NFL
By: Greg Rector
I have mentioned often in the Team NBS DM rooms how good Team Canada was going to be not just at the FIBA World Cup but at the 2024 Olympics as well. So far so good For Team Canada. First off they handled Team France beating them by 30 points 95-65 and then they handed Lebanon a 128-73 beat down.
Team Canada:
The First team in FIBA World Cup history to record 40+ assists in a game. pic.twitter.com/cjylAdAmWI
— StatMuse (@statmuse) August 27, 2023
This group of athletes has come together without Jamal Murray and a new head coach in Jordi Fernandez after Nick Nurse was let go.
Team Canada
Shae Gilgeous-Alexander has been the leader on and off the court for Team Canada. The young man is simply putting up numbers that real leaders provide. Seven NBA veterans are on Team Canada the most of any country outside of Australia and the United States. His cousin and backcourt partner is Nickeil Alexander -Walker who has also shone brightly for Team Canada.
As RJ Barrett said at the time Fernadez was hired to be the new head coach “He’s steeped in FIBA, right? As he grew up, he’s Spanish, he understands this game very, very well — the FIBA game,” Barrett added about what made Fernandez the right fit for Canada Basketball at this time. “He’s gonna understand the officiating, he’s going to understand the other teams, the systems they’ve learned, he’s going to understand those countries, those nations.”
The FIBA game is different from the NBA and it’s something Team Canada understands very well. They have feasted on the different styles of play and when you understand the differences between the two styles of play the way Team Canada has done you’re going to succeed.
Most important for me has been the play of the NBA bad boy Dillon Brooks. Fernandez and his teammates seem to have gotten Dillon Brooks to stick to playing basketball. There’s been no stunts by Brooks and he has looked really good in his minutes thus far.
Team Canada got up a DOMINATING performance in the #2023FIBAWorldCup 128-73 win vs. Team Lebanon
RJ Barret: 17 PTS, 7-of-12 FG, 3-of-6 3PT
Kelly Olynyk: 12 PTS, 5-of-6 FG, 8 REB, 5 AST
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 12 PTS, 5 REB, 5-of-8 FG
Dillon Brooks: 10 PTS, 4-of-5 FG pic.twitter.com/lR7GAbvizr
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 27, 2023
Kelly Olynyk often criticized for his play in the NBA has been a godsend for Team Canada as well. Those 5 assists were highlighted when he found RJ Barrett going to the basket and he piped a beautiful pass right into Barrett that went for a beautiful dunk.
When you can have a game where nine of your players hit double figures in scoring that’s always a really good sign of where your team is.
The 2024 Olympics
By finishing as one of the top two teams from the America’s Group at the FIBA World Cup Team Canada will qualify for the 2024 Olympics for the first time since the 2000 Olympics. The success of Team Canada is thanks to the work put in by RJ Barrett’s father Rowan who is the team manager. He has gotten enough of the NBA guys to buy into Team Canada and their goals.
Add Jamal Murray to this Team Canada roster and you can see why Canadians are excited for this team. Now I’m not saying Team Canada is going to beat the United States either here or at the Olympics, but they can certainly play against any country with this group.
It’s the team defense that impresses me the most so far at the FIBA World Cup. The tenacious defense that these players are all known for in the NBA is still very much alive even without defensive guru Nick Nurse being the head coach.
Jordi Fernandez has done a masterful job working with this group so far and you can see why he was chosen as the head coach after his interview with the Toronto Raptors went well enough for him to get this new job.
Dear Team United States;
Don’t forget about your neighbors to the north in basketball anymore. You might end up regretting that option.
