| FINAL STANDINGS 1. United States 2. Argentina 3. Puerto Rico 4. Brazil 5. CANADA 6. Uruguay 7. Mexico 8. Venezuela 9. Panama 10. Virgin Islands | CANADIANS Jermaine Anderson (Toronto, Ont.) Denham Brown (Toronto, Ont.) Sam Dalembert (Port-au-Prince, Haiti) Vlad Kuljanin (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina) Carl English (Patrick’s Cove, Nfld.) Olumuyiwa Famutimi (Toronto, Ont. ) Andy Rautins (Syracuse, NY) David Thomas (Brampton, Ont.) Jesse Young (Peterborough, Ont.) Juan Mendez (Montreal, Que.) Levon Kendall (Vancouver, B.C) Ryan Bell (Ottawa, Ont.) Leo Rautins – coach Dave Smart – assistant Michael Malone – assistant Wayne Yearwood – assistant Paul Elliott – manager Sam Gibbs – therapist Dr. Andrew Pipe – physician |
| POOL A | ARG | URU | MEX | PUR | PAN | Record | |||||
| Argentina | —– | 90-69 | 104-83 | 87-75 | 109-92 | (4-0) | |||||
| Uruguay | 69-90 | —– | 91-82 | 82-79 | 88-84 | (3-1) | |||||
| Mexico | 83-104 | 82-91 | —– | 100-89 | 90-95 | (1-3) | |||||
| Puerto Rico | 75-87 | 79-82 | 89-100 | —– | 108-67 | (1-3) | |||||
| Panama | 92-109 | 84-88 | 95-90 | 67-108 | —– | (1-3) | |||||
| POOL B | USA | BRA | CAN | VEN | ISV | Record | |||||
| United States | —– | 113-76 | 113-63 | 112-69 | 123-59 | (4-0) | |||||
| Brazil | 76-113 | —– | 75-67 | 101-75 | 93-89 | (3-1) | |||||
| Canada | 63-113 | 67-75 | —– | 80-73 | 93-83 | (2-2) | |||||
| Venezuela | 69-112 | 75-101 | 73-80 | —– | 100-90 | (1-3) | |||||
| U.S. Virgin Islands | 59-123 | 89-93 | 83-93 | 90-100 | —– | (0-4) | |||||
| POOL C | USA | ARG | BRA | PUR | CAN | URU | MEX | VEN | Record | ||
| United States | —– | 91-76 | 113-76 | 117-87 | 113-63 | 118-79 | 127-100 | 112-69 | (7-0) | ||
| Argentina | 76-91 | —– | 86-79 | 87-75 | 85-70 | 90-69 | 104-83 | 98-63 | (6-1) | ||
| Brazil | 76-113 | 79-86 | —– | 75-97 | 75-67 | 96-62 | 104-90 | 101-75 | (4-3) | ||
| Puerto Rico | 87-117 | 75-87 | 97-75 | —– | 72-66 | 79-82 | 89-100 | 92-63 | (3-4) | ||
| Canada | 63-113 | 70-85 | 67-75 | 66-72 | —– | 95-88 | 97-80 | 80-73 | (3-4) | ||
| Uruguay | 79-118 | 69-90 | 62-96 | 82-79 | 88-95 | —– | 91-82 | 79-88 | (2-5) | ||
| Mexico | 100-127 | 83-104 | 90-104 | 100-89 | 80-97 | 82-91 | —– | 92-63 | (1-6) | ||
| Venezuela | 69-112 | 63-98 | 75-101 | 63-92 | 73-80 | 88-79 | 63-92 | —– | (1-6) | ||
| Semi | Argentina 91 Brazil 80 | |
| Semi | United States 135 Puerto Rico 91 | |
| Bronze | Puerto Rico 111 Brazil 107 | |
| Final | United States 118 Argentina 81 | |
In their opener, Canada fell 75-67 to Brazil. Carl English scored six of Canada’s first eight points in the game and helped his team jump out to an 8-4 lead. Brazil’s Paulo Batista and Barbosa took over on offence mid-way through the quarter leading their team on a 17-0 run over a span of three minutes. Tiago Splitter scored as the buzzer sounded and Canada trailed after the first quarter, 25-12. Mendez led Canada as they opened the second quarter on a quick 5-0 run but Barbosa replied quickly with another three-pointer for Brazil. Team Canada started to gain some ground on Brazil, cutting their deficit to six points with 2:22 remaining in the second. Mendez continued his hot streak in the quarter with a three-pointer to bring Canada to within three with 40 seconds left. After leading by as much as 13 in the half, Brazil went into the break with a slim 36-33 lead. Mendez led Canada in scoring at the half with 12 points while Barbosa powered Brazil with 18 of his team’s 36 points. Brazil was able to regroup after halftime and extend their lead back to eight points just over two minutes into the third quarter. Canada would not let the game get away as Mendez and Dave Thomas (Brampton, ON) continued to knock down shots and keep their team within four at the mid-way point. The Brazilians went back to their perimeter game stretching their lead to 10 points with three minutes left. Both teams traded baskets down the stretch, leaving Canada trailing 54-44 at the end of the third quarter. Canada opened the final frame on a 12-2 run on the strength of three-pointers from English and Mendez, while Sam Dalembert (Montreal, QC) was able to score six points inside to tie the game at 56. With just over one minute remaining, Canada trailed 71-66. Brazil was able to hold off in the final minute to emerge with the win. “It was a hard-fought game. We had some mental errors down the stretch,” said head coach Leo Rautins. “We are in a marathon, not a sprint. We just need to clean things up and get ready to go tomorrow.” Thomas added 10 points in the loss while Dalembert recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Phoenix Suns guard Leandro Barbosa dominated the floor, scoring 18 in the first half and making several key plays for the Brazilians down the stretch after both 6’11” Nene and 6’10” Tiago Splitter fouled out. Canada was abysmal in its defensive transitions and overcame poor shooting from downtown with a gritty defensive effort and a 12-2 run in the first 2:48 of the fourth quarter to bring the game back to even at 56. But Splitter scored 4 straight and Barbosa had a couple of sweet looks in transition plus 2 free throws with 3 1-2 minutes remaining to lift Brazil to a five-point lead and Brazil held on from there. It didn’t look good for Canada early as Brazil went off on a 15-0 run to lead 21-8 as Barbosa had 9 early points, many in transition as the Brazilians took advantage of lax Canadian defensive conversion. Worse still, 6’10” Samuel Dalembert went to the bench early in the first quarter with 2 fouls after getting 2 blocks and 3 rebounds. But 6’7” Juan Mendez got it going, starting a Canadian run by knocking down an open 3 and later 6’5” David Thomas, who had a very solid game for Canada, fed Mendez twice, once in transition and a second time for an “and 1” inside, allowing Canada to bring the game back to down only 3 at 36-33 by halftime. Mendez had 12 first-half points for Canada, which played without Dalembert for