| FINAL STANDINGS 1. United States 2. CANADA 3. China 4. Italy 5. Czechoslovakia 6. Israel 7. Croatia 8. Ireland 9. Great Britain 10. Estonia 11. Sweden 12. Greece 13. South Korea 14. Turkey 15. Switzerland 16. Hong Kong 17. Finland 18. Latvia 19. Japan 20. Lebanon 21. Gabon 22. Morocco | CANADIANS Jeff Foreman (Selkirk, Man./Winnipeg) Dave Picton (Welland, Ont./Brock) Michael Meeks (Patrick City, Jamaica/Canisius) Keith Vassell (Toronto, Ont./Brandon) Sean VanKoughnett (Waterloo, Ont.) Peter Van Elswyk (Hamilton, Ont./S. Carolina) R. Sullivan Steve Nash (Johannesburg, South Africa/Santa Clara) Brendan Graves Deon George (Pierrefonds, Que./St. Francis-NY) Norm Froemel (Winnipeg, Man./Winnipeg) Rowan Barrett (Scarborough, Ont./St. John’s) Laszlo Jokuti Dave Nutbrown – coach John Dore – assistant |
| POOL A | CAN | SWE | JPN | Record | ||||||
| Canada | —– | 86-68 | 99-53 | (2-0) | ||||||
| Sweden | 68-86 | —– | 81-73 | (1-1) | ||||||
| Japan | 53-99 | 73-81 | —– | (0-2) | ||||||
| POOL B | USA | EST | GAB | Record | ||||||
| United States | —– | 107-59 | 122-55 | (2-0) | ||||||
| Estonia | 59-107 | —– | 87-71 | (1-1) | ||||||
| Gabon | 55-122 | 71-87 | —– | (0-2) | ||||||
| POOL C | CHN | GBR | LAT | Record | ||||||
| China | —– | 72-66 | 103-77 | (2-0) | ||||||
| Great Britain | 66-72 | —– | 93-79 | (1-1) | ||||||
| Latvia | 77-103 | 79-93 | —– | (0-2) | ||||||
| POOL D | CRO | GRE | Record | |||||||
| Croatia | —– | 2-0 91-70 | (2-0) | |||||||
| Greece | 0-2 70-91 | —– | (0-2) | |||||||
| POOL E | ISR | KOR | FIN | |||||||
| Israel | —– | 89-79 | 71-72 | (1-1) | ||||||
| South Korea | 79-89 | —– | 79-68 | (1-1) | ||||||
| Finland | 72-71 | 68-79 | —– | (1-1) | ||||||
| POOL F | IRL | HKG | Record | |||||||
| Ireland | —– | 101-35 101-64 | (2-0) | |||||||
| Hong Kong | 35-101 64-101 | —– | (0-2) | |||||||
| POOL G | ITA | TUR | LEB | Record | ||||||
| Italy | —– | 95-71 | 107-60 | (2-0) | ||||||
| Turkey | 71-95 | —– | 102-67 | |||||||
| Lebanon | 60-107 | 67-102 | —– | |||||||
| POOL H | CZE | SUI | MOR | Record | ||||||
| Czech Republic | —– | 105-83 | 110-46 | (2-0) | ||||||
| Switzerland | 83-105 | —– | 75-56 | (1-1) | ||||||
| Morocco | 46-110 | 56-75 | —– | (0-2) | ||||||
| CONSOLATION POOL M | EST | GRE | TUR | HKG | Record | |||||
| Estonia | —– | 69-71 | 83-77 | 111-56 | (2-1) | |||||
| Greece | 71-69 | —– | 70-71 | 106-52 | (2-1) | |||||
| Turkey | 77-83 | 71-70 | —– | 140-91 | (2-1) | |||||
| Hong Kong | 56-111 | 52-106 | 91-140 | —– | (0-3) | |||||
| CONSOLATION POOL N | GBR | SWE | KOR | SUI | Record | |||||
| Great Britain | —– | 64-70 | 109-73 | 102-78 | (2-1) | |||||
| Sweden | 70-64 | —– | 66-99 | 77-65 | (2-1) | |||||
| Korea | 73-109 | 99-66 | —– | 94-85 | (2-1) | |||||
| Switzerland | 78-102 | 65-77 | 85-94 | —– | (0-3) | |||||
| CONSOLATION POOL O | LAT | LEB | GAB | Record | ||||||
| Latvia | —– | 111-89 | 94-73 | (2-0) | ||||||
| Lebanon | 89-111 | —– | 77-75 | (1-1) | ||||||
| Gabon | 73-94 | 75-77 | —– | (0-2) | ||||||
| CONSOLATION POOL P | FIN | JPN | MOR | Record | ||||||
| Finland | —– | 96-71 | 74-36 | (2-0) | ||||||
| Japan | 71-96 | —– | 102-59 | (1-1) | ||||||
| Morocco | 36-74 | 59-102 | —– | (0-2) | ||||||
| MEDALS R | CAN | CHN | CZE | ISR | Record | |||||
| Canada | —– | 84-75 | 82-76 | 82-84 | (2-1) | |||||
| China | 75-84 | —– | 87-71 | 91-79 | (2-1) | |||||
