Canada appears to be like to exorcise demons in Victoria for FIBA World Cup qualifying – A-Z Eventz

VICTORIA – The reminiscences are nonetheless contemporary.

It’s been simply over a yr for the reason that Canadian males’s nationwide crew was camped out on Vancouver Island with an enormous sport to win over a top quality worldwide opponent.

It offered one of the thrilling and in the end exasperating sequence of occasions in latest Canadian hoops historical past.

In the semi-finals of the last-chance Olympic Qualifying Tournament Canada stormed again from down 9 factors with 44 seconds to play in a must-win semi-final in opposition to the Czech Republic. An Andrew Wiggins three on the buzzer despatched the sport into time beyond regulation and early within the five-minute further interval Canada was up by 5.

But issues unravelled from there and Canada was in the end eradicated by a tightly contested, banked-in jumper that Tomas Satoransky hit over the out-stretched fingers of Lu Dort. A Trey Lyles jumper on the buzzer to tie rimmed out and in, and Canada’s Olympic goals had been placed on ice once more.

But hope springs anew.

The nationwide crew is again in Victoria for an enormous summer season sport once more, on this occasion internet hosting Argentina on the Save Foods Centre on Thursday. The contest marks the start of the second spherical of qualifying for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, which is itself an essential qualifier for the 2024 Olympics, a stage the Canadian males have appeared on simply as soon as since 1988.

But the frustration in opposition to the Czechs and different close to misses previous to which have fueled the lads’s program, with head coach Nick Nurse and normal supervisor Rowan Barrett securing three-year commitments from ‘summer core’ of 14 gamers with an eye fixed in the direction of constructing chemistry and continuity on the highway – hopefully – to the Olympics in Paris two years from now.

Still, in relation to the lads’s program, we stay within the ‘exorcising the demons’ section.

“The First thing that comes to mind [about last summer] is it was not the outcome that we wanted,” stated nationwide crew veteran Dwight Powell. “And additionally exterior of simply not getting to completely sort of benefit from the metropolis on that journey. We had been totally remoted [FIBA mandated a ‘bubble’ format to minimize COVID risks leading into the Olympics]. So it’s good to be again on this capability and hopefully, we will give you a greater consequence.

There is nice cause for optimism, not solely will Canada be taking part in in entrance of some followers – as a result of COVID restrictions solely family and friends had been permitted to look at the sport stay final yr – however Canada completed the primary stage of qualifying as the one crew within the Americas with to have an ideal 6-0 file and their +198-point differential led all 16 rivals.

The exams get stiffer from right here, with the 12 remaining groups cut up into teams of six. The prime three in every group advance to the World Cup, together with the fourth-place crew with the most effective file.

Thanks to their play up to now, Canada is sort of assured of advancing. They might even safe their spot within the window this week, offering they win their sport in opposition to Argentina on Thursday and in opposition to Panama in Panama City on Monday, and the Dominican Republic lose their video games in opposition to Panama and Venezuela, respectively.

Regardless, this system is tantalizingly near reserving its spot within the World Cup.

But Canada – at present ranked 18th on the planet — has larger targets. Advancing to the Olympics requires a powerful consequence on the World Cup, and that course of is aided significantly by stronger seeding positions, so each win counts.

Because world rankings mirror outcomes courting again eight years, they don’t all the time mirror the standard of the present rosters. For instance, seventh-ranked Argentina will not be the identical facet that then 39-year-old former Raptor Luis Scola led to a silver medal on the 2019 World Cup, or a seventh-place end on the Olympics in Japan final summer season at 41.

But even whereas turning over to a younger group, Argentina has gone 5-1 in qualifying thus far and figures to be Canada’s hardest sport but.

It was these sorts of moments that inspired Canada to call a ‘summer core’ within the first place.

Internally, there’s a perception that a few of their efforts are starting to bear fruit. After two blowout wins over the Dominican Republic and Virgin Islands in early July, Nurse is returning all 5 of his starters from these video games: NBA regulars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Powell, and Kelly Olynyk are all in camp together with long-time European professional Melvin Ejim.

All seven members of the 14-player ‘summer core’ are anticipated to play, with large man Zach Edey and veteran guard Kevin Pangos additionally readily available. The standing of Cory Joseph is unsure – he’s in Victoria however was held off form Monday as a precaution. Also, sharp-shooting large man Kyle Wiltjer, who initially accepted an invite to camp didn’t make the journey.

Most of the opposite gamers from July window are in Victoria additionally.

After two practices on the University of Victoria on Monday, the continuity is obvious.

“You do notice that they’re ahead of where they were, I think it’s really noticeable,” stated Nurse. “ They know, all our terms, all our sets, all our coverages, well, they don’t remember maybe all of them exactly, but just one quick reminder and then it kind of clicks back in. And that’s the case for the majority of the guys — not all of them — but for the majority of them. So it’s been good. It [was] been a fast day one for sure.”

It’s a degree of cohesion not all the time in place for the nationwide crew.

“The continuity is huge,” says Powell. “I mean, we can skip through a whole bunch of time get right to picking up sets and learning how we play with each other and everyone’s tendencies. We’re already in the mix, running plays. We know our offense, we know our defense. There’ some stuff to brush up on and refresh but at the end of the day we have a feel for what we’re doing so we kind of get right into the action and preparing for competition, which I think is a huge advantage that I think a lot of countries have had, is having that continuity year after year, so not only being able to have that continuity over the last couple of years but over this summer is huge.”

The hope is that may all assist Canada take a long-awaited large step ahead on the worldwide stage, beginning by selecting up from the place they left off in Victoria a summer season in the past.

“I think that it was a crazy game, right?” says Nurse, trying again on the final sport he coached right here. “And I believe we hung in there and gave ourselves an opportunity to win and possibly a pair possessions within the time beyond regulation we might have taken that factor out to perhaps six, seven or eight factors, which perhaps would have been sufficient, however we didn’t, and we additionally had alternatives to get a cease and a rating on the finish, and we didn’t.

“[But] that’s pretty much history for me,” says Nurse. “I’m kind of happy with the progress we’ve made. This is as big game as it gets so far in this competition, and we need to play we need to play better than we did last summer.”