# 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. The draw for the tournament was held on 31 January 2008 at the Divani Caravel hotel in Athens.
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.

## 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens
* 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens
* 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens

### 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens
* 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens
* 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens

### 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens
* 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens
* 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens

### 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens
* 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens
* 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens

## Knockout stage

    Note: Italicized teams qualify for the Olympics.
| Quarterfinals July 18 | Quarterfinals July 18 | Quarterfinals July 18 | Semifinals July 19 | Semifinals July 19 | Semifinals July 19 | | | |
| A1 | Greece | 75 | | | | | | |
| B2 | New Zealand | 48 | | | | | | |
| B2 | New Zealand | 48 | Greece | Greece | 88 | | | |
| | | | Puerto Rico | Puerto Rico | 63 | | | |
| C1 | Slovenia | 70 | Puerto Rico | Puerto Rico | 63 | | | |
| D2 | Puerto Rico | 81 | | | | | | |
| B1 | Germany | 78 | | | | | | |
| A2 | Brazil | 65 | | | | | | |
| A2 | Brazil | 65 | Germany | Germany | 70 | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | | Croatia | Croatia | 76 | | | |
| D1 | Croatia | 83 | Croatia | Croatia | 76 | | | |
| D1 | Croatia | 83 | | | | Puerto Rico | Puerto Rico | 82 |
| C2 | Canada | 62 | | | | Puerto Rico | Puerto Rico | 82 |
| C2 | Canada | 62 | | | | Germany | Germany | 96 |

### 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens
* 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens
* 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens
* 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens

### 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens
* 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens

### 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 |
* Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens

## 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 |