| Czechoslovakia | 76-82 | 71-87 | —– | 102-82 | (1-2) | |||||
| Israel | 84-82 | 79-91 | 82-102 | —– | (1-2) | |||||
| MEDALS S | USA | ITA | CRO | IRL | Record | |||||
| United States | —– | 103-73 | 106-65 | 93-64 | (3-0) | |||||
| Italy | 73-103 | —– | 89-82 | 96-48 | (2-1) | |||||
| Croatia | 65-106 | 82-89 | —– | 71-62 | (1-2) | |||||
| Ireland | 64-93 | 48-96 | 62-71 | —– | (1-2) | |||||
| Semi | United States 129 China 91 | |
| Semi | Canada 77 Italy 74 | |
| 17-20th | Latvia 72 Japan 62 | |
| 17-20th | Finland 120 Lebanon 72 | |
| 13-15th | Turkey 80 Switzerland 77 | |
| 13-15th | South Korea 117 Hong Kong 73 | |
| 9-12th | Great Britain 78 Greece 70 | |
| 9-12th | Estonia 67 Sweden 64 | |
| 5-8th | Czech Republic 101 Ireland 86 | |
| 5-8th | Israel 77 Croatia 73 | |
| 21st | Gabon 60 Morocco 56 | |
| 19th | Japan 101 Lebanon 82 | |
| 17th | Finland 87 Latvia 80 | |
| 15th | Switzerland 98 Hong Kong 67 | |
| 13th | South Korea 110 Turkey 95 | |
| 11th | Sweden 83 Greece 73 | |
| 9th | Great Britain 93 Estonia 81 | |
| 7th | Croatia 94 Ireland 74 | |
| 5th | Czechoslovakia 74 Israel 67 | |
| Bronze | China 93 Italy 90 | |
| Final | United States 95 Canada 91 | |
In their opener, Canada thumped Japan 99-53 before a handful of about 300 friends waving Canadian flags in the cavernous Memorial Auditorium. “It’s good that this is so close to home, for it adds a little motivation for us,” said guard Dave Picton. “When we were in Argentina (for the junior Americas), we sure didn’t see too many flags and no one was cheering for us.” Picton said every game is valuable learning experience for the young Canadians. “They got to develop national team members somewhere, so it’s good for us to get this experience. Playing against older guys, guys who have been to the Olympics, has got to help us learn.” Coach Dave Nutbrown said playing time should motivate the squad. “We played hard. That’s all I care about.” Michael Meeks led Canada with 17 points. Deon George added 15, Keith Vassell 14 and Sean VanKoughnett 11. Canada broke to a 21-4 lead and romped. “It’s good to get this game out of the way,” said Dave Picton. “We were a bit sluggish and we know we can’t play sluggish the rest of the way.”
Forward Jeff Foreman led Canada to an 86-68 win over Sweden with physical play. Foreman banged a whole lot of Swedish bodies while scoring 24 points and leaving bodies scattered in his wake. “Any time you can rough it up, you’ve got to do it,” said the University of Manitoba arts student. “It’s a big part of my game.” Foreman grabbed 11 boards and crashed the glass with abandon, while often muscling his way along the baseline for layups. Coach Dave Nutbrown says “there isn’t a coach in the world who wouldn’t want a Jeff Foreman. There’s no game when he’s not one of our best players and it’s not just because of statistics. He works hard every minute he’s on the floor.” Foreman said has no option but to play physical. “I’m not as athletic as some of the guys, so I’ve got to use other things. I got a lot of easy hoops today just by running the floor. As long as our point guards get going on the break, I’m going to be there because I’m running all the time.” Canada nearly frittered away a 32-14 first half lead as Sweden pulled to within 39-33 at the half. But the Canadians regrouped and romped.
