| FINAL STANDINGS 1. Greece Croatia 3. Germany 4. Puerto Rico 5. New Zealand Brazil Slovenia CANADA 9. Korea Cape Verde Lebanon Cameroon | CANADIANS Jermaine Anderson (Toronto, Ont.) Sam Dalembert (Port-au-Prince, Haiti) Aaron Doornekamp (Napanee, Ont.) Carl English (Patrick’s Cove, Nfld.) Olumuyiwa Famutimi (Toronto, Ont.) Andy Rautins (Syracuse, NY) David Thomas (Brampton, Ont.) Rowan Barrett (Scarborough, Ont.) Levon Kendall (Vancouver, B.C.) Rans Brempong (Winnipeg, Man.) Tyler Kepkay (Vancouver, B.C.) Joel Anthony (Montreal, Que.) Leo Rautins – coach Dave Smart – assistant Michael Malone – assistant Wayne Yearwood – assistant Paul Elliott – manager Sam Gibbs – therapist Dr. Andrew Pipe – physician |
| POOL A | GRE | BRZ | LEB | Record | ||
| Greece | —– | 89-69 | 119-62 | (2-0) | ||
| Brazil | 69-89 | —– | 94-54 | (1-1) | ||
| Lebanon | 62-119 | 54-94 | —– | (0-2) | ||
| POOL B | GER | NZL | CPV | Record | ||
| Germany | —– | 89-71 | 104-68 | (2-0) | ||
| New Zealand | 71-89 | —– | 77-50 | (1-1) | ||
| Cape Verde | 68-104 | 50-77 | —– | (0-2) | ||
| POOL C | SLO | CAN | KOR | Record | ||
| Slovenia | —– | 86-70 | 88-76 | (2-0) | ||
| Canada | 70-86 | —– | 79-77 | (1-1) | ||
| Korea | 76-88 | 77-79 | —– | (0-2) | ||
| POOL D | CRO | PUR | CAM | Record | ||
| Croatia | —– | 95-81 | 93-79 | (2-0) | ||
| Puerto Rico | 81-95 | —– | 81-72 | (1-1) | ||
| Cameroon | 79-93 | 72-81 | —– | (0-2) | ||
| QFs | Greece 75 New Zealand 48 | |
| QFs | Germany 78 Brazil 65 | |
| QFs | Croatia 83 Canada 62 | |
| QFs | Puerto Rico 81 Slovenia 70 | |
| Semi | Croatia 76 Germany 70 | |
| Semi | Greece 88 Puerto Rico 63 | |
| Bronze | Germany 96 Puerto Rico 82 | |
Canada opened the repechage by getting whacked 86-70 by Slovenia. The backcourt tandem of Jaka Lakovic and Sani Becirovic paced Slovenia, shutting off Canada’s perimeter defenders at will. “Obviously, we’re very disappointed,” said Canadian coach Leo Rautins. “We’ve got to learn from it and make sure this never happens again, but we have got to let it go. We’re in the exact same situation as we were going into today.” Slovenia and Canada raced out to a neck-and-neck start, with Canada leading by as much as five in the early going. That flip-flopped into a five-point deficit after the first quarter however, and the Canadians found themselves down 41-34 at the half. It wouldn’t get any better for Canada, as Slovenia came out from the intermission and proceeded to blow the game wide open, outscoring the Canadians 23-15 in the third quarter and never looking back. “We’re disappointed, but we’ve got to forget it,” said Dave Thomas. “We know what’s at stake, and I think that pressure will help us come out tomorrow with a better effort.” Rautins said “we all screwed this one up. Every coach, every trainer, every player on the floor … it’s a team game, one person isn’t going to win or lose a game.” Dalembert “never got on track offensively or defensively,” said Rautins. “I didn’t see him leave the floor to challenge people defensively and on the offensive end he struggled not only with his shooting but with the decision-making behind the shots.” Canada was trailing 41-34 at the half as they struggled to defend the Slovenian backcourt without fouling as Lakovic finished the half with 16 points and Becirovic added nine. Rautins also criticized Canada’s lack of urgency on offense as they failed to get into their transition game and push the pace of play. Instead it was Slovenia’s aggressiveness that took a toll on Canada as Jermaine Anderson — their starting