Over the last week, Basketball Canada has received great support from players who have committed to playing for Canada at the 2020 FIBA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Victoria, British Columbia from June 23-28. The tournament which also includes Greece, China, Uruguay, Czech Republic and Turkey has huge ramifications as the winner of the tournament qualifies for the men’s basketball tournament at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The Canadians who have expressed interest to date are New York Knicks shooting guard RJ Barrett of Toronto, Ontario, Denver Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray of Kitchener, Ontario, New Orleans Pelicans guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker of Toronto, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto, Memphis Grizzlies small forward Dillion Brooks of Mississauga, Ontario, Dallas Mavericks power forward Dwight Powell of Toronto, Toronto Raptors power forward Chris Boucher and Orlando Magic center Khem Birch of Montreal, Quebec, and Raptors small forward Oshae Brissett of Toronto.
To have nine Canadians in the NBA commit to the tournament so far is great. However one must realize a few things.
First, just because they have committed now, does not mean it is a “slam dunk” they will be on the floor for Team Canada at the tournament in June. A lot of different things might happen to the players between now and then, and players could easily change their minds.
Second, the Canadian Men’s Basketball has been the talk of greatness for the last several years. However, we have not yet seen the team come together as various players have had to pull out for numerous reasons. The factors of unity and gelling are definitely question marks with a team that has not played together in a major tournament like this before.
Third, it will be interesting to see how many players make the trip to Asia if Team Canada is fortunate to win the Olympic qualifier. Don’t forget, many Canadians pulled out of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup in China and the 2020 Olympic Games will also be in Asia as Tokyo is the host city.
It is also interesting to note that there has been no commitment yet from Minnesota Timberwolves star shooting guard Andrew Wiggins of Toronto. Wiggins has not played for Canada since the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship, which was a qualifier for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
For now, the Canadian task will be to try and stop a powerful Greek side led by Giannis Antetokounmpo. That will be a gigantic challenge in itself as the Milwaukee Bucks superstar has got off to a sensational start to the 2019-20 NBA season as he averaging 31.1 points per game and 13.7 rebounds per game.
It would be great to see Team Canada finally come on the court loaded with their NBA talent. Due to the lack of overall commitment by the players for major international events to date, there is definitely some skepticism that we will see the team in action. The chances are good that the tournament is in Canada. Time will tell.
