{"id":38380,"date":"2021-04-02T11:30:43","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T15:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=38380"},"modified":"2021-04-02T10:17:41","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T14:17:41","slug":"canadian-womens-basketball-olympics-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2021\/04\/02\/canadian-womens-basketball-olympics-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian Women\u2019s Basketball: Summer Olympics Group A Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Canadian women\u2019s basketball team will be making their fourth straight Olympics appearance in Tokyo this year. They are currently ranked fourth in the world and will be looking to get their first-ever medal in the Tokyo Olympics. Canada currently has the third most WNBA players by nationality, only behind Australia and the U.S. Despite that, Canada will be in a tough group with defending Summer Olympic silver medalists Spain and defending Summer Olympic bronze medalists Serbia.<\/p>\n<h2>2020 Tokyo Olympics Group A Preview for Canadian Women\u2019s Basketball<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udc40 The groups of the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Tokyo2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Tokyo2020<\/a> Women&#39;s Olympic Basketball Tournament!<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Basketball?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Basketball<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Olympics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Olympics<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Tokyo2020?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Tokyo2020<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BpvFcfjT4f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/BpvFcfjT4f<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; FIBA Basketball (@FIBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FIBA\/status\/1356541640295526401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 2, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Serbia<\/h3>\n<p>The defending bronze medalists are ranked eighth in the world according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fiba.basketball\/rankingwomen\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">FIBA<\/a>. They advanced to the FIBA Women\u2019s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade by finishing third place in EuroBasket Women 2019 (also known as the 2019 European Women Basketball Championship). They were put in a group with the U.S., Nigeria, and Mozambique. The Serbians advanced to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics thanks to a 70-64 win over Nigeria and a 76-48 win over Mozambique.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SRB?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#SRB<\/a> enjoying their <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Bronze?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Bronze<\/a> medals! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Rio2016?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Rio2016<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Olympics?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Olympics<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Basketball?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Basketball<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qc0bVxstvi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/qc0bVxstvi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; FIBA Basketball (@FIBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FIBA\/status\/767108374651662336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 20, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>This will be Serbia\u2019s second straight appearance in the Summer Olympics. There are currently no WNBA players from Serbia. It is also important to note that they do have a pro basketball league called First Women\u2019s Basketball League of Serbia, which was founded in 2006. They are a team that should not be underestimated and a team that is capable of defeating Canada and\/or Spain.<\/p>\n<h3>South Korea<\/h3>\n<p>South Korea, currently ranked 19th, is the lowest-ranked of the four teams in Group A. This will be their first Olympic appearance since 2008, where they finished eighth place in Beijing, China. They currently only have one WNBA player in <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/wnba\/players\/p\/parkji01w.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">JiSu Park<\/a><\/strong>. She was selected seventeenth by the Minnesota Lynx in 2018. However, in that same year, she was dropped by the Lynx and picked up by the Las Vegas Aces in 2018 according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/aces.wnba.com\/news\/las-vegas-finalizes-inaugural-training-camp-roster\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WNBA<\/a>. She had a decent rookie season in 2018, averaging 2.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Unfortunately, her stats have gone down dramatically in 2019, averaging only 1.1 rebounds and 0.8 points per game. South Korea made the FIBA Women\u2019s Olympic Qualifying Tournament by finishing in the top two of Group A in the Asia\/Oceania qualifiers.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Red-hot <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Korea?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Korea<\/a> \ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddf7 survive late comeback from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gbbasketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@gbbasketball<\/a> \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FIBAOQT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#FIBAOQT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcd6 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kl1BGBnPBd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/kl1BGBnPBd<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uze1aRUFuz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/uze1aRUFuz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; FIBA Basketball (@FIBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FIBA\/status\/1226170245049659392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 8, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>However, this is not to say that South Korea cannot make an upset in the Olympics. In the Olympic qualifying, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2021\/01\/21\/british-womens-basketball-top-three-wnba-players\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">they defeated 18th ranked Great Britain, which finished fourth in the EuroBasket 2019<\/a>. This played a big role in South Korea qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. South Korea faced Canada in the 2018 FIBA Women\u2019s World Cup and lost 82-63.