point guard — was in foul trouble early. Canada was actually carrying the play early as they used their quickness to force some early Slovenian turnovers and were able to get into bonus first as they took a 13-9 lead with just seven minutes gone in the opening quarter. It was 15-14 for Canada when Anderson picked up his second foul. By the time he checked back in with 8:33 left to play in the second Canada was trailing 31-22. Anderson returned and helped settle things down after Andy Rautins and Carl English struggled to get the team into their offense. A nine-point flurry by Anthony, the Miami Heat centre from Montreal, helped cut Slovenia’s lead to a point but Nestorovic hit a baseline jumper to reply and Canada was held scoreless the rest of the half. Slovenia picked up where they left off in the third quarter, quickly pushing the lead to 12 and holding it there until the debacle at the end of the third quarter gave them a 16-point lead, their largest of the game to that point and more than enough to hold off a disheartened Canadian team. “We have to come out hungry on Wednesday,” said Dave Thomas. “If lose tomorrow we don’t get to the Olympics, it’s that simple. … I can’t pinpoint one thing. We talk about trust . . . at times I don’t think that was totally there.” A team built to thrive in transition couldn’t get out and run and the outside shooting was dreadful. “We took most of our transition game away, I don’t think it had much to do with Slovenia,” said Rautins. “We’re a running team that looks to attack and we didn’t run.” Jaka Lakovic paced Slovenia with 19 on 4-7 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 8-8 from the line and 5 boards. Sani Becirovic added 15 on 2-7 from the floor, 11-11 from the line, 5 assists and 2 steals. Radoslav Nesterovic notched 14 on 7-10 from the floor, 9 boards and 4 blocks. Uros Slokar added 10 on 4-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 5 boards. Emir Preldzic notched 8 on 3-7 from the floor and 2-4 from the arc. Domen Lorbek notched 8 on 3-4 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc and 4 boards. Nebojsa Joksimovic added 4, Jaka Klobucar 3, Goran Dragic 3 and Dragisa Drobnjak 2, while Zeljko Zagorac and Miha Zupan were scoreless. Slovenia shot 27-54 from the floor, 19-33 (.576) from the field, 8-21 (.381) from the arc and 24-27 (.889) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 5 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 21 fouls, 13 turnovers, 10 steals and 8 blocks. Rowan Barrett paced Canada with 16 on 4-9 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc and 7-8 from the line. Dave Thomas scored 10 on 5-7 from the floor and 4 boards. Jermaine Anderson added 9 on 4-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 2 assists. Joel Anthony scored 9 on 4-8 from the floor and 6 boards. Levon Kendall scored 7 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 2-3 from the line and 6 boards. Olu Famutimi scored 5 on 2-7 from the floor and 1-1 from the line. Carl English scored 5 on 1-3 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 3 boards. Samuel Dalembert scored 4 on 1-8 from the floor and 2 boards. Andy Rautins scored 3 on 1-4 from the floor. Rans Brempong added 2, while Aaron Doornekamp and Tyler Kepkay were scoreless. Canada shot 24-60 (.400) from the floor, 20-47 (.426) from the field, 4-13 (.308) from the arc and 18-22 (.818) from the line, while garnering 27 boards, including 5 on the offensive glass, 5 assists, 22 fouls, 14 turnovers, 6 steals and 4 blocks.
