FINAL STANDINGS
1. Germany
2. Serbia
3. CANADA
4. United States
5. Latvia
6. Lithuania
7. Slovenia
8. Italy
9. Spain
10. Australia
11. Montenegro
12. Puerto Rico
13. Brazil
14. Dominican Republic
15. Greece
16. Georgia
17. South Sudan
18. France
19. Japan
20. Egypt
21. Finland
22. New Zealand
23. Lebanon
24. Philippines
25. Mexico
26. Angola
27. Ivory Coast
28. Capo Verde
29. China
30. Venezuela
31. Iran
32. Jordan		CANADIANS
Kyle Alexander (Milton, Ont.)
Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Toronto, Ont.)
R.J. Barrett (Mississauga, Ont.)
Trae Bell-Haynes (Toronto, Ont.)
Dillon Brooks (Mississauga, Ont.)
Luguentz Dort (Montreal, Que.)
Zach Edey (Toronto, Ont.)
Melvin Ejim (Toronto, Ont.)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Hamilton, Ont.)
Kelly Olynyk (Kamloops, B.C.)
Dwight Powell (Toronto, Ont.)
Phil Scrubb (Richmond, B.C.)
Jordi Fernandez Torres – coach
Nate Bjorkgren – associate
Nathaniel Mitchell – assistant
POOL ADOMITAANGPHIRecord
Dominican Republic—–87-8275-6787-81(3-0)
Italy82-87—–81-6790-83(2-1)
Angola67-7567-81—–80-70(1-2)
Philippines81-8783-9070-80—–(0-3)
POOL BSERPURSSDCHNRecord
Serbia—–94-77115-83105-63(3-0)
Puerto Rico77-94—–101-96107-89(2-1)
South Sudan83-11596-101—–89-69(1-2)
China63-10589-10769-89—–(0-3)
POOL CUSAGRENZLJORRecord
United States—–109-8199-72110-62(3-0)
Greece81-109—–83-7492-71(2-1)
New Zealand72-9974-83—–95-87(1-2)
Jordan62-11071-9287-95—–(0-3)
POOL DLITMNTEGYMEXRecord
Lithuania—–91-7193-6796-66(3-0)
Montenegro71-91—–89-7491-71(2-1)
Egypt67-9375-89—–100-72(1-2)
Mexico66-9671-9172-100—–(0-3)
POOL EGERAUSJPNFINRecord
Germany—–85-8291-63101-75(3-0)
Australia82-85—–109-8999-72(2-1)
Japan63-9189-109—–98-88(1-2)
Finland75-10172-9988-98—–(0-3)
POOL FSLOGEOCBVVENRecord
Slovenia—–88-6792-77100-85(3-0)
Georgia67-88—–85-6070-59(2-1)
Cabo Verde77-9260-85—–81-75(1-2)
Venezuela85-10059-7075-81—–(0-3)
POOL BSPNBRZIVCIRNRecord
Spain—–96-7894-6485-65(3-0)
Brazil78-96—–89-77100-59(2-1)
Ivory Coast64-9477-89—–71-69(1-2)
Iran65-8559-10069-71—–(0-3)
POOL HCANLTVFRALEBRecord
Canada—–101-7595-65128-73(3-0)
Latvia75-101—–88-86109-70(2-1)
France65-9586-88—–85-79(1-2)
Lebanon73-12870-10979-85—–(0-3)
CONSOLATION ISSDPHIANGCHNRecord
South Sudan—–87-68101-7889-69(3-0)
Philippines68-87—–70-8096-75(1-2)
Angola78-10180-70—–76-83(1-2)
China69-8975-9683-76—–(1-2)
CONSOLATION JEGYNZLMEXJORRecord
Egypt—–86-88100-7285-69(2-1)
New Zealand88-86—–100-10895-87(2-1)
Mexico72-100108-100—–93-80(2-1)
Jordan69-8587-9580-93—–(0-3)
CONSOLATION KJPNFINCBVVENRecord
Japan—–98-8880-7186-77(3-0)
Finland88-98—–100-7790-75(2-1)
Cabo Verde71-8077-100—–81-75(1-2)
Venezuela77-8675-9075-81—–(0-3)
CONSOLATION MFRAIVCLEBIRNRecord
France—–87-7785-7982-55(3-0)
Ivory Coast77-87—–84-9471-69(1-2)
Lebanon79-8594-84—–60-42(1-2)
Iran55-8269-7142-60—–(1-2)
WINNERS MITASERPURDOMRecord
Italy—–78-7673-5782-87(2-1)
Serbia76-78—–94-7778-53(2-1)
Puerto Rico57-7377-94—–102-97(1-2)
Dominican Republic87-8253-7897-102—–(1-2)
WINNERS NLITUSAMNTGRERecord
Lithuania—–110-10491-7192-67(3-0)
United States104-110—–85-73109-81(2-1)
Montenegro71-9173-85—–73-69(1-2)
Greece67-9281-10969-73—–(0-3)
WINNERS OGERSLOAUSGEORecord
Germany—–100-7185-82100-73(3-0)
Slovenia71-100—–91-8088-67(2-1)
Australia82-8580-91—–100-84(1-2)
Georgia73-10067-8884-100—–(0-3)
WINNERS PCANLTVSPNBRZRecord
Canada—–101-7588-8565-69(2-1)
Latvia75-101—–74-69104-84(2-1)
Spain85-8869-74—–96-78(1-2)
Brazil69-6584-10478-96—–(1-2)
QFsUnited States 100 Italy 63
QFsGermany 81 Latvia 79
QFsSerbia 87 Lithuania 68
QFsCanada 100 Slovenia 89
5-8thLatvia 87 Italy 82
5-8thLithuania 100 Slovenia 84
SemiGermany 113 United States 111
SemiSerbia 95 Canada 86
7thSlovenia 89 Italy 85
5thLatvia 98 Lithuania 63
BronzeCanada 127 United States 118
FinalGermany 83 Serbia 77

Hosted by three nations: Philippines: Manila (i.e., Bocaue, Pasay and Quezon City); Japan: Okinawa; and Indonesia: Jakarta

        In June, 2023, after the Toronto Raptors turfed Nick Nurse as their head coach, Canada Basketball dutifully replaced him as coach of the Canadian national team. Nurse said he stepped down “I have made the difficult decision to step down as head coach of the Senior Men’s National Team for Canada Basketball,” Nurse said. “It has been a tremendous honour and privilege to coach this team.  This is not a decision I made lightly, and after discussing it with my family, I felt it was important to dedicate my time and energy to the new opportunity I have as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.” Nurse was replaced at helm by Sacramento Kings associate head coach Jordi Jordi Fernández. Canada Basketball general manager Rowan Barrett said “on behalf of our program, I’d like to thank Nick for his contributions to our team and wish him and his family well in his new role moving forward. … With Jordi, we have found a head coach who has both valuable FIBA and NBA experience and puts our team in a position to win right now. Jordi has developed a tremendous reputation working with some of the best players in the world, and we feel that the culture and connection he will build with our team will set us up for success this summer.” Fernandez said “to have the chance to lead Canada this summer at the World Cup is a tremendously exciting opportunity and one I’m extremely grateful for. Not many international programs have the ceiling that this team does, and it is a testament to the hard work and development Canada Basketball, as well as Nick and his staff, have put in over the last several years.” From 2016-22, Fernández spent the previous six seasons as an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets. He was also head coach of the Canton Charge in the NBA G League for two seasons (2014-16). He was the lead assistant for the Nigerian men’s national team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Originally from Badalona, Spain, he served as an assistant coach for Spain at EuroBasket 2017, where the team captured bronze, and was an assistant at the 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Men.  Fernández also coached professionally in Spain with Club Basquet I’Hospitalet.

