Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena Likely To Host Olympic Basketball Qualifier

Melbourne will host the Australian Boomers and Opals' Rio Olympic qualification home games on Aug. 15, with Rod Laver Arena the "likely venue," according to Roy Ward of THE AGE. Both teams will face New Zealand in the Oceania Championships with the winners "booking passage to Rio and the runners-up forced into a FIBA qualifying tournament on the eve of the Olympics." Basketball New Zealand "confirmed the game dates" on Tuesday with both the men's and women's matches scheduled for Melbourne on Aug. 15, followed by the return legs "booked separately in New Zealand with Tauranga hosting the Opals v Tall Ferns second leg" on Aug. 17 and then TSB Arena in Wellington hosting the Boomers vs. Tall Blacks second leg on Aug. 18. Basketball Australia has yet to confirm the venue for the home leg but Rod Laver Arena is "believed to have been booked for a double-header as the men's game could contain as many as seven NBA players" (THE AGE, 4/7).