Giannis Antetokounmpo or Luka Doncic vs. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the first full day of Olympic competition sounds like quite a bit of fun.
On Sunday, we’ll find out if a Canada-Greece or Canada-Slovenia men’s basketball matchup will become reality — and right now, the odds look pretty good.
Greece, led by Antetokounmpo, is 2-0 on its home floor in one of four last-chance Olympic qualifying tournaments this week. Greece has advanced to the semifinals and will face Doncic and Slovenia (1-1) on Saturday, while the Dominican Republic will meet Croatia in the other semi.
The winner of Sunday’s tourney final will advance to the Paris Olympics and square off with Gilgeous-Alexander and Canada in the opener for both squads.
Greece is favoured this weekend, especially at home, and Slovenia did everything in its power to avoid a likely semifinal matchup with the hosts. Slovenia needed to win by 29 over New Zealand on Thursday to likely miss Greece in the semis, but Doncic could not sink a three-pointer in the dying seconds that would have been enough to do it. Instead, Slovenia won by 26.
The Dallas Mavericks star did just about everything else right, finishing with 36 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his second triple-double at this year’s event and his third in a row overall in Olympic last-chance qualifying. Remember, Doncic is the same guy who just finished playing in the NBA Finals while battling several injuries. The Olympics clearly matter to him.
“It’s unbelievable to have a player like that,” Slovenia forward Gregor Hrovat told reporters after the 104-78 win over New Zealand. “He gave us extra confidence. With him, it’s so much easier to play. We know a lot of times other teams try to guard him (with) one, two or three players so it’s extra room for our others.”
Antetokounmpo had 32 points on 11-of-11 shooting in a 109-82 win over the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, marking his first game since a calf injury kept him out of the NBA Playoffs with the Milwaukee Bucks. Greece rested its star for Thursday’s 93-71 win over outmatched Egypt.
“First of all, Giannis, he loves to be here. He loves to represent his country,” coach Vassilis Spanoulis said after Wednesday’s win. “He’s very humble, he’s part of the team. For a superstar, you don’t find this (kind of player) easy.”
Canada, Greece and Slovenia all have visions of shaking up the Olympic podium.
Canada last won an Olympic medal in 1936 and was most recently in the competition in 2000. Greece has never reached the podium and is looking for its first appearance since 2008, while Slovenia finished fourth in its Games debut three years ago in Tokyo.
Gilgeous-Alexander led Canada to a long-awaited breakthrough last year when the country won bronze at the FIBA World Cup. Greece has just one World Cup medal in its history — silver in 2006 — while Slovenia hasn’t reached the podium at the event.
Canada’s other preliminary-round opponents in Paris are reigning Olympic bronze medal-winning Australia and this week’s qualifying tourney winner in Spain.
Host Spain, a perennial strong team in international competition, is the favorite and will face Finland in the semifinals. The Bahamas will meet Lebanon in the other semifinal match.
The Bahamas could pose a challenge to Spain in a potential final. The island nation boasts three NBA players — Deandre Ayton, Buddy Hield, and Eric Gordon — along with V.J. Edgecombe, a top-10 prospect for the 2025 NBA Draft.
In another event, Canada will play against the powerhouse United States in an exhibition game on Wednesday in Las Vegas.
Looking ahead to the Olympics, mark your calendars for Saturday, July 27. At 2:52 p.m. ET / 11:52 a.m. PT, Canadian swimmer sensation Summer McIntosh is set to compete for her first medal in the 400-meter freestyle race, facing off against reigning world champion Ariarne Titmus of Australia and American legend Katie Ledecky in one of the most highly anticipated races of the Games. Just eight minutes later, we could witness SGA and his team facing off against Giannis or Luka in another thrilling event.
Tennis players typically follow a yearly cycle featuring Grand Slam tournaments on different surfaces: starting with hard courts (Australian Open), moving to clay (French Open), grass (Wimbledon), and returning to hard courts (U.S. Open).
This year presents a unique scenario, which could significantly impact the sport. The Olympic tournament will be held on the renowned clay courts of Roland Garros, the venue for the French Open. Some players, like Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur, have opted out of participating in the Paris Games due to the altered schedule
Additionally, Rafael Nadal, a 14-time French Open champion, chose to skip Wimbledon in preparation for the Olympics.
“The upcoming Olympics will be the first to feature clay courts since 1992 in Barcelona. In that year, the men’s tennis event notably favored clay-court specialists. Switzerland’s Marc Rosset won the gold medal, achieving his best Grand Slam results at the French Open. Jordi Arrese, a Barcelona native, took silver and reached 12 career finals, all on clay courts. Surprisingly, top seeds Jim Courier, Stefan Edberg, and Pete Sampras, who had more illustrious careers overall, were all eliminated before the quarterfinals.
Clay courts are traditionally challenging for Canadian athletes, who tend to perform better on other surfaces.
In terms of medal projections, Nielsen’s Gracenote predicts Canada will win 20 medals in the upcoming Olympics, down from its earlier forecast of 22 in April. The analytics company expects Canada to finish 12th overall in total medals.”
Gracenote, according to CBC, predicts Canada will win six gold medals at the Olympics: two for McIntosh, and one each for Marco Arop in men’s 800 meters, Damian Warner in the decathlon, Philip Kim in men’s breaking, and Christa Deguchi in women’s judo (57 kg). Gracenote also forecasts that Canada’s men’s and women’s basketball teams, as well as the women’s soccer team, will not reach the podium.
In beach volleyball action, Canada’s Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes, ranked fourth globally, started their Olympic tune-up event with impressive wins. They defeated Switzerland’s Joana Mäder and Anouk Vergé-Dépré 2-1 (21-17, 19-21, 15-7) and later topped China’s Chen Xue and Xinyi Xia 2-1 (21-18, 16-21, 15-9). Both Swiss and Chinese teams have Olympic accolades, with the Swiss duo winning bronze in Tokyo and Xue earning bronze in Beijing 2008.
As Paris prepares for the Olympics, France is hosting numerous significant events in July.
France’s men’s soccer team faces Portugal in the Euro 2024 quarterfinal in Hamburg, Germany on Friday, while the Tour de France, now in its 111th edition, spans across the country. This year, the cycling event concludes outside Paris for the first time to align with Olympic preparations. The winner will be declared on July 21st, concluding the race over 900 km away in Nice.
In the realm of women’s golf, the world’s leading players gather next week in Evian-les-Bains, France for the Evian Championship, a major on the LPGA tour. Brooke Henderson of Canada claimed victory in the 2022 edition of the tournament.