        Weeks before the start of the tournament, Kitchener-native Jamal Murray announced that he would not play for Canada, saying he needed more time to recover from the rigors of leading the Denver Nuggest to an NBA title. “When I came into (the Canadian) training camp, I wanted to see how my body would respond after a long and demanding season and if I would be physically able to compete at the highest level required for the World Cup. … In consultation with medical staff and the team, it is clear that additional recovery is required, and I have made the difficult decision to not participate in the tournament. It’s still a dream of mine to represent Canada at the Olympics, and I will support the team every step of the way as they pursue this goal.”

        In their opener, held in Jakarta, Canada dusted France 95-65. France broke to 7-0 lead but Dillon Brooks drove for a bucket and pilfered the ball for a runout as Canada responded with an 8-0 run that also included buckets in the paint from Dwight Powell and Kelly Olynyk. Treys by Olynyk and Nickeil Alexander-Walker gave Canada a 14-9 lead but France began pounding the ball in the paint and bridged the quarters with a 12-0 run to take an 21-14 lead. Melvin Ejim drove the baseline for an and-one but Evan Fournier kept draining perimeter jumpers as France built a 28-21 lead. Olynyk hit a 15-foot prayer as Canada countered with a 7-0 run. France rebuilt their lead to 38-34 as Fournier kept drilling jumpers before Canada close out the half with a 9-2 run featuring an Alexander-Walker Trey, a Lugentz Dort runout slam, a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander jumper and pair of free throws from Olynyk to take a 43-40 lead at the half. It was Gilgeous-Alexander show in the third quarter. Dillon Brooks opened the frame with a trey before Gilgeous-Alexander scored the next 11 Canada points. An Olynyk trey, a Brooks and-one and another Alexander-Walker trey gave Canada a 68-58 lead after three quarters. After relinquishing two buckets to open the final frame, Canada exploded with a 17-0 run to expand their lead to 33 and coast to the easy win. Canada dominated the defensive boards, while Brooks and Dort shut down Fournier in the second half. “We wanted to come out here, play to our identity, do the right things on the basketball court on both ends,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We didn’t start the way we wanted to, we started a little bit slow, but we got it on track pretty fast and it was pretty good the rest of the game. … We played really good basketball today. We did the right things on both ends of the floor, for the most part in the game. We know when we do that, play to our identity, the things we’ve been preaching for the last month, we can beat and play with anyone in the world. We’ve just got to continue getting better and the sky’s the limit.” Canadian coach Jordi Fernández said the team “accomplished (its) first goal, which was play hard for 40 minutes, and whether things are going one way or the other, stay together. I think the guys showed resiliency. We didn’t start very well. We took good shots but didn’t go in, we stayed with it, and then in the second half our pressure, our physically, and then shots started to fall. … Our defence really kept us in the game. The second half, we continued our defence and made some shots. Shai put a run together for himself and that really opened up the game.”  Gilgeous-Alexander said “we use our defence to ignite our offence. We get stops, we’re able to rebound, run, play in transition and then we play pretty good.” He told CBC “you’re going to make and miss shots. It’s the game. It’s just about sticking with it and shooting what you’re comfortable shooting. And I think I just stuck with it.” Fournier told reporters “we got our ass kicked. … They were really physical with us, taking us out of our set plays. I think as a team, they forced us to do things that we don’t want to do. At first we were able to score every now and then. Our defence was solid. But as the game went on they kept applying pressure and got the best of us.” He told beIN Sports that “we took a real beating. … We didn’t really manage to get into our pattern because of their defensive pressure. They pushed us away, whether on the outside lines or inside. They pushed us away and we couldn’t get into it.” France coach Vincent Collet called it an awful game. … We started very bad beginning of second half, and as soon as they got a lead, we went down, we lost our team game, and we disappeared completely the last 15 minutes.” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander paced Canada with 27 on 8-16 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 8-9 from the line, 13 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. Kelly Olynyk added 18 on 3-4 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 6-7 from the line, 4 boards and 2 steals. Dillon Brooks notched 12 on 4-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 4 boards. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 12 on 0-1 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc, 2 boards and 2 assists. Luguentz Dort added 7 on 2-5 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc, 5 boards and 2 steals. Dwight Powell notched 6 on 3-3 from the floor, 3 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. R.J. Barrett scored 5 on 0-3 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 6 boards and 5 assists. Kyle Alexander added 5 on 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 boards. Melvin Ejim scored 3 on 1-1 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 4 boards, while Zach Edey, Philip Scrubb and Trae Bell-Haynes were scoreless. Canada hit 32-73 (.438) overall, 21-37 (.568) from the floor, 11-36 (.306) from the arc and 20-27 (.741) from the line, while garnering 45 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 20 assists, 17 fouls, 10 turnovers, 9 steals and 2 blocks. Evan Fournier paced France with 21 on 5-6 from the floor, 3-13 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 3 boards and 2 steals. Nando De Colo added 12 on 3-3 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 3 boards and 3 assists. Mathias Lessort notched 12 on 5-6 from the floor, 2-3 from the line and 6 boards. Rudy Gobert scored 8 on 4-9 from the floor and 9 boards. Sylvain Francisco added 5 on 1-2 from the floor and 1-1 from the arc. Guerschon Yabusele scored 4 on 1-2 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 steals. Yakuba Ouattara added 2 on 2-2 from the line. Elie Okobo scored 1 on 0-2 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 4 assists, while Nicolas Batum Terry Tarpey, Isia Cordinier and Moustapha Fall were scoreless. Batum nabbed 4 boards and blocked 3 shots. Cordinier nabbed 3 boards and dished 3 assists. France (coached by Vincent Collet, assisted by Pascal Donnadieu) hit 25-60 (.417) overall, 19-32 (.594) from the floor, 6-28 (.214) from the arc and 9-13 (.692) from the line, while garnering 35 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 24 fouls, 17 turnovers, 8 steals and 4 blocks.

