GER - Nowitzki, Germany given hard draw in Greece

ATHENS (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - Germany and their superstar Dirk Nowitzki face a monumental task of reaching the Beijing Games following the draw for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens on Thursday.

With 12 teams competing for three places still up for grabs for China, only the two sides that reach the final and the team that wins the third place game will advance to Beijing.

The Germans were not drawn in a particularly hard pool, landing in Group B with Cape Verde and New Zealand, but their next game is likely to come against Brazil or Greece.

The Greeks and Brazilians are in Group A with Lebanon and will be favored to advance to the quarter-finals.

"Greece of course is tournament top favourite with the home advantage," said Germany coach Dirk Bauermann.

"So it should be our goal to finish first in the group and avoid the Greeks.

"Our opponent in the quarter-final would then be probably Brazil, which can be a very difficult task if they have their three NBA players there."

Greece are one of the true powerhouses in the world game.

They captured gold at EuroBasket 2005 in Belgrade, beating Germany in the title game, and also defeated Team USA in the semi-finals of the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

But Greece’s superstar point guard Theo Papaloukas said immediately after Thursday's draw: "The draw was okay, but that doesn't mean anything whether we are going to qualify or not.

"We are not taking anything for granted. We have to play very seriously.”

What is obvious is that Greece, one of the best supported national teams, will have a huge advantage with the home crowd, so Germany will be hoping they can avoid them in the last eight.

"We have a great weapon,” Papaloukas said.

“The Olympic tournament is taking place in Athens and we will for sure have the support of our fans at this tournament because we know the Greek fans will be behind the team.

"But I repeat - we will not take anything for granted. When something is done in sport, you have to play the game."

The Greeks have another advantage as well.

"It's good that the tournament is in Athens," Papaloukas said.

"I must repeat that for us, the Greeks, it's very important that after a tough year for all of us, we won't have to travel abroad to try and qualify."

In Group C are Canada, Korea and Slovenia, while in Group D are Cameroon, Croatia and Puerto Rico.

Canada finished fifth at the FIBA Americas Championship in Las Vegas last year, and one of their players, Olumuyiwa Famutimi, says it's crucial they are firmly focused when they arrive in Greece.

"We would like to qualify for the Olympics," he said on Thursday.

"We know we've got to be a team in order to go to the Olympics – it’s not going to be easy.

"So we need to get together and be a good team."

Croatia will be aware they had better not relax in Group D. Cameroon are an emerging force and are hugely talented, something they showed when finishing second to Angola at the FIBA Africa Championship last year.

Puerto Rico have traditionally done well in international competition (they upset Team USA on the first day of the Athens Games) and played at the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

FIBA