all but about 5 minutes of the first half. Canada had a terrible start to the second half as questionable shot selection and some solid work by 6’9” J.P. Batista gave Brazil a 9-point lead and Nene’s putback with 3 seconds left put Brazil in front 54-44 after 3. But Canada wasn’t finished, as after another Mendez open 3 from 6’4” Ryan Bell and 6 points from Dalembert including a thunderous follow-up dunk tied the score at 56. But then Splitter went to work against Canada’s zone and Nene’s “and 1” with 5:29 to play gave Brazil the lead for good. Canada hurt themselves going 3-8 from the free throw line after they tied the game in the fourth quarter. Canada had success when they started their offense inside but generally had trouble finding clean looks off their offensive sets. Canada appeared likely to have lost 6’5” Andy Rautins to a knee injury that looked serious after he got his feet tangled defending the ball in the first quarter and went down claiming he “heard a pop” in his knee. Leandrinho Barbosa paced Brazil with 30 points on 9-26 from the floor, 6-14 from the field, 3-12 from the arc, 9-11 from the line and 5 assists. Tiago Splitter added 12 on 6-9 from the field and 9 boards. Murilo Da Rosa, Joa Paulo Batista and Nene Hilario each added 7, while Valter Da Silva notched 6, Alex Garcia 3 and Marcelinho Machado 3, while Nezinho Dos Santos, Marcelinho Huertas, Guilherme Giovannoni and Marcus De Souza were scoreless. Brazil shot 25-61 (.410) from the floor, 20-38 (.526) from the field, 5-23 (.217) from the arc and 20-29 (.690) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 24 fouls, 14 turnovers, 4 steals and 1 block. Juan Mendez paced Canada with 18 on 7-14 from the floor, 4-8 from the field, 3-6 from the arc, 1-5 from the line and 2 steals. Carl English added 12 on 4-12 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc, 4 assists and 2 steals. Samuel Dalembert notched 10 on 4-5 from the floor and 10 boards. David Thomas scored 10 on 5-6 from the field and 3 assists. Denham Brown added 4, Levon Kendall 4, Jermaine Anderson 2 on 1-6 from the floor and 3 assists. Jesse Young scored 3, Vlad Kuljanin 2, and Olu Famutimi 2, while Ryan Bell and Andy Rautins were scoreless. Canada shot 26-61 (.426) from the floor, 22-43 (.512) from the field, 4-18 (.222) from the arc and 11-19 (.579) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 27 fouls, 11 turnovers, 5 steals and 2 blocks.
Canada evened its record at (1-1) by defeating Venezuela 80-73. Canada opened the scoring with a basket inside, but neither team was able to take a sizeable lead in the opening minutes. After both teams battled hard, Olu Famutimi knocked down a three-pointer with just under two minutes remaining to give Team Canada the advantage. Canada went on to hold a slim 18-16 advantage after the first quarter. Venezuela once again tied the game up to start the second quarter. Several Canadians then contributed to an 8-0 run over a span of two minutes to regain their lead. Both teams continued to hit their shots for the remainder of the quarter; but Canada was able to take a 37-34 lead heading into halftime after a last second shot from Anderson. Famutimi led Canada in the half with eight points while Dalembert added seven and five rebounds. The two teams opened the second half exchanging three-pointers to speed up the pace of the game. Jesse Young established himself in this quarter as he scored six points in the first five minutes of the third. The game stayed close before Anderson knocked down two three-pointers to put Canada ahead by five with one-minute remaining. Venezuela battle back but Canada held on to a 61-59 lead after the third quarter. Anderson started the fourth quarter where he left off by connecting on another three-pointer to push Canada’s lead to five. Venezuela quickly replied from both inside and outside and took over the lead four minutes into the quarter. English replied from long-range and Dalembert scored at the two-minute mark to tie the game at 70. Dalembert continued to dominate in the final minutes. “We knew this was going to be a grind it out a game,” said head coach Leo Rautins. “They are a very quick and aggressive team, but we grinded it out until the end. We have to be very conscious of our defensive boards down stretch, we let a few get away from us at the end.” English finished the game with 14 points and three assists while Young added 10 points. Dave Thomas (Brampton, ON) helped Canada on the glass as he recorded eight rebounds. Dalembert, along with 6’2” Jermaine Anderson, invigorated a listless Canadian side with clutch performances down the stretch, enabling Canada to defeat a scrappy Venezuela side 80-73 to move to 1-1 in Group B of the preliminary round in advance of tomorrow’s affair with U.S. Virgin Islands. Dalembert was a force at both ends, especially in the last 2:25 of the game when, with his team down by 2, he had an emphatic block and then followed up with a power move inside to tie the score. On the next possession, Dalembert forced his way inside and the resulting “and 1” gave Canada the lead for good at 73-71. Dalembert then used his length to save a ball from going out-of-bounds and the rock ended up in the hands of the “Rock” (Anderson) who then clinched the game at the foul line. Earlier, Anderson, who scored all of his 17 points after the intermission including 3 consecutive treys midway through the second half, made the Venezuelans pay for going underneath a ball screen, canning a clutch 17-footer that gave Canada a 76-73 lead with 40 seconds remaining. Although Canada struggled to find any consistency, the group did what they had to do, getting another great performance down the stretch from Anderson, his third such effort in the past week, and what we were all waiting for from Dalembert. Canada had leads in the 5 to 7-point range throughout the second half as Anderson awoke by hitting a pair of open 3’s late in the third