        Canada improved to (2-0) by torching Lebanon 128-73 in a breathtaking display of crisp ball movement, a tournament record 44 assists, and perimeter shooting, nailing 18 treys. Dwight Powell notched a pair of buckets in the paint during a sluggish Canadian start. With the score knotted at 8, Canada began dominating the blocks and ripped off a 21-3 run ignited by a Kelly Olynyk bucket in the post and capped by a pair of treys from Trae Bell-Haynes. Canada led 29-13 after one quarter. With Bell-Haynes and Melvin Ejim each notching a pair of treys, and Phillip Scrubb, Nickeil Alexander-Walker each adding singletons from the arc, Canada expanded its lead to 66-30 at the half. A 17-0 run early in the second half featuring runout slams from Kelly Olynyk and Rowan Barrett buried whatever dismal hopes Lebanon may have had of mounting a comeback. They led 100-48 after three quarters, and with Zach Edey draining hooks in the blocks, by as many as 61 in the final frame. “We’re super excited that we kept our momentum going,” Trae Bell-Haynes said. “We talked about making sure that there wasn’t any fall off [after our win against France], keeping the momentum going and I think we did a good job. Our confidence is high. You could see everyone was playing well, playing free. Happy that we kept that going and hope we can continue to do that. … Since we’ve gotten here, we’ve been passing the ball really well, sharing the ball really well. I think this game, we had a ton of assists so I think we’re growing offensively, trusting each other more. When you have a new group that’s kind of the hardest thing, but we’re doing that now.” Canadian coach Jordi Fernández said “we played together, we shared the basketball, 44 assists to 15 turnovers is a record in the World Cup. It just shows that sharing is caring and these guys were ready to play the right way. … Our three-point efficiency was very high. We shot 30 of them. The guys trusted the pass, trusted their teammates and it’s just beautiful to see that. When you can set a record, it just says a lot about what these guys are trying to do. Obviously, they believe in themselves, but they show up every day and work very hard. That’s what matters the most. … It just shows that sharing is caring, and these guys were ready to play the right way. Game likes these, players have a tendency to do it on their own and try to dribble too much. I’m proud of these guys. They played the right way. … Everybody has been talking about how talented we are but that’s not the definition of a team. These guys have approached every single day since August 1 to build a team and that goes from a walking tour of Grenada where the guys were together, they play cards, they hang out. They enjoy spending time together and at the end of the day that chemistry is going to show up the court and so far, that is what you are seeing. Guys that compete together, that have the same goal no matter what.” R.J. Barrett paced Canada with 17 on 4-6 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc and 3 assists. Trae Bell-Haynes added 15 on 5-6 from the arc, 2 boards and 8 assists. Melvin Ejim notched 13 on 2-3 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc, 5 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 12 on 5-7 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 5 assists. Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 12 on 0-1 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc and 7 assists. Kelly Olynyk scored 12 on 5-5 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 8 boards and 5 assists. Zach Edey notched 12 on 6-6 from the floor, 0-2 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Dillon Brooks added 10 on 2-3 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 3 assists and 2 steals. Kyle Alexander scored 10 on 3-3 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 4 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Dwight Powell added 9 on 4-5 from the floor, 1-1 from the line and 3 boards. Phil Scrubb scored 6 on 1-1 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 2 boards and 5 assists, while Lugentz Dort did not play because of unspecified “soreness.” Canada hit 50-70 (.714) overall, 32-40 (.800) from the floor, 18-30 (.600) from the arc and 10-14 (.714) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 44 assists, 11 fouls, 15 turnovers, 13 steals and 1 block. Omari Rasulala Spellman paced Lebanon with 16 on 5-10 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 3-3 from the line 3 boards and 2 assists. Karim Zeinoun added 15 on 3-4 from the floor, 3-3 from the arc, 2 boards and 2 assists. Ali Haidar notched 1 1on 4-7 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 3 boards and 2 steals. Sergio El Darwich scored 9 on 3-6 from the floor and 1-2 from the arc. Wael Arakji added 8 on 4-7 from the floor, 5 assists and 2 steals. Hayk Ghokchyan scored 8 on 1-1 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 3 assists and 2 steals. Amir Saoud added 4 on 1-3 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 2 assists and 2 steals. Jad Khalil scored 2 on 1-2 from the floor, while Mark Alkhoury, Ali Mansour, Karim Raphael Ezzedine and Ali Mezher were scoreless. Mezher nabbed 3 boards, while Ezzedine pilfered 2 balls. Lebanon (coached by Jad El Hajj, assisted by Viktor Janketic) hit 30-62 (.484) overall, 22-43 (.512) from the floor, 8-19 (.421) from the arc and 5-5 from the line, while garnering 18 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 18 fouls, 22 turnovers, 12 steals and 1 block.

        Canada closed out pool play at (3-0) by clocking Latvia 101-75. Latvia played penetrate-and-pitch to the open perimeter shooter as they took a 24-13 lead after one quarter, while capitalizing on indifferent Canadian defence, constantly attacking Canadian star point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and appearing to befuddle Canada with their ball movement. Despite a pair of treys from Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Latvia extended its margin to 12 midway through the second quarter. But Gilgeous-Alexander drained a trey to ignite a 20-7 run, capped by a R.J. Barrett runout at the buzzer, as Canada rallied to a 43-42 lead at the half. Gilgeous-Alexander took command in the third quarter, scoring 16 while repeatedly breaking Latvia’s defence off the dribble and pulling up for mid-range jumpers, while Barrett and Phillip Scrubb notched treys, as Canada built a 67-57 lead after three quarters. Kelly Olynyk, Alexander-Walker and Scrubb drilled treys as Canada quickly extended its lead to 20 in the final frame and then coasted to the easy win off a pair of treys from Barret and singletons from beyond the arc by Alexander-Walker and Kyle Alexander. Gilgeous-Alexander said “I think for myself, especially, I didn’t start the game the way I needed to, the way the team needed me to. Just with my energy level, my activeness on both ends of the floor. I wasn’t really making the right plays offensively and defensively, I was lazy. I knew that. I looked in the mirror and tried to be better from that point on. Tried to make that my focus, to be better every possession for my team. If I do that, it would set the tone and the tide would turn. … I think it was a great test for us to continue to play through adversity. Not making shots, not getting calls and figuring out how to win. From personal experience, it’s hard to come back from being down 10 in FIBA. For us to be able to do that after the first quarter and win each and every quarter after that was big for us.” Canadian coach Jordi Fernandez said “we were not doing a lot of things for each other [early on]. Everybody knows this team shoots the three well. They made some tough ones, but we also let them shoot some open ones. offensively, we were not getting to our spots, cutting, rolling, doing the selfless little things that I think we’ve shown we can be really good at. From that point on, the guys came together and did it. … There’s a song that says, ‘there’s 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife,’ do you guys know who sings that song? Alanis Morrisette, a Canadian. We were not defending, we were not doing the right things. I think Nickeil was that knife. He came in and played really hard, defended when he was open, he made all those threes. … The best thing is when you walk in the locker room and the guys are already talking to each other. At that point, yes, I’m trying to help them as the head coach of the team, but they pretty much did it themselves. Holding each other accountable and staying together. You saw the result in the second half. … You’ve got to give credit to Latvia,” Team Canada head coach Jordi Fernández said. “They prepared better than any other team we’ve played before. They challenged us. They tried to deny Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander], tried to make it hard for him and obviously it gets to the point that he’ll take over. Like I said before, I have the best seat in the house, I can watch him perform with his teammates, which is good. It started on the defensive end and we played together. Latvia was a big reason why we struggled.” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander paced Canada with 27 on 8-10 from the floor, 2-7 from the arc, 5-6 from the line, 6 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. R.J. Barrett added 22 on 5-8 from the floor, 4-6 from the arc, 0-4 from the line and 5 boards. Kelly Olynyk notched 15 on 3-9 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 6 boards and 4 assists. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 14 on 1-2 from the floor, 4-11 from the arc, 0-3 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Dwight Powell added 6 on 2-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-3 from the line and 5 boards. Philip Scrubb notched 6 on 2-3 from the arc and 3 assists. Dillon Brooks scored 6 on 1-1 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 2 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. Kyle Alexander added 3 on 1-1 from the arc. Zach Edey scored 2 on 1-1 from the floor, while Melvin Ejim and Trae Bell-Haynes were scoreless. Ejim nabbed 7 boards, dished 2 assists and pilfered 3 balls. Luguentz Dort did not play because of muscle soreness. Canada hit 37-74 (.500) overall, 21-35 (.600) from the floor, 16-39 (.410) from the arc and 11-22 from the line, while garnering 44 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 23 assists, 19 fouls, 9 turnovers, 10 steals and 1 block. Andrejs Gražulis paced Latvia with 16 on 3-5 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 2 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Rodions Kurucs added 14 on 5-8 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 10 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Artūrs Žagars notched 11 on 2-2 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 4 assists. Rolands Šmits scored 9 on 2-3 from the floor, 17 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 4 boards. Kristers Zoriks added 8 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 5 assists. Dāvis Bertāns scored 7 on 1-2 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Artūrs Kurucs added 6 on 2-4 from the arc and 2 boards. Aigars Šķēle scored 4 on 2-2 from the floor, 2 boards and 6 assists, while Artūrs Strautiņš and Klāvs Čavars were scoreless. Dairis Bertāns (hamstring) and Anžejs Pasečņiks did not play. Latvia (coached by Luca Banchi, assisted by Jānis Gailītis) hit 27-63 (.429) overall, 17-27 (.630) from the floor, 10-36 (.278) from the arc and 11-12 (.917) from the line, while garnering 31 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 23 assists, 23 fouls, 15 turnovers, 5 steals and 3 blocks.

