MIES (Switzerland) - Just two weeks to go! The preparations are in full swing with the eight previously qualified teams, while the four FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament winners took a few days off and are also back to work now.
We've monitored their progress in our Power Rankings, scrolling down from #12 to #1.
#12 South Sudan
Until they take the court in London in their two preparation games against the United States and Great Britain, it's impossible to know what to expect from the first-timers from Africa. The fact that they have a spot among the top 12 teams in the world is a gigantic achievement in itself for South Sudan, inspiring some of the best told stories from the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.
However, their path is arguably the toughest possible. Not only are they in the same group with the United States and Serbia, perennial medal contenders, but they also got the red hot Puerto Rico side joining them from the FIBA OQT they won at home. Consider this draw the opposite of beginner's luck...
#11 Puerto Rico
Is this a good time to remind you what happened the last time Puerto Rico went up against LeBron James and the United States in group stage of the Olympics?
What's that? It's always a good time to remind you what happened the last time Puerto Rico went up against LeBron James and the United States in group stage of the Olympics? Okay, let's.
Exactly 20 years after Carlos Arroyo, Larry Ayuso and their teammates stunned the USA in Athens, the two nations will meet again, this time in Group C in Villeneuve d'Ascq. You know Jose Alvarado and his compatriots are watching that 2004 duel on repeat, you know Arroyo and others already handed out an advice or two ahead of the rematch.
Don't worry, putting them at #11 over here means we believe in them. It's become our thing now, we tend to put them in lower halves of lists like these, then they go crazy and upset the odds, reach elimination rounds, so why break that tradition now?
#10 Japan
Do we need to be worried about Japan's defense allowing 90, 95, 85 and 80 points in four games against Australia and Korea this summer? Probably not, because they've also scored 89, 95, 84 and 88, respectively.
They will now enter what's called the Lost Art of Keeping a Secret, as coach Tom Hovasse needs to hide his hand against Germany in a friendly in Berlin on July 19, in order to save a trick or two for the big game against Germany at the Olympics in Villeneuve d'Ascq on July 27.
Is it us, or are there a lot of preparation games with group rivals this summer? It's probably just us. It's probably like that every summer. It's probably full of "at this level, there are no secrets" quotes.
Yeah, it's just us.
#9 Brazil
Sure, Brazil have their own special music, and coach Aco Petrovic is from Croatia, from a town called Sibenik, where there's something called the Dalmatian Chanson Evenings, another specific brand of music.
But it feels like the soundtrack of this summer for Brazil is coming straight out of Jamaica, as coach Petrovic can lead the chorus by saying: "Won't you help to sing these songs of freedom?"
Yep. Bob Marley's Redemption Song for Brazil's own version of Redeem Team, three years after their heartbreaking defeat to Germany in the Final of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Split, Croatia.
The fact that they brought back the coach and most of the players from the 2021 team to guide them to the 2024 Olympics at the OQT in Latvia, that's redemption for you.
Oh, don't think they'll settle for just an appearance in France. They are a legit contender for the Quarter-Finals.
#8 Spain
The FIBA EuroBasket 2022 winners should be higher, no doubt. However, they finished ninth at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, so consider this eighth spot here a matter of precaution.
Their initial group is somewhat of a nightmare, facing Australia, Greece and Canada, but let's focus on the other end of the sleeping metaphor instead. Rudy Fernandez's career ends with a dream come true, as he is set to play in his sixth Olympic Games.
He will become the first male basketball player to compete at six Olympics. Memories of Pau Gasol and Luis Scola waving goodbye in Japan are starting to get back, and we are about to get emotional so let's move on to the next team before the keyboard gets all wet here.
#7 Australia
Patty Mills and Joe Ingles are about to join that list of players with five Olympic appearances, there are eight current NBA players on Australia's final list for Paris, but most of the talks were about the guy who did not make the team.
Matisse Thybulle has built a name for himself on the defensive end, and with Australia going up against Canada and Greece in Group A, some of the commentators and writers have been praising Thybulle's value as a versatile defender who could slow down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Jamal Murray, and then become the primary defender on Giannis Antetokounmpo in the next game.
To sum up the extent of the shock among Australian basketball fans, here's what coach Brian Goorjian had said before he made the cut:
"There's going to be a lot of people who want to put a bullet in my head."
Okay. Or not okay. Actually, not okay at all. Maybe those two games in Abu Dhabi against the United States and Serbia create a different kind of feeling.
(Hopefully.)
