| FINAL STANDINGS 1. Venezuela 2. Argentina 3. CANADA 4. Mexico 5. Puerto Rico 6. Dominican Republic 7. Panama 8. Uruguay 9. Brazil Cuba | CANADIANS Anthony Bennett (Brampton, Ont.) Aaron Doornekamp (Odessa, Ont.) Melvin Ejim (Toronto, Ont.) Brady Heslip (Burlington, Ont.) Cory Joseph (Pickering, Ont.) Andrew Nicholson (Mississauga, Ont.) Kelly Olynyk (Kamloops, B.C.) Dwight Powell (Toronto, Ont.) Robert Sacre (Vancouver, B.C.) Philip Scrubb (Richmond, B.C.) Nik Stauskas (Mississauga, Ont.) Andrew Wiggins (Vaughan, Ont.) Jay Triano – coach Dave Smart – assistant David Vanterpool – assistant Bryan Gates – assistant Phil Handy – development coach Kade Beard – video coordinator Scottie O’Brien – statistician Sam Gibbs – lead IST Jason Meehan – therapist Charlie Weingroff – strength & conditioning coach David Cox – psychologist Marc Bubbs – nutritionist John Philpott – physician Matt Yorke – manager Jeremy Cross – manager |
| POOL A | ARG | CAN | VEN | PUR | CUB | Record | |||||
| Argentina | —– | 94-87 | 77-68 | 91-86 | 96-64 | (4-0) | |||||
| Canada | 87-94 | —– | 82-62 | 112-92 | 101-59 | (3-1) | |||||
| Venezuela | 68-77 | 62-82 | —– | 74-63 | 73-52 | (2-2) | |||||
| Puerto Rico | 86-91 | 91-112 | 63-74 | —– | 91-61 | (1-3) | |||||
| Cuba | 64-96 | 59-101 | 52-73 | 61-91 | —– | (0-4) | |||||
| POOL B | MEX | DOM | PAN | URU | BRZ | Record | |||||
| Mexico | —– | 84-66 | 82-68 | 78-63 | 65-58 | (4-0) | |||||
| Dominican Republic | 66-84 | —– | 83-66 | 90-70 | 65-71 | (2-2) | |||||
| Panama | 68-82 | 66-83 | —– | 78-71 | 89-72 | (2-2) | |||||
| Uruguay | 63-78 | 70-90 | 71-78 | —– | 71-57 | (1-3) | |||||
| Brazil | 58-65 | 71-65 | 72-89 | 57-71 | —– | (1-3) | |||||
| POOL A | CAN | MEX | ARG | VEN | PUR | DOM | PAN | URU | Record | ||
| Canada | —– | 94-73 | 87-94 | 82-62 | 112-92 | 120-103 | 103-66 | 109-82 | (6-1) | ||
| Mexico | 73-94 | —– | 95-83 | 73-70 | 92-86 | 84-66 | 82-68 | 78-63 | (6-1) | ||
| Argentina | 94-87 | 83-95 | —– | 77-68 | 91-86 | 92-84 | 84-57 | 90-87 | (6-1) | ||
| Venezuela | 62-82 | 70-73 | 68-77 | —– | 74-63 | 72-68 | 75-62 | 75-77 | (3-4) | ||
| Puerto Rico | 92-112 | 86-92 | 86-91 | 63-74 | —– | 98-92 | 78-71 | 80-69 | (3-4) | ||
| Dominican Republic | 103-120 | 66-84 | 84-92 | 68-72 | 92-98 | —– | 83-66 | 90-70 | (2-5) | ||
| Panama | 66-103 | 68-82 | 57-84 | 62-75 | 71-78 | 66-83 | —– | 78-71 | (1-6) | ||
| Uruguay | 82-109 | 63-78 | 87-90 | 77-75 | 69-80 | 70-90 | 71-78 | —– | (1-6) |
| Semi | Venezuela 79 Canada 78 | |
| Semi | Argentina 78 Mexico 70 | |
| Bronze | Canada 87 Mexico 86 | |
| Final | Venezuela 76 Argentina 71 | |
In their opener, Canada was Scola-ed, well, schooled, 94-87 by Argentina. Canada led 20-17 after one quarter. Argentina led 36-32 at the half and 61-53 after three quarters. Thirty-five-year-old Luis Scola notched a double-double and dominated the floor, manhandling Canadian posts, while the national team often appeared soft, timid and unwilling to defend. “It’s a good experience for us. I thought they controlled the game, the point guards controlled the game,” Canadian coach Jay Triano told Canadian Press. “It’s not the outcome we wanted, we beat them the last two times we played them. The Toronto Star described it as a “rather dull performance … (complete with) an uncharacteristically lacking consistent work ethic.” Triano told the Star that “we have to play free, I think we were real hesitant. Maybe it was the importance of the game, maybe it was because it was the first game, but we just seemed very hesitant compared to the way we were playing.” Canada committed 22 turnovers that led to 20 Argentina points. “I think everyone came out of the gates a little tentative,” said guard Brady Heslip. “We were supposed to be the aggressors and dictate how we wanted them to play. From the get-go, they got the ball where they wanted to, to who they wanted to.” Scola said “I believe experience is a big part of this tournament because there are a lot of different things the younger players aren’t really used to. There are players from many different leagues, many different countries. Players play in the NBA, Euro leagues, South America. There’s a mix of styles and rules so there’s a lot of confusion a lot of times.” Triano said “I think people forget we’re a fairly young team, we’re fairly new at this, so this is a good growing experience for us. I didn’t hear we were projected to be the favourites. I knew that after we played well in Puerto Rico teams would be looking forward to playing us, but obviously we have to be better, making better decisions.” Heslip said “it’s probably a good wake-up call for us, that this happened now. The guys that haven’t been down here before, they’ll see there are not going to be any easy games.” Triano told Sportsnet.ca that “Argentina controlled the tempo of the game, they shot the ball better, they just beat us in every aspect of the game. They got up and down the floor, we turned it over 13 times to give them 20 points. We prided ourselves on playing good defence. We prided ourselves on being a good rebounding team and we have been until this moment, but those two things were non-existent today. This is the third time we’ve played against a lot of these guys and the second time we’ve played against Scola and Nocioni. “We know they’re veteran players, it’s good experience for us. I thought they controlled the game. It’s not the outcome we wanted. We beat them the last two times we played them, we beat them a week ago but this is the one that matters and they were more up to the test than we were today. I don’t know if it was our first game or fatigue level but they had more bounce than we had today.” Kelly Olynyk told Canadian Press that “I think tomorrow, we just got to bring it, bring lots of energy. Keep doing what we’ve been doing the past two weeks; playing together, playing as one, moving the ball. When we do that kind of stuff, the ball goes in the basket.” Luis Scola paced Argentina with 35 on 13-23 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 9-14 from the line, 13 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Nicolas Laprovittola added 10 on 7-10 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 4 boards and 4 assists. Andres Nocioni added 15 on 3-8 from the floor, 2-7 from the arc, 3-3 from the line and 5 boards. Facunco Campazzo notched 10 on 4-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 3boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. Leonardo Mainoldi added 6, along with 2 boards, Gabriel Deck 2, along with 4 boards, Selem Safar 2, Patricio Garino Gullota 2, along with 3 boards, and Tayavek Gallizzi 2, along with 4 boards, while Nicolas Richotti, Nicolas Brussino and Marcos Delia were scoreless. Richolittie dished 2 assists, while Delia nabbed 5 boards and dished 2 assists. Argentina hit 30-58 (.520) from the floor, 5-19 (.260) from the arc and 19-25 (.760) from the line, while garnering 48 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 17 assists, 25 fouls, 10 turnovers, 6 steals and 2 blocks. Andrew Wiggins paced Canada with 13 on 4-5 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 6 boards and 3 assists. Anthony Bennett added 13 on 5-7 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 0-2 from the line and 6 boards. Kelly Olynyk added 11 on 4-9 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 10 boards and 4 assists. Brady Heslip notched 11 on 1-4 from the floor and 3-4 from the arc. Cory Joseph added 8 on 3-8 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards, 7 assists and 2 steals. Melvin Ejim scored 7 on 1-2 from the floor, 5-7 from the line and 2 boards. Nikolas Stauskas added 7 on 1-2 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 assists. Dwight Powell scored 7 on 2-4 from the floor, 3-6 from the line and 4 boards. Philip Scrubb added 5 on 2-7 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 5 assists. Robert Sacre scored 3 on 1-3 from the floor and 1-2 from the line. Andrew Nicholson added 2 on 1-1 from the floor and 3 boards, while Aaron Doornekamp was scoreless and nabbed 3 boards. Canada hit 25-53 (.470) from the floor, 6-20 (.300) from the arc and 19-28 (.680) from the line, while garnering 44 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 22 assists, 25 fouls, 13 turnovers, 4 steals and 2 blocks.