        Canada finished (3-0) in opening round pool play and advanced to the second round.

        In their opening second-round pool match, held in Jakarta, Canada fell 69-65 to Brazil after being badly outrebounded and frankly, outcoached, in a highly physical contest played at a snail’s pace. Canada took an early 5-2 lead as Dwight Powell notched a pair of buckets in the blocks. But Brazil slowed the tempo to absolute crawl and countered with a 9-0 run as Bruno Caboclo dominated the blocks and the Brazilians began outmuscling and overpowering the Canadians. Although Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Lugentz Dort notched late treys, the physical Brazilians kept patiently working late into the shot clock, while repeatedly attacking the paint, to take a 16-13 lead after one quarter. Philip Scrubb drained a fallaway jumper to ignite a 13-4 Canada run in the second quarter as Canada took a 26-22 lead and then extended its margin to 37-27 at the half. Canada led 52-40 late in the third quarter but Powell got in foul trouble and Canada’s ability to defend the 1-5 screen all but dissipated. Brazil bridged the final two frames with 13-0 run featuring a trio of bombs while erasing Canada’s 52-45 lead after three quarters. Canada made no defensive adjustments and Brazil dominated the final frame, particularly after Powell fouled out, generating a host of second-chance opportunities on the offensive glass. Canadian coach Jordi Fernandez appeared unwilling to trust his bench while Canada’s ball and player movement stagnated and the offence degenerated into solo drives and forced shots. Meanwhile, Caboclo kept notching buckets on pick-and-rolls, and Yago Santos drove for a critical pair of layups down the stretch, as Brazil pulled off the upset. Luguentz Dort said “they did a good job getting some second chances. They kind of dominated the glass. It’s hard when we give them second chances. They shot the ball well from the field and they really used those second chances. I feel like that’s kind of what really hurt us. … We will have to regroup. We have all played a lot of games and been in those kinds of situations where we really need a win to achieve our goal. So, like I said, we have to have a short memory. … We just lost the intensity of the game. That’s something that my guys have never lost so far because they have played really, really hard. I think going through it as a group is a really good thing for us — a bunch of young, really good players and it’s our first time here together. We’re not (ready) to go home yet. So once again, just a good opportunity to learn from this lack of intensity and physicality at certain points of the game, especially offensively, and move on.” Canadian point guard Shae Gilgeous-Alexander said “good game, tight game obviously. They were the better team in the second half. They wanted it a little more. Especially with the rebounding, that really hurt us. We lose, we learn from it. Onto the next one.” Canadian coach Jordi Fernandez said “Shaibhas to score, defend and play-make and he didn’t; Kelly [Olynyk] has to play-make, rebound and score efficiently and he didn’t; RJ (Barrett) has to run the floor and score efficiently and defend and he didn’t; Dillon (Brooks) has to defend without fouling and he didn’t. I could go down the line of the things that we didn’t do good as a group, me included — I could have called a timeout, I could have set up a play a different way — so it’s not about pointing to any of these guys. … Offensively, we were not willing to do anything for each other. Space the floor, move the ball, move bodies. And when you play like that it’s really hard to win. … Give Brazil a lot of credit for the win. They played really hard. Defensively, I think we were fine. When a team shoots 40 percent from the field and 19 percent from three, you should have a chance, but offensively we were not willing to do anything for each other. Space the floor, move the ball, move bodies. When you play like that, it’s really hard to win. Today was an example. [We had] 10 assists to nine turnovers. Shot 33 from the field and 27 from three. We didn’t deserve to win. … We’ve had one really bad game right now. We own it, we’ll watch it, we will learn from it and come really, really aggressive and fight in the next game. That’s how life is. … It’s good because it’s adversity for us. We haven’t faced anything like this and I believe in our guys. They’re going to work. They care. We’re going to watch film and we’re going to prepare for Spain. It’s going to be a fun game. We’ll be ready for the next one.” Caboclo said “I think we had a very good game. We followed the instructions of our coach. We saw their vision and obeyed the instructions. The game wouldn’t be a high-volume game, and we had to do that to come out and win this game.” Brazilian coach Gustavo Conti said “it was a good game as far as our strategy. Once we did the scouting report, we decided to slow down the pace of the game. It’s a little unorthodox for us to do that, but it was a great job by the players executing it. It’s all on them for this win.” Bruno Caboclo paced Brazil with 19 on 6-10 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 13 boards, 2 steals and 3 blocks. Gui Santos added 10 on 3-4 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 3 boards. Yago Santos notched 8 on 3-4 from the floor, 0-6 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards and 10 assists. Lucas Dias scored 8 on 1-1 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 3 boards and 2 steals. Vitor Benite added 6 on 1-3 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 2 assists. Georginho De Paula scored 6 on 2-3 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Tim Soares added 5 on 1-2 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 4 boards. Leonardo Meindl scored 5 on 2-7 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 5 boards. Marcelinho Huertas added 2 on 1-2 from the floor, while Cristiano Felicio was scoreless. Raul Neto Togni and Felipe Dos Anjos did not play. Brazil (coached by Gustavo Conti, assisted by Helinho Rubens) hit 25-63 (.397) overall, 20-36 (.556) from the floor, 5-27 (.185) from the arc and 14-16 (.875) from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 17 assists, 17 fouls, 9 turnovers, 6 steals and 4 blocks. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander paced Canada with 23 on 6-11 from the floor, 2-7 from the arc, 5-5 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Luguentz Dort added 17 on 3-4 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 2-3 from the line and 5 boards. Kelly Olynyk notched 9 on 1-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 7 boards. Dwight Powell scored 5 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-1 from the line and 6 boards. R.J. Barrett added 4 on 0-4 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 4 boards. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 3 on 0-1 from the floor, 1-8 from the arc, 2 boards and 3 assists. Phil Scrubb added 2 on 1-1 from the floor and 0-1 from the arc. Dillon Brook scored 2 on 0-2 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists, while Melvin Ejim was scoreless and nabbed 2 boards. Zach Edey, Kyle Alexander and Trae Bell-Haynes did not play. Canada hit 21-63 (.333) overall, 13-33 (.394) from the floor, 8-30 (.267) from the arc and 15-17 (.882) from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 20 fouls, 9 turnovers, 2 steals and 3 blocks.

