Today's Featured Team: Serbia

Serbia is currently ranked 5th by FIBA. With the departure of head coach Zoran Slavnic, and the recent hiring of legendary coach Dusan Ivkovic, the future for Serbian basketball looks very bright. However, the same cannot be said about the present. Serbia has had its share of problems, mainly the fact they they didn't win a single game at Eurobasket, leaving them out of the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which in turn, leaves them out of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. "This is an Olympic year, a bit sad for us, known across the world as a basketball land, since we won't have a basketball team in Beijing," said Coach Ivkovic. The main reason for the disappointing finish at Eurobasket was the absense of many players, including NBA players Nenad Krstic, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Peja Stojakovic. Marko Jaric and Darko Milicic were left leading a team that was simply outmatched against the top European teams. The 2008 Beijing Olympics will make for a painful summer for Serbian fans. But rest assured, the future looks bright.

Nine teams qualify for 2008 Beijing Olympics

1. Spain- 2006 World Championships winner
2. Angola- 2007 FIBA Africa Winner
3. USA- 2007 FIBA America's winner
4. Argentina- 2007 FIBA America's 2nd place
5. Iran- 2007 FIBA Asia winner
6. Australia- 2007 FIBA Oceania winner
7. Russia- 2007 Eurobasket winner
8. Lithuania*- 2007 Eurobasket 3rd place
9. China- Host country gets automatic bid

*Spain (2nd place) had already earned a birth in the Olympics, giving Lithuania(3rd place) an automatic bid

The biggest surprise among these nine teams has to be Russia. With a shocking win over Spain to take first at the Eurobasket, Russia has many people wondering whether they are contenders, or pretenders. Of course the Olympics is a whole new atmosphere, only time will tell if Russia has what it takes to contend. The Olympics will consist of 12 teams. The Final 3 Olympic births will be awarded at the World Qualifying Tournament in mid-July of 2008. The teams most likely to contend for these final three spots are Greece, Germany, Puerto Rico, Slovenia, Croatia, and Brazil.