quarter and then nailing another from downtown early in the fourth and Canada looked to be on their way. However, Venezuela didn’t quit and a 7-0 gave the underdogs a 67-65 lead with 6:10 remaining. However, Canada clamped down defensively, led by Dalembert, who cleaned up any dribble penetrations with either a block or by forcing a kick-out and Canada gave up only 6 points in the last 6 minutes of the game. Dalembert finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds to lead Canada while Anderson went 3-5 from 3 as part of his 17-point effort while 6’5” Carl English added 14 including a big 3 on the next possession immediately after Venezuela had taken their first lead of the game with just over 6 minutes remaining. “It means so much for us,” said Samuel Dalembert. “From the get-go, we needed some leadership… in the end, somebody had to take over.” Dalembert scored six straight points in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter to turn a two-point deficit into a three-point lead. He had an important blocked shot with 2:30 remaining, and he altered countless shots by the Venezuelans. “Their defence is built around him,” said Venezuela forward Hector Romero. “They push [opposing] players towards him and he comes and blocks shots or alters shots … He played tough.” After Dalembert became the Canada’s offensive focal point, Anderson stepped up and scored four straight points, including two key free throws with 12 seconds remaining. “I was shooting the ball with confidence tonight. [On Wednesday], I didn’t do that. I came out kind of timid,” said Anderson. “We know we needed this game and Venezuela needed it as well, so this was a huge win for us.” The Canadians took a narrow, two-point lead into the fourth quarter thanks to balanced offence from Dalembert, Carl English and Jesse Young. Canada also dominated inside with 30 points in the paint, many from Dalembert. “In the first game, Sam was ready and we didn’t get him the ball, so it was our fault,” said Anderson. “We made a conscious effort to make sure Sam got the ball tonight and we did that.” Canada matched its largest lead of the game when Anderson drilled a three-pointer just seconds into the final quarter. But Venezuela battled back and took its first lead since 22-20 in the second quarter on a three-point shot by Carlos Cedeno that made it 67-65. But Venezuela was limited to outside shots in the dying minutes, while Canada was pounding the ball inside to Dalembert, who said Canada’s inside-outside balance was the difference. “They got too many points in the paint,” said Venezuela head coach Nestor Salazar. Samuel Dalembert paced Canada with 18 points on 6-10 from the field, 6-9 from the line, 8 boards and 5 blocks. Jermaine Anderson added 17 on 3-5 from the field, 3-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 3 assists. Carl English notched 14 on 4-9 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 3 assists. Jesse Young scored 10 on 4-5 from the field and 3 boards. Olu Famutimi added 8, Levon Kendall 5, Juan Mendez 4 and Denham Brown 4, while Vlad Kuljanin, Ryan Bell and David Thomas were scoreless. Canada shot 30-69 (.435) from the floor, 23-53 (.426) from the field, 7-15 (.467) from the arc and 13-19 (.684) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 12 assists, 18 fouls, 9 turnovers, 5 steals and 7 blocks. Hector Romero paced Venezuela with 23 on 6-14 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 8-10 from the line and 4 boards. Jose Vargas added 11 on 4-8 from the floor and 2-3 from the arc. Miguel Marriaga notched 11 on 3-6 from the floor, 4-5 from the line and 6 boards. Greivis Vasquez added 9, Carlos Cedeno 6, Alejandro Barrios 5, Luis Bethelmy 4, Heberth Bayona 2 and Axiers Sucre 2, while Hernan Salcedo Betancourt, Jesus Urbina Evias, and Kevin Palacios Gil were scoreless. Venezuela shot 23-60 (.383) from the floor, 15-38 (.395) from the field, 8-22 (.364) from the arc and 19-25 (.760) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 24 fouls, 12 turnovers, 4 steals and 2 blocks.
Canada improved their record to (2-1) by dumping the Virgin Islands 93-83. The Virgin Islands came out hot and took a 27-23 lead after one quarter. Coach Leo Rautins was elated. “We’re here to fight for the top two spots. This team is very focused. We know what we want and we’re going after it.” Canada took command in the fourth quarter, building a 17-point cushion in less than four minutes. Canada began the period with an 8-0 run after ending the third quarter with six straight points from forward Levon Kendall. Rautins said point guard Jermaine Anderson had a “tremendous game.” Canada had defensive lapses in the first quarter and midway through the fourth after it had built a big lead, and the Virgin Islands were sizzling from the arc. “We let two guys get loose and that’s something we can’t do in the future, especially [today] because they have 10 guys who can shoot like that,” said David Thomas. “But now we’ve got two wins and have nothing to lose tomorrow.” Canada led 53-40 at halftime, its largest margin of the half courtesy of a Mendez three-point shot at the buzzer. In a fast paced first quarter, the Virgin Islands staged a late rally and led 27-24. Sheppard and Edwin each hit three three-pointers and their team nailed seven of 10 from behind the arc. “It was a good game, I thought we did a better job of moving the basketball,” Rautins said. “We had 24 assists to 13 turnovers, so a good ratio there, we shot the ball well. Jermaine had a tremendous game, I thought he did a great job of moving the ball, getting the ball to the right people.” The Virgin Islands hung in to cut Canada’s lead to six points with just under eight minutes left in a near-empty 18,000-seat Thomas & Mack Center. But English hit a three with 2:46 left to break a 4:04 scoring drought by Canada and give it an 89-79 lead. “Honestly, we didn’t necessarily feel threatened, but it’s