Canada improved to (1-1) in pool play by demolishing Cuba 101-59. Canada led 30-10, 49-19 and 71-41 at the quarters. “After yesterday we needed to improve on a few things,” coach Jay Triano told Canadian Press. “I thought we were more focused and we were able to play all 12 minutes and balance the minutes. With four games in four days, we felt that was important. Once we got the ball in transition, that’s the way we want to play — we want to try and score easy baskets as much as we can.” Nik Stauskas added that “it was a good opportunity for all of our guys to get out there today and just play freely. Other than the third quarter, where I thought we maybe backed off a little bit and gave them too many opportunities, I thought we did a good job staying focused all game and playing our game.” Triano told the Toronto Star that Canada benefited from increased aggressiveness from Andrew Wiggins. “If Andrew is going to stand on the perimeter and shoot, that’s not going to help us. We need the activity, the way he played today. That was a great first quarter for him: attacking the basket, looking to get offensive rebounds, which he’s very good at. He was the best player on the floor in the first quarter. … I think Andrew’s going to be a guy that we need to play very well and we need to be a focus for us offensively, for sure. He’s proved he can do it in the NBA. We need him to be the focal point of what we’re doing. I think when we do that, other teams are going to have problems. He’s going to be able to find other players. We’ve got natural players at other positions that will find ways to score.” Anthony Bennett told the Toronto Sun that Wiggins was a “killer. Anywhere he goes, he has that mentality, just go out there and play hard.” Triano told the Star that Canada needed to remain focused. “This is all part of what we’re talking about, our growth as a team: our mental toughness, being able to play through every quarter, every possession, throughout a long tournament when you’re tired and fatigued and banged up when things don’t go right, like they didn’t yesterday. I think for the most part we passed the test, but we’ve got to stay locked in all of the time. We’re playing good teams.” Stauskas told the Sun that he was starting to regain his confidence. “The coaching staff and players have done a good job of encouraging me, even when I haven’t been playing my best. It’s just up to me to stay aggressive. This team needs me to make plays, needs me to be aggressive on the floor, and that’s what I’m trying to do.” Wiggins, who scored Canada’s opening two buckets on putbacks, told the National Post that “I just wanted to start the game off aggressive and give my team momentum the rest of the game.” He told Sportsnet.ca that “I was trying to set the tone, trying to go hard in the first quarter, trying to give the whole team momentum going into the rest of the game. … If [the ball] is there, go get it.” Andrew Wiggins paced Canada with 1 5on 4-7 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 6 boards and 2 blocks. Nik Stauskas added 15 on 4-4 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 6 boards and 4 assists. Brady Heslip notched 12 on 0-3 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc and 3 assists. Dwight Powell notched 10 on 3-5 from the floor, 4-6 from the line, 2 boards and 2 blocks. Philip Scrubb added 9 on 1-3 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 5 boards and 5 assists. Anthony Bennett added 9 on 4-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-3 from the line and 4 boards. Aaron Doornekamp scored 7 on 1-1 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 9 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals. Kelly Olynyk notched 6 on 2-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 3 boards. Cory Joseph added 6 on 3-5 from the floor, 4 boards and 6 assists. Melvin Ejim added 5 on 2-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 6 boards and 2 blocks. Robert Sacre added 5 on 1-2 from the floor, 3-5 from the line and 3 boards. Andrew Nicholson added 2 on 1-1 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 4 boards. Canada hit 26-47 (.550) from the floor, 9-26 (.350) from the arc and 22-31 (.710) from the line, while garnering 58 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 29 assists, 16 fouls, 5 turnovers, 4 steals and 8 blocks. Jasiel Rivero Fernandez paced Cuba with 20 on 5-10 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 7 boards and 2 blocks. Yoan Luis Haiti added 10 on 2-5 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc and 2 boards. William Granda Lewis added 7, along with 2 boards and 6 assists, Livan Vales Maza 6, along with 4 boards, Javier Justiz Ferrer 4, along with 8 boards, Yoel Cubilla Rojas 4, along with 2 boards, Karel Guzman Abreu 2, along with 3 boards and 2 assists, Yaser Rodriguez Alfonso 2, along with 5 boards and 4 assists, Esteban Martinez Justiz 2 and Orestes Torres Quiroz 2, while Osmel Oliva Garcia and Yuniskel Molina Rodriguez were scoreless. Cuba hit 16-56 (.290) from the floor, 5-20 from the arc and 12-15 (.800) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 28 fouls, 7 turnovers, 1 steal and 3 blocks.
