It’s getting closer, as Canada’s ideal basketball summer is approaching week by week. Where it leads and how it all ends nobody knows, but it’s officially OK to allow some excitement to creep in.
It’s Canada, and its (men’s) basketball, so it’s never a bad idea to maintain a healthy dose of caution with your optimism, but at the very least things are trending positively.
How positively?
Jamal Murray, fresh off his NBA championship and a playoff run that put him in rare air among NBA greats, had five of the white-accented FIBA basketballs delivered to him at home in Kitchener this week. Murray will look to get his feel for the new ball dialled in before the men’s national team begins training camp on Aug. 1 in advance of the FIBA Basketball World Cup that begins on Aug. 25 in Indonesia, Philippines and Japan.
Even more positively?
He’ll be joined at the World Cup by a who’s who of the top men’s players from Canada according to the training camp roster that was unveiled Thursday during GLOBL JAM, the signature U23 men’s and women’s tournament underway at Mattamy Centre on campus at Toronto Metropolitan University.
It’s a remarkable group, easily the most pedigreed collection of Canadian men to ever represent Canada at a global event. The 18-deep training camp roster included 10 NBA players and eight more veterans of high-end professional leagues in Europe who also bring considerable FIBA experience.
It’s a mix of high-end talent and quality depth.
In addition to Murray who averaged 26.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists while shooting 40 per cent from three during Denver’s run to the championship, capping off the Kitchener guard’s remarkable comeback from a torn ACL that cost him all of the 2021-22 season, Canada has in their backcourt Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The six-foot-six point guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who joined Steve Nash as the only other Canadian to ever earn first-team all-NBA recognition, averaged 31.4 points, 5.5 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.0 blocks last season.
Together they could well form the best backcourt of any country at the World Cup, but they won’t have to carry the load alone.
Last spring, Canada Basketball introduced the concept of the ‘Summer Core,’ a list of 14 players who were willing to commit to representing Canada for three consecutive summers: last year during the summer World Cup qualifying window, this year at the World Cup and – if all goes to plan – next summer in Paris at the Olympics, where the Canadian men hope to make their first appearance since Nash led them to Sydney in 2000.
Of the 14 names who put their hand up a year ago, 13 will be in camp early next month, the only exception being San Antonio Spurs big man Khem Birch who has been beset by injuries in recent seasons.
All the vital pieces are expected to be in camp and travel to Indonesia: veteran big men Kelly Olynyk and Dwight Powell, wings Dillon Brooks, RJ Barrett and Lu Dort, and veteran guards Cory Joseph and Kevin Pangos.
No wonder Sacramento Kings assistant coach Jordi Fernandez jumped at the chance to take over as men’s national team head coach on short notice this month after Nick Nurse had to resign the position due to conflicts with his new role as head coach with the Philadelphia 76ers.
“This organization has the potential, right,” said Fernandez, who was on hand as Canada’s U23 men fell to a Team USA entry represented by the University of Kentucky, falling to 1-1 at GLOBL JAM and the Canadian women improved to 2-0 with a win over the University of Louisville. “You see all the talent, but it’s not just the talent, it’s all the people working in the organization and how it’s put together. It’s first class. I can compare it with a really, really good one, right? I’ve worked with the Spanish federation, and I can tell you, what’s being done here is first class.
“And then there’s the excitement and commitment of the players,” added Fernandez – who has previously been as assistant with the Spanish national team and the Nigerian national team. “I always say the same thing. We were successful in Spain [2022 European champions; 2019 World Cup gold; 2016 Olympic Bronze and a long list of success prior to that] because guys wanted to be there, you didn’t have to ask them to show up, and so far in my communication with the [Canadian] players it’s been really good. Guys are excited. Guys like Shai are already acting like connectors, they’re the ones calling their teammates. You can see that will be a good story.”
A Canadian men’s team playing to its potential would be a welcome one.
From 1972 to 1988 Canada was one of the better men’s programs in international basketball, qualifying annually for the World Championships and the Olympics, finishing fourth at the Olympics in 1976 and 1984 and sixth at the World Cup in 1978 and 1982. But since 1988 Canada has only qualified for one Olympic tournament (2000) and finished 21st and 22nd at the World Cup in 2019 and 2010 respectively, while failing to qualify in 2014.
While struggling internationally, Canadian players have been thriving professionally, with more players from Canada playing in the NBA than from any country other than the United States.
While the Canadian women’s program has found a way to leverage domestic talent at the peak of international competition, having qualified for three consecutive Olympics tournaments and finishing fourth at the 2022 World Cup, the men haven’t, often because they’ve rarely been able to get their best players on the floor at once due to professional commitments, contract issues or personal matters.
The upcoming World Cup is a chance to reverse a lot of those trends. Canada can qualify for the 2024 Olympics by finishing in the top-two of the seven teams from the Americas region that will be at the event.
It is the immediate goal and would put a bright spotlight on the men’s program and basketball in general in the buildup to Paris next summer.
But presuming that the players named to the training camp roster stay healthy and available when the team leaves for Europe and then Asia in early August, it’s reasonable to aim higher.
“We have a chance to go all the way to the top,” said Fernandez.
It’s summer, and for the first time in a while, fans of Canadian basketball can rightfully dream big.
