Hoops Habit
Fansided

Serbia, Croatia and France Qualify For Rio Olympic Games

By Matthew Hallett

BELGRADE, SERBIA - JULY 08: Bogdan Bogdanovic (R) of Serbia in action against Tomas Satoransky (L) of Czech Republic during the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying basketball Semi Final match between Serbia and Czech Republic at Kombank Arena on July 08, 2016 in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images)
BELGRADE, SERBIA - JULY 08: Bogdan Bogdanovic (R) of Serbia in action against Tomas Satoransky (L) of Czech Republic during the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying basketball Semi Final match between Serbia and Czech Republic at Kombank Arena on July 08, 2016 in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
MANILA, PHILIPPINES - JULY 05: Tony Parker (C) of France is seen in action during the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying basketball Group B match between Philippines and France at Mall of Asia Arene on July 05, 2016 in Manila, Philippines.(Photo by Jeoffrey Maitem/Getty Images)
MANILA, PHILIPPINES – JULY 05: Tony Parker (C) of France is seen in action during the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying basketball Group B match between Philippines and France at Mall of Asia Arene on July 05, 2016 in Manila, Philippines.(Photo by Jeoffrey Maitem/Getty Images) /

Philippines

The Philippines hosted France, Canada, Turkey, New Zealand and Senegal. with France and Canada being the best two teams at the tournament both remaining unbeaten until the final.

France ended up as the winner, qualifying for Rio with four fine victories. In the group stages they scored the highest of any team in the tournament, beating the Philippines 93-84. In their other group match they beat a plucky New Zealand side 66-59.

In the semifinal they beat Turkey 75-64 before taking on the other unbeaten team in the tournament, Canada, 83-74

Nando De Colo won the tournament MVP. In 28.2 minutes he averaged 17.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.

De Colo was the tournament’s fourth-leading scorer with his 17.2 points per game. Tony Parker was France’s second-leading scorer with 13.8 points in 25.4 minutes per game.

Parker led France in assists with 3.5 assists per game in 25.4 minutes. Boris Diaw was second for France and fifth for the tournament with 3.3 assists in 31.9 minutes per game.

De Colo led the tournament in steals with 2.3 per game.

More hoops habit: 50 Greatest NBA Players Of The 1970s

France was the best team of the tournament, the only one that remained unbeaten. They face a huge challenge with the Pool A draw in Rio that includes Team USA, Australia, Serbia and China.