Canada wins its pool with a (2-0) record and qualifies for winner’s side semifinal pool
In the semis pool, Canada dumped China 84-75 after taking command with a minute left in the first half with its transition game. Rowan Barrett stepped into a passing lane, stole the ball and raced for a layup, hitting a free throw after being fouled on the bucket, to give Canada a 45-33 lead. It set the tone for the second half. Coach Dave Nutbrown was “more than just the points, it reinforced what we were talking about all the first half and I think that helped more than anything. Barrett said he was motivated to stop Nutbrown’s haranguing. “He was yelling at me enough, so eventually it had to work.” Barrett finished with 26 points. Nutbrown thought the team was rounding into form. “That was the best game we’ve played, defensively especially. I thought we did a pretty good job because they’ve got some people who can put some pretty good numbers up on the board. We have our lapses; every team does and I think part of it is our youth. But we seem to be willing to battle back. There were a couple of times when you look up at the board and say, we’re going to struggle. But now we seem to be able to find the reserve to keep plugging and you’ve got to appreciate that in kids.” Barrett said team defensive rebounding keyed the win. “We weren’t controlling the boards in any of the games we played and (Nutbrown) really emphasized that coming in. We took care of that and that helped us get out and run – you rebound the ball, you can run. You get in the passing lanes and you can run. Everything came full circle this game.”
Canada defeated Czechoslovakia 82-76 to ensure a spot in the semis. “To know right now we’re in the final four, it might shock a few people with the age of the kids we’ve got,” said coach Dave Nutbrown. “And it’s really good for our kids, they’ve worked really hard all summer.” Point guard Steve Nash was hopeful that the success would raise the profile of the game. “Hopefully, it will do wonders but at the same time, it seems the interest just isn’t there. Basketball Canada doesn’t get a lot of support back home and I don’t know if one event will do it.” Nash came off the bench to stem the bleeding as Czechoslovakia whittled away a big Canadian lead. “We really didn’t think we were going to get this far,” said Nash. ‘We’ve had some patches where we haven’t played too well but we’ve had some patches where we have.” Canada led 49-35 at the half but began playing lackadaisically while the Czechs rallied to within four with two minutes to play. But Nash and Sean Van Koughnett returned to the floor and each hit a pair from the line to ice the win. “We just lost a bit of focus,” said Nutbrown. “Some of the problems we have are because of our inexperience. We get a little antsy at times and it takes a while for us to settle back down.” Sean Van Koughnett led Canada with 18. Keith Vassell added 16 and Jeff Foreman 14, along with 9 boards.
Canada then dropped an 84-82 decision to Israel. Canada blew a 20-point lead in the second half while suffering the loss. “We played 25 minutes of some of the best basketball we’ve played here but we’ve got to learn to play 40 minutes,” said coach Dave Nutbrown.
Canada finishes pool 2-1. Qualifies for the semis.
In the semis, Canada defeats Italy 77-74 by showing exceptional poise down the stretch. Jeff Foreman drilled a 15-foot jumper to snap a 71-71 tie and then Rowan Barrett and Steve Nash each nailed a pair of free throws to ice it.
In the final, Canada had a second-half lead but succumbed 95-91 to the United States. Canada controlled the first half, leading by as many as 17, by 41-24 with 3:48 to play. But the US managed to trim the margin to 52-40 at the break. Trailing 59-50 with 16:43 to play, the U.S. ripped off a 16-0 run, including five points from Damon Stoudamire to take a 66-59 lead with 12:50 to play. They went ahead by as many as 10 before Canada gamely rallied to trim the margin to 87-86 with 2:48 to play. But Ed O’Bannon got a layup and Michael Finley drilled a jumper to put the US back ahead by five. Canada cut the lead to three with 1:48 to play but Stoudamire nailed a jumper to ice it. Jeff Foreman led Canada with 30 points. “Too many kids read too many American magazines,” said point guard Steve Nash. “We’ve got to realize we can be this good. It’s all in how much you put in. If you work at it, you can excel.” Forward Sean VanKoughnett added that the game should dispel feelings of Canadian inferiority. “In basketball in Canada, we sometimes have low self-esteem but this team believed in itself. We watch these guys on TV. We see the Final Four and it all seems so much bigger. But we can play at that level and we showed it tonight.” Canada came out to a chorus of hostile boos but built a 42-30 lead at the half. “I think everyone who saw it will realize we can play with these guys,” said Nash. Coach Dave Nutbrown added that “I hope Canada appreciates the effort these kids put in. I’m most impressed with the fact we didn’t come out and show any nerves. They didn’t let the crowd, they didn’t let the environment, get to them. … We had so many people telling us we had nothing to lose. Well, then, there was no reason to play today. We already had the silver medal. We wanted to play for the gold. I was impressed that we didn’t show any nervousness. There are professionals that can’t do that.” American coach Reggie Minton noted that “Canada played extremely well. They were well prepared. They’ve got good players and they believed.” Nutbrown said Nash will ultimately prove to be Canada’s point guard of the future. “I think for a while he may have been in a state of confusion,” said Nutbrown. “Steve had to make a lot of adjustments with us. He handles the ball and distributes it so well, but he is such a great shooter that we don’t want to take that away from his game, either. When you put those things together, you’ve got the ultimate point guard.” Shawn Respert paced the US with 16. Michael Finley added 16, Ed O’Bannon 15 and Damon Stoudamire 13, along with 6 assists and 5 steals.