While we still may be months away from the NBA season starting, there is some exciting basketball competition many fans can look forward to soon. The FIBA Basketball World Cup will begin in about six weeks, offering many avid basketball fans a chance to see their favorite players engage in meaningful international competition.
While Team USA may be the favorite entering the tournament, there are a few other teams to keep an eye out for. One of those is the recently announced Team Canada. After a disappointing performance in 2019, Team Canada is looking to bounce back. With a combination of young talent, proven veterans, and good coaching, they may have what it takes to put on a strong showing at the FIBA World Cup this summer.
Team Canada Looks Strong Entering the FIBA World Cup
The Roster
Team Canada recently unveiled their lineup for the FIBA World Cup. The roster includes several talented players, including some of the NBA’s best.
Team Canada released their training camp roster for the 2023 FIBA World Cup 🇨🇦
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Jamal Murray
RJ Barrett
Dillon Brooks
Lu Dort
Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Kelly Olynyk
Dwight Powell
Zach Edey
Oshae Brissett
Cory Joseph
Kevin Pangos
Kassius Robertson
Phil… pic.twitter.com/uTp9uZ2FEw— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 14, 2023
Star Power
Headlining Team Canada is Jamal Murray, now an NBA champion with the Denver Nuggets. It was initially uncertain whether he would play for Canada in the FIBA World Cup. However, Murray appears ready to play for his home country this summer. Born in Kitchener, Ontario, Murray has been one of the brightest Canadian NBA stars. This past year, he averaged 26.1 points and 7.1 assists per game in the playoffs. Alongside Nikola Jokic, they formed an unstoppable one-two punch that helped propel the Nuggets to a championship. Now, Murray hopes to win hardware for his international team as well.
Murray’s co-star on Team Canada will likely be the young star from the Oklahoma City Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Coming off an incredible season, he is seen by many as one of the NBA’s most promising young players. He averaged 31.4 points and 5.5 assists per game last season with OKC, leading him to an All-Star selection and, even more impressively, an All-NBA First-Team selection. Now, Gilgeous-Alexander hopes to showcase his talent on the international stage by playing for his home country.
Depth
The rest of Team Canada’s roster consists of many talented players as well. This includes young swingmen Nickeil Alexander-Walker of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Oshae Brissett of the Boston Celtics, and RJ Barrett of the New York Knicks. It also includes defensive specialists Luguentz Dort of the Thunder and Dillon Brooks of the Houston Rockets.
Team Canada also has savvy NBA veterans in Kelly Olynyk, Cory Joseph, and Dwight Powell. They even have the National College Player of the Year from 2023 in Zach Edey, a seven-foot-four center from Purdue University.
Additionally, the team has some Canadian players who are yet to make their mark in the NBA but have played well overseas. This includes Kevin Pangos, Kassius Robertson, Philip Scrubb, and Thomas Scrubb. This summer can serve as a chance for some of these players to stand out and get a call from an NBA team.
Overall, Team Canada’s roster has a lot of solid players and possesses excellent talent that can help lead them against any team in this FIBA World Cup.
Coaching
Back in 2019, Team Canada was head coached by Nick Nurse. He also coached the 2019 NBA Champions, the Toronto Raptors, and was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 2020. However, on June 27, 2023, Nurse stepped down from his role as head coach of the Canadian men’s national team, leading to them needing to find someone who could provide the leadership necessary for the team to succeed this summer.
Shortly after his departure, Canada found its answer by hiring Jordi Fernandez as the new head coach.
From 2017-2019, Fernandez worked as an assistant coach on the Spanish men’s national team. He also served as an assistant coach under Mike Brown for the Nigeria team at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Fernandez was an assistant coach for the Nuggets from 2016-2022, where he met his now star player Murray. He had much to do with how many of Denver’s young players developed and contributed much to their early success. Fernandez is an associate head coach under Brown for the Sacramento Kings.
He will now have the opportunity to display his head coaching potential this summer with Team Canada. The FIBA World Cup could serve as a breakout opportunity not just for some of the players on Team Canada’s roster but for Fernandez and the other coaches on his staff as well.
Team Canada’s Motivation
For as much talent as Team Canada has had in the past, they have not fared well in international competition for a while. After an upsetting 21st-place finish in the 2019 FIBA World Cup, they failed to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics. In fact, Team Canada has yet to make any real noise at the Olympics since their seventh-place finish at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
These international competitions often bring out the best in many players as they take much pride in representing their countries. For that same reason, losing can bring a strong sense of disappointment. For Team Canada, losing has been a trend for a long time now.
However, this summer could be the turning of a new leaf for this Canadian Men’s Team. Between the staggering improvement of many of their young players, the experience/leadership being brought from the veterans on the team, and the new coaching change, this team could see much more positive results this time around.
The World Cup takes place from Aug. 25 to Sept. 10, with a few exhibition games happening the weeks before. Canada will first play in a group competition. They are in Group H and will face France, Lebanon, and Latvia in Jakarta, Indonesia, in the group stage.
Team Canada can qualify directly for the 2024 Summer Olympics with a top-two finish among teams from the Americas.
If they can find some cohesion and play up to their full potential, they can certainly be a team that makes it far in this exciting FIBA World Cup this summer.
