FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Semi-Final preview: Luka Doncic, Slovenia face Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece
The battle to qualify for the men's basketball tournament at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 has reached a fever pitch.
Four teams remain at the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Piraeus, Greece, including Luka Doncic's Slovenia and Giannis Antetokounmpo's Greece. The two NBA stars will face off in an international game for the first time when the semi-finals start on Saturday (6 July).
Below are the details for that game and Saturday's other semi-final between the Dominican Republic and Croatia.
Luka vs Giannis highlights semi-final between Slovenia and Greece
Saturday, 6 July | 17:30 EEST
This might be the game of all the four OQTs happening worldwide.
Doncic, a five-time NBA All-Star, 2018 EuroLeague MVP, and EuroBasket champion, will take on Antetokounmpo, himself an NBA champion and two-time NBA MVP, in a true clash of titans.
Saturday's contest will be the first international contest between the two stars, though both are used to playing against and with each other during the NBA regular season and All-Star games. However, a lot more is on the line in Piraeus, as the winner will advance to the final of the OQT and have the chance to qualify for Paris 2024.
Luka Dončić (SLO) shoots a basketball at the FIBA Olympic Qualifiying Tournament 2024.
Doncic has been sensational in Greece, recording triple-doubles in Slovenia's loss to Croatia and win over New Zealand. He's currently averaging 31 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists per game as he bids to lead Slovenia back to the Olympic Games after helping the men's team earn its first Olympic berth at Tokyo 2020.
Doncic on Greece head coach Vasilis Spanoulis: "That's why I have No.77"
Slovenia's second-place finish in Group A (secured after recovering from an opening loss against Croatia to beat New Zealand 104-78) means Doncic will now face his childhood idol in coach Vasilis Spanoulis—a two-time Olympian, Greece's all-time leader in points and assists and international basketball legend.
"He was my idol," Doncic said at NBA All-Star media day in 2022. "That's why I wore number seven, and when I couldn't wear seven because it was taken, that's why I have 77.
I just wanna thank him for everything that he brought to basketball, not just to me. To a lot of players, he just showed how to play basketball, how to act on the court and what is leadership."
Speaking to Olympics.com following Greece's team practice on Friday, Spanoulis was full of praise for the Dallas Maverick:
"Luka is a great character, a great person. You can't be a big player if you're not a great person.
"He's a great idol and I respect him a lot. [But] for 40 minutes we're opponents."
When asked on how he plans to stop Doncic, Spanoulis admitted that it will be challenging.
"It's not easy to stop Luka. Players like Luka and Giannis have a lot of ways to score, so we're going to do our best to eliminate his decision making.
"But for me, it's not tennis. It's not Luka vs Giannis. It's a 5 against 5."
Greece's hopes rest with Giannis
Greece last competed at the Olympic Games in 2008, when they finished 5th in Beijing. They also missed out on competing at the World Cup last year. But with Antetokounmpo back on international duty and the backing of close to 11,000 home fans at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, Greece are the unquestionable favourites to win the OQT.
The 29-year-old played in Greece's opening 109-82 win over the Dominican Republic (scoring 32 points on 100 per cent shooting) and was rested for the next game against Egypt (a 93-71 victory for Hellas), but rest assured the 'Freak' will be in the starting lineup on Saturday afternoon.
Scary hours 😱#FIBAOQT x @HellenicBF pic.twitter.com/TfH29rjl48
— FIBA (@FIBA) July 3, 2024
Croatia's Ivica Zubac previews semi-final against Dominican Republic: "We cannot win on talent alone."
Saturday, 6 July | 21:00 EEST
Croatia were hugely impressive in their 108-92 win over Slovenia, but equally dissapointing in their subsequent 90-86 loss to New Zealand. If they are to get by a dangerous Dominican team led by Sacramento King Chris Duarte, they will need to be on top form—something that wasn't lost on Croatian center and Los Angeles Clippers big man Ivica Zubac.
Speaking exclusively to Olympics.com, Zubac said: "It's going to be a tough game. They're a very good team, [otherwise they wouldn't be here].
"We're taking it seriously. We're going to be locked in from the start, unlike our previous game [the loss against New Zealand]. But in some ways I think it was good for us. We felt pretty good after the Slovenia game, and we kind of thought that it [the next game] was going to be easy for us, and New Zealand showed us we cannot win games just based off of talent or having big names.
"We have to play as a team. We scouted them [Dominican Republic] well, we know what they want to do, we know what we want to do and how to defend them, and I'm looking forward to it.
Ivica Zubac of Croatia.
The Dominican Republic will have their hands full with Zubac; the 7-footer (2.13m) is averaging 23.5 points and 12 rebounds per game and is undeniable force under the rim.
But the Dominican Republic, searching for their first ever Olympic qualification in men's basketball, have firepower of their own in the form of Chris Duarte. The 27-year-old is averaging 20 points on a scintillating 50 per cent clip from the field (including 42.9 per cent from deep).
Yet given the depth of talent Croatia has (in addition to Zubac, 'The Chequered Ones' can also count Golden State Warriors forward Dario Saric and Real Madrid guard Mario Hezonja among their ranks), it may be too tough a task for Duarte and his compatriots to find a way through.