Fernandez pushes right buttons for Canada in big win over Australia

TORONTO – There was justifiable cause for concern when Nick Nurse stepped down as head coach of the Canadian men’s national team last summer, just a few weeks prior to the start of the FIBA World Cup.

A proven tactician, Nurse brought instant credibility and a championship pedigree. He had spent years securing commitments from the country’s best players and building valuable continuity and cohesion within the program. Would that be undone with his abrupt exodus? Would his replacement, long-time NBA assistant Jordi Fernandez, be able to pick up where he left off and get acclimated fast enough?

Any doubts were silenced quickly, as Fernandez led his team to a bronze-medal finish at the World Cup and its first Olympic berth in more than two decades. Already considered a rising star, his strong showing with Canada helped the 41-year-old Spaniard land his first NBA head coaching gig with the Brooklyn Nets this off-season.

Still, you could certainly argue that his finest work to date came on Tuesday, in Canada’s Group A showdown with Australia and big 93-83 victory.

In a battle of undefeated teams – and for control of the so-called Group of Death – it was the Aussies who drew first blood. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander picked up two quick fouls and spent most of the opening quarter on the bench, while his former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Josh Giddey shredded Canada’s perimeter defence. Giddey scored 15 first-half points, and the Boomers held a 30-16 edge in the paint, where they shot 15-for-18.

Canada trailed by four points coming out of the halftime break, when Lu Dort inherited the Giddey assignment. With his physical brand of defence – and a familiarity with the Australian guard’s game, having spent the past three seasons together in OKC – Dort helped hold a visibly frustrated Giddey to four second-half points.

Fernandez’s team was far more aggressive and opportunistic defensively, forcing 18 turnovers in the game and scoring 28 points off them. They limited the Boomers to 34 points over the final 20 minutes, including 13 points in the fourth quarter and just 16 points in the paint.

"We got stops, we got rebounds and consecutive stops,” said Dillon Brooks, who finished with 16 points, matching Gilgeous-Alexander for second-most on the team behind RJ Barrett’s 24. “If you get consecutive stops and you're able to score on them, that's when you make a run. They [were] hitting every shot in the first half. They were hot, they were playing together, confident. We stayed poised, stayed together, made a couple of adjustments and went on a run."

As the Olympics progress, each game and each opponent will test the Canadians in different ways, requiring different adjustments. Saturday’s opener against Greece forced Canada to contend with one of the best players – not just in the tournament but on the planet – in two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, and it proved to be a challenge until the final minute.

The Australians are far more balanced. They’re deep, with nine current NBA players on the roster – third-most in Paris behind the United States (12) and Canada (10). Like Canada, they feature strong guard play, led by Giddey and veteran Patty Mills, and a pair of tough perimeter defenders in Dyson Daniels and Josh Green. They move the ball, shoot it well, and are extremely physical and disruptive defensively, as they showed in their decisive win over Spain last weekend, and then again in Tuesday’s first half.

Canada’s ability to read and react over the course of a 40-minute FIBA game should bode well for its medal chances moving forward, and it’s a reflection of the head coach. Whether it was managing the game through foul trouble, making defensive adjustments or even difficult rotation decisions, Fernandez continues to push the right buttons.

Consider the bold decision to roll with Khem Birch over Kelly Olynyk or Trey Lyles in the second half. Olynyk is the team captain, and despite his defensive limitations, remains its best passing and floor-spacing big. Meanwhile, Fernandez has a long history with Lyles, coaching him during his stints in Sacramento and Denver. It wasn’t an easy or obvious call, even after those two underperformed in the first half, but it was the right call, as Birch was a much-needed presence at the rim on both ends of the floor.

It was a huge win for a Canadian team that improves to 2-0 in group play and all but officially guarantees its spot in the quarter-finals. It also puts them in the driver’s seat. With a win over Spain – Fernandez’s native country and the team Canada beat to punch its ticket to the Olympics last summer – on Friday, they’ll clinch the top seed in Group A, which could go a long way in avoiding the U.S. until the medal round.

However the bracket shakes out from here, the degree of difficulty is about to go up, with the margin for error continuing to shrink. But if it wasn’t clear already, it sure is now: with Fernandez at the helm, the Canadian men’s team is in good, steady hands.