#6 Greece
A lot of coaches have struggled with adjusting Giannis Antetokounmpo's role within the rules of FIBA Basketball, and finding the right fits among his teammates. A lot of coaches who aren't Vassilis Spanoulis.
He was one of the best European players of all time, now he's already starting a spectacular coaching career, and his new-look Greece gave 12,000 fans in the stands of the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus plenty of reasons to stand up and sing a song or two during the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2024 Greece.
All the players have the green light to fire at will, including the seven-footer Georgios Papagiannis, who knocked down 7-of-14 threes across four games at the aforementioned tournament, and the point guard duties belong to another point god.
Nick Calathes runs the game at his own pace. Expect him to throw a bunch of alley-oops during the Olympics, and challenge for the top spot when it comes to assists per game or total assists in France.
This team is much more than just Giannis. It's probably their best generation since coach Spanoulis was a player in mid 2000s and early 2010s.
#5 Canada
Bad news from their game against the USA the other day? They lost the game by 14 and made just 7-of-33 threes.
Good news? Four of their starters (Murray, Brooks, Barrett, Powell) were actually on the right side of the +/- stat, and the fifth one - you probably heard of him, his name is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - was just -1, meaning they have their lineup to matchup with the best of them out there.
Canada will be the team to watch in France, no doubt. And they have a lot of reasons to dream of finishing on the Olympic podium for the first time since 1936.
But here, in these lines, they are still behind their neighbors, the two Finalists of the last World Cup, and the hosts.
#4 Serbia
It was coach Svetislav Pesic who started that whole debate on 1992 USA v 2024 USA, and that's just a part of his puzzles to distract people from what's really going on.
What's really going on is coach Pesic creating his own superteam while the focus is on debates elsewhere. He is about to put Vasilije Micic, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nikola Jokic together, he is about to go with that familiar "all for one and one for all" phrase, he is about to play the mind games, and before you know it, Serbia will once again be in the battle for podium.
That's what they do. The fact that they weren't in Tokyo three years ago makes them a hungry team, because they were the ones playing the Final in 2016, and they want to prove once again they are called the Land of Basketball for a reason.
Their games against France, Australia and USA before the Olympics will be a joy to watch, but rest assured, coach Pesic will save something for another rendezvous in France.
#3 France
The hosts will probably look at this and say, "oh no, it's the Power Rankings curse again" because they were near the top of the list at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 and then finished in 18th spot.
So how come we put them so close to the top after an abysmal campaign last summer?
There are three parts of this answer.
(1) They are hosting this event and will have the majority of 27,000 fans behind them during the first phase in Villeneuve d'Ascq, building momentum towards the knockout phase in Paris.
(2) They were the team that had defeated the United States at the Olympics in Japan last time around and battled them all the way to the finish line in the Final; and most importantly.
(3) They have that kid called Victor Wembanyama on their team. And their first two preparation games with him against Türkiye and Germany showed the squad in now on another level with him.
Seriously. Look at this.
Come on. Seriously.
#2 Germany
Just one sentence for you: Do not underestimate the reigning FIBA Basketball World Cup champions, okay? Okay.
Unless something dramatic happens in their last two preparation games (JPN, USA), Germany deserve to be in all your talks about potential medalists in Paris. They won gold at the World Cup last summer, they picked up bronze at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022, and they made it to the Olympics in 2021, after pulling off a couple of upsets at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
When you put it all together, those are three straight summers of winning. So why not make it four, when it became such a habit for the Wagner brothers, Dennis Schroder and others?
(We are aware this was not one sentence.)
#1 United States
One day, we'll all get old. We'll get together with our friends, we'll talk at the same time when we tell stories, we'll have a drink or two, we'll laugh, we'll exaggerate, we'll fail to remember some stuff, and we'll remember some other stuff we're not supposed to remember.
So you better bookmark this post right here, because one day you'll say you saw LeBron James and Steph Curry as teammates in highly competitive games, and your kids and grandchildren will tell you you've had one too many and it's time to go to bed.
But, you have evidence now. You saw it. We all saw it. The two greats born in the same hospital in Akron, Ohio finally joined forces - along with all the other superstars on this roster - to wash out the bitter taste of 2023 for USA Basketball.
That fact alone is already enough to make it a special summer. Does it mean they'll be on cruise control and win the Olympics easily? Of course not. But that 1992 v 2024 comparison isn't all that crazy.
Because this July and August, millions of kids and basketball fans around the world will get their stories to tell at future family gatherings or high school reunions.
The same kind of stories your parents and uncles still tell you of Barcelona 1992.
*The power rankings are entirely subjective and are in no way a true and accurate ranking system. All comments are purely those of the author.