Tall Blacks handed tough Olympic Qualifying draw

OQT Belgrade (Serbia) – Group A: 1.

It wasn’t smiling so much during the drawing of teams as powerhouses France, Canada, Turkey along with Senegal and New Zealand were drawn to compete against the country’s Gilas Pilipinas in the tournament that will be held this July.

The Olympic qualifying tournaments in three countries will happen simultaneously from July 4 to 10, 2016.

Clarkson said that he witnessed the passion of Filipinos for basketball, and how hardworking the national team players are, which made him more determined to represent the Philippines in global competitions.

Japan’s men’s basketball team was drawn in the same group as Serbia and four other teams in the Olympic qualifying tournament this July following the draw by FIBA on Tuesday.

There were positives to take out of the tournament, Triano said. Samahang Bassketbol ng Pilipinas president Manny Pangilinan in a text message to us shortly after the draw said, “we got strong teams in our group.

The top 2 teams in each group will advance to the crossover semifinal round and the survivors play in the finals and at stake is the golden ticket to Rio.

In the women’s teams are Nigeria and Cameroon.

Team Canada will gather in June for training before heading overseas for pre-tournament exhibition games.

With rosters that include several National Basketball Association standouts, France is the biggest stumbling block to the Philippines as it is ranked No. 5 in the world, anchored by National Basketball Association stars point guard Tony Parker (12.5points, 5.0 assists and 2.6 rebounds) and center forward Boris Diaw (7.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists). New Zealand; 3. Philippines.

Gilas Pilipinas and Andray Blatche, shown here against China in the FIBA Asia Championships, will have their hands full against the likes of France, Canada and New Zealand in the coming FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the Mall of Asian Arena in July.

The stage is now set for what is a guaranteed thriller of a week in basketball in Turin, Italy, this summer.

The first-place team in Group A will take on the second-place team from Group B in one Semi-Final, and the side that comes top of Group B will go up against the second-top team in Group A in the other Semi-Final.

Group B: 1. Tunisia; 2.