Paris Olympics Notes: Doncic to face Antetokounmpo in qualifiers, Australia announces strong team

We are less than a month away from the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympic Gamesand things are picking up steam for the basketball tournaments. The U.S. men’s basketball team opens training camp in Las Vegas on Saturday, and around the world, Olympic qualifying tournaments are selecting the final four teams to complete the 12-team men’s Olympic tournament.

Here are the latest news and notes from around the world:

• Luka Doncic vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo in the qualifying match in Greece. One of these Olympic qualifying tournaments, the one hosted by Greece, will see an epic clash between two of the best players and biggest stars on the planet:

Luka Doncic and Slovenia vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece. Slovenia stumbled early in the tournament but bounced back to advance to this epic semifinal by beating New Zealand on the back of a 36-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist triple-double from Doncic. The winner of the Slovenia/Greece game will face the winner of the Croatia/Dominican Republic game for a spot in Paris.

• NBA powerhouse Bahamas advances in other qualifying tournaments. Perhaps the best story of the other three Olympic qualifying tournaments is the Bahamas, with Buddy Hield (who took a risk by entering this tournament without an agreement for an NBA contract, he has one coming to Golden State now), Trail Blazers DeAndre Ayton and 76ers Eric Gordon.

The Bahamas are competing in the tournament in Spain and are on track to face the host nation and traditional European basketball powerhouse. The final four will pit Finland against Spain and the Bahamas against Lebanon. The winners of those games will compete for the lone spot at the Paris Olympics at the end of the tournament.

Two other Olympic qualifying tournaments will be played in semi-finals. In Latvia, the semi-finals will pit Brazil against the Philippines and Cameroon against Latvia. In Puerto Rico, the semi-finals will pit Lithuania against Italy and Puerto Rico against Mexico.

The four finals will be played on Sunday, when we will know the full composition of the teams for the Paris Olympic tournament.

• Australia announces strong Olympic roster. There aren’t many countries with such basketball talent that an NBA-level player isn’t on their Olympic roster, but Australia is one of them: Matisse Thybulle is out. That’s a surprise because Thybulle, who plays for the Trail Blazers, is a top-tier center back, but the Boomers selected Dyson Daniels of the Pelicans because of his more rounded game.

The 12-man squad for Australia is: Dyson Daniels, Matthew Dellavedova, Dante Exum, Josh Giddey, Josh Green, Joe Ingles, Nick Kay, Jock Landale, Will Magnay, Jack McVeigh, Duop Reath and veteran fullback Patty Mills.