just important that we not allow teams back in,” said Rautins. Mendez scored seven points as part of an 11-0 run in the second quarter that gave the Canadians a 13-point lead. Canada was up 53-40 at halftime. The Virgin Islands managed to cut Canada’s advantage to three points midway through the third, but the Canadians found another gear to lead 74-64 with a quarter left in the game. Rautins said Mendez had a great game. “Juan is a very explosive player, he is unique because he can play strong around the basket and can step out and shoot the three-point shot, he gets on the glass. He likes contact; he likes the physical play around the basket.” But Rautins was not happy with his team’s defensive performance early on, commenting “they did a great job shooting the ball from the three, 13 of 24, that really kept them in the game. I was a little disappointed the way we came out defensively but we came out with intensity in that second quarter and changed the game.” After 6’5” Denham Brown knocked in a runner to give Canada a 13-point lead at 48-35 with 2:15 to play in the half, the U.S. Virgin Islands went on a mini 5-0 run but after Mendez (15 points in the first half) hit a 3 at the buzzer Canada went to halftime up 53-40. The US Virgin Islands continued their hot shooting off the start of the third quarter and a 12-2 run culminated by a 15-footer off the dribble by Edwin allowed them to creep back to within 3 at 55-52. It was 59-56 with 4 minutes left in the quarter when Canada took off on 23-8 run bridging the 3rd and 4th quarters, culminated by a Mendez “and 1”, to give Canada their biggest lead at 82-64. But U.S. Virgin Islands had one run left and led by Edwin and 6’0” Kevin Sheppard, cut the lead to 7 with 4:11 left but Dalembert came up with a key block that led to 6’5” Carl English icing the game with a 3 in transition off a feed from 6’2” Jermaine Anderson. Juan Mendez paced Canada with 22 on 5-7 from the field, 3-9 from the arc, 3-3 from the line and 7 boards. Samuel Dalembert added 15 on 5-8 from the floor, 5-7 from the line, 8 boards, 2 assists and 5 blocks. Carl English notched 15 on 3-3 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 3-7 from the line and 3 assists. David Thomas scored 11 on 4-7 from the floor and 5 boards. Jess Young scored 8 on 2-3 from the arc. Levon Kendall notched 6 on 4-4 from the line. Denham Brown added 5 and Olumuyiwa Famutimi 5. Jermaine Anderson scored 4 while dishing 12 assists and committing no turnovers. Ryan Bell scored 2 while Vlad Kuljanin was scoreless. Canada shot 24-40 (.600) from the field, 9-24 (.380) from the arc and 18-25 (.720) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 24 assists, 22 fouls, 13 turnovers, 10 steals and 7 blocks. Jason Edwin paced the Virgin Islands with 26 on 6-8 from the arc. Kevin Sheppard added 23 on 4-9 from the field, 4-6 from the arc and 3-4 from the line. Cuthbert Victor scored 13 on 4-10 from the floor and 6 boards. Carl Krauser notched 10 on 2-5 from the arc and 4-8 from the line. Kitwana Rhymer added 5, JaJa Richards 2, Jameel Heywood 2 and Frank Elegar 2, while Stephen Hodge, Omari Peterkin, Keylen Gregory and Akeem Francis were scoreless. The Virgin Islands shot 15-37 (.410) from the floor, 13-24 (.540) from the arc and 14-22 (.640) from the line, while garnering 28 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 12 assists, 24 fouls, 15 turnovers, 4 steals and 2 blocks.
The United States pounded Canada 113-63 to even Canada’s record at (2-2). The Americans had a sluggish start but outscored Canada 67-28 in the middle quarters. Coach Leo Rautins said his troopers were outclassed. “They are playing well together. They’re moving the ball. They’re sharing the ball. They’re making the game very easy for them to play. When you have talented players that are willing to play together and give the ball up, they become very difficult to stop. And that’s the way they played today.” Canada trailed by 15 early but exploded for seven unanswered points to close within seven and then wilted. “I didn’t think we played that well but it was a 28-21 first quarter, which I was happy with,” said Rautins. “We just completely fell apart in the second quarter. We can’t do that. We have to maintain composure. When you face a little adversity, you can’t break down.” The American built a 24-9 lead on a dunking barrage by Dwight Howard and Lebron James. They ripped off a 27-4 run in the second quarter to ice it, leading 65-34 at the half and 93-49 after three quarters. Carmelo Anthony paced the U.S. with 25 on 6-8 from the field, 3-4 from the arc and 4-4 from the line. Michael Redd added 19 on 5-10 from the arc. Kobe Bryant notched 15 on 4-6 from the floor and 4-5 from the line. Amare Stoudemire scored 12 on 6-6 from the line. Lebron James scored 10 on 5-7 from the floor and 8 boards. Tayshaun Prince added 10 on 2-3 from the arc. Michael Miller scored 10 on 3-7 from the arc. Dwight Howard added 8, Chauncey Billups 3 and Deron Williams 1, while Jason Kidd and Tyson Chandler were scoreless. The Americans shot 24-41 (.590) from the floor, 15-30 from the arc and 20-22 (.910) from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 22 assists, 13 fouls, 9 turnovers, 10 steals and 6 blocks. Olu Famutimi led Canada with 17 on 3-7 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Levon Kendall added 10 on 4-8 from the floor and 9 boards. Jesse Young scored 8, Vladimir Kuljanin 6, Juan Mendez 6, Samuel Dalembert 5, Jermaine Anderson 5, David Thomas 2, Denham Brown 2 and Carl English 2, while Ryan Bell was scoreless. Canada shot 16-49 (.330) from the floor, 5-15 from the arc and 16-18 (.890) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 7 assists, 16 fouls, 16 turnovers, 7 steals and 1 block.
Canada finished (2-2) in pool play, qualifying for the winner’s side round-robin pool, which they entered with a (1-2) record, having beaten Venezuela and lost to Brazil and the United States.
