Today's Featured Team: Brazil

Brazil is currently ranked 18th by FIBA. Many fans feel that Brazil is a much better team than their rankings indicates. For the most part, they are a young team that's just going to get better. They are led by speedy guard Leandro Barbosa(Phoenix Suns) and Nené (Denver Nuggets). They also have Anderson Varejâo(Cleavland Cavaliers), a hard nosed and hardworking post player. For those that don't know...hes the energetic guy with the crazy hair that plays for the cavs. Former Gonzaga standout J.P. Batista(Lietuvos Rytas) is also a key player for them. I might have a bit of a biased opinion being that I'm a big Gonzaga fan...but I think he's good enough to play for a lot of teams in the NBA. With these players alone, they have four legitimiate players capable of competing with any country. However, their is a big talent drop off after these guys. Brazil hasn't participated in the Olympics since 1996, when they took 6th place. In order to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, they must place in the top three at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament which takes place in mid-July.

Olympic Qualifying Tournament draw set for January 31st

The draw for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament is set to take place on January 31st, in Athens Greece. In the tournament, twelve teams will compete to earn one of the three remaining bids to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. These teams will be split up into four groups, each with three teams. It will be poll play with the top two teams from each poll advancing to the tournament round. The teams competing in the tournament are: Cameron, Cape Verde, Puerto Rico, Lebanon, Korea, Brazil, Canada, Greece, Croatia, Germany, New Zealand, and Slovenia.