MANILA, Philippines — Canada’s men’s basketball team saw its dreams of playing in the Rio Olympics dashed once again.
The Canadians lost 83-74 to France in Sunday’s heartbreaking final of FIBA’s last-chance Olympic qualifying tournament.
Now Canada must wait until the 2020 Tokyo Games, a full 20 years after the men’s last Olympic appearance — in 2000 in Sydney.
"We’re a young team, and hopefully we learn and grow from this," said head coach Jay Triano. "I’m very proud of my team, the way that we fought, not just this game, but the whole tournament, throughout the summer."
Toronto Raptors guard Cory Joseph had 20 points and six assists to lead a Canadian side missing some star power — former NBA rookie of the year Andrew Wiggins opted to skip the tournament, while others, such as Jamal Murray, were tied up with NBA commitments.
"I keep Canada close to my heart, so whenever I get a chance I’m honoured to play for them, and I try to go out there and leave it all on the court," Joseph said. "Playing for Canada, we have a great coaching staff, so I’m still working on my game, still getting better, and there’s no better competition you’ll get in the world in the summertime than playing."
Melvin Ejim added 19 points, while Tristan Thompson, fresh off an NBA championship victory with the Cleveland Cavaliers, had a team-high seven rebounds.
Tony Parker, Joseph’s former San Antonio Spurs teammate, topped France with 26 points.
Canada fielded the youngest team in the tournament, which bodes well, Triano said, for the future.
"Being the youngest team here is a good growing experience for us. We’re going to keep getting better, we’ve got some great talent, and I definitely appreciate the sacrifices our players made," Triano said. "It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get a win and have these guys be rewarded by becoming Olympians."
Triano credited Joseph and Thompson for playing after both went deep into in the NBA playoffs.
"It means a lot for our country," he said.
Canada trailed by five points going into the fourth quarter of a fierce back-and-forth battle.
Parker drilled a three-pointer with five-and-a-half minutes to play to put France up by eight points, but an Anthony Bennett three and a bucket from Tyler Ennis pulled the Canadians to within three points.
Parker hit a dagger three-pointer with just over two minutes to play, however, that stretched the gap to six points. The deficit proved too big for the Canadians to overcome, and they were left watching the French celebrate clinching the very last Olympic berth.
"We battled hard, I thought at the end Tony got it going," Joseph said. "We weren’t able to get it done. We fought hard and I’m proud of my guys."
Triano coached Canada’s 2000 Olympic team, on which Steve Nash — now the Canadian team general manager — was the star.
"We’re obviously all heart-broken, and disappointed but very proud of the guys, the staff and everyone involved," Nash said. "I thought we acquitted ourselves well even if we didn’t reach our goal of the Olympics this cycle."
The two-time NBA MVP said the depth and talent of Canada’s pool of young players is a huge plus for the future. The one area that needs improving is shooting.
Otherwise, Nash said, "it’s experience and it’s a matter of our guys continuing to grow, not only in their careers away from the international game, but also playing for their country. The next time this group gets together, they’ll be a much different, older group. I think we’ve developed at an alarming rate, and the project is moving in the right direction."
Canada held a 35-26 rebounding edge over France, and also shot 51 per cent from the field, to France’s 49.
France raced out to a 30-25 first-quarter lead. A Boris Diaw three-pointer at the buzzer sent the French into the dressing room at halftime with a 39-36 lead.
France opened up an 11-point gap in the third quarter, but the Canadians had pulled to within 56-51 with one quarter to play.
Canada had knocked off New Zealand 78-72 in Saturday’s semifinals.