Canada improved to (2-1) by whipping Venezuela 82-62. “When we can stop teams like that, we hope to just keep running and pushing the ball up the floor,” coach Jay Triano told Canadian Press. “We have a target, people think we’re one of the better teams here and if we play well, we could be.” Canada broke to 25-15 lead after one quarter and extended the margin to 47-28 at the half. Venezuela rallied to within 64-48 after three quarters. “I think we did better today, especially on the defensive end,” said point guard Cory Joseph told CP. Joseph told CBC that “I was trying to be aggressive, getting to the paint and making decisions. I was able to find Kelly [Olynyk] a lot early and a couple of times to [Anthony Bennett]. I think we did better today, especially on the defensive end. I thought our defence started a lot for our offence.” Triano told Sportsnet.ca that Joseph “controlled the game. When he needed to step up, he did. When we were struggling, he took over. I thought he played well.” Joseph told Sportsnet his game is “coming along. It’s still not fully there yet. As long as we win, I don’t care.” Nik Stauskus got on track from the perimeter. “I’ve been struggling my last couple of games, even in San Juan (in exhibition play) I was having a hard time getting the ball to go in and today was just a confidence booster seeing the ball go in a few times,” Stauskas told Sportsnet. “All of our guys, Cory, Andrew they do a phenomenal job getting to the paint, drawing the defence and kicking out and any time I get my feet set I feel like I have a good chance of hitting that shot.” In a highly physical match, Venezuela picked up two international fouls in the first half, including one that sidelined Dwight Powell, who was hammered to the floor in the second quarter, and appeared to severely injure his elbow. Kelly Olynyk told the Toronto Star “Cory stepped up, Cory played really well. Not only getting out with the ball, he found stuff for himself and kept the defence honest with his own shot. That’s something we need from him going forward to make a run here. He’s got a lot of mouths to feed and he has to keep the defence honest himself. Right now, that’s something point guards have got to do and we trust him to do that.” Triano told the National Post that Joseph was also stellar on defence. “Well he’s the first line (of defence). “When you talk about good defence, you like to have the first line … be the strength and then everything falls into place. You can determine where the ball starts for their offensive execution and then we can keep it on the (same) side (of the floor), that’s what we’re trying to do.” Olynyk told the Star that the squad kept its composure in the face of Venezuela’s physicality and three flagrant fouls. “We were fired up anyway, but that keeps it that way. Obviously, we have to keep a level head, we can’t retaliate because, for us, one mistake and we lose a guy for the tournament. As tough as it is, we have to keep a level head.” Triano told the Toronto Sun that “we’re young and they’re going to test us, they’re going to test our physicality and whether we can handle it. Those guys are veteran guys and have played a long, long time. They’re going to be physical, they’re going to clutch, they’re going to grab. They’re going to put us in a position where they see if we can handle that.” Nik Stauskas paced Canada with 16 on 1-3 from the floor, 4-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 assists. Kelly Olynyk added 14 on 4-5 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 8 boards and 6 assists. Andrew Wiggins notched 13 on 4-11 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 5-8 from the line, 7 boards, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Anthony Bennett added 10 on 5-7 from the floor, 10 boards and 3 assists. Cory Joseph scored 10 on 4-7 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 7 boards, 5 assists and 2 blocks. Melvin Ejim added 6 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists. Philip Scrubb notched 5 on 1-2 from the floor and 1-3 from the arc. Dwight Powell scored 4 on 2-2 from the floor and 4 boards. Andrew Nicholson added 2 on 1-1 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 2 boards. Aaron Doornekamp notched 2 on 1-1 from the floor and 2 boards, while Brady Heslip and Robert Sacre were scoreless. Heslip nabbed 2 boards. Canada hit 24-43 (.560) from the floor, 6-16 (.380) from the arc and 16-20 (.800) from the line, while garnering 52 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 24 assists, 14 fouls, 22 turnovers, 4 steals and 6 blocks. Dwight Lewis Padron paced Venezuela with 17 on 5-8 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 2 steals. Nestor Colmenares Uzcategui added 16 on 4-8 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 6 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Jose Vargas Diaz notched 11 on 3-7 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 2-3 from the line and 3 assists. David Cubillan Leon added 5, along with 3 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals, Gregory Vargas Diaz 4, along with 2 assists, John Cox 3, along with 2 boards, Windi Graterol Clemente 3, along with 4 boards, Miguel Ruiz Gonzalez 2, along with 3 boards, and Heissler Guillen Ecker 1, while Miguel Marriaga Herrera and Cesar Garcia Arocha were scoreless. Venezuela hit 16-45 (.360) from the floor, 7-29 (.240) from the arc and 9-13 (.690) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 22 fouls, 9 turnovers, 14 steals and 3 blocks.
Canada closed out pool A play with a (3-1) record by clocking Puerto Rico 112-92. Canada led 24-23, 46-44 and 81-60 at the quarters. “I thought we played alright,” Kelly Olynyk told Canadian Press. “We got off to a slow start but we closed the half strong and opened up the third quarter real strong. They are a great team and they have some players that can really go so it was a great win for us.” Puerto Rico kept bombing from the perimeter as they hung within reach of Canada in the first half, with Canada taking the lead on buzzer beaters by Philip Scrubb at the end of the first quarter and the end of the half. Canada took command in the third quarter. “Puerto Rico played very well early,” said coach Jay Triano. “They made some three-point shots and we knew that was part of their game. I was really pleased with the way our guys responded at half-time and even for the last two and a half minutes of the first half.” Lucky to be down only nine points with about three minutes left in the first half after being out-worked, out-hustled and out-played by a wide margin, the Canadians responded to stern words from coach Jay Triano and were off and running, the Toronto Star reported. They ended the half on an 11-0 run, overwhelmed Puerto Rico 35-16 in the third quarter and coasted home to the win. “I think we grew up in that last 2:30 or 3:50 or whatever it was,” Triano told the Star. “And at halftime we challenged our guys . . . ‘This is an important game for us, these games and the record counts moving forward.’ Our guys are completely aware of that, but every game’s going to be a battle and we have to be the hardest-working team. We knew we had to get on a steep learning curve if we were to be successful here. I do like the fact we bounced back after losing that game (the tournament opener against Argentina) and have played fairly well since then. We’re okay with where we are right now. We’re just okay right now, we need to be good next week.” Point guard Cory Joseph got in foul trouble but Scrubb was solid in reserve. “I feel like Phil did an amazing job,” Joseph said. “He ran the team very well, got everybody in their spots, made his open shots. We’ve got a team we feel like can step up and do those type of things. Somebody that doesn’t play, we feel like the next person is kind of like the next man up mentality.” Joseph told the National Post that “tonight was definitely an example of how deep our team is. I got in foul trouble in the first half. I could have started the second half, (but) I feel like Phil did an amazing job. He ran the team very well, got everybody in their spots, made his open shots. We’ve got a team we feel like can step up and do those type of things. Somebody that doesn’t play, we feel like the next person is kind of like the next man up mentality.” Puerto Rican point guard Jose Barea told Sportsnet that Canada “have amazing potential. “The great thing about them, I’ve played with a bunch of them, they’re great, great, guys. Great teammates, when I play with them in the NBA, they’re awesome. I play with Dwight [Powell] now, he’s a great, great kid. They could go all the way up. They have a lot of ground to cover still, but if they keep it close, if they keep that group together for the next couple of years, they could be the best team.” Wiggins told the Toronto Sun that “other players on other teams look at us as targets. They’re trying to come at us, every game. Every game we’ve got to bring it with our competitiveness.” Andrew Wiggins paced Canada with 19 on 4-6 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 8-13 from the line and 3 boards. Nik Stauskas added 15 on 2-5 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 4 assists. Kelly Olynyk notched 15 on 4-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 9 boards and 4 assists. Cory Joseph added 15 on 2-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 8-10 from the line, 5 boards and 5 assists. Brady Heslip added 13 on 1-1 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc and 2-4 from the line. Philip Scrubb added 12 on 2-4 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 3 assists. Anthony Bennett notched 9 on 1-2 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 9 boards and 3 assists. Robert Sacre added 5 on 1-2 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 3 boards. Melvin Ejim added 4 on 2-4 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 8 boards and 2 assists. Andrew Nicholson notched 3 on 0-1 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 3 boards. Aaron Doornekamp scored 2 on 1-2 from the floor and 6 boards, while Dwight Powell, nursing an injured elbow, did not play. Canada hit 20-41 (.490) from the floor, 13-30 (.430) from the arc and 33-44 (.750) from the line, while garnering 58 boards, including 19 on the offensive glass, 25 assists, 28 fouls, 13 turnovers, 2 steals and 5 blocks. Jose Barea Mora paced Puerto Rico with 20 on 5-9 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 1-4 from the line, 7 boards and 7 assists. Elias Ayuso added 18 on 2-3 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 assists. Ramon Clemente added 16 on 5-8 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 6-9 from the line, 7 boards and 6 assists. Renaldo Balkman added 9, along with 11 boards and 4 assists. Angel Vassallo Colon 8, along with 3 boards, Jorge Diaz Hernandez 7, along with 3 boards and 2 assists, Eduardo Gonzalez Lopez 6, Carlos Rivera Ruiz 5, along with 2 boards, and John Holland 3, while Guillermo Diaz Gonzalez, Richard Chaney Jr. and Luis Villafane Silva were scoreless. Puerto Rico hit 25-52 (.480) from the floor, 10-29 (.350) from the arc and 12-25 (.480) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 23 assists, 30 fouls, 8 turnovers, 6 steals and 2 blocks.
