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12 Teams Set For 2016 Olympics; 12 Storylines To Watch For In Rio

By Matthew Medley

Tony Parker playing for France to qualify for 2016 Rio Olympics (Photo by Frederic Stevens/Getty Images)
Tony Parker playing for France to qualify for 2016 Rio Olympics (Photo by Frederic Stevens/Getty Images) /
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Venezuelan basketball team player Gregory Vargas celebrates after defeating Brazil and winning the FIBA South American Basketball Championship game held in Caracas on July 2, 2016 / AFP / FEDERICO PARRA (Photo credit should read FEDERICO PARRA/AFP/Getty Images)
Venezuelan basketball team player Gregory Vargas celebrates after defeating Brazil and winning the FIBA South American Basketball Championship game held in Caracas on July 2, 2016. (FEDERICO PARRA/AFP/Getty Images) /

3. Venezuela: The South American Underdogs

Venezuela enters the Rio Games ranked second-lowest of the 12 teams in the competition, No. 22 in the world. The only team ranked lower in the Olympics is Nigeria.

This is only the second time in the nation’s history that Venezuela will be represented in Men’s Basketball in the Olympics. Their only other appearance was 1992 in Barcelona, where they finished 11th out of 12 teams.

To get to this point, Venezuela shocked the world in the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship, defeating Canada in the semifinal of the tournament 79-78, which was an upset in itself, and then pulling off the unthinkable and defeating Argentina 76-71 in the tournament final.

Very few expected Venezuela, which was 5-4 in the tournament at that time, to beat Argentina, which was 8-1. It was the first time in the history of the Venezuelan program the nation won the FIBA Americas Championship.

Despite having no NBA players on the roster, Venezuela breezed through the 2016 South American Basketball Championship for Men, going 6-0 against the likes of Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil, beating the latter in the tournament final.

Although Venezuela comes into the 2016 Olympics as a heavy underdog, don’t be fooled by their lack of big names; they can play great team basketball.

It will be great to see how many Venezuelan fans turn out to support their country in neighboring Brazil and perhaps the underdogs can get through group play and advance to the quarterfinal round.

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