        Canada closed out second-round pool play by edging Spain 88-85 to qualify for the 2024 Olympics. Canada struggled to handle Spain’s size in the paint as they fell behind 18-12. But R.J. Barrett notched a transition bucket, a trey and a pair of free throws as Canada responded with a 9-0 run before a late trey by Dias knotted the score at 21 after one quarter. With the score knotted at 33, Spain notched a seven-point play, as Abrines hit a trey while Dillon Brooks was hit an unsportmanslike foul, leading to a pair of free throws by Willy Hernangomez, possession of the ball, and a Hernandez-Gomez baseline runner. Spain extended its lead to 48-38 at the half as Hernangomez kept dominating the blocks. Canada opened the second half with 17-4 run featuring a driving Barrett layup and a trey and a pair of buckets by hard-working Dwight Powell in the blocks. But Canada began playing isolation ball and committing sloppy turnovers, allowing Spain to rally with a 7-0 run. Although Kelly Olynyk answered with a pair of treys, Spain closed out the frame with an 11-0 run to take a 73-61 lead after three quarters. It was the Brooks and Gilgeous-Alexander show in the final frame as Canada rallied from the deficit. The pair notched 24 on Canada’s next 27 points. Brooks nailed a pair of treys as Canada opened the final quarter with an 8-0 run. He added a driving layup and another trey as Canada knotted the score at 80. Gilgeous-Alexander promptly drained an 18-foot jumper with 42.2 seconds on the clock and then drilled six free throws down the stretch as Canada pulled out the win. An Alex Abrines bomb at the buzzer that would have forced overtime bounced off the rim. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said “it was a really, really good game. Really high-level basketball. It was a lot of adversity. They played a really well-rounded game from start to finish. It’s a really good team over there. Hats off to them. I think our group just wanted it a little bit more. We knew what was at stake and we were willing to do whatever it takes to get it done.” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Brook’s performance: “It was special. One for the books. He’s a leader. He does the right things on the basketball floor. He plays with the right energy. He’s a guy you always want on your team. Things haven’t been going his way the whole tournament, the past month and a half, but he’s had the right energy, he’s done the right things for the team and he was rewarded tonight by the basketball gods. He was big that whole fourth quarter. He made shots, played defensively like he normally does. He was ready for the moment. Big-time game.” R.J. Barrett said “we just dug deep. Dillon was huge, Shai iced the game, made all the free throws. We just dug deep, man. We hit some adversity, down 12 to start the fourth quarter and we just stayed together.” Canadian coach Jordi Fernández said “we found a way. It was a team effort. Shai and Dillon took us home. It’s one of those special moments. Going to the Olympics, it’s very special. It’s very special for the program, but for these guys, what they’ve done since August 1, it’s great, but now we have to keep thinking about the next game. We have three more games to go [at the World Cup]. We didn’t come here just to go to the Olympics. I told the guys we want to make sure that everybody knows we’re knocking at the door and we’re thirsty for more. … I congratulate Spain, a great program. They were a tough one tonight. We faced a lot of adversity. We had to start from the bottom, and now we’re here in the Quarter-Finals. It was a win where we all had to come together. Shai took us home, Dillon was amazing. At the end of the day, it was the definition of a winning team. We have to keep growing and believe, and we’re much better than this. They took us out of a lot of our stuff. Now we’re going to the Philippines thinking the same way — a lot of things to do, a lot of things to improve.” Spanish forward Willy Hernangomez said “I am super proud of the team. We fought all game, but they just played better for 40 minutes. We say congratulations to Canada, but we fought. I’m proud of my teammates and my coaching staff.” Spanish coach Sergio Scariolo said “congratulations to Canada, to their players, to coach Jordi, to the federation. I know how much of a commitment and dedication they put into this effort to rebuild their program. Now they have a high-level team, and they can enjoy the fruits of those seeds. But I fully agree with Willy, I can’t be prouder of my team tonight. We made an unbelievable effort, we led practically the whole game, we did a hell of an effort. It’s true that in 4 quarters, floor leadership is crucial, and we had to know that when the opponent is an All-Star. When he’s handling it like that, things might happen. We did our best and had extremely fun-to-coach guards who have learned a lot. They did a great job. No regrets. Tonight, we were Spain until the very end.” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander paced Canada with 30 on 5-9 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 14-16 from the line, 4 boards, 7 assists and 3 steals. Dillon Brooks added 22 on 5-9 from the floor, 3-3 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. R.J. Barrett notched 16 on 4-6 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 5 boards. Dwight Powell scored 6 on 3-5 from the floor, 3 boards and 2 blocks. Kelly Olynyk added 6 on 0-2 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc and 2 boards. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 5 on 1-2 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 2 boards. Luguentz Dort added 3 on 0-2 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 0-2 from the line, 5 boards and 6 assists, while Melvin Ejim, Kyle Alexander and Trae Bell-Haynes were scoreless. Zach Edey and Phil Scrubb did not play. Canada hit 28-57 (.491) overall, 17-33 (.515) from the floor, 11-24 (.458) from the arc and 21-25 (.840) from the line, while garnering 31 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 22 fouls, 15 turnovers, 6 steals and 4 blocks. Willy Hernangomez paced Spain with 25 on 7-12 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 11-12 from the line, 6 boards and 3 assists. Santiago Aldama added 20 on 4-5 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc and 2 boards. Alex Abrines notched 11 on 1-1 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 3 boards and 2 assists. Dario Brizuela scored 8 on 3-5 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards and 5 assists. Usman Garuba added 4 on 1-2 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 steals. Juan Nunez scored 4 on 2-5 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2 boards, 7 assists and 2 steals. Juancho Hernangomez notched 4 on 1-1 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Alberto Diaz scored 3 on 0-1 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 2 assists. Rudy Fernandez added 3 on 1-2 from the arc, 2 boards, 7 assists and 2 steals. Victor Claver scored 3 on 1-3 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, -2 from the line and 2 boards, while Sergio Llull was scoreless. Joel Parra did not play. Spain (coached by Sergio Scariolo, assisted by Luis Guil) hit 29-62 (.468) overall, 20-36 (.556) from the floor, 9-26 (.346) from the arc and 18-20 (.900) from the line, while garnering 32 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 28 assists, 28 fouls, 14 turnovers, 7 steals and 4 blocks.