<\/p>\n<h3>Spain<\/h3>\n<p>The defending silver medalists are ranked third in the world. This will be their fifth appearance in the Summer Olympics. Their personal best is a silver medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro. They have also medalled in the last three FIBA Women\u2019s World Cups including a silver in 2014. However, they will also not have <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/wnba\/players\/l\/lyttlsa01w.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sancho Lyttle<\/a><\/strong> on the team. Lyttle is a two-time WNBA All-Star, two-time WNBA steals leader, and FIBA Europe Women\u2019s Player of the Year in 2013.<\/p>\n<p>This is a big loss for Spain, but they still have some great players coming out of the country, including two current WNBA players. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/wnba\/players\/c\/cazorma01w.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Maite Cazorla<\/a><\/strong> for example averaged 3.0 points and 1.6 assists in the 2019 WNBA season with the Atlanta Dream. Then there is <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/wnba\/players\/n\/ndouras01w.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Astou Ndour<\/a><\/strong> of the Dallas Wings. The center\/power forward, born in Senegal has the most experienced in the WNBA. Her two most notable seasons were 2016 and 2019. In the 2016 WNBA season with the San Antonio Silver Stars, Ndour averaged 6.0 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. She would then average 6.8 points and 4.2 rebounds with the Chicago Sky in 2019.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tough one. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WeAreTeamCanada?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#WeAreTeamCanada<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FIBWWC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#FIBWWC<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PdrD9cKToP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/PdrD9cKToP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Canada Basketball (@CanBball) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CanBball\/status\/1045778985408507904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 28, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Spain eliminated Canada from the 2018 FIBA Women\u2019s World Cup 53-68. They also defeated Canada in the group stage play of the 2016 Summer Olympics by a score of 73-60. Of the four teams in the group, Spain will be the favorites to win Group A. They won the 2019 European Women Basketball Championship and finished second in their FIBA Women\u2019s Olympic Qualifying Tournament group, ahead of both South Korea and Great Britain.<\/p>\n<h3>The Canadian Women\u2019s Basketball Olympic Group Overview<\/h3>\n<h4><strong>How Canada reached the 2020 Summer Olympics<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Canada has the most WNBA players of the four countries on this list and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2020\/05\/29\/canadian-wnba-players-top-five-players-in-canada\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">currently has a very talented roster<\/a>. This includes <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/wnba\/players\/n\/nurseki01w.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kia Nurse<\/a><\/strong>, who made the 2019 WNBA All-Star Game. They also won all their games in the Olympic qualifying group. This <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2020\/02\/10\/canadian-women-heading-to-tokyo-after-big-win-against-sweden\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">included tough teams <\/a>such as Sweden, Belgium, and Japan. However, that does not mean it is a shoo-in that they will win the group. All three teams in Canada&#8217;s group have strong basketball leagues back home. This is something Canada does not currently have even though there is work behind the scenes to get an amateur basketball league up and running in the Maritimes next year.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Maritime basketball buffs take shot at starting amateur women&#39;s league <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bciIiQhNLX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/bciIiQhNLX<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lesQt8tJxH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/lesQt8tJxH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; CBC Nova Scotia (@CBCNS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBCNS\/status\/1353395263520579587?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 24, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Tokyo Olympics Overview and Expectations for Team Canada<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>There are three groups in the Olympics. The top two teams from each group automatically qualify for the quarterfinals. Then two of the best three-place finishers also qualify for the quarterfinals. Canada should finish first or second in this group, especially after their performance in the FIBA Women\u2019s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.<\/p>\n<p>It is also important though that Canada does not finish below that. Yes, finishing third could also mean Canada&#8217;s advances to the quarterfinals. That could also mean a quarterfinal date with the U.S. Since 1996, the U.S. has won a gold medal in every single Summer Olympics. The only time the U.S. did not win a Gold Medal in the WNBA era was the 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women. In that tournament, the U.S. lost to Russia in the semi-finals 75-65 and beat Brazil 99-56 to win the bronze medal.<\/p>\n<p>Canada\u2019s best performance was in the 1984 Summer Olympics, where they finished fourth place. They most recently finished seventh in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil. Their first game will be against Serbia on July 26. They will then play South Korea on July 29 and will end their group stage play against Spain on August 1. All games of the Olympics in women&#8217;s basketball will be played at Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"RHrXqGbbR0ZQCT2av1_wuQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/590513204\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'RHrXqGbbR0ZQCT2av1_wuQ',sig:'wh5G2hD2YydRX5E4G640ziW8dkExzTnvDdFeVMGu788=',w:'594px',h:'395px',items:'590513204',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Canadian women\u2019s basketball team will be making their fourth straight Olympics appearance in Tokyo this year. They are currently ranked fourth in the world and will be looking to get their first-ever medal in the Tokyo Olympics. Canada currently has the third most WNBA players by nationality, only behind Australia and the U.S. Despite [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3104,"featured_media":38757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[4262,3678,1052],"class_list":["post-38380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-basketball","tag-2020-tokyo-olympics","tag-canadian-womens-basketball","tag-olympics"],"modified_by":"Carl Knauf, Department Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}