Canada finished (3-1) in pool A play and advanced to the finals pool, with a (2-1) record. The win over Cuba, a non-advancer, did not count in the finals pool.
Canada improved to (3-1) by thrashing Panama 103-66 after leading 20-10, 42-25 and 77-45 at the quarters. “Our goal was to rebound and see if we could get out in transition,” coach Jay Triano told Canadian Press. “We were able to wear them down by continually running and doing a good job on defence.” Canada’s defence was solid in the first quarter, forcing seven turnovers and holding Panama scoreless from the 6:30 mark, while Brady Heslip came off the bench to hit five treys in the second quarter. “It is good to start the second round with a win,” said Heslip. Cory Joseph told the Toronto Star that “we don’t try to look at it (point differential) as much, we still feel like we haven’t played a full game, we feel like we haven’t played a complete 40 minutes. We’ve had lapses, a lot despite what the score says and we try to look at those lapses on tape and learn.” Triano told the Star that “I don’t think we’ve played 40 minutes of great defence, but we’re showing signs that we can wear teams down a little bit and take teams out of what they want to do. We’re getting close, but we’re not where we need to be.” Joseph said Heslip “can shoot off the dribble, he can catch and shoot, he’s just one of those guys that when it goes up you always think it’s going in. When he misses it, you feel almost disappointed because he rarely misses. It’s fun to watch and it’s fun to play with him. It’s my job, when I see a guy is hot like that, to get him in the right position to make those threes and he was definitely doing that today.” Anthony Bennett told the Toronto Sun that Heslip “just always has a flame thrower going. “You just give it to him in open spots. Even if someone has a hand up, he can get a shot off, he has a quick release. He caught fire. Just give the ball to Brady, pretty much. Just run all the plays that get Brady the ball … He’s a shooter. Even in practice, once he knocks down two, give the ball to him. He’ll do the rest.” Heslip told the Sun that “when I come off the bench, I just want to be aggressive and guys were doing a great job finding me in transition and it seemed if I was missing, we would get the offensive rebound and they would find me right again.” Triano told that Sun that Joseph started the tournament slowly. “But every game he’s stepped it up a bit, he kind of winks at you before the game to let you know he’s ready to go. He’s been very, very good for us, setting the tempo we want him to set and getting everyone involved. It takes a pretty smart point guard — he knew that Brady was on a roll and he called plays to get him a shot before even I could call them.” Joseph told Sportsnet that “[It starts with] defence. I feel like if we turn them over that creates our type of game. We feel like we’re long, athletic, we’re young so we feel like that’s definitely an advantage for us.” Triano told Sportsnet “we’re always going to look for our defence to feed the offence. It’s been a staple of ours since we started camp.” Brady Heslip paced Canada with 23 on 1-2 from the floor and 7-13 from the arc. Andrew Wiggins added 17 on 4-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 3 boards and 2 assists. Nik Stauskas added 16 on 2-3 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 6-6 from the line, 6 boards and 5 assists. Cory Joseph notched 15 on 4-8 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 7-10 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Philip Scrubb added 10 on 2-4 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 3-3 from the line and 3 boards. Anthony Bennett added 6 on 3-4 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 9 boards. Kelly Olynyk added 5 on 0-1 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 9 boards and 2 assists. Andrew Nicholson scored 4 on 2-4 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 6 boards. Aaron Doornekamp notched 3 on 0-1 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 2 boards and 2 assists. Dwight Powell added 2 and Robert Sacre 2, while Melvin Ejim was scoreless, nabbed 8 boards and dished 2 assists. Canada hit 19-39 (.490) from the floor, 14-36 (.390) from the arc and 23-27 (.850) from the line, while garnering 55 boards, including 20 on the offensive glass, 20 assists, 17 fouls, 11 turnovers, 6 steals and 4 blocks. Jonathan King Gray paced Panama with 13 on 1-1 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc and 5-6 from the line. Jose Lloreda Ferron added 10 on 4-6 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 steals. Ernesto Ogilvie added 9, along with 3 boards, Joel Munoz Castillo 8, along with 6 assists, Jamaal Levy Cox 8, along with 5 boards and 4 assists, Leonardo Pomare Jones 6, Jamelle Horne Davis 5, along with 6 boards, Michael Hicks Taylor 5, along with 4 boards, and Trevor Gaskins 2, while Danilo Pinnock, Josimar Ayarza Tous and Ruben Garces Riquelme were scoreless. Panama hit 16-45 (.360 from the floor, 7-24 (.290) from the arc and 13-15 (.870) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 20 fouls, 14 turnovers, 6 steals and 2 blocks.
