Rio Olympics: Nuggets’ Jokic leads Serbia in Weds. #FIBAOQT play
By Drew Albee
The USA remains as heavy favorites to take home gold in men’s basketball at the upcoming Rio Olympics. Meanwhile, a trio of international Denver Nuggets will be participating in FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments this week in order to help their respective countries advance to this year’s Olympics. Danilo Gallinari, Nikola Jokic, and Joffrey Lauvergne will all be looking to try to win the gold for their home country, but first they have to qualify for the Rio games.
The FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in Turin, Italy and Belgrade, Serbia began on Monday, while action did not tip-off until Tuesday in the capital city of the Philippines — Manila. All three tournaments feature six teams and the team that wins its tournament will book their trip to Rio.
Because the Denver Nuggets have a player participating in each of the three tournaments, there is a chance for all of them to advance to the Rio Olympics if they win their respective qualifying tournament. Italian forward Danilo Gallinari and Serbian center Nikola Jokic were fortunate enough to play in their native countries, while the Nuggets’ French big man, Joffrey Lauvergne, had to travel to the Philippines in an attempt to help France qualify for this summer’s Olympics.
Click the links to read about out how the participating Nuggets performed in both Monday and Tuesday action.
Through FIBA qualifying action on Wednesday, all three Nuggets are undefeated in group play, both Jokic (Serbia) and Gallinari (Italy) helped their teams win their respective group, while Lauvergne and France still have the opportunity to do so on Thursday. The chance for all three Nuggets to advance to the Rio games is still alive and well!
Let’s take a look at how Jokic played on Wednesday and preview the Nuggets in upcoming #FIBAOQT action this week.
Next: Nikola Jokic in Wednesday action