Big news for Victoria basketball fans.
Early this morning, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) announced that Greece, the Czech Republic, Turkey, China and Uruguay will join Canada in the Olympic Qualifying tournament hosted in Victoria next summer.
The tournament, hosted from June 23-28 at Save-On Foods Memorial Centre, will be a must-win for the Canadians if they hope to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 games.
The event is set to have some star-power as Canadian NBA phenoms RJ Barrett and Jamal Murray have announced their commitment to play on social media.
Playing for my country is always an honour and I want to take the step and leadership role to commit to @canadabasketball this summer. I want to play my part to help push our team into the Olympics and compete at the highest world stage. Let’s go Canada????
— Jamal Murray (@BeMore27) November 26, 2019
Other current NBA players expected to be on the roster include Kelly Olynyk, Cory Joseph, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dillon Brooks to name a few.
Headlining players from other teams will be the reigning NBA MVP and Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, representing Greece.
Canada, currently ranked 21st, will draw into Pool A along with No. 7-ranked Greece and No. 27-ranked China. On the other side of the draw in Pool B is No. 10-ranked Czech Republic, No. 15-ranked Turkey 15th and No. 43-ranked Uruguay.
In a release issued by Canada Basketball, it states, “Each team will play the other two teams in its own group. The top two teams in each group will advance to the semifinals. The two semi-final winners will advance to the Final, with the winner qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.”
The Canadian men’s team has not been to an Olympic games since 2000 and is coming off of a disappointing 21st place finish at the FIBA World Cup this past August.
On the women’s side, the Canadians will play their qualifier against Belgium, Japan and Sweden in February in Ostende, Belgium. The team only needs to finish top-three in order to qualify for Tokyo.
Canada Basketball has also said that games will be available to watch live online on DAZN.
Graham Cox