        In the quarterfinals, held in Manila, Canada qualified for its first World Cup semi-final by clocking Slovenia 100-89 in a highly feisty affair. Although Slovenia hit five treys in the opening frame, Canada led 26-24 after one quarter on the strength of a quartet of pull-ups from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, treys by Dillon Brooks, Kelly Olynyk and Luguentz Dort and a driving slam by R.J. Barrett. Nickeil Alexander Walker hit a pair of treys as Canada took a 44-40 lead in the second frame before Luka Dončić notched a trey and a reverse layup and-one to knot the score at 50 at the half, in which Slovenia hit 10-17 from the arc. Canada clamped down on defence in the second half, with Brooks, Dort and Dwight Powell (particularly on switches) frustrating Doncic into miscues. After Mike Tobey notched a putback to give Slovenia a 52-50 lead, Canada countered with a 19-3 run featuring a trio of R.J. Barrett buckets, a Brooks trey and a raft of Gilgeous-Alexander free throws. Barrett and Gilgeous-Alexander drilled treys as Canada built its lead to 77-61 before their defensive intensity abated, allowing Slovenia to close out the frame with 10-3 run to draw within 80-71 after three quarters. Canada rebuilt its lead to 92-76 on a Brooks trey. But Brooks was promptly tossed for his second unsportsmanlike foul (taunting). Within a minute, Dončić was ejected after being issued his second technical for whining (an apparent staple of Slovenian play). Slovenia rallied to within 94-85 on a pair of buckets in the paint from Gregor Horvat. Gilgeous-Alexander though, had the answers down the stretch, hitting a 15-foot runner and a pair of free throws to ice the win, before Kelly Olynyk closed it out with a putback. Gilgeous-Alexander said containing Dončić was critical. ““Guys like him, they can get hot. … But we wore him down. … I think we just kept coming. We have two high-level defenders, two of the best in the world at their positions. We just wanted to keep throwing bodies at him, keep throwing him different looks. Obviously, a player of that calibre, you want to keep mixing things up for him.” Gilgeous-Alexander that his ability to take command down the stretch was a function of “just a drive to win. That’s what we come here for. That’s why I play basketball. That’s why the team plays basketball. That’s why you should play basketball. To win games at the highest level. Whatever it takes to do so at the end of the game is what myself and the rest of the guys try to do.” Canadian coach Jordi Fernandez chided Brooks, who greeted his teammates in the locker room after the game throwing air punches with boxing gloves on his hands, for getting tossed. “He has to be better,” Fernandez said. “We need him on the court. He cannot get disqualified. We have to have better composure as a team after that. I think he’s the best defender with Lou (Dort), the best perimeter defender in this competition. I think today it was a defensive clinic of leading with his chest, showing his hands, pressuring full court, and if you don’t think that, you don’t like basketball. … Everybody sees Shai’s points, which is good … but he led the game in rebounding. He dominated the game at playmaking, scoring, and finishing possessions and offensive rebounds. He also led our team in offensive rebounds. So I think that is even more impressive. You think about it, but it is not just Shai, that’s his job. His job is to defend, play make and score. Everybody else has a job on this team. … this team is relentless. And we’ve shown it in Jakarta and we’re showing it here too. … Tonight was a fight and these guys executed at a high level. I think we pushed the pace for 40 minutes and it went our way. I want to give all the credit to these guys.” R.J. Barrett said “I think that we’re showing that we’re such a hard-working team that when we come together and do the right things and listen to what coach is telling us to do, we can be special. … I think what you see from our team is it can be anybody. Of course, Shai is the head of the snake, he’s always going to do what he does. But just in terms of everybody else, last game it was Dillon. The game before that Lu [Dort] played well. It could be anybody on our team that has that night and I think that’s one of our strengths.” Dončić called the officiating “unfair. … I think everybody knows what my frustration was. Playing for the national team, it’s a lot of emotions. A lot of times I don’t control myself, which I’ve been having problems with. But you know, the referees told one of the guys they’re not going to call a foul on him because he’s coming at us. I think this is not fair. I know I complained a lot, but I don’t think it’s fair. They’ve been playing very physical with me, but if you say that, it’s not fair. … Dillon played great. He was very physical, like he always [is]. I know a lot of people don’t like him, but I respect him for what he does, and he does that stuff really good.” Dončić also noted that he was prone to emotional outbursts on the court. “A lot of times, I don’t control myself, which I’ve been having problems with.” Slovenia coach Aleksander Sekulić said “it’s difficult to play a game when you’ve got hit constantly all game long. It’s difficult to control the emotions and we work a lot on this, but it’s very difficult and he [Dončić] has the ball a lot in his hands. It’s frustrating for Luca. … I know it’s not great. It doesn’t look good, but, it’s very, very difficult and that’s why it makes him, makes Luca so special – because he’s a great player and it’s tough to guard him in a legal way.” Sekulic added that “Canada has a hell of a team. They can play different lineups, small ball and two bigs. They have big guards, strong guards. They have guys who can create. So they have everything they need to go all the way. I think they can match up with (the) United States. … Congrats to team Canada, they have a great team, great players, great coach. We played good or excellent first half, we had some troubles in the third quarter, we lost concentration, gave up too many transition points. On the other side, we didn’t score some open shots we could’ve, and their athleticism prevailed. I’m proud of the guys, we faced a lot of problems and injuries. What they did, this is beyond amazing. I felt like the whole arena was cheering for us. There were a couple of guys who didn’t like us, but what can we do.” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander paced Canada with 31 on 7-8 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 14-16 from the line, 10 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. R.J. Barrett added 24 on 8-16 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 5-5 from the line and 9 boards. Dillon Brooks notched 14 on 2-2 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 3 boards and 3 assists. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 14 on 2-2 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 1-4 from the line, 3 boards and 2 steals. Luguentz Dort added 8 on 2-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 boards. Kelly Olynyk added 7 on 1-2 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 4 assists. Kyle Alexander scored 2 on 2-2 from the floor, while Dwight Powell and Melvin Ejim were scoreless. Powell nabbed 5 boards. Zach Edey, Phil Scrubb and Trae Bell-Haynes did not play. Canada hit 31-61 (.508) overall, 20-31 (.645) frm the floor, 11-30 (.367) from the arc and 27-33 (.818) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 21 fouls, 11 turnovers, 6 steals and 1 block. Luka Dončić paced Slovenia with 26 on 4-14 from the floor, 4-6 from the arc, 6-7 from the line, 4 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals. Klemen Prepelic added 22 on 2-3 from the floor, 4-10 from the arc, 6-6 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Zoran Dragic notched 10 on 0-3 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 4-6 from the line and 4 boards. Aleksej Nikolic scored 8 on 1-1 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc and 4 boards. Mike Tobey added 8 on 4-10 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 6 boards. Gregor Hrovat notched 7 on 2-2 from the floor and 1-2 from the arc. Jaka Blazic scored 3 on 1-1 from the arc. Jakob Cebasek added 3 on 1-4 from the arc. Ziga Dimec scored 2 on 1-1 from the floor, while Bine Prepelic was scoreless, while nabbing 4 boards and dishing 2 assists. Ziga Samar and Gregor Glas did not play. Slovenia (coached by Aleksander Sekulic, assisted by Dalibor Damjanovic) hit 29-66 (.439) overall, 14-35 (.400) from the floor, 15-31 (.484) from the arc and 16-19 (.842) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 29 fouls, 10 turnovers and 5 steals.

