ATHENS (2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments) - Even the longest voyage starts with the first step. Greece coach Fotis Katsikaris, who dreams of leading his team all the way to Rio 2016, was hoping that the first stage of their potential transatlantic trip would be really short.

In that respect, he got his wish on Tuesday as the Greeks were drawn in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Turin, Italy. Greece will do battle with Mexico and Iran in Group A with potential match-ups to follow against Group B sides Tunisia, Croatia and Italy.

Katsikaris insists that, with approximately five months remaining until Greece's opening game against Iran on 4 July, he is more interested in the destination than the names of opponents.

We were expecting the draw mainly so that we know the country where we are going to compete for the qualification to the Olympic Games, the competition which is the dream of every sportsman. - Katsikaris

As for the difficulty in winning games, Katsikaris knows nothing will be given to his team. Every side that plays in Italy will harbor the notion of reaching Brazil.

"In terms of the challenges the OQT presents and the difficulty the opponents pose, the draw could not change much," he said. "Only the winner of each OQT goes through [to the Olympics], so it was a given that there will be tough opponents in any group and that you have to defeat almost all of them in order to achieve your aim."

If Lady Luck smiled on Greece by sending them to Turin, Katsikaris hopes she will continue to do the same up to the time that he and his players board the plane for the short trip to Italy.

"Our first issue is that preparation for the tournament will be an express procedure, with players barely having time to rest and clear their minds after their club season concludes," he said. "During that short period, we will have to decide which players are available to play and feel in good condition. It is obvious that luck will play a major role there. We hope that conditions will go our way and we will arrive at training camp healthy, focused and at full strength."

Unforeseen factors aside, Katsikaris plans for Greece to make their own luck. They looked to be doing just that at the EuroBasket last year while goinging unbeaten until falling to Spain in the Quarter-Finals. They had needed to reach the Final to claim a direct ticket to Rio.

It was a similar story the year before at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. Greece won all of their Group Phase games but then crashed to a heavy Round of 16 defeat to Serbia in the Round of 16.

Katsikaris says continuity in the squad should help.  believes his team have some advantages in their effort to punch their ticket to the fourth Olympic Basketball Tournament in the nation's history, following Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.

"It is very positive that we will be together for a third consecutive year," he pointed out. "The core will be similar. We know everybody's way of thinking and what is expected from us. We won't need to spend time just getting to know each other. Playing the OQT in a nearby country also gives us at least a little bit more time in training camp. On the other hand, the host country [Italy] is to field a very strong team."

But we need to be cautious because evaluating which team is strong and which team is less so would only be a theoretical exercise until we know their final rosters and what condition the players they bring over will be in. - Katsikaris

FIBA