“[It speaks to] the resiliency and how relentless this group is; the way they fought in that second half,” Fernandez said. “We were not playing great defensively in the first half. Some of their players were very comfortable. And then I think we came back with a purpose in the third quarter… It wasn't perfect, but for game two, we're still growing and we're about to face one of the best programs in the world.”

COMING-OUT PARTY

RJ Barrett

In case you were wondering if Barrett’s strong play with the Raptors last season was sustainable, it seems to be carrying over on the world stage.

For the second straight game, Canada’s leading scorer wasn’t Gilgeous-Alexander or Jamal Murray; it was Barrett, who followed up his 23-point Olympic debut with 24 points on Tuesday, 17 of which came in the second half. In addition to the team’s second-half defensive adjustments, Barrett’s inspired play helped turn the game in the third quarter, where he scored 13 of Canada’s 27 points.

He shot 8-for-14 and hit half of his six three-point attempts. He attacked the rim off the dribble and in transition, got to the line, and hit his free throws – he’s 11-for-12 through two games, an encouraging sign for Raptors fans after he shot 63 per cent from the stripe with Toronto last season.

“I’ve been playing with RJ for a long time, and RJ’s a dog,” said Dort. “He’ll always show up, he’ll always be aggressive. We need him to play like that, so he’s been doing a great job.”

“Yeah, he is that guy,” Fernandez said of Barrett. “Sometimes I don't call plays for him, and he just scores, so that's what he does. Probably, I should be better and call more plays for him. But he finds a way.”

Barrett was perhaps the biggest beneficiary of Andrew Wiggins’ 11th-hour decision to withdraw from training camp – and, yes, according to multiple sources it was his decision, not Golden State’s. Given the similarities, positionally and in terms of skill set, Wiggins would have almost certainly eaten into Barrett’s playing time and touches. Without him, the 24-year-old – and youngest player on Canada’s roster – has owned the role.

It's the perfect situation. With the Raptors, Barrett was often miscast defensively, asked to guard the other team’s best perimeter player after Pascal Siakam was traded and Scottie Barnes got hurt. Having Brooks and Dort next to him helps take that pressure off, while masking some of his shortcomings on that end of the floor and allowing him to thrive offensively, where the mere presence of Gilgeous-Alexander creates opportunities.

“I’m out there with Shai, one of the best players in the world,” Barrett said afterwards. “Just playing with him, the whole team is open because he draws so much attention. So, we’re just really out there trying to help him.”

His 24 points against Australia were the most by a Canadian men’s player at the Olympics since his godfather, Steve Nash, scored 26 in 2000.

FIGURING IT OUT ON THE FLY

Australia's Josh Giddey and Canada's Jamal Murray

Once again, Murray came off the bench for Canada, and while he had some encouraging moments – including a three-pointer near the end of the first half and a block to begin the fourth quarter – he’s yet to make a big impact and really put his stamp on a game.

Whether that’s due to his health or his role, or some combination of the two, remains unclear. Given his usage and coming off a season in which he battled a myriad of injuries, it’s fair to wonder how close Murray is to 100 per cent.

It’s also worth noting that this is still a work in progress, for both player and team. He’s joining a group that built chemistry last summer, on the way to winning World Cup bronze, and then played sparingly in exhibition. He’s used to having the ball in his hands and hasn’t looked especially comfortable playing off it, either with Gilgeous-Alexander or Andrew Nembhard.

Through two games, Murray has totalled just 13 points and missed seven of his eight three-point attempts. The good news is that he played 24 minutes on Tuesday after logging 18 in the opener. The hope is that he’ll continue to ramp up, shake off the rust and get more comfortable as the tournament goes on.

“We spend a lot of time together off the court, just trying to build that chemistry and get to know one another even more, and that translates on the court,” Murray said. “I think it's a lot of fun just being in the [Olympic] Village and getting to spend some time with each other and let that translate to court. Honestly, that's my favourite part.”

He may not reclaim his starting job, with Dort playing so well, and he may not look like vintage Murray – the second-best player on a championship Nuggets team – any time soon. The question is whether Canada needs him to be that guy to reach its lofty potential and finish on the podium.

If they defend the way they did in Tuesday’s second half, and if Barrett and Brooks can continue to provide secondary scoring, is it enough for Murray to simply supplement last year’s team and give them competent minutes off the bench? Given the level of competition they will face in the knockout rounds, one would imagine they’ll need more from the player many expected to co-star alongside Gilgeous-Alexander.