Canada improved to (2-2) in pool C play by edging Uruguay 95-88. Trailing by as many as 14 points early in the game and 48-38 at halftime, Uruguay fought back to within four points midway through the fourth quarter. But Canada’s shooting and dominance in the pain proved the difference. Canada’s defense held Uruguay to 41 percent shooting from the field while Uruguay could not stop the inside tandem of Young and Dalembert. The game was a foul filled affair and it was Canada’s clutch free throw shooting down the stretch, including a pair by Ryan Bell in the final seconds of play, which helped seal the victory. “Our guys got a hard-fought victory today,” commented Canadian Head Coach Leo Rautins. “They tried to muck up the game, a lot of flopping, a lot of hacking, a lot of holding, and just tried to make you lose your poise, which North American teams have a tendency to do when the game gets junky. You have to maintain your cool. It’s important for these guys to learn from these situations and just maintain poise. …. We kept our composure in a very rough match and were able to close out the game for the win. I am very proud of the team’s performance down the stretch.” The game was a physical, feisty affair in which 62 fouls were called. There was plenty of bickering with the officials on both sides, especially when English committed his fifth foul for retaliating against Uruguay’s star forward Esteban Batista with a punch to the leg when both players were down on the floor. “He grabbed my [testicles],” said English. “I lost my mind. I’ve never had anything like that done to me in my life. I told the ref: ‘What am I going to do? I’m not going to let him grab my [testicles].’ That’s not playing hard.” Batista was called for an intentional foul in the first quarter for punching Young in the chest. Young had to be restrained by his teammates. The Uruguay bench received a technical between the first and second quarters and English and Batista both received technical fouls for their skirmish. Rautins, who was visibly upset with the officials on several occasions said “you can’t get caught up in it. It’s something we need to improve on a little bit.” The Uruguayans played with more theatrics than Broadway, and some of the flops would have made even the wimpiest soccer player blush. And Uruguay’s strategy was just as questionable as their tactics. “We decided to rest up some of our key players, such as Mazzarino and Batista,” said Uruguay head coach Alberto Espasandin, explaining that he didn’t want to “overwhelm” them with minutes before encounters with Venezuela, Brazil and the United States over the next three days. Espasandin said he needed to save his stars for a game against Venezuela that would likely determine whether his troops finished in the top five and qualified for the last-chance tournament in 2008. “(Yesterday) one passed and (today) with Venezuela is another key game for us. I think Uruguay had to play two very intensive matchups with extremely strong teams. (Yesterday’s) goal was of course, originally to win this game by not overwhelming our players too much for (today’s) game. We decided to rest up some of our key players.” Mazzarino, the second-leading three-point shooter in the tournament behind only Michael Redd, played the entire first quarter, two minutes of the second quarter and then did not return to the game until part way through the fourth. Osimani, third on the team in minutes behind Batista and Mazzarino, played 18 minutes in the first half and then did not return to the game. Uruguay trailed by just three points with just over two minutes to play but the Canadians found another gear, sparked by a basket from Anderson with 2:17 left. Dalembert corralled a defensive rebound on Uruguay’s next possession, and then scored on a huge putback dunk the next time down the court to put the Canadians up 86-79. Uruguay had one last gasp at the Thomas & Mack Center, when a three-pointer by Nicholas Mazzarino cut Canada’s lead to five points with 13 seconds left, but Ryan Bell made a pair of free throws to seal the victory for the Canadians. Canada led for most of the first quarter, and a three-pointer by English with 42 seconds left stretching its lead to 25-18 heading into the second. The Canadians continued to dominate in the second quarter, and took a 14-point lead on a basket by Young with just under four minutes left in the half. Canada led 48-38 at halftime. Uruguay battled back in the third quarter to pull within 70-65 with a quarter left to play. “They tried to muck up the game, a lot of flopping, a lot of hacking, a lot of holding, and just tried to make you lose your poise, which North American teams have a tendency to do when the game gets junky,” coach Leo Rautins said. “You have to maintain your cool. It’s important for these guys to learn from these situations and just maintain poise. We’ve got to continue to understand, these teams aren’t going away, you’ve got to put them away. No lead is comfortable. And points are critical. If you’ve got a chance to win by 20, win by 20.” Defensively, it was clear that Canada needed to limit the quality touches of Batista, including keeping him off the offensive glass, and the clean looks for 6’0” Nicolas Mazzarino (36 points vs. Mexico). Thanks to a high-quality defensive game plan, Canada took Uruguay completely out of their comfort zones when defending in the quarter court. As a result, Canada led comfortably throughout the first half and went into the locker room at halftime with a 10-point lead at 48-38, holding Batista to just 9 points-2 rebounds and Mazzarino to only six. However, Canada’s transition “d”, an overlooked sore spot for the group thus far in the tournament, again hurt them as Uruguay got some open looks for 3’s in transition. Later, Canada’s inability to guard the ball and deal with ball screens in spots effectively allowed Uruguay to creep back in the game to trail by only 5 at 70-65 after three quarters. But Canada never let Uruguay come all the way back, despite having the lead dwindle to as little as two on multiple occasions. With Canada clinging to a two-point lead at 72-70, Denham Brown made the first of his 3 big shots in the fourth quarter. Later Brown dropped another jumper in rhythm to restore another 4-point lead at 76-72. When Mazzarino knocked in a jumper, Uruguay appeared to not want to go away but Canada went on a 10-5 run culminated in a put-back slam by 6’10” Samuel Dalembert to give Canada a seven-point lead at 86-79, sealing the game with just over a minute to play. “We knew they were going to be physical going into it,” said Jesse Young. They have been down in halftime of every game and clawed their way back. It’s fun to get down and dirty sometimes.” Jesse Young paced Canada with 22 points on 10-16 from the floor, 2-5 from the line and 4 boards. Jermaine Anderson added 13 on 3-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards and 4 assists. Samuel Dalembert notched 10 on 4-6 from the floor, 5 boards and 3 blocks. David Thomas scored 10 on 5-6 from the line and 4 boards. Levon Kendall notched 9 on 2-5 from the floor, 5-6 from the line and 9 boards. Olu Famutimi scored 9 on 4-5 from the floor. Denham Brown added 5, Carl English 7, Ryan Bell 4 and Juan Mendez 4, while Vlad Kuljanin was scoreless. Canada shot 27-44 (.610) from the field, 5-13 (.380) from the arc and 26-33 (.790) from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 30 fouls, 18 turnovers, 2 steals and 5 blocks. Nicolas Mazzarino led Uruguay with 17 on 3-5 from the arc and 4-4 from the line. Leandro Garcia Morales added 17 on 2-6 from the arc and 7-10 from the line. Esteban Batista notched 16 on 6-13 from the floor, 4-7 from the line and 6 boards. Martin Osimani added 10 on 2-3 from the arc. Fernando Martinez Pan added 9, Mauricio Aguiar 8, Claudio Charquero 4, Gaston Paez 4 and Emilio Taboada 3, while Omar Galeano, Luis Silveira and Sebastian Izaguirre Rodriguez were scoreless. Uruguay shot 17-33 (.520) from the floor, 9-31 (.290) from the arc and 27-35 (.770) from the line, while garnering 29 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 9 assists, 31 fouls, 10 turnovers and 5 steals.
