| FINAL STANDINGS 1. Puerto Rico 2. United States 3. Brazil 4. Venezuela 5. CANADA 6. Dominican Republic 7. Cuba 8. Argentina 9. Mexico Paraguay Panama Ecuador | CANADIANS Tony Simms (Kingston, Jamaica) Eli Pasquale (Sudbury, Ont.) Cord Clemens (Vancouver, B.C.) Leo Rautins (Toronto, Ont.) David Turcotte (Ottawa, Ont.) |
| POOL A | PUR | USA | DOM | CUB | MEX | PAN | Record | ||
| Puerto Rico | —– | 92-105 | 101-73 | 101-98 | 97-88 | 104-83 | (4-1) | ||
| United States | 105-92 | —– | 108-116 | 95-92 | 96-83 | 119-97 | (4-1) | ||
| Dominican Republic | 73-101 | 116-108 | —– | 85-77 | 106-96 | 105-84 | (4-1) | ||
| Cuba | 98-101 | 92-95 | 77-85 | —– | 89-88 | 94-80 | (2-3) | ||
| Mexico | 88-97 | 83-96 | 96-106 | 88-89 | —– | 98-88 | (1-4) | ||
| Panama | 83-104 | 97-119 | 84-105 | 80-94 | 88-98 | —– | (0-5) | ||
| POOL B | BRZ | VEN | CAN | ARG | PAR | ECU | Record | ||
| Brazil | —– | 131-99 | 10-184 | 90-82 | 131-90 | 119-74 | (5-0) | ||
| Venezuela | 99-131 | —– | 99-78 | 130-106 | 111-84 | 110-89 | (4-1) | ||
| Canada | 84-101 | 78-99 | —– | 93-83 | 94-67 | 98-73 | (3-2) | ||
| Argentina | 82-90 | 106-130 | 83-93 | —– | 106-85 | 103-71 | (2-3) | ||
| Paraguay | 90-131 | 84-111 | 67-94 | 85-106 | —– | 91-87 | (1-4) | ||
| Ecuador | 74-119 | 89-110 | 73-98 | 71-103 | 87-91 | —– | (0-5) | ||
| QF | Venezuela 109 Dominican Republic 102 | |
| QF | Puerto Rico 94 Argentina 89 | |
| QF | Brazil 104 Cuba 89 | |
| QF | United States 75 Canada 73 | |
| 5-8th | Canada 89 Cuba 86 | |
| 5-8th | Dominican Republic 89 Argentina 85 | |
| Semi | Puerto Rico 94 Venezuela 91 | |
| Semi | United States 99 Brazil 96 | |
| 7th | Cuba 88 Argentina 81 | |
| 5th | Canada 108 Dominican Republic 84 | |
| Bronze | Brazil 158 Venezuela 124 | |
| Final | Puerto Rico 88 United States 80 | |
Weeks before the tournament, Canada indicates that is unable to secure finances to hire NBA centres Bill Wennington and Mike Smrek to play in the tournament. Recent FIBA rule changes allowed for pros to play but most insist on pay. “It’s still in the negotiation stage,” team business manager John Affleck said yesterday. “The teams involved haven’t said ‘no,’ but they haven’t said ‘yes’ yet either. You have to remember it’s a brand-new thing for these pros to even be considering this. They’re not used to doing what hockey players do, getting knocked out of the NHL playoffs one day and then flying off to Europe the next day for the world championships.” Basketball Canada will have to pay the professionals for their time and come up with money to fund loss-of-income insurance plans for them in case they are hurt playing for Canada. The other team members are nationally carded athletes and receive funding from the government. Affleck estimated each pro player will have to be insured to the tune of $250,000 to $300,000 per season. “None of them are saying, ‘Hey look, I make $300,000 a year so for four or five weeks I’m going to need this much,” said Affleck. “But we’ve got to come up with some money to cover their expenses and give them some incentive. But these guys are not going to do it for the money.” Affleck said he hopes Wennington, of the Dallas Mavericks, and Smrek, who plays for the San Antonio Spurs, will be with the team when it arrives in Denver. But both players have problems that may stand between them and the national team. Wennington, a 7-footer, is recovering from a foot injury and the 6-foot-11 and Smrek is now a free agent and could risk his pro future by playing for Canada. “Even if we just had Wennington our hopes would be a lot higher,” said Affleck. “The Mavericks haven’t said no, they’re just waffling. Obviously, they’d just like Bill to go home and rest.” Affleck said the Canadian team is conducting the same type of negotiations with 6-foot-11 centre Greg Wiltjer, a former national team member now playing for a pro team in Spain. Both Wennington and Smrek have indicated they are interested in playing for the national team if the details can be worked out.
Ken Shields had been appointed national team head coach earlier in the year.
Canada lost its opener to Venezuela 99-78. Tony Simms paced Canada with 21. Eli Pasquale added 10 and Cord Clemens 10.
Canada finally collected its first win by defeating Argentina 93-83 as Leo Rautins came alive after two dismal outings. Rautins scored 21. “I was ready to go home, do the team a favor by not playing. My game’s still somewhere in the clouds, but some sunlight’s getting in. One good thing about tonight was not starting. I’m still having trouble breathing because my conditioning level isn’t up to the rest of these guys. But this time I went in when the game was settled and already had a certain groove to it, and I found it more comfortable to breathe. When you can’t breathe, you can’t shoot.” Midway through the first half with Argentina leading by nine, Rautins scored seven straight points to pull Canada back into the game.
Brazil thrashed Canada 101-84. Tony Simms paced the Canadians with 26. David Turcotte added 22. Trailing 58-37 at the half, Canada broke out in the second half and pulled to within 10 points against the highest scoring team in the tournament. Turcotte, in his third year on the national team and one of four members from the Seoul Olympic squad, said the Canadian team is improving in its play to qualify for the world championship. “We’ve been together now for a little over a month,” he said. “I think the game was a sign that we’re getting to know each other better as a team and playing together instead of as individuals.