The Canadian squad, one of the dark horses for the Gold Medal, made it a perfect 3-0 start at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, which finishes atop Group H with a dominant 101-75 victory over Latvia.
Canadian Team Consistency
It was again a tale of two halves as Canada was dominant after a slow start to the game, trailing by as many as 12 points in the first half. To no surprise, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way, finishing with 27 points in the game after scoring just eight points in the first half and RJ Barrett added 22 points, as Canada used a strong second-half surge to beat Latvia 101-75 and finished atop Group H at the FIBA World Cup.
The Canadians’ depth was also on display throughout the contest, as head coach Jordi Fernández played nine different players during the important minutes, including former Carleton Ravens standout Phil Scrubb who came in and knocked down two huge threes to contribute to Canada’s dominant second half.
Canada’s next game will take place on Friday, with its opponent still to be determined. The Canadians’ opponent will be determined after Group G wraps up group play on Wednesday. Spain has already clinched a spot in the next round, while Brazil is favoured to be the second team through.
Olympics Qualification through FIBA
To qualify for next year’s Paris Olympics, Canada has to finish among the first two of seven FIBA Americas teams at the World Cup.
Conceding one of those spots to the United States, the overwhelming favourites to win the gold medal, Canada will have to finish ahead of the Dominican Republic, Brazil and Puerto Rico, the other three FIBA Americas teams alive at the World Cup.
It will be virtually impossible to do that without qualifying for next week’s knockout playoff round in Manila, Philippines.