CANADA: Boys 2 Men

With as many as eight players on the National Team roster with three years of professional experience or less, the Canadians are looking to peak for the 2012 Olympics. Will this young and hard working team be able sneak up on the competition and qualify for the 2008 Beijing Games?

The Canadian National Team program was mired in disappointment after failing to reach the 2004 Olympics in Athens. With Steve Nash, a two-time NBA MVP, essentially retired from international basketball and eight other Canada veterans having called it quits as well, newly-appointed head coach Leo Rautins set about rebuilding the program.

In 2005, the Canadians mustered one win and finished ninth out of 10 teams at the FIBA Americas Championship, thus failing to qualify for the FIBA World Championship for the first time since the late sixties. The disappointment was so great that some called for Rautins to be dismissed. Patience prevailed, however, and Team Canada made a commitment to developing young players. The outcome has been that there is now a very strong core of youngsters to compete on the international stage. In North America, Canadian players have been contributing at NCAA schools and gaining invaluable experience. That was evident at the FIBA U21 World Championship in Argentina in 2005 where Canada defeated the United States 93-90 in the quarter-finals before ultimately beating Australia 79-74 in the bronze medal game. It marked the first time a Canadian team had reached the podium in a major men's FIBA competition, and also created some momentum for a program that sorely needed it.

At the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship in Las Vegas, knowing that the United States and probably Argentina would grab the two places up for grabs for Beijing, the Canadians set their sights on beating Brazil and Puerto Rico and hoped to get into the semi-finals. While that didn't happen, Rautins' men were able to dispose of Venezuela, the US Virgin Islands, Uruguay and Mexico to grab the fifth and final place for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

A tremendous lift to the program before Vegas occurred early in the summer when Samuel Dalembert of the Philadelphia 76ers finally received his Canadian citizenship. Opposing teams did not know what to expect since Dalembert had not played for the National Team before, and a young Canadian squad grew in confidence with the addition of an NBA post player. He ended up averaging 10.6 points, and his 9.4 rebounds per game ranked fourth best in the competition.

What must not be overlooked is the job Rautins has done with young players who had very little experience. The average age of the team that played in Las Vegas was just 24.7 years, while eight players on the roster had less than three years of professional experience. In fact, four players were still playing basketball at their universities.
 
This year's team could be bolstered by 6ft 9in low post player Joel Anthony, who played 24 games this past year with the Miami Heat. On the perimeter, the Canadians have a revolving door of long and athletic wing players that can give opponents problems with their length. All of them, however, are relatively inexperienced on the international scene, and none has really been able to rise to the occasion to be that consistent perimeter scorer that Canada needs. Up front, Canada has a couple of bodies who are willing to bang, but no true low post threat that can get them a basket down low when they need one. And then of course, there is the obvious lack of depth at the point. After Jermaine Anderson, there is no true point guard in the Canadian system with any significant international experience. Somewhere in the mix they have to find another playmaker to take the pressure off Anderson.

There are 12 teams vying for three places for the Beijing Games and for Canada to be one of them, they will have to finish first or second in their group which also includes Slovenia and Korea, and then win a quarter-final against Croatia, Puerto Rico or Cameroon. Rautins' team would then advance to Beijing by prevailing in a semi-final and if not, they could still claim a place by finishing third. Even if they do not qualify, the future looks bright for Team Canada.

How did they get here?
2007 FIBA Americas Championship
5th Place (4 W - 4 L)

Results
1st round

Aug-22nd 2007   
Brazil b. Canada    75-67

Aug-23rd 2007   
Canada b. Venezuela    80-73

Aug-24th 2007   
Canada b. Virgin Islands    93-83

Aug-25th 2007   
United States b. Canada    113-63

2nd round
Aug-27th 2007   
Canada b. Uruguay    95-88

Aug-28th 2007   
Argentina b. Canada    85-70

Aug-29th 2007   
Canada b. Mexico    97-80

Aug-30th 2007   
Puerto Rico b. Canada    72-66