Canada fell to (2-3) in pool C play by being pounded 85-70 by Argentina. Canada got off to a slow start, falling behind 26-8 after one quarter of play, and trailed 46-16 at halftime. Canada struggled to find their shooting stroke in the first half, connecting on only 25 per cent of their shots from the field. Canada rebounded in the second half however, outscoring Argentina 24-16 in the third frame and 30-23 in the final quarter. Despite the late rally, Canada’s first-half 30-point deficit proved too difficult to overcome. “Today was an example of a young team not being ready to play when they needed, and a veteran team knowing what it takes to win,” said coach Leo Rautins on the loss. “We showed up flat and that cost us the game despite our strong play in the second half. We just simply could not make up the 30-point gap. This should be a learning experience for our team moving forward. At this level you have to come prepared to play at all times. To put it put bluntly, and not necessarily politically correct, we got our ass handed to us in the first half. That’s the difference between a veteran team that understands and a young team that comes into a game not physically and mentally ready to play. If this experience puts every one of the guys in our locker room in a situation where it never happens again, then we will take it.” Canada committed a tournament-worst 19 turnovers, allowed 12 three-point shots, and scored just eight points in both the first and second quarters to trail 46-16 at halftime. Argentina had 10-0 and 12-0 runs in the opening 20 minutes. “We played perfect [in the first quarter] and maybe we surprised Canada,” said Argentina head coach Sergio Hernandez of a 26-8 opening period. “You know what happens when the other team gets down.” Canada did hold its own in the second half, outscoring Argentina 54-39 and leading in rebounds 25-17. Rautins was asked what he told his team at halftime, and he gave a sanitized version. “I don’t think I can repeat my halftime [speech] here,” he said. “It was nothing technical at all. It was a question of how hard are you willing to play, how hard are you willing to compete, and are you willing to do whatever it takes. But it wasn’t quite as polite.” Canada was heavily reliant on the perimeter game, often failing to even look inside. “It’s not like that was part of the game plan or anything,” veteran forward Dave Thomas said. “Sometimes those things just happen in the flow of the game. It’s more disappointing than anything. We wanted to come out and show the world that we can play with these top teams. To start the game, we couldn’t do anything right. It’s disappointing because we know how good we can be and I think we showed that in the second half but the hole was too deep at that point.” Rautins said “we just came out and we were not ready to play and Argentina is too good to allow that to happen.” Argentina’s 6-7 forward, Carlos Delfino, pleased Toronto Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo, who’s acquired his rights in the offseason. “He’s displayed a great ability to run a team,” Colangelo said. “Even if he isn’t the point guard on the floor, they’re running a lot of the offence through him and he’s handling it well.” Delfino, who played primarily shooting guard and small forward for three seasons in Detroit before being obtained by Toronto for a second-round draft pick, had 15 points against Canada last night in a typically strong game. Delfino outscored Canada 9-8 in the opening 10 minutes. “If anything, I think our guys might have come out too confident,” said Rautins, whose team beat Argentina in an exhibition tournament in Puerto Rico earlier this month. “We did some things we haven’t done before. I didn’t even recognize our team out there.” Luis Scola Balvoa led Argentina with 23 on 9-17 from the floor, 5-7 from the line and 6 boards. Carlos Francisco Delfino added 15 on 2-4 from the floor, 3-9 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 6 boards. Leonardo Gutierrez added 12 on 4-9 from the arc. Roman Gonzalez notched 11 on 5-9 from the floor and 11 boards. Paolo Quinteros added 10 on 2-6 from the arc. Diego Logrippo added 6, Pablo Prigioni 3, Guillermo Federic Kammerichs 3 and Carlos Matias Sandes 2, while Juan Pedro Guitierrez Lanas, Antonio Porta Pernigotti and Martin Dario Leiva were scoreless. Argentina shot 19-40 (.480) from the field, 12-30 (.400) from the arc and 11-15 (.730) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 21 assists, 15 fouls, 12 turnovers, 9 steals and 2 blocks. David Thomas paced Canada with 13 points on 1-3 from the floor, 3-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 3 boards. Jermaine Anderson notched 10 on 2-5 from the arc, 2-4 from the floor, 4 boards and 2 assists. Carl English scored 10 on 2-4 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc and 3 boards. Levon Kendall scored 9 on 4-10 from the floor and 4 boards. Denham Brown scored 9 on 3-9 from the floor. Samuel Dalembert scored 9 on 4-11 from the floor and 16 boards. Olu Famutimi notched 4, Vlad Kuljanin 3, Jesse Young 2 and Ryan Bell 1, while Juan Mendez was scoreless. Canada shot 20-52 (.380) from the floor, 8-16 from the arc and 6-10 from the line, while garnering 44 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 9 assists, 16 fouls, 19 turnovers, 5 steals and 1 block.
