Games like this are what you go to the Olympics for.
Sure, the Canadian men’s national basketball team opened its tournament against Greece on Saturday, surviving Giannis Antetokounmpo’s physical barrage, pocketing the win. It wasn’t a perfect effort and Greece – outside the danger posed by Antetokounmpo – isn’t a measuring-stick type of opponent.
Greece is a good team that a better team has to beat if it has dreams of a medal, and Canada did just that.
But on Tuesday afternoon in Lille, France, there was a tougher foe – Australia. It is a program perhaps not as storied as Spain over the decades, maybe lacking the hoops-mad identity of Serbia or the top-to-bottom quality of the Argentina teams that were constant podium threats for the better part of 20 years during the reign of Luis Scola, but one that has all the ingredients of a top international side.
The Aussies have talent, rolling out nine current NBA players. They have experience, as the core of this team won Olympic bronze in Tokyo in 2021 and finished fourth at the World Cup in 2019. And they have expectations, having advanced out of the group stage in every Olympic competition since 2008. They are deep enough that program veterans Joe Ingles and Matthew Dellavedova – each with oodles of NBA and international experience in their own right – didn’t even see the floor on Tuesday.
In other words, Australia represents both a program Canada can aspire to emulate – a fixture at global competitions and a routine podium threat – and an obstacle to its own ambitions.
For all of Canada’s promise and even its recent success such as its bronze medal at the FIBA Basketball World Cup last summer, winning crucial games against quality opponents like The Boomers will mark Canada’s transformation from an international basketball power on paper to the real thing.
Well, after 40 hard-fought minutes against the world’s fifth-ranked team, it’s getting harder and harder for anyone to ignore that Canada’s arrival as one of the world’s best is very much a real thing in its first Olympic appearance in 24 years.
Canada was simply better in a 93-83 win over Australia that should be preserved under glass to show what it looks like when an excellent team playing a tough, sound game incrementally pulls away from a very good team that was also playing well.
This wasn’t Canada overwhelming its opposition with a dominant single performance, or Australia falling short because it didn’t execute or a key player or two didn’t have it.
Instead, with each team playing a high-stakes game at the highest levels of international basketball, the red-and-white showed up and balled out, with the result being Canada establishing themselves as a clear medal favourite and all but clinching a spot in the quarterfinals.
Once again, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was near flawless as he finished with 16 points, four rebounds and three assists on 8-of-10 shooting despite having to sit for eight minutes in the first quarter after picking up two quick fouls, a big reason why Australia led 28-26 after the first quarter and 49-45 at half. The other reason for Australia’s early advantage was a masterful opening half from Josh Giddey. The big Australian guard – Gilgeous-Alexander’s teammate for three seasons with Oklahoma City before being traded to Chicago this summer – delivered 15 points, four rebounds and three assists in 15 minutes as Canada initially struggled to contain him off the dribble or threaten him at the rim.
But Canada has shown definitively that it is far from a one-man team, as special as Gilgeous-Alexander has proven himself to be.
When Canada finally took control of the game with a 9-0 run midway through the fourth quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander was mostly a bystander. Instead, it was a lay-up by Khem Birch, who came into the tournament as Canada’s fourth big but is working his way up the depth chart with his athleticism and effort plays; a step-back jumper by Dillon Brooks, a three-pointer by RJ Barrett and a pull-up jumper by Jamal Murray that gave Canada the edge it needed.
Barrett, in particular, has been superb through two games, as the Toronto Raptors guard/forward led Canada with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting while adding seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. He forced nothing and his patience paid off as he found his teammates as a matter of routine, such as a clever bullet pass to Birch against Australian pressure for another bucket that kept Canada’s lead at 11 with 3:15 left.
But as good as Barrett was and has been through two games now as Canada’s leading scorer, and as well as everything works with Gilgeous-Alexander is on the floor, do they win by double figures without Lu Dort’s defensive playmaking and timely offence?
It’s hard to imagine. The burly Montrealer finished with 11 points and three steals and contributed the signature play of the game as he simply tore the ball from the hands of Giddey just before halftime and went the length of the floor for a dunk. Coincidence or not, Giddey seemed to falter after that.
Similarly, Brooks gave Giddey the business for long stretches as well while continuing his efficient play on offence, as has been his habit playing for Canada. Brooks finished with 16 points on nine shots.
