Greece end Olympic hopes of Slovenia and Luka Doncic in basketball qualifiers

PIRAEUS – Slovenia and their star Luka Doncic will miss the Olympic Games after losing 96-68 in a qualifying semi-final to Giannis Antetokounmpo and hosts Greece on July 6 in Piraeus.

Doncic, a 2.01m point guard, who led Slovenia to the last four in Tokyo in 2021 and steered the Dallas Mavericks to the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals in the recently concluded season, became a big-name absentee from the Olympic tournament, which tips off on July 27.

“Congrats to Greece. They played better than us,” said Doncic.

“They have an amazing team, very well coached. They have Giannis, it’s a lot, but also other players. Very experienced team. They know how to play basketball.”

Doncic was his team’s top scorer with 21 points, but Slovenia always trailed after the Greeks raced away to lead 32-14 by the end of the first quarter.

“We wanted to get Luka out of the game,” said Greece coach Vassilis Spanoulis. “We wanted to press him all over the court. All the lads did an excellent job.”

The comfortable lead meant Antetokounmpo played only 21 minutes, scoring 13 points. Thomas Walkup led Greece with 19 points.

“Since coach Spanoulis took this whole deal over, it’s been one goal and that’s to get to the Olympics,” Walkup said. “We’re one game away from it. We have to stay humble and focused.”

Greece, who have not taken part in the Olympic Games since 2008, must beat Croatia, who defeated the Dominican Republic 80-77 in the other semi-final, in the final on July 7 to qualify for Paris. The game took place after press time.

“There’s a fantastic atmosphere in this team. We’re a team that are not afraid of anyone,” said Spanoulis.

The event in Piraeus is one of four qualifying tournaments to determine the last four places in Paris. The others are in Riga in Lativia, Valencia in Spain and San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Hosts France, defending champions the United States, Canada, Australia, South Sudan, Japan, Serbia and Germany have already qualified.

Meanwhile, on the women’s side, Lauren Jackson will finally get to go to her fifth Olympics after being named in the Australia basketball squad for the Paris Games on July 7, 27 years after she got her first call-up to the Opals in 1997.

The 43-year-old, a triple Olympic silver medallist and 2006 world champion, originally announced her retirement from international basketball in 2016 after a knee injury prevented her from playing at a fifth Games in Rio.

She returned to help Australia to third place on home soil at the 2022 World Cup and was part of the Southside Flyers squad that won the Women’s National Basketball League in 2024, Jackson’s seventh title in the domestic league.

Jackson, a three-time Most Valuable Player in the US’ Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), is the all-time leading points scorer in women’s Olympic competition, having helped Australia to second place in Sydney, Athens and Beijing and third in London.

WNBA players Alanna Smith, Sami Whitcomb, Ezi Magbegor, Steph Talbot, Rebecca Allen, Jade Melbourne and Kristy Wallace will join Jackson as Australia look to get back in the medals after fifth- and eighth-place finishes in Rio and Tokyo.

The men’s Boomers team, who won their first Olympic medal with a bronze in Tokyo, will again feature Miami Heat point guard Patty Mills and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Joe Ingles, who will both also compete in their fifth Games in Paris.

Former NBA guard Matthew Dellavedova made the cut for his fourth Olympics but defensive standout Matisse Thybulle of the Portland Trail Blazers misses out.

The basketball competition at the Games runs from July 27 to Aug 11 with the preliminary rounds taking place in Lille before the play-offs in Paris. AFP, REUTERS