Canada evened its record at (3-3) by thrashing Mexico 97-80. Pounding the offensive glass and breaking Mexican pressure with aplomb, Canada had a game-deciding 22-5 run in the second quarter led by 6’10” Levon Kendall, 6’5” Denham Brown and 6’7” Juan Mendez. After a bit of a slow start, Canada brought energy to the game, attacking inside and cleaning up the “o” glass with an almost-absurd 19 first-half offensive rebounds. Canada also got virtually everything they wanted against the Mexican zone, making 5 of their first 11 3’s, including 3 by 6’2” Jermaine Anderson but had trouble finishing inside going only 2-14 inside the 3. With Canada up 1 at 25-24 and 8 1-2 minutes remaining the second quarter, Kendall got on the glass for 6 straight points (10 points during the run), Brown made a perimeter jumper and then went coast-to-coast after grabbing a defensive rebound and Mendez had a put-back dunk to break the game open late in the second quarter. Mexico had stayed in the game early by taking advantage of poor Canadian transition “d” that led to some open looks but Canada’s tremendous energy and effort on the offensive glass limited any further significant spells of transition opportunities for Mexico. Canada broke the game open early in the second half on back-to-back 3’s from Anderson and Carl English, capping a 10-2 run giving Canada a 57-33 lead and the route was on. English and Anderson made sure team Canada got off to a quick start. A couple of early baskets by English jump started a 6-0 run for the Canadians, but Mexico quickly responded with a 10-0 run of their own. A trio of 3-pointers from Anderson kept Canada on pace as the Canadians found themselves trailing 22-21 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter proved to be team Canada’s from start to finish. Levon Kendall and Denham Brown led an inspired second unit that clicked on both ends of the court as Canada outscored Mexico 26-9 and went into halftime with 47-31 lead. Canada kept the momentum going coming out of the locker room by continuing their dominance inside and outside and extended their lead with a 13-2 run. Mexico was not able to chip into the Canadian lead and team Canada ended the quarter up 76-55. The Canadians kept up their strong play in the fourth and although Mexico was able to put together a couple of mini runs it was simply not enough. “We put in a solid team effort on both ends. I was very pleased with our unselfish play and our defence held the tournament’s top scorer to just 2 points. This is a big win for us and gives us a good lead heading into tomorrow night,” commented coach Leo Rautins. “It is a marathon, and Levon and Denham were examples of what this tournament is all about. You have to have different players in different games step up.” Samuel Dalembert noted “it was a crucial game. Everybody knew what we were getting into and knew we had to get this game to give us a chance to still make the Olympics.” Levon Kendall said that “we knew if we took care of the glass, they wouldn’t be able to set up their press [defence] and feed off turnovers, which is what they want to do. …Playing eight games in a short period of time, we need different guys to rise up. You don’t have any time to hang your head after a poor performance in a tournament like this. We picked up where we left off at the end of (Tuesday’s loss to Argentina).” Denham Brown held high scoring Romel Beck to just two points. Mexican coach Nolan Richardson said “Beck is totally beat up. If it wasn’t an important game, I probably wouldn’t have played him at all.” English, who provided a big lift early, noted “if only (we) played every third or fourth day, you would see a different Carl. When I’m out there, I’ll pick my spots like I did today. I’m trying to show an all-around game. I’m used to being in situations where I score, score, score. This team doesn’t need me to do that. But if I get rolling, it’s all good. Initially, I think we felt I’d be [playing point guard] a lot more, and I kind of trained myself in training camp to do that. My mindset has been like that this whole tournament than my normal mindset, where I’m just going to flat-out light it up. It’s good for my development, and it’s helped me be a better player and a better teammate.” Rautins was also pleased with the squad’s boardwork. “I think we can be a very capable rebounding team, but it’s something we need to take pride in because even our wings, people like Denham Brown, Olu Famutimi and Dave Thomas, can really get on the glass and create a lot of problems for other teams at both ends of the floor. When we do that, we can be very tough to beat.” As well, Rautins said Anderson was exceptional. “Jermaine has been tremendous. Every game he just gets more confident. I think people forget how good he can shoot but he’s still unselfish. I told him, ‘Take as many shots as you want from the top. When that look is there, take it.” Dalembert said Canada’s transition defence was much improved. “Today, we came in and really went after it.” Rautins said his troops did a great job of shutting down Beck. “We took him out of the game. We have been fortunate that different players have stepped up in each game.” Richardson said his troops ran out of gas. “We don’t have any legs. We’re not as athletic as some.” Jermaine Anderson paced Canada with 17 points on 5-8 from the arc and 5 assists. Juan Mendez added 15 on 7-12 from the floor, 1-4 from the line and 9 boards. Levon Kendall notched 15 on 5-11 from the floor, 4-6 from the line and 11 boards. Carl English scored 12 on 3-10 from the arc and 4 boards. Olu Famutimi scored 11 on 4-7 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 5 boards. Denham Brown scored 11 on 4-9 from the floor and 11 boards. Vlad Kuljanin added 8 on 3-3 from the floor. Samuel Dalembert notched 5 on 2-5 from the floor and 8 boards. David Thomas scored 2 and Jesse Young 2, while Ryan Bell was scoreless. Canada shot 29-56 (.520) from the floor, 9-25 (.360) from the arc and 12-21 (.570) from the line, while garnering 61 boards, including 26 on the offensive glass, 21 assists 17 fouls, 21 turnovers, 5 steals and 3 blocks. Omar Quintero paced Mexico with 20 points on 6-9 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Victor Avila added 15 on 3-4 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 5 boards. Horacio Llamas notched 10 on 2-7 from the arc. Hector Hernandez Gallegos added 8, Adam Parada De Los Reyes 6, Enrique Zuniga Castro 6, Gustavo Ayon Aguirre 6, Anthony Pedroza Durazo 4, Victor Mariscal Mata 3 and Romel Beck Castro 2, while Pedro Meza Rogel and Arim Solares Astorga were scoreless. Mexico shot 25-52 (.480) from the floor, 7-22 (.320) from the arc and 9-11 (.820) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 23 fouls, 10 turnovers, 7 steals and 5 blocks.
