding four assists and four rebounds. Despite a game performance from a rising Canada team, France's experience held strong when it was most important.
Nando de Colo, a former teammate of Parker's with the Spurs, walked away with tournament MVP honors. The combo guard finished with 22 points, five rebounds and three assists against Canada. He averaged 17.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists for the tournament.
| Belgrade (Serbia) | Serbia 108 Puerto Rico 77 | Nikola Jokic |
| Turin (Italy) | Croatia 84 Italy 78 | Dario Saric |
| Manila (Philippines) | France 83 Canada 74 | Nando de Colo |
France survived a poor performance from captain Boris Diaw, who made just three of 13 baskets on his way to a nine-point outing. Nicolas Batum had seven points and four rebounds, making three of his four shots.
The France roster may wind up featuring up to six current NBA players. In addition to Parker, Batum and Diaw, Denver Nuggets center Joffrey Lauvergne, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert and Orlando Magic guard Evan Fournier are possibilities for Rio. Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reported Fournier hopes to play after inking a five-year contract with the Magic.
Canada, playing without Andrew Wiggins, managed to nearly qualify thanks to a 20-point evening from Corey Joseph and a 19-point effort from Melvin Ejim. Tristan Thompson added eight points and seven rebounds, as Canada shot 50.8 percent from the field. The Canadians were trying to make their first Olympic Games since 2000.
Instead, a mainstay held strong and clinched the final spot.
Croatia and Serbia should offer some variety from what we saw in London, though both have rich basketball histories overall. Croatia is returning for the first time since Beijing in 2008 and is in just its second Olympics since the turn of the century. Of course, the Croatians were finalists in 1992 against the Dream Team and semifinalists in the 1996 Atlanta Games.
With Philadelphia 76ers-bound Dario Saric leading the charge, Croatian basketball is back on the rise. Saric scored 18 points and scooped 13 rebounds in Croatia's overtime win over Italy and was named the Turin tournament's MVP.
Serbia was placed in Group B, which features grizzled international vets Spain and Argentina. Spain has won the last two silver medals and is the strongest rival to the United States.
Serbia, the second-place team in the 1996 Games, will be playing for the first time since 2004 in Athens. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic led a muscle-flexing performance in Belgrade, with Serbia winning three of its four games by 20 or more points. Jokic was named the tournament's MVP and is quickly becoming a star in his home country.
The Serbians are also in Group A with France and the U.S.
Of the teams that needed last-chance qualifiers to make the field, France is the only one with a real shot at making medal noise in Rio. Its roster could be stacked with solid NBA players, assuming the French staff chooses talent over consistency.
The best players for Croatia and Serbia are NBA neophytes (slash pending rookies) who are about to play for the first time on the grandest international stage. If they make it out of the group stage, it'll be a surprise and a huge boost to their morale in 2020—when both might become sleeping giants.
Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.
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