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Latest heartbreak pushes Canadian men’s Olympic dream out of reach again

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By on Sport
Latest heartbreak pushes Canadian men’s Olympic dream out of reach again

VICTORIA – The dream will have to wait until next year. Well, actually the year 2024.

That’s when the next summer Olympic Games will happen. They’re in Paris.

Canadian basketball fans and the Canadian men’s team will have no choice but to turn their attention to the future, because they aren’t going to Tokyo.

In yet another heartbreaking defeat by a program that provides them in volume, Canada fell to the Czech Republic 103-101 in overtime of the semifinal of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament held on their home court in Victoria.

The difference was a turnaround jumpshot off the back board after an expert defensive contest by Luguentz Dort with 1.8 seconds left. A wide-open baseline jumper from Trey Lyles on an out-of-bounds play from head coach Nick Nurse rattled in and out, and the 2020 Tokyo dream was dead.

That Canada made it to overtime was a minor miracle. They had to come back from down 10 with 57 seconds to play, which they did with a late flurry of threes and steals that culminated with an Andrew Wiggins triple with 11 seconds left to tie it.

The simplest analysis?

Canada couldn’t make a three-point shot when they needed one. There are plenty of other reasons – a lack of size, too many breakdowns by a team of players unfamiliar with each other and the FIBA game, maybe being overwhelmed by the moment in some cases.

But all of that could have been overcome with some timely shooting. Going 9-of-37 from deep in an elimination game will almost never cut it.

Canada also had some fourth-quarter momentum sapped by a controversial call with 3:09 to play when Lyles was called for unsportsmanlike foul on Czech’s Ondrej Balvin after Lyles’s arm seemed to inadvertently hit the big man in the head after trying to block his shot. The Czech got two free throws for the foul on the shot and two more for the unsportsmanlike call, and in an instant Canada was down nine after having clawed within five.

Canada didn’t quit, but they couldn’t make a shot either. Both Lu Dort and Nickeil Alexander-Walker missed wide-open looks with 30 seconds left that would have cut the gap to three, though somehow that didn’t matter.

The crowd – all 750 or so of them spread across the 7,500 seats of Save-on-Foods Memorial Arena – did its part, greeting Canada with roars when the team took the floor and making noise beyond their numbers by pounding on the empty seats in front of them whenever given a cause.

But they couldn’t will the ball in the basket for Canada. RJ Barrett led Canada with 23 points, Wiggins had 22 and Alexander-Walker had 21. Blake Schilb led the Czechs with 31 points as they shot 13-of-28 from three to complement their size advantage.

Canada was trailing 67-60 to start the fourth quarter, and that was good news given they had trailed 62-49 with 4:15 left in the third period as the Czech Republic tried to build on an eight-point halftime lead. Canada kept touch with a 9-0 run where Barrett figured prominently, pushing the ball in transition and finding teammates when there wasn’t an opportunity for himself. But a breakdown just before the horn where Canada got caught leaving the perimeter open while doubling in the post allowed Schilb an open three for the Czechs, and they kept a healthy lead to start the fourth quarter.

There was plenty of optimism before the ball went up. There was cautious optimism, and plenty of good feelings.

“I noticed something the first day these guys came together for camp, before we even got started when they just all kind of started getting together and I just noticed a kind of energetic reunion, a joyous reunion, these guys haven’t seen each other for a while,” said Nurse before the game. “And I thought it was interesting to see them come together just in the hallway when they were checking into the hotel.

“I thought there was something already going there as far as [team feeling]other than winning.”

But good feelings were harder to find once the ball went up. The first half was tense and had the feel of a game where every possession mattered and mattered deeply. It is why international basketball can be so intoxicating – the stakes are high and the competition pure.

Canada took some time to find its way, as had been their pattern so far in the tournament, and the signs of trouble were there early. The No. 12-ranked Czechs jumped out to a 15-8 lead as the leveraged their size advantage in the form of 7-1 Belvin, who was either able to cause problems in the paint or draw attention for open looks on the perimeter with Schilb the most common beneficiary. He knocked down three after three, in contrast to Canada, who couldn’t hit the water in the scenic nearby inner harbour from a boat.

Nurse called a quick timeout and Canada surged back. Again, there was a pattern, with most of their best opportunities coming in transition or early offence after transition. It was a Barrett drive setting a rare Dwight Powell three that tied the score 17-17 midway through the quarter and an Alexander-Walker jumper at the horn that saw Canada trail only 29-27 heading into the second period.

The early patterns persisted: Canada struggled in the half-court on offence and had a difficult time dealing with the Czechs’ post presence while also scrambling to find their shooters. Balvin and Vesely combined for five assists in the first half while the Czechs shot 6-of-12 from three with no one benefitting more than Schilb, who led all scorers with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

Canada stuck with it, and more often than not it was the ability to run off misses or turnovers that generated the best looks. Barrett in particular was aggressive in this respect, leading Canada with 12 points on seven shots, but was not getting much help.

A pair of defensive breakdowns turned into open threes before the half and the Czech Republic led 52-44 at the break.

Canada tried to close the gap for the rest of the game, and so often it looked like they would. But they could never quite get over the hump and their Olympic dreams are over for another three years.

The ‘golden generation’ might never get its moment.

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