In its final game in pool C play, Canadian failed to qualify for the semi-finals and a potential automatic berth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after dropping a listless 72-66 decision to Puerto Rico. A game-deciding 23-7 run to end the third quarter was enough to allow a three-point happy Puerto Rican squad to eliminate Canada from the semi-finals. Some familiar nemeses came back to get Canada as poor shot selection and an inability to account for 3-point shooters in transition buried Canada in a 19-point hole early in the fourth quarter and then abysmal free throw shooting down the stretch when Canada brought the game back negated any chance of victory. 6’5” Dave Thomas, who was Canada’s best overall player on this night and arguably one of their most important players throughout the tournament, had 7 down the stretch while 6’10” Samuel Dalembert notched a put-back dunk with 4 minutes left to get Canada back to within 6 at 64-58 and added 18 rebounds but epitomized Canada’s woes from the free throw line, going 1 for 4. 6’5” Carl English again struggled with his shot selection and decision making trying to get to the rim. With Canada trying to climb back into the game late, English had an opportunity to make big free throws but went only 2-4 from the line when it mattered, including an opportunity to bring it to 4 with 1:10 to play. NBAer Carlos Arroyo keyed the third quarter run with several scintillating moves including a vicious cross-over that ended up as a three. In all, Puerto Rico made five of their 12 3’s in the third quarter. 7’3” Peter John Ramos hit a jump hook in the lane that gave Puerto Rico a 62-43 lead, starting what turned out to be a premature celebration on the Puerto Rican bench. But Canada quickly scored the next 11 points in only a minute and a half and clamped down defensively, drawing to within 5 at 66-61 after Thomas had a sweet “and 1” off a slick feed from the soft corner by Dalembert. But then Canada’s free throw shooting woes took over and Puerto Rico clinched the game when 5’11” J.J. Berea sank a pair of free throws to restore a 4-point lead with 16 seconds remaining. Canada started reasonably strong in the first quarter as 6’9” Jesse Young had 3 early buckets and Canada led 8-7 but Arroyo got cooking early for Puerto Rico scoring 10 first-quarter points as Puerto Rico took a 19-15 lead. But as he has done throughout the tournament 6’2” Jermaine Anderson knocked in a straight on 3 off a ball screen to keep Canada within 3 at 21-18 after one. Puerto Rico continued to push the tempo and when Arroyo knocked in a transition 3 after a Denham Brown turnover, Puerto Rico had their largest lead at 27-20 after which both teams struggled with their shot selection and finishing. Later, after Berea stroked a long 3, the Puerto Ricans had their largest lead at 35-26. But Canada’s most consistent player on the night, Thomas, ensured that Canada would go into halftime with the momentum, hitting a pair of threes, his second at the halftime buzzer to cap an 8-0 run and Canada was back in the game at 35-34 after two quarters. But that momentum did not carry over into the third quarter as a very poor stretch for the majority of that frame was Canada’s undoing. Coach Leo Rautins noted that “free throws, three-pointers were the killer.” Carlos Arroyo Bermudez paced Puerto Rico with 22 on 5-8 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc and 5 boards. Peter Ramos Fuentes added 10 on 5-10 from the floor and 9 boards. Elias Ayuso notched 8 on 2-11 from the arc. Jose Barea Mora scored 7, Rick Apodaca 6, Angelo Reyes 6, Carmelo Lee 6, Filiberto Rivera 4 and Ricardo Sanchez Rosa 3, while Alexander Falcon, Hector Valenzuela Hernandez and Angel Figueroa Sepulveda were scoreless. Puerto Rico shot 16-40 (.400) from the floor, 12-30 (.400) from the arc and 4-4 from the line, while garnering 51 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 19 fouls, 12 turnovers, 3 steals and 4 blocks. David Thomas paced Canada with 18 on 4-5 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 4 boards. Samuel Dalembert added 13 on 6-14 from the floor, 1-4 from the line and 18 boards. Carl English scored 9 on 2-8 from the arc, 4 boards and 4 assists. Jesse Young added 6, Jermaine Anderson 5, Levon Kendall 5, Olu Famutimi 5, Denham Brown 3 and Juan Mendez 2, while Vladimir Kuljanin and Ryan Bell were scoreless. Canada shot 18-52 (.350) from the floor, 6-23 (.260) from the arc and 12-24 from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 22 on the offensive glass, 9 assists, 15 fouls, 9 turnovers, 5 steals and 5 blocks.
Despite the loss, Canada clinched a berth in the Olympic qualifying wild-card tournament in July, 2008, to be held at a location determined by a bidding process from the 12 participating teams.
In the post-mortem, much was said about comments from NBA centre Jamaal Magliore, who’d told reporters that if Canada qualified for Beijing, he’d be there. “The line that just killed everyone here was the one where he said if they get there (to Beijing) he would show up,” coach Leo Rautins said. “Man for man, everyone said at that time, ‘We don’t want you.’ So, I don’t know where it’s at now. I haven’t talked to Jamaal, but I’m tired of chasing him. Would I like to have a guy of his size on the roster? Sure. But these guys worked their butts off to get there and if they don’t want him, he’s not playing. I don’t care if he begs to play.” But Rautins was hopeful that two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash would rejoin the squad. “We haven’t talked about that yet, but I know he will certainly consider it. Whether that means if we get to the Olympics or for (the last-chance tournament) I don’t know, but realistically I think it’s still up to us to get there. I think we owe it to Steve to get there and then I’m sure the guys, based on his relationship with us, would welcome him if he chose to come.” Rautins also noted that “we came here with two goals, top two or top five. Realistically, we’re probably one of the top five but when you get right there, you get greedy. It hurts now; you would have liked to get that one shot at one game to earn a berth. Ultimately, you want to get to the Olympics. And with all we’ve got going – youth, age, getting some experience – next year was probably the realistic goal.” Rautins expects to have much the same team back next year. Roster continuity is key to international success, he said. “This is a team; they know how to play together.”