Not surprisingly, when your two best defenders combine for 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting, they’re going to look good in the plus/minus stats, and for the second straight game Dort and Brooks led Canada in that category. Through two games, the bash brothers are a combined +88 in 76 minutes of floor time against two quality opponents.
Most encouragingly?
You don’t have to look too hard to see that Canada still has some upside.
Jamal Murray was a shadow of himself in the opener against Greece and five points in 23 minutes may not be the contribution that might have been expected from the Denver Nuggets star on Tuesday given his pedigree, but he had five assists without a turnover and helped anchor things when Gilgeous-Alexander was off the floor. He was noticeably sharper in his movements, was quick to loose balls and looked more determined offensively.
As well, he did all of that without trying to force anything or taking anything away from Gilgeous-Alexander when they did share the floor. With two days off and a game against Spain on Friday that should allow for some experimentation by head coach Jordi Fernandez and then three more off days before the quarterfinals on Aug. 6, it’s not hard to see Murray beginning to hit stride when the games matter most.
Elite talent, team cohesion and quality depth is a very tough combination to beat in international basketball.
After being on the outside looking in for decades, Canada has shown it has the kind of program that can bring those qualities to the table when the games matter most.
The way this Olympic tournament is going, the stakes will only get higher from here, and all things considered you have to like Canada’s chances.
Here are some takeaways from Tuesday’s game:
To the point
One of the interesting sub-plots for the match-up was the first competitive meeting between the two teams’ star point guards, Giddey for Australia and Canada’s Gilgeous-Alexander, who shared the backcourt in Oklahoma City for three seasons while playing alongside Dort.
It was never an ideal situation, Giddey is at his best when he has the ball, using his size and uncanny court vision to make plays for his teammates. But in OKC, the ball was inevitably and justifiably in Gilgeous-Alexander’s hands, which both left Giddey – a poor shooter, typically – in an uncomfortable role as an off-ball spacer and slasher, and left Gilgeous-Alexander hemmed in at times as defences played off Giddey to have another set of eyes on the Canadian star.
Something had to give, and it happened this summer as the Thunder traded Giddey to the Chicago Bulls for Alex Caruso, a floor-spacing, low-usage wing who is one of the NBA’s best defenders.
You can see Giddey’s potential as a primary ball-handler, however. He was masterful in the first half, posting 15 points, four rebounds and three assists in 15 minutes. A big turning point in the game was that Canada was able to blunt his impact in the second half, limiting the six-foot-eight guard to four points and four assists in 13 minutes, with a lot of the credit going to Dort.
Birch steps up
Coming into training camp it was hard to know what to make of Birch’s chances to make the Olympic roster. He was part of the ‘summer core’ but hadn’t been able to play in World Cup qualifying two summers ago or the World Cup itself last summer due to injury.
Would he even be on the roster if Zach Edey hadn’t bowed out to prepare for his rookie NBA season? Hard to know, but Birch’s value was evident against Australia. His athleticism pops at both ends and his defensive instincts are excellent. He played only eight minutes but could have easily had more than the six points he did have if a couple of bunnies dropped.
The former Rpator had some great sequences as Canada was taking control of the game down the stretch of the fourth such as when he turned Jock Landale (16 points and 12 rebounds) away at the rim and then somehow materialized to contest Dante Exum on a corner three, earning a turnover as the Australian guard ended up stepping out of bounds.
He saved another bucket when he knocked a Giddey lay-up attempt off the rim, a classic FIBA play. He played more minutes that Trey Lyles and Kelly Olynyk, and if he continues to provide his simple blend of rim protection and steady hands on offence, Birch might end up eating into Dwight Powell’s minutes too.
In any case, he’s proven himself a viable option.
Off the bench
Andrew Nembhard played 22 minutes as he soaked up some extra time with Gilgeous-Alexander out with early foul trouble. He was far from flawless as his offence seemed just a touch off (one-of-six, zero-for-three from deep) but it’s not hard to see how lineups with him, Murray and Gilgeous-Alexander on the floor together – something Fernandez rolled out for stretches in the second half – could be a real problem for opponents. E
Even if Nembhard’s shots didn’t fall, he was able to get to them and was never flustered with the ball. He has a light touch and can fit in well alongside other ball handlers while taking pressure off them as well. It will be interesting to see how he gets used against Spain, for example, especially if it ends up being a relatively low-stakes game for Canada.
You could see Fernandez keeping his minutes up and hoping he finds a rhythm alongside Murray and Gilgeous-Alexander, which would give Canada a wealth of options for guard rotations.