Brazil name Varejao, Huertas and Neto in OQT preliminary squad
MIES (Switzerland) - Aleksandar Petrovic, hoping to engineer another famous run by coaching Brazil to glory at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in his native Croatia, has named his preliminary squad.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil) - Aleksandar Petrovic, looking to engineer another famous FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament run by coaching Brazil in his native Croatia to a spot in the Tokyo Games, has named a host of veterans in a 25-man squad.
Long-time national team stars Anderson Varejao, Marcelinho Huertas, Marquinhos and Alex Garcia, and Basketball Champions League Final Eight MVP Vitor Benite, are headline names on the wider list of candidates to play in Split, where the OQT will be played from June 29 to July 4.
All five players possess a bevy of Olympic and FIBA Basketball World Cup experience.
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Another player named that raises eyebrows is veteran Raul Neto who hasn't played for his country since the Olympics five years ago but has a wealth of national team experience. He featured for Brazil at the FIBA Basketball World Cups in 2010 and 2014, and at the Olympics in 2012 and 2016.
The 28-year-old has enjoyed his most productive campaign in the NBA this season, his first with the Washington Wizards, averaging 8.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
| Brazil's 25 candidates for FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament | ||||
| Anderson Varejao | Augusto Lima | Alexey Borges | Alex Garcia | Bruno Caboclo |
| Cristiano Felício | Caio Pacheco | Didi Louzada | Guilherme Santos | George de Paula |
| Jhonatan Luz | Lucas Dias | Lucas Mariano | Leo Demétrio | Leo Meindl |
| Marcio Henrique | Marquinhos | Marcelinho Huertas | Raul Neto | Rafael Luz |
| Rafael Hetsheimeir | Rafael Mineiro | Scott Machado | Vitor Benite | Yago dos Santos |
Among the younger guard in the preliminary squad, players that have shown tremendous promise, are Yago dos Santos, Caio Pacheco, Gui Santos, Didi Louzada, Marcio Henrique and George de Paula.
Brazil fans will be hoping that Petrovic works the same magic that got Croatia to the Rio Olympics five years ago. He coached the team to the OQT title in Turin, Italy. He appeared to be doing just that at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China after steering Brazil to victories over New Zealand, Greece and Montenegro in their first three games, but they fell to the Czech Republic in their next outing and ended up not advancing to the Quarter-Finals.
At the OQT in Split, Brazil will go up against Petrovic's former team, Croatia, and Tunisia in Group B, while in Group A will be Germany, Russia and Mexico. The two sides that finish top of each group will advance to the Semi-Finals.
Only the winner of the Final on July 4 will advance to the Tokyo Games. The other OQTs are being played in Canada, Lithuania and Serbia.
Spain, Argentina, France, Australia, USA, Iran, Nigeria and Japan are already in the Olympic field.
FIBA