        In the semis, Serbia clocked Canada 95-86 after a textbook demonstration of player and ball movement. The Serbs used their superior athleticism and physicality to play penetrate-and-pitch to the open perimeter shooter, or dish to their inside bigs, while dominating the boards and capitalizing on sloppy Canadian ballhandling, and leadfooted defensive transitions, for runout slams or layups. They also benefitted from almost immediate Canadian foul trouble brought on by an officiating crew that blew their whistles at the first inkling of contact, particularly in the paint. In short, an old-fashioned whupping. Bogdan Bogdanovic, who dominated the match from the start, and Ognjen Dobric drained treys as Serbia broke to an 8-1 lead. R.J. Barrett and Kelly Olynyk countered with treys, while Canada rallied to a 13-10 lead. But Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dwight Powell each picked up their second foul as Serbia countered with a 13-2 run to take a 23-25 lead after one quarter. With Gilgeous-Alexander on the sidelines, Canada’s offence sputtered, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Olynyk each picked up their second fouls, and Brooks his third. Powell was forced to the bench with back pain after being hammered on an attempted slam in transition, on which there was a no-call, with Powell left complaining to the officials that they were causing him to risk permanent back damage. Meanwhile, Canadian coach Jordi Fernandez continued his steadfast refusal to trust his bench and foul woes kept mounting. Gilgeous-Alexander returned to floor to pick his third foul, while the Serbs kept pounding the ball inside to Nikola Milutinov for slams and layups. The Serbs led 52-39 at the half. Brooks drilled a pair of treys and Nickeil Alexander-Walker a singleton as Canada rallied within 57-50 but the Serbians kept attacking off the dribble as they rebuilt a 75-63 lead after three quarters. They soon extended the margin to 17 and while Barrett kept attacking the paint, Canada was unable to draw closer than 10. With the outcome no longer in doubt, Fernandez inserted Zach Edey onto the floor, and he maintained his tournament-perfect shooting from the floor and free throw line, as Canada closed out the affair with a 15-9 run. Serbian guard Aleksa Avramovic said “we did a complete job. We all knew what we had to do. I have to defend against the point guard, Bogdan has to score the points … we all had to do what the coach asked of us.” Mark Guduric added that “I have never seen anything like this in my life, this amount of energy. It’s incredible. I can only wish them to have good night’s sleep today and tomorrow so they can keep this rhythm up in the Final. We’re just trying to follow their lead, it all starts with them. I knew everything about Dobric and his game, we grew up together, and now I finally met Aleksa [Avramovic} and realized what he can do.” Serbian coach Svetislav Pesic said “the defense starts with our guards, and it’s a chain effect for the rest of the team. Just one person messes up, and the whole chain falls apart. The taller guys have a lot of trust in our guards and their ball pressure, the rest of the team gives them a lot of trust. That’s why they are playing with a lot of confidence. Dobric was already great on defense versus Lithuania, but it wasn’t noticeable because of his offense. And look at him today, 13 points… No, wait, 16 points! In a World Cup Semi-Final!” Candian forward R.J. Barrett said “credit to Serbia, they played a great game. They played hard, they played physical and they are very well coached and disciplined. They started out fast and we were down by 10-12 basically the entire time. They did some random trapping and tried to get some steals, but we played physical. Our defense was not on the level it was all tournament long.” Canadian coach Jordi Fernandez said Serbia “played a great game, extremely hard and physical. We were okay offensively, but we were atrocious defensively, when a team shoots 62 percent from the field, 45 percent from three, obviously something was not done well. We didn’t prepare well for this game. … [As for the officiating], it’s part of the game of basketball. “We kept playing. We kept playing hard and obviously I got a tech on purpose and I had my reasons. I think we lost because we didn’t defend. I’ll leave the officiating for whoever judges the officials. I can only say to them thanks for doing their jobs. Without officials we couldn’t play the game of basketball.” Bogdan Bogdanovic paced Serbia with 23 on 5-8 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 4 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Nikola Milutinov added 16 on 6-6 from the floor, 4-7 from the line, 10 boards and 2 assists. Ognjen Dobric notched 16 on 5-7 from the floor and 2-4 from the arc. Marko Guduric scored 12 on 1-1 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 2 boards. Aleksa Avramovic added 10 on 3-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 2 assists and 2 steals. Nikola Jovic notched 8 on 4-4 from the floor. Vanja Marinkovic scored 4 on 0-1 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 1-1 from the line. Dejan Davidovac added 4 on 2-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 5 boards. Stefan Jovic scored 2 on 1-3 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 5 assists, while Filip Petrusev was scoreless, while nabbing 2 boards and dishing 2 assists. Dusan Ristic and Borisa Simanic did not play. Serbia (coached by Svetislav Pesic, assisted by Oliver Kostic) hit 36-58 (.621) overall, 27-38 (.711) from the floor, 9-20 (.450) from the arc and 14-20 (.700) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 22 fouls, 17 turnovers, 8 steals and 2 blocks. R.J. Barrett paced Canada with 23 on 5-6 from the floor, 3-8 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 3 boards and 2 assists. Dillon Brooks added 16 on 2-4 from the floor, 3-8 from the arc, 3-3 from the line and 3 boards. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander notched 15 on 4-6 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 7-9 from the line, 2 boards, 9 assists and 3 steals. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 10 on 2-3 from the floor and 2-3 from the arc. Kelly Olynyk added 9 on 0-3 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 6-6 from the line, 3 boards and 4 assists. Dwight Powell scored 5 on 2-3 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 3 boards. Zach Edey added 5 on 2-2 from the floor and 1-1 from the line. Luguentz Dort scored 3 on 0-2 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 3 boards and 3 steals, while Melvin Ejim, Kyle Alexander, Phil Scrubb and Trae Bell-Haynes were scoreless. Canada hit 27-56 (482) overall, 17-29 (.586) from the floor, 10-27 (.370) from the arc and 22-27 (.815) from the line, while garnering 22 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 25 fouls, 13 turnovers, 9 steals and 2 blocks.