Prior to the start of their second game, coach Leo Rautins dismissed centre Samuel Dalembert, one of only two NBA players on the squad. “Everybody that’s here now wants to be here, and wants to be a part of this team, and that’s it,” said Rautins. “Everybody here is playing for each other, and playing for Canada, and if that’s not your agenda, you’re not here.” Rautins and Dalembert had a disagreement on the team bus, resulting in the Philadelphia 76ers dismissal. Dalembert’s agent, Marc Cornstein, was critical of Rautins’ comments. “I think it’s unbelievably disappointing and wrong to even hint at all to his [lack of] commitment to the national team,” Cornstein said. Dalembert had been singled out by Rautins for poor play against Slovenia. But Rautins said the problem had been brewing for some time. “Something like this doesn’t just happen in one game, or overnight,” said Rautins. “It’s kind of something that’s been brewing a little bit. At this point, our focus is not that. Our focus is the guys that are here, the guys that are sacrificing and giving up everything for each other, and that’s the way it is.” Veteran forward Rowan Barrett said the team remains unified and supports the decision of Rautins. He also questioned whether Dalembert was aware of the commitment required for the national program. “This is not the CIS, the NCAA or the NBA,” said Barrett. “This is FIBA basketball. It’s a different animal. I’m not sure that everyone who comes in necessarily has the background to fully understand what this is, and the type of a grind this is … the four games in five days, the eight games in nine days. As taxing as it is physically, mentally it’s even more taxing. The bottom line is, you’re thinking about the flag. We’re out here representing our country.” Dalembert later told a Philadelphia newspaper that “I’d be happy to represent Canada when things get more organized and structured.” In another interview, Dalembert said “I still love Canada and I’m sorry for the fans back home because I know they were very excited about our team. I’m still dedicated and committed to play for Canada in the future. … The coach questioning my commitment to the team after the things I’ve done? That hurts. I never tried to put myself higher than anybody else. I put my NBA career on hold to play for this country. Nobody put a gun to my head.” Dalembert said he was actually confused when Rautins asked him to leave the team, although there were reports that his attitude problems began at training camp last month in Toronto. “I don’t know what it is, but there was a lot of stuff that built up,” he said. “I like some of the group, there are some guys I don’t get along with, but I try to be accommodating and be on the same page as everyone. I don’t think anybody can say I didn’t.”
Canada then received a gift in the form of a 79-77 win over Korea. Canada trailed 49-33 at the half. Korea quickly extended its margin to 18 early in the second half before inexplicably becoming extremely tentative, passing up open shots and backing away as Canada began throwing its superior weight around and making the game what, in diplomatic terms, might be called more physical. With Rowan Barrett draining treys, Levon Kendall dominating the boards and the Koreans handing the ball to Canada on several occasions, the Canadians rallied back to take the lead in the final minute and then celebrated as Korea missed two opportunities to tie or win it. “I told them to relax and just be themselves,” said Canadian coach Leo Rautins about his halftime speech to his squad. “It was nothing technical, we just did a much better job in the second half of getting up on them and contesting shots.” With three minutes remaining, Korea extended the lead to 12. But a 13-0 run by Canada to end the game completed the miraculous comeback. Rowan Barrett hit a step-back trey with 1:19 remaining that brought Canada to within two points –- the smallest separation between the teams since the start of the second quarter. “We’re really happy we won obviously,” said Barrett. “I’m excited to see the character of this team … we earned some fans here today who saw that we’ll battle back and not give up. That’s the meaning of being truly Canadian, in a way.” Rowan Barrett paced Canada with 22 on 8-12 from the floor, 6-9 from the arc and 2 steals. Jermaine Anderson added 17 on 7-10 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 5 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Carl English added 12 on 4-14 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 1 steal. Olu Famutimi added 7 on 2-5 from the floor, 2-4 from the line and 2 boards. Levon Kendall scored 7 on 3-10 from the floor, 1-4 from the line and 14 boards. Joel Anthony scored 7 on 2-4 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 7 boards. Dave Thomas scored 4 on 2-6 from the floor and 9 boards. Rans Brempong scored 3 on 1-2 from the floor and 4 boards. Tyler Kepkay, Andy Rautins and Aaron Doornekamp were scoreless. Canada shot 29-66 (.439) from the floor, 19-45 (.422) from the field, 10-21 (.476) from the arc and 11-18 (.611) from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 7 assists, 21 fouls, 18 turnovers, 10 steals and 3 blocks. Jung-gyu Jeon paced Korea with 19 on 5-9 from the floor, 5-8 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 4 boards. Young-sam Jung added 13 on 4-7 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 4-7 from the line and 4 steals. Ho-young Yoon added 10 on 4-13 from the floor, 2-4 from the line and 3 boards. Joo-sung Kim added 10 on 4-13 from the floor, 2-4 from the line and 2 assists. Min-soo Kim notched 10 on 4-6 from the floor and 2-4 from the arc. Sekeun Oh added 6 on 2-6 from the floor and 6 boards. Hee-Jung Joo notched 6 on 2-6 from the floor and 9 assists. Tae-sool Kim scored 3, while Seung-jin Ha, Kwang-jae Lee, Byung-hyun Kang and Hee-jong Yang were scoreless. Korea shot 24-55 (.436) from the floor, 11-30 (.367) from the field, 13-25 (.520) from the arc and 16-22 (.727) from the line, while garnering 24 boards, including 5 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 18 fouls, 13 turnovers, 11 steals and 1 block.