Canada improved to (4-1) by dusting Uruguay 109-82 after leading 29-22, 57-32 and 86-52 at the quarters. Seven Canadian notched double figures, led by Andrew Wiggins, who told Canadian Press “I feel like big crowds and crazy fans, that gets me going, it gets me motivated.” Coach Jay Triano said “we keep saying that we’re a deep team. When someone may not be having a good game, or gets into foul trouble or gets injured … someone else has an opportunity to step up and those two guys (Ejim and Nicholson) really stepped up.” Wiggins told the Toronto Star the depth is “a good feeling. I play every minute hard. When I get subbed out, I know the person coming in for me is going to do the same thing I did, go hard, play good defence and play the role they’re supposed to play.” Triano told the National Post “my thing for the guys who start and the guys who get longer minutes is play as hard as you can. We want to take an advantage, we want to take a step up when you go to the bench. We know if a lot of the teams in the tournament aren’t as deep as we are, we should be throwing fresh bodies, not only through each game but through the tournament as the tournament goes on.” Melvin Ejim dominated for Canada in the first quarter, and then Andrew Nicholson took command in the second quarter, and Wiggins in the third. “Look at tonight: You see the scoring, it’s balanced, we have like seven guys in double figures and nobody’s really getting worn out,” Nik Stauskas told the Post. “Everyone’s playing balanced minutes and the ball’s moving all the time. There’s not one guy who’s really dominating.” Ejim told Sportsnet.ca “it just shows how versatile we are. How confident we are in each other, how much confidence the coaches give us. It shows that every given night, or every given quarter, somebody can step up and do a great job. If someone gets into foul trouble like today like Kelly, who is a great player, we know that there are guys behind him that are ready to step up and back him up and do a great job.” Triano told the Toronto Sun that “I think as the game went on, I was pleased with how we were able to adapt to a different style of game than we’ve seen so far in this tournament. I think that helps our growth as a team and gives these guys some experience as to what a very well executing team can do to us.” As for Ejim, he added, “when he got into the game it really changed our energy level, which is what he does. Andrew Nicholson came in and, if you look at his line tonight, for the minutes he played, it’s fantastic. He was able to make shots from the outside, go inside, he rebounded well and he defended very well … Those guys stepped up tonight.” Andrew Wiggins paced Canada with 18 on 5-9 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 6 boards and 2 steals. Andrew Nicholson added 15 on 3-5 from the floor, 3-3 from the arc, 10 boards and 6 assists. Nik Stauskas added 14 on 0-2 from the floor, 3-3 from the arc, 5-5 from the line, 4 boards and 4 assists. Brady Heslip added 13 on 1-4 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Melvin Ejim added 11 on 4-5 from the floor, 3-3 from the line and 6 boards. Philip Scrubb notched 10 on 1-1 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards and 3 assists. Anthony Bennett added 10 on 3-3 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 4-6 from the line and 3 boards. Dwight Powell added 9 on 3-8 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 4 boards. Cory Joseph added 4 on 2-3 from the floor and 6 assists. Kelly Olynyk added 2 on 1-1 from the floor. Robert Sacre scored 2 on 1-2 from the floor and 2 boards. Aaron Doornekamp added 1 on 0-2 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 7 boards and 2 assists. Canada hit 24-45 (.530) from the floor, 13-25 (.520) from the arc and 22-27 (.820) from the line, while garnering 51 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 27 assists, 27 fouls, 11 turnovers, 6 steals and 3 blocks. Nicolas Borsellino paced Uruguay with 15 on 3-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 3-7 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists. Luciano Parodi Gonzalez added 14 on 4-4 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 0-1 from the line, 2 assists and 2 steals. Bruno Fitipaldo Rodriguez added 10 on 1-1 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 5 boards. Demian Alvarez Ramirez added 9, along with 3 boards and 3 assists, Mathias Calfani Persincula 9, along with 2 assists, Marcel Souberbielle 7, along with 2 boards and 2 assists, Hernando Caceres Acosta 6, Reque Newsome Linder 6, along with 3 boards, Kiril Wachsmann-Mallner 3, along with 4 boards, and Santiago Vidal Casaretto 3, along with 2 boards and 2 assists, while Mauricio Aguiar and Martin Osimani were scoreless. Uruguay hit 18-35 (.510) from the floor, 11-28 (.390) from the arc and 13-29 (.450) from the line, while garnering 27 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 22 assists, 23 fouls, 10 turnovers, 3 steals and 1 block.
Canada improved to (5-1) by dusting Mexico 94-73 after leading 26-17, 52-30 and 74-52 at the quarters. Canada took command quickly as Andrew Wiggins drained a pair of treys and drove for a bucket. “He’s a great player,” coach Jay Triano told Canadian Press. “Rookie of the Year in the NBA, he’s adapted and fit into everything that we’ve asked him to do with our team here and because of that he’s become one of our leaders. [He’s] a guy we can run plays for or put in situations where he can make plays for others. … We’re getting more comfortable playing with each other. Our players are starting to understand and learn the international game a little bit better because we come from varied backgrounds. Our goal was to get better with each game as the tournament has gone on and we struggled in the first game, but I think we’ve taken a step every day.” The Toronto Star said Canada’s opening four minutes were “wonderful statement-making, dominant minutes.” The win, Wiggins told the Star, “would give us confidence going into a next game. … I came out aggressive, big crowd, home team, so it was important for the whole team to come out aggressive. I think big crowds bring out the good players — everyone’s going to be watching you.” Canadian general manager said “I feel like this is what I envisioned. You know, there were moments where maybe I wasn’t sure it was going to come along this crisply but I mean I think I . . . yeah, I thought this would be the curve. We had a timid game against (unbeaten) Argentina, who are very good, otherwise we played well in Puerto Rico (at the Tuto Marchand Cup) and we played well since. So, I don’t think I’d even go as far as pleasantly surprised but I’ve enjoyed the heck out of it, for sure. … That was one of the main messages I gave to our senior team when I came in three years ago. The real opportunity is to ignite the generation after them and inspire them. They in many ways will dictate the future of the game in our country whether it’s through the growth of our kids, the size of participation, corporate sponsorship, visibility on television. They have a lot on their shoulders in some ways but they have the talent and depth to do it and they’re good kids. I really enjoy working with our guys.” Nash told the National Post before the game that “it’s a great opportunity for our young guys to play in a true hostile international environment. They’re going to grow from that regardless from the result. They’ll learn a lot about themselves tonight. I think it’s a fantastic opportunity.” Melvin Ejim told the Post “you didn’t have to say anything to anyone. Everyone was focused. Everyone was ready.” Wiggins, the Post reported, “did a bit of everything in the first quarter. He ensured there would be no real jitters after a Mexican bucket to start the game riled up the crowd, hitting a three-pointer on Canada’s first possession. He went coast-to-coast and hit a tough floater. He grabbed a rebound and pushed the pace for a Kelly Olynyk three. He hit another three. And, to cap things off, he led the fast break that led to an Olynyk layup near the end of the quarter, making sure Canada got the final possession of the quarter. It was a superstar’s performance.” Triano told the Post “he’s adapted and fit into anything that we’ve asked him to do with our team here. Because of that he’s become one of our leaders, a guy we can run plays for or put him in situations where he can make plays for others.” Wiggins said that “I think big crowds bring out the big players.” Nash told Sportsnet.ca that “we’re very inexperienced. We have very few collective experiences together. I think we’ve been together three-and-a-half weeks as a group today. We suffer in some ways in roles and relationships and team-building and common experiences.” Nash told the Star that in a semi-final for an Olympic berth, “you go out and play one game for the Olympics and anything can happen to the most experienced team. For a precocious team like ours, you don’t know what will happen but it’s exciting. … I think for an anecdote you look at the Miami Heat, LeBron’s first year and they lose to Dallas in the (NBA) Finals. You just don’t have those common experiences when you look around