Setting The Pick – Team Canada to make Gold Medal game?
Published
All aboard the Team Canada bandwagon.
For those yet to hop on, there’s still room.
Coming into Paris, Canada was widely cited as the most likely team to upset Team USA for the gold.
With two wins now under their belt, Team Canada has lived up to those expectations.
By all estimations, the Americans will likely coast to another gold medal, but Canada is lining up well to meet them for that final game.
Team Canada’s best shot at glory is to ensure they stay out of USA’s knockout bracket.
The Americans will likely complete the group stage as the top-seed. Canada is one big win away from locking up the second.
Their final match of the round robin comes against Spain, currently ranked No. 2 in the world according to FIBA.
But glancing at their 12-man roster, only two players currently play in the NBA.
They might have the team chemistry advantage, but Canada is clearly the more talented squad.
Here are five things to get excited about based on their recent form.
SGA – TOUGH BUCKET GETTER
Over the first two games, RJ Barrett has surprisingly been the leading scorer for Team Canada.
But when the shot clock has been ticking down, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has repeatedly come up with clutch buckets – a luxury few teams have.
SGA’s 18.5 ppg sits outside the Top-10 but Canada hasn’t needed him to be a ball hog on offence.
He’s letting the game come to him and stepping up when their offence goes cold.
When Greece strung together an 8-0 run with less than a minute to go in the fourth, it was SGA who stopped the bleeding with a clutch jumper to make it a two-possession game.
He’s shooting a pristine 65.0 per cent from the field, best amongst the team’s perimeter players.
As Canada finds themselves in tighter games during the knockout stage, they’ll be grateful to have the most clutch isolation player on the court.
DORT AND BROOKS – A PAIR OF HOUND DOGS
Team Canada’s identity during this Olympic run has been all about defence and that starts with Dillon Brooks and Luguentz Dort.
Brooks has one All-NBA Defensive team appearance on his resume while Dort was 11th in voting and the final player left off this year’s All-Defensive teams.
Their physicality gave Greece and Australia fits and led to multiple scoring droughts.
In their match against the Greeks, Canada held them scoreless for four straight minutes in the final quarter after Giannis Antetokounmpo got the lead down to four points.
They repeated that against the Aussies, keeping them scoreless for almost five minutes in the fourth quarter.
These scoreless stretches have essentially been the difference in both of their wins.
It’s no secret that Team Canada’s weakest link has been the centre position, but with these two applying pressure on the ball, both opponents have been below average from three-point range.
Canada has kept their frontcourt disadvantage to a minimum; they’ve only been outscored by six points in the paint for both games.
RJ BARRETT’S NEAR FLAWLESS OFFENCE
Barrett’s 40 percent shooting from deep has been a welcome sight for both Team Canada and Raptor fans alike.
What’s really stood out in two games so far is his shot chart.
Outside of one three-point attempt where his foot was on the line, Barrett hasn’t registered a single mid-range shot.
When defences have been loading up on SGA or Jamal Murray, Barrett has been exploding to the paint rising above the defence.
He’s shooting 71 percent on twos and if he keeps that up, Canada will find themselves on the podium.
Throughout his time in New York, he was often criticized for his inefficient scoring and poor shot selection.
On this team, he’s not being asked to carry as heavy of an offensive burden.
That responsibility clearly falls on the shoulders of Murray and Gilgeous-Alexander.
Barrett is getting the freedom to pick his spots attacking the paint or nail open threes to which he’s delivered.
POWELL PLAYING HIS ROLE
I’d be willing to bet, Canada’s win against Australia was probably the best performance most Canadian fans have ever witnessed Dwight Powell play live.
He was aggressively hunting down rebounds on both ends and picked his spots finishing buckets when the opportunity arose.
You could point at the box score and question why Canada’s starting centre has zero blocks, but the team doesn’t need him to stretch beyond his means for them to win.
Canada is so stout on the perimeter, they simply need a reliable big who can consistently contest shots without getting taken off the court.
As we saw in the first game, FIBA’s five foul rule can pose a problem. Three of Canada’s five starters fouled out.
Even against Australia, Shai had to sit just two minutes into the game with two early fouls.
Team captain, Kelly Olynyk, gives Canada more offensive pop in the paint but with how the roster is constructed, Powell fills a greater void.
Powell’s play has been well above expectations through two games.
MURRAY OFF THE BENCH?
As the Olympics were approaching, Canadian fans were salivating at the prospect of Murray and Gilgeous-Alexander forming the deadliest backcourt in the tournament.
Then, news broke out that Murray was dealing with a calf injury which would limit his playing time.
Had Canada lost one of these first two games, more attention would be cast on his lingering injury.
Now that the Canadians have strung together two wins, the focus should be on the potential of this team if Murray can get healthy in time for the knockout stage.
The two stars only shared the court for 14 minutes together against the Boomers but notably closed both the second and fourth quarters.
Head coach Jordi Fernandez has clarified his strategy with the Denver star, “He will be the best version of himself at the right time.”
Murray is shooting just 13 per cent from deep yet Canada is plus-17 atop Group A.
He’s a career 38 percent shooter from deep in the NBA where the line is 1.7 feet further out than over in Paris under FIBA rules.