In the quarterfinals against Croatia, Canada’s Olympic dream died with a thud as they were pounded 83-62, dispelling slim hopes of qualifying for Beijing. Canada was within striking distance at halftime, trailing 36-29. Croatia had led 20-16 early in the second quarter before Joel Anthony soared in for a dunk and Rans Brempong buried a jump shot to tie the game with 7:44 to go in the first half. But a 7-0 spurt by Croatia team then gave them the cushion they would carry to half-time. When the teams returned to the floor, Croatia roared out to a 26-13 third quarter. “I think the guys fought hard but we just ran out of gas,” said Canadian coach Leo Rautins. “We rebounded the ball well, got second chances … but unfortunately it just wasn’t enough.” Rowan Barrett said “we have a young nucleus of guys who need this experience to bring Canada back to prominence. Looking at the future, it’s nice to see a stable of young guys who are getting better… every country has their time.” Olu Famutimi said “we just have to use this as a learning experience and come back stronger.” Marko Popovic paced Croatia with 17 on 5-13 from the floor, 4-11 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 2 boards. Sandro Nicevic added 11 on 4-4 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 6 boards. Davor Kus scored 10 on 4-6 from the floor and 2-4 from the arc. Marko Tomas scored 10 on 4-9 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 1-1 from the line. Marko Banic scored 10 on 3-3 from the floor, 4-6 from the line and 5 boards. Zoran Planinic notched 6, Kresimir Loncar 6, Nikola Prkacin 4, Marin Rozic 4, Roko-Leni Ukic 3 and Stanko Barac 2, while Damir Markota was scoreless. Croatia shot 30-57 (.526) from the floor, 21-34 (.618) from the field, 9-23 (.391) from the arc and 14-22 (.636) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 32 fouls, 10 turnovers, 7 steals and 2 blocks. Olu Famutimi paced Canada with 14 on 4-11 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 4-5 from the line and 9 boards. Rowan Barrett added 13 on 3-8 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 5-5 from the line. Joel Anthony scored 8 on 2-8 from the floor, 4-6 from the line and 11 boards. Jermaine Anderson scored 7 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 assists. Levon Kendall scored 5 on 1-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-4 from the line and 4 boards. Rans Brempong scored 4 on 1-4 from the floor and 9 boards. Carl English scored 4 on 1-8 from the floor and 2-2 from the line. Andy Rautins scored 4 on 1-4 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc and 1-2 from the line. Tyler Kepkay scored 2 and Aaron Doornekamp 1, while Dave Thomas was scoreless. Canada shot 16-59 (.271) from the floor, 9-35 (.257) from the field, 7-24 (.292) from the arc and 23-30 (.767) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 19 on the offensive glass, 7 assists, 22 fouls, 15 turnovers, 1 steal and 1 block.