the room or you look around the floor . . . in the fourth quarter it’s ‘we’ve been there before’ you have that common resolve and understanding. It’s the same for our group, we hope that we will have accumulated enough to get by if those moments come and they should come. You can’t cheat experience and hopefully we’ll play extremely well and experience won’t be as big a factor on the night. We’re very inexperienced. We have very few collective experiences together, I think we’ve been together three-and-a-half weeks as a group today. We suffer in some ways in roles and relationships and team-building and common experiences. At the same time, we have great depth and are young. The battle of attrition is hopefully going to be on our side, but you never know what will happen on a day-to-day basis in a tournament. With this amount of games in a short period of time, anything is possible. We’ve just got to stay in the moment, keep improving. We’re on the right path right now. … If Canada doesn’t qualify for the Olympics, we stay the course, we keep building and we keep trying to put ourselves in a position to succeed. We look at the world championship qualifier in two years. We have plans to continue to develop our young players, starting the age of 12. That’s a big part of this, continuing to develop talent and hopefully as we continue to sustain that talent level through our age groups, we also develop a culture with our national team that will eventually succeed.” Andrew Wiggins paced Canada with 17 on 2-6 from the floor, 4-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 4 boards. Andrew Nicholson added 15 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 3 boards. Melvin Ejim added 12 on 5-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 8 boards and 3 assists. Nik Stauskas added 12 on 2-4 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Kelly Olynyk added 9 on 3-3 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 2 boards and 2 assists. Brady Heslip added 8 on 2-7 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Cory Joseph scored 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 6 assists. Philip Scrubb added 7 on 2-4 from the floor and 1-1 from the arc. Anthony Bennett notched 5 on 1-3 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2 boards and 2 assists. Aaron Doornekamp scored 1 on 1-2 from the line, 2 boards and 3 assists, while Dwight Powell and Robert Sacre were scoreless. Canada hit 21-39 (.540) from the floor, 13-25 (.520) from the arc and 13-16 (.810) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 22 assists, 11 fouls, 8 turnovers, 7 steals and 3 blocks. Francisco Cruz Saldivar paced Mexico with 13 on 2-5 from the floor and 3-5 from the arc. Paul Stoll added 11 on 1-1 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 4 boards and 6 assists. Rodrigo Zamora Fernandez added 11 on 4-8 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 3 boards. Jorge Gutierrez Cardenas added 8, along with 2 assists, Gustavo Ayon Aguirre 8, along with 7 boards and 3 assists, Gabriel Giron Villarreal 7, along with 4 boards. Jose Guitierrez Zermeno 6, along with 7 boards, Juan Toscano-Anderson 4, along with 4 boards, Hector Hernandez Gallegos 3, along with 3 assists, and Marco Ramos Esquivel 2, while Pedro Meza Rogel and Orlando Mendez were scoreless. Mexico hit 24-45 (.530) from the floor, 8-22 (.360) from the arc and 1-2 from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 22 assists, 18 fouls, 14 turnovers and 5 steals.
Canada closed out round-robin play at (6-1) by smacking the Dominican Republic 120-103. Canada hit its first eight treys of the match, including four by Bennett, as they built a 36-18 lead after one quarter. Both teams kept bombing for the entire affair, with Canada leading 65-46 at the half and 96-72 after three quarters. “We got the job done on a tough day,” coach Jay Triano told Canadian Press. “Emotional game last night, quick turnaround, playing against a team that plays an unconventional style, we did what we had to do. I’m happy to get the win and have 48 hours to prepare for the big game.” Anthony Bennett added that “it wasn’t pretty but we definitely got the job done. They shot the ball unbelievably well, even with the hand in their face, making a lot of threes. At the same time for us, we just had to rebound and run in transition. That’s basically what we’ve been doing all tournament and we got to keep doing it.” Bennett told the Toronto Star that the team has become a “family. … It’s a great group of guys, every day just fun to be around. Just learning different personalities. West Coast, East Coast, different teams, overseas, here, it’s a good feeling. Everybody comes in, kind of knows everybody from the past, and everybody comes and we click.” Triano told the Star that “they put their personal agendas aside, it’s all been about the team, they’ve bought into that. I think that they’ve decided to believe in each other. They’re a little bit of a family right now. There’s joking that goes on between them, there’s ribbing, there’s good times … but they know when they step on the court, they have each other’s back. For a young team we’ve done a pretty good job so far of building that. … We did what we had to do, but for a coach, it wasn’t at the level which I would have liked as far as our defensive game.” Kelly Olynyk told the Star “I don’t know if it’s a sense of relief, I think for us it was good to play eight games and I think we got better every game, collectively on the offensive and defensive end. I think we’re really coming together as a team.” Cory Joseph told the National Post that “even though we’ve been winning the last couple of games, we still feel like we haven’t put a full 40 minutes together of our defence. We feel like that’s what’s going to make us win games. That’s what creates our offence. We feel like a lot of this game they beat us in transition. They outhustled us.” Olynyk told the Toronto Sun that the team’s defensive lapses were “unusual. We pride ourselves on defence this whole tournament. We’ve been pretty good this whole tournament on defence so we’re going to have to take this day off and get rest, get our legs back because we’ve got one game to do what we came to do this summer.” Joseph said “we feel like a lot of this game they beat us in transition. They outhustled us.” Bennett told Sportsnet.ca that “things weren’t falling for us in the post, so Kelly, he kept it occupied so I just spaced out, hit one, hit two, so just took the other two. Coach didn’t like the first one, I heard on the bench, but it went in.” Cory Joseph paced Canada with 17 on 8-10 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 7 assists. Anthony Bennett added 14 on 4-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 6 boards. Nik Stauskas added 14 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 7 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Kelly Olynyk added 13 on 3-5 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 9 boards. Andrew Wiggins added 12 on 3-9 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 4 boards and 6 assists. Aaron Doornekamp added 12 on 3-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc and 3 boards. Philip Scrubb added 10 on 1-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 assists. Dwight Powell notched 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 8 boards and 2 assists. Robert Sacre scored 8 on 4-4 from the floor, 3 boards and 3 assists. Melvin Ejim added 5 on 2-2 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Brady Heslip added 5 on 1-2 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc and 2 boards. Andrew Nicholson added 2 on 1-2 from the floor and 2 boards. Canada hit 32-56 (.570) from the floor, 14-25 (.560) from the arc and 14-17 (.820) from the line, while garnering 54 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 29 assists, 23 fouls, 15 turnovers, 3 blocks and 1 steal. Angel Suero Castillo paced the Dominican Republic with 19 on 3-4 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc, 4-7 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists. Luis Flores Matias added 17 on 5-10 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 7 assists. Orlando Sanchez Caminero added 13 on 3-4 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 5 boards. Rigoberto Mendoza De La Rosa added 12 on 3-4 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 0-1 from the line, 2 boards and 3 assists. James Feldeine Padilla added 11 on 0-2 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 6 assists. Victor Liz Lopez added 10 on 1-2 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists. Edgar Sosa added 9 on 1-4 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 1-4 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists. Edward Santana Pimentel added 6, along with 4 boards, and Eulis Baez Benjamin 6, along with 3 boards and 3 assists, while Francisco Garcia, Eloy Camacho Vargas and Juan Garcia Rodriguez were scoreless. The Dominican Republic hit 19-38 (.500) from the floor, 17-41 (.420) from the arc and 14-22 (.640) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 27 assists, 17 fouls, 6 turnovers and 5 steals.
