Australia joined the U.S. and Brazil in the Rio 2016 Olympic men’s basketball tournament by sweeping New Zealand in a home-and-home series.
The Aussies will play in their 12th straight Olympic basketball tournament in 2016, an active record among all nations. They’ve never earned an Olympic medal, finishing fourth in Seoul 1988, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000. The Australian women earned silver or bronze medals at the last five Olympics and qualified for Rio on Monday.
The Australian team in Rio could be led by NBA center Andrew Bogut and guards Matthew Dellavedova and Patty Mills. All three played in the New Zealand series.
A total of 12 teams will be in the Rio 2016 tournament. The next six teams will qualify over the next two months -- the African champion, Asian champion and the finalists from the Americas and European qualifying tournaments.
The final three teams will qualify from global last-chance qualifiers next summer.
