PIRAEUS (Greece) - The All-Star Five at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2024 was headlined by TISSOT MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who proved to be the leader in Greece's bid to reach Paris 2024.
Giannis Antetokounmpo - Greece
Stats: 23.0 EFF, 22.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.0 SPG, 1.0 BPG - 62.5% FG, 63.9% 2PT FG
Giannis Antetokounmpo needed just 22.5 minutes per game to prove his worth, finishing with a once in a lifetime moment as nearly 12,000 fans in the stands of the Peace and Friendship Stadium chanted his name.
He brought Greece back to the Olympics, but he praised his teammates and the coaching staff, reminding everybody this was only part one of their plan for this summer. The 29-year-old will play in his first Olympics now.
Nick Calathes - Greece
Stats: 17.5 EFF, 10.0 PPG, 10.5 APG, 3.8 RPG - 42.1% FG, 35.3% 3PT
There's a reason fans consider him a point god. Nick Calathes dished out a whopping 42 assists, compared to just 6 turnovers, in this tournament. He orchestrated the offense for coach Vasilis Spanoulis, always finding his teammates in perfect spots.
Calathes had two double-doubles in Piraeus, including a 14-point, 11-assist performance in the Final against Croatia, which earned him the TCL Player of the Game award.
Chris Duarte - Dominican Republic
Stats: 17.3 EFF, 19.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.7 APG, 2.3 SPG - 48.7% FG, 80.0% FT
The Dominican Republic were missinf some of their biggest stars, but Chris Duarte came to play in Piraeus. The shooting guard was a menace offensively, carried the scoring load for coach Che Garcia and his teammates, and still did his part on the defense, too.
Duarte averaged 2.3 steals per game at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, but it was not enough to bring his nation to their first ever appearance at the Summer Olympics.
Luka Doncic - Slovenia
Stats: 26.3 EFF, 27.7 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 8.3 APG - 38.7% FG
Coming off of an amazing run with the Dallas Mavericks, Luka Doncic was far from 100 percent, but still played incredible basketball. In fact, he had two triple-doubles in his first two games in Greece, making it three in a row at the OQTs, dating back to the Final in Lithuania in 2021.
However, Doncic could not lead Slovenia to another Olympic berth. Greece proved to be too strong for the FIBA EuroBasket 2017 winners, who were just one Nic Batum block away from winning a medal at the last Summer Olympics in Japan.
Ivica Zubac - Croatia
Stats: 33.0 EFF, 22.8 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 2.5 APG - 76.6% FG, 82.6% FT
Croatia failed to reach the Olympics, but if they made it there, Ivica Zubac would've easily won the MVP award in Piraeus. The LA Clippers center was simply a menace during the entire run, and he set a new FIBA OQT record in efficiency rating.
In the game against New Zealand, Zubac had 29 points and 16 rebounds, getting his efficiency rating all the way up to 43, a new mark in the history of this competition.
FIBA