        In the bronze medal match, Canada dispatched the United States 127-118 in overtime to capture its first World Cup hardware. Canada broke to an 8-0 lead as Dillon Brooks hit a hook in the paint and a trey, and Luguentz Dort a trey. They extended the margin to 23-13 as Brooks hit another trey, Dwight Powell a slam, Dort a runout, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a layup off a cut, R.J. Barrett a baseline jumper and Dort a trey. Barrett drove for a layup and then drained a trey; Kelly Olynyk notched an and-one and Melvin Ejim a trey as Canada extended its lead to 13. But the U.S. bridged the quarters (Canada led 34-25 after the first) with a 19-2 run to take a 40-36 lead. Brooks finally stemmed the bleeding with a trey. Gilgeous-Alexander notched an and-one, and a runner, as Canada regained the lead. But the U.S. responded with a 12-4 run. Gilgeous-Alexander notched a pair of free throws and a driving layup, while Brooks added two more treys, as Canada closed out the half with 10-4 run to take a 58-56 lead into the lockers. Brooks drove for a layup, pilfered the ball for a Gilgeous-Alexander runout and drilled his sixth trey as Canada expanded its lead to 65-58. Although the Americans kept draining mid-range jumpers, Gilgeous-Alexander and Barrett kept effectively attacking off the dribble, while Olynyk and Alexander-Walker drained treys, as Canada took a 91-82 lead after three quarters. The U.S. roared back with a 14-3 run featuring a pair of Tyrese Haliburton treys to take a 96-94 lead. But Dort notched a putback, while Brooks and Barrett drove for layups as Canada retook the lead 100-98 with four minutes to play. Austin Reaves answered with an underhanded mid-range prayer, Josh Hart a layup off a cut and Mikel Bridges a trey as the U.S. took a 105-103 lead. But Brooks countered with his seventh trey as Canada regained the lead. Edwards answered with a driving layup before Brooks knotted the score at 107 with 1:12 to play. Gilgeous-Alexander gave Canada a 109-107 lead on an elbow pull-up. Brooks added a pair of free throws. Bridges drew a foul with 4.2 seconds to play. He hit the first with 4.2 seconds on the clock, deliberately missed the second, tracked down the rebound and drained a corner trey to knot the score at 111 with 0.6 seconds to play. A desperation 30-foot bomb from Olynyk at the buzzer bounced off the back of the rim. It was all Canada in the extra session. Gilgeous-Alexander opened with a 15-foot pull-up and promptly added a trey after a pair of scrappy rebounds, one on either end of the floor, from Powell. Gilgeous-Alexander then hit a pair of free throws, while Brooks hit a baseline fadeaway as Canada built its lead to 120-114. Brooks attacked off the dribble and drew a foul, hitting a free throw to give Canada a 121-115 lead. After a pair of American turnovers, Gilgeous-Alexander found Barrett for an open trey with 43.8 seconds to play to bury American comeback hopes. After another American turnover, Dort drew an unsportsmanlike foul, hitting 1-2 from the line. Austin Reaves banked in a trey for the States with 23 seconds to play before Gilgeous-Alexander closed out the scoring with a pair from the line. Gilgeous-Alexander said “we won the first 40 minutes. Well, obviously not, but we won the majority of the first 40 minutes and we didn’t think it was a fluke. So, we just tried to focus on winning the next five. … It was back and forth for the most part. We built leads, they came back, we built another lead, they came back. It was a good team over there, they’re going to do that. We just stuck with it, stayed with our identity. The last five minutes we were really good and we were able to get a W.” Dillon Brooks said “as a team, we wanted this. We wanted it, this bronze medal, to do something that hadn’t been done, to keep creating history. It’s a great stepping stone for us as a ball club, as a country, and we all just wanted to make our country proud. … I was trying to get that 40 [points], free throws really count. It was amazing playing [with] Shai being very unselfish, finding me in the spots, our players moving every way possible, it was a team effort out there on the defensive end, getting rebounds. Regardless of what happened, even when they hit big shots. We found a way to hold it up.” Kelly Olynyk said “it’s special, man. It’s special. You’ve got a great group of guys that came together. Fought for each other, fought for our country, represented our country with pride, with passion every day. [As for overtime], they blessed us with five more minutes and shoot, why not take them.” Brooks said after the tough semi-final loss to Serbia, “around the locker room, we really wanted to play the U.S. and we got our wish. I sent to the group chat (after Germany beat USA) that we got what we wanted, to be ready to play, and I was just feeling really good. I really wanted to play against (former teammate) Jaren Jackson, but I don’t know what happened to him. I hope he’s all right, but just having that edge every single game, remembering how I prepared for the game, how I was trying to be a leader out there for my teammates. … Just having my country behind me, my head coach behind me, general manager, all these guys behind me trying to have me succeed, nothing to do with the politics, I feel like with contracts or any of those things. It’s hard to battle against the world and a team. … We have a great coach who believes in us, has great schemes, is very patient with us, finds a way to motivate us every single day to get better and figures out how to get guys in the NBA, who don’t get paid for this, to sacrifice. Kudos to Jordi, he’s been one of my best coaches I’ve ever played with and we’re grateful for everybody in this thing. … And I’m just feeling really good. Having that edge every single game and remembering how I prepared for the game, how I was trying to be a leader for my teammates.” Brooks, (colloquially known as ‘The Villain’ for once calling legend LeBron James old and for such gritty play as hitting James in the groin, and often booed by fans during the World Cup, although chants of MVP resounded from the crowd down the stretch of the bronze medal match) also noted that “I appreciate [the critics],” Brooks said. “From the beginning, everybody that was throwing shots on Twitter and Instagram watching me play. It just helps me get better and better each day. It motivates me to be better on the court for my teammates. … It’s an amazing feeling being recognized during the game. I never take it for granted. The work doesn’t stop here. I’m not satisfied and neither is any of us on this team. … [As for the MVP chants), it was my second time. They did the same thing in Jakarta. It’s an amazing feeling to be recognized during the game. But you know that I never take it for granted. The work doesn’t stop here. I’m not satisfied, neither is anyone on this team. You’ve got to keep going. They love you when you’re up, like right now. But when you have a bad game, they go right back to it. So you always have to keep working. … Just happy to be able to put this jersey on. I missed a couple of qualifiers and windows and I’m just happy to be here with my teammates, and represent my country, for the Canadians out there.” Luguentz Dort said Brooks is “a real villain. That’s what Dillon does. He never shies away from those types of games. I give him a lot of credit. He put a lot of work in. Just spending some time with him the last couple of weeks has been a blessing. He’s been a great guy.” Olynyk said Brooks has “been getting wish-washed this whole summer, but he’s an unbelievable player. He plays his ass off every single day. He’s someone you want fighting beside you in the locker room. I was really happy to see him play the way he did. He’s just gotten better and better every game for us.” Canadian coach Jordi Fernandez said “this team was amazing, special. It’s the beginning of something that’s going to last for a long time. … This team was amazing. Special. It’s the beginning of something that’s going to last for a long time. All 12 guys came in and worked every day since Aug. 1. They got better at least one per cent better every day and they built the identity that we just showed. It wasn’t perfect as we don’t have a lot of experience in FIBA, but I think we’re here showing that we can do great things. … Really proud of Dillon. … … I would take this guy on my team every day of the week from now until the end of my career. … This is how it looks like when they let Dillon Brooks play. And it’s not just on the defensive end that he is the best, with Lu, the best perimeter defender in the world. Offensively, he’s been extremely efficient. It’s not just this game. … I don’t think it gets better than that.” American post Anthony Edwards said “we can’t get no stops, so I don’t know what we could have done. Our defense is pretty bad.” Mikal Bridges said Gilgeous-Alexander is a “first-team [All-NBA] for a reason. He’s just tough. An unbelievable player. He’s just really good.” U.S. coach Steve Kerr said “we tried everything. When we doubled (Gilgeous-Alexander), Brooks was making 3s. When we didn’t, he was making his pull-ups. So give those guys credit, they both played great. … Feel bad for our guys, they put so much into this for the last six weeks, an amazing group. It was tough to hang in there tonight without three guys who are important to the team. But these guys fought, Mikal hit an incredible shot to force overtime, we just ran out of gas. Canada deserved it, congrats. … I didn’t need any reminder (that the world has caught up with the USA), I was on the staff in 2019 and we finished seventh. The United States haven’t won the World Cup since 2014. It’s hard, these teams in FIBA are really good, well coached, they’ve got continuity, and they’ve played together for a long time. This is difficult. It’s been difficult already. What I’m so impressed with is just the way our guys fought, especially tonight under these circumstances, missing three key teammates, just battling to get to overtime was impressive. The narrative about USA basketball in FIBA, do we need reminders, we’re past that. These teams are really good.” Player of the game Dillon Brooks paced Canada with a tournament and Canadian record 39 points in World Cup play on 5-10 from the floor, 7-8 from the arc, 8-10 from the line, 4 boards, 5 assists and 2 blocks. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 31 on 10-17 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 8-8 from the line, 6 boards and 12 assists. R.J. Barrett notched 23 on 4-8 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 7 boards and 2 assists. Kelly Olynyk scored 11 on 3-3 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists. Luguentz Dort added 11 on 2-4 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 5 on 0-1 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 steals. Dwight Powell added 4 on 2-3 from the floor, 7 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Melvin Ejim scored 3 on 0-1 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 4 boards and 2 assists, while Phil Scrubb and Zach Edey were scoreless. Kyle Alexander and Trae Bell-Haynes did not play. Canada hit 43-84 (.512) overall, 26-47 (.553) from the floor, 17-37 (.459) from the arc and 24-28 (.857) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 29 assists, 24 fouls, 12 turnovers, 6 steals and 5 blocks. Anthony Edwards paced the United States with 24 on 8-16 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 5-8 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Austin Reaves added 23 on 5-9 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 7-7 from the line and 5 boards. Mikal Bridges notched 19 on 3-6 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 9 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Bobby Portis Jr scored 14 on 5-6 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 6 boards. Jalen Brunson added 13 on 5-9 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 3-3 from the line and 2 boards. Josh Hart scored 10 on 3-3 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 2 assists. Tyrese Haliburton scored 6 on 0-2 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 5 boards and 7 assists. Walker Kessler added 6 on 3-3 from the floor and 7 boards. Cameron Johnson scored 3 on 1-1 from the arc and 0-2 from the line, while Jaren Jackson Jr, Paolo Banchero and Brandon Ingram did not play, apparently because of illness. The United States (coached by Steve Kerr, assisted by Erik Spoelstra and Mark Few) hit 42-81 (.519) overall, 32-54 (.593) from the floor, 10-27 (.370) from the arc and 24-32 (.750) from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 21 assists, 21 fouls, 14 turnovers, 6 steals and 3 blocks.

        In the final, Germany, coached by Canadian Gordie Herbert, edged Serbia 83-77.

        The all-tournament team featured MVP Dennis Schroder (Germany); Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada); Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia); Anthony Edwards (United States); and Luka Dončić (Slovenia).

        The 2nd-team featured Artūrs Mārtiņš Žagars (Latvia); Simone Fontecchio (Italy); Jonas Valančiūnas (Germany); Nikola Milutinov (Serbia); and Franz Wagner (Germany).

        Canada’s Dillon Brooks was named defensive player of the tournament.

        Australia’s Josh Giddey was named the rising star (under age 21) of the tournament.

        Latvia’s Luca Banchi was named coach of the tournament.