In the semis, Venezuela stunned Canada 79-78. The Canadians looked soft, often defended no one, got badly outrebounded and committed a host of mindless turnovers. Yet, they still led by seven with 3:19 to play, only to relinquish an 11-3 run down the stretch. Gregory Vargas made a free throw with 0.3 seconds left after being fouled on an offensive rebound as Venezuela stunned Canada. “It’s very disappointing, obviously. Our dreams have been put on hold,” coach Jay Triano told Canadian Press. Point guard Cory Joseph said “they out-hustled us, they out-worked us. I didn’t lead my team today. I’m disappointed. It happens.” With the score tied at 78, Vargas pulled down the offensive rebound and was fouled by Aaron Doornekamp. The officials reviewed the play and determined the foul came before the buzzer. Vargas made his first attempt and missed the second on purpose to end the game. “Canada is a great team, but we thought that a big one can fall. It was David versus Goliath and we came on top, we leave everything out there,” Venezuela coach Nestor Garcia said. “This is an historic day for Venezuela. Many people doubted that we were capable of this. I’m proud of this team.” Triano told the Toronto Star that his troops played and looked “unsure.” The Star’s Doug Smith reported that “there were 17 turnovers, many ghastly and unforced; there were a dozen loose balls that weren’t corralled, there were missed rebounds and a general malaise that was in stark contrast to the way Canada had played each night for more than a week. “It seemed like we were a little bit unsure, said Triano. “I think this is a great experience for our young kids, Kelly (Olynyk, masterful with 34 points) is one of our most veteran guys, he’s been here before . . . a lot of these other guys have not been in this climate.” Joseph said “I played horrible. I didn’t lead my team today. We didn’t play well as a group. We played crappy. I’m just disappointed. I didn’t do my job. We didn’t do our jobs, either.” The foul that led to the Vargas’ free throw was disputable. It came in a scrum for a missed Venezuelan shot when Aaron Doornekamp may or may not have hit Vargas. The three referees, none of whom made a definitive call, finally determined a foul had been called and needed video review to see if it had occurred before the buzzer. They put three-tenths of a second on the clock and Vargas won it with his first free throw. “I’m not one to bash the officials . . . I never do, I never complain,” Joseph said. “I can say it shouldn’t have come down to that. But in terms of the call, I think it was crappy. It is what it is but it shouldn’t have come down to that. I feel like they took a shot, the ball bounced up 20 feet in the air. To call Doornekamp on that is kind of different (but) there’s no excuses. It never should have come down to that. We played horrible.” Triano said “we are going to grow from this and our opportunity to play in the Olympics is put on hold . . . we’re going to have to find a way to make it work next summer.” Triano told Sportsnet.ca that video proved the foul call was a phantom call by Spanish official Juan Garcia. “We looked on video and we didn’t see anything. It’s tough to finish a game like that. Had it gone to overtime, maybe things are different.” Joseph said “if I had to comment on the last call, I would say it’s crap. That’s how I feel. I don’t ever bash officials, I don’t ever complain but in my opinion if he takes a shot, the ball bounces up 20-feet, time expires, it’s terrible to call that call. That’s all I’ve got to say.” Kelly Olynyk said “I can’t speak for other guys [but] we came out a bit flat. And Venezuela did a good job and they made shots when it counted.” It was a seven-point game with three minutes left when Heissler Guillent fell out of bounds after hitting a three to cut Canada’s lead to one with a minute left. Then Olynyk slipped on the corporate logo at centre court causing a turnover as the crowd chanted “Venezuela” in support of the huge underdog. He fouled Guillent to prevent the fastbreak, but the little point guard hit both free throws regardless. Then Andrew Wiggins drove and found Kelly Olynyk underneath for the big forward’s 33rd and 34th points to give Canada a lead that lasted until Guillent drove the floor for a layup. Andrew Nicholson put himself on the line after drawing a foul setting a screen. He missed the first, but made the second to tie things at 78-78 with 24 seconds to go. Venezuelan guard Heissler Guillent fired a contested shot. He missed, and time expired. However, veteran forward Aaron Doornekamp was called for a foul, and a review ruled it occurred before the clock hit zeroes. On review, it appeared Doornekamp was most guilty of pushing his own teammate, Melvin Ejim, out of the way; Vargas seemed to run into Doornekamp’s outstretched arms. Moreover, there was some debate whether the official actually called the play on the court. “I give them credit,” Triano told the National Post. “They tried to snuff our transition in the backcourt, two or three guys would run at the ball. And we did turn it over like we knew they were going to try to make us do.” Olynyk told the Toronto Sun that “Venezuela played a good game. We didn’t play the way we are capable of playing for 40 minutes straight and it hurt us.” Triano told the Sun that “we guarded extremely well. We have a switch late in the clock, Kelly does a great job contesting one of their guards and he hits a fadeaway three from 10 feet behind the three-point line … It was just like when we had the lead if something could go wrong it did. … A lot of our guys in that room played hard, as they have throughout the tournament. We just didn’t play very well tonight. Our dreams have just been put on hold. I think this is a great experience for our young kids. … Kelly’s one of our most veteran guys, he’s been here before, a lot of these other guys have not been in this climate. We are going to grow from this and our opportunity to play in the Olympics is put on hold and we’re going to have to find a way to make it work next summer.” Venezuela led 20-19 after one quarter and 38-37 at the half. Canada led 60-58 after three quarters. Canada Basketball general manager Steve Nash told the Toronto Star that “any way you slice it, we were not ourselves, from the first minute to the 40th minute. We never found our rhythm. We never found our confidence We never found our calm. We were (in our heads) the whole game. That’s natural for a young team in these circumstances. We were the favourite in the tournament. We finished with the number one seed. And we’d never been in that situation. That’s natural. We all thought we were past it by beating Mexico in their own country, but the truth is it’s a really natural process for a young team like that that’s never had these types of collective experiences to face these types of situations and disappointments. We’ve got to pick them up. … We’ve got to prepare them for next summer.” Nash called the foul against Doornekamp “an amazing call. Especially when right next to the call, (Andrew) Wiggins got thrown out of bounds. You see him on the replay flying towards basket stanchion and they decide on a tic tac foul, when the ball is 15 feet in the air. Tough, but, hey, that’s happened and frankly we didn’t deserve it. We didn’t play well. We didn’t deserve it. So, that’s why I think there wasn’t an incredible amount of protest, because we were like, ‘We need to take this one on the chin, we didn’t deserve to win.’ … All these decisions about personnel and rotation when you have a team as deep as ours, it’s six of one, half dozen of the other. So, all the armchair quarterbacks, congratulations, you’ve got a better formula? You’re not there, you’re not seeing these guys grow and change and develop every day. Frankly, like who do you play last night? Everybody was a little bit off mentally. We were searching, we were trying to find it and we found a couple guys that got us up seven points with three minutes left and it wasn’t to be. Hindsight’s 20/20 but it’s laughable to me how people think they get it and they’re not around and we’re talking about like four experts on the bench there, who know what they’re doing and have been with these guys every day. … I think long-term for sure you learn a lot more from disappointment and devastation and building resolve and poise and adapting to situations. These guys are all just getting started, collectively especially. We move on. We stay positive. We fight.” Windi Graterol Clemente paced Venezuela with 20 on 4-6 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Heissler Guillen Ecker added 19 on 2-5 from the floor, 4-9 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 3 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. John Cox notched 14 on 5-11 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 4 assists. Gregory Vargas Diaz added 9, along with 5 boards and 3 assists, Nestor Colemenares Uzcatequi 8, along with 6 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals, Dwight Lewis Padron 3, Javinger Vargas Hernandez 3, along with 2 boards, Jose Vargas Diaz 2, along with 2 boards, and David Cubillan Leon 1, while Miguel Marriaga Herrera, Cesar Garcia Arocha and Miguel Ruiz Gonzalez were scoreless. Venezuela hit 17-39 (.440) from the floor, 10-28 (.360) from the arc and 15-19 (.790) from the line, while garnering 32 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 22 fouls, 11 turnovers, 11 seals and 3 blocks. Kelly Olynyk paced Canada with 34 on 8-9 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc, 9-10 from the line, 13 boards, 2 assists and 6 turnovers. Brady Heslip added 10 on 3-3 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 2 steals. Andrew Wiggins added 9 on 3-9 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2 boards, 2 assists and 4 turnovers. Andrew Nicholson notched 9 on 4-5 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-3 from the line and 2 boards. Cory Joseph added 5 on 1-6 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 3 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Melvin Ejim added 4 on 1-4 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 2 boards. Philip Scrubb added 3 on 1-1 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 2 boards and 4 assists. Nikolas Stauskas added 2 on 1-1 from the floor and 0-2 from the arc. Aaron Doornekamp scored 2 on 1-1 from the floor and 3 boards, while Anthony Bennett, Dwight Powell and Robert Sacre were scoreless. Bennett nabbed 5 boards. Canada hit 23-41 (.560) from the floor, 5-17 (.290) from the arc and 17-22 (.770) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 18 fouls, 17 turnovers and 7 steals.
In the bronze medal match, Canada nipped Mexico 87-86 as Cory Joseph hit the winning 15-foot jumper with no time left on the clock. Canada led 18-14 after one quarter. Mexico led 41-40 at the half and 64-60 after three quarters. Canada looked to have the victory sealed, leading 79-70 with 3:21 to play, before Mexico started to claw back. The two nations traded baskets before Francisco Cruz put the Mexicans ahead 86-85 with eight seconds to play. Kelly Olynyk inbounded the ball to Joseph at his baseline and he walked the ball up the floor before dropping a fade-away jump shot from the top left of the key for the win. Canada Basketball general manager told the Toronto Star that the team did a good job of bouncing back after the “devastating” loss in the semis. Cory Joseph said “I watched some of the game, I was thinking about the game all night. To me, I try to look at the positives … there is no other place I would rather be right now but with this team. I love those guys, I felt like we made a step in the right direction and to come back today and get the W in a battle like this, it shows the character we have and the kind character guys we have on this team.” Andrew Wiggins told the Toronto Star that “at the end of the day, this is the game of basketball. We get better every practice, every game we play. We learn more. We gain more experience, more knowledge. The chemistry builds with the guys. It’s a good group of guys that’s going to be together for a long time.” Canada basketball general manager Steve Nash told the National Post that “this is one of those horrible games to play in. You’ve just been devastated (Friday) night by not qualifying, and you’ve got to bounce back (Saturday) and play a game that really doesn’t mean a lot. … They’re still hurting, for sure and they’re going to hurt for a while, until they get a chance to right it next summer. But at the same time, I think they understand that this is a process. I think that they see what happened to them a little bit and that they weren’t themselves (against Venezuela). I think it’s something they’re well aware of and they’re smart enough guys and they’ve been through enough to know that they were in a strange spot last night. It wasn’t a natural thing for them and you need to go through this. There’s no cheating experience. There just isn’t. It’s unfortunate, but there isn’t.” Wiggins told the Toronto Sun that Joseph “saved us. He made two big shots to put us up one each time. Cory came back and made big shots to pull this out.” Andrew Nicholson paced Canada with 20 on 4-7 from the floor, 4-6 from the arc and 3 boards. Andrew Wiggins added 18 on 5-11 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 3 boards and 2 assists. Brady Heslip added 12 on 1-3 from the floor, 3-8 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 4 boards and 5 assists. Cory Joseph notched 11 on 3-8 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 6 boards and 8 assists. Kelly Olynyk added 10 on 3-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 11 boards. Phil Scrubb added 5 on 1-2 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 3 boards. Robert Sacre notched 4 on 2-6 from the floor and 3 boards. Aaron Doornekamp scored 3 on 1-1 from the arc. Melvin Ejim added 1 on 1-2 from the floor, and Dwight Powell 2 on 1-2 from the floor and 3 boards, while Andrew Bennett and Nik Stauskas were scoreless. Canada hit 21-47 (.450) from the floor, 13-24 (.540) from the arc and 6-8 (.750) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 20 assists, 18 fouls, 8 turnovers, 4 steals and 2 blocks. Marco Ramos Esquivel paced Mexico with 19 on 1-3 from the floor, 5-9 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Paul Stoll added 16 on 1-2 from the floor, 4-9 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 10 assists. Gustavo Ayon Aguirre added 16 on 7-13 from the floor, 2-6 from the line, 19 boards, 3 assists and 2 blocks. Hector Hernandez Gallegos added 11 on 0-3 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc and 2-4 from the line. Rodrigo Zamora Fernandez added 11 on 5-6 from the floor and 1-2 from the line. Francisco Cruz Saldivar added 9, along with 4 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals, Gabriel Giron Villarreal 2 and Jose Gutierrez Zermeno 2, while Juan Toscano-Anderson, Jorge Gutierrez Cardenas, Pedro Meza Rogel and Orlando Mendez were scoreless. Mexico hit 19-39 (.490) from the floor, 13-31 (.420) from the arc and 9-16 (.560) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 26 assists, 16 fouls, 7 turnovers, 3 steals and 3 blocks.