Setting The Pick: Canada a cut above

Group A deservedly was dubbed the group of death.

The Spanish squad will contend just has narrow the margins were.

Had they beaten Canada, they would’ve finished atop the group at 2-1.

Instead, they suffered a three-point defeat to Canada and have been officially eliminated from the tournament even though they share the same record as Australia and Greece.

While Groups B and C have less accomplished teams like Japan and Puerto Rico, Group A had four world-class teams competing.

This unfortunately meant no freebies for Team Canada; each game was won by single digits.

Even though they went undefeated and were the only team with a positive net rating in Group A, there is no guarantee they’ll avoid Team USA ahead of the gold medal game.

Only the top two seeds are guaranteed to be on opposite sides of the knockout bracket.

Teams three through eight are subjected to a draw system that could leave them on either side.

At the time of writing, the French and Germans have yet to play.

Canada’s only hope of a top-two seed requires France to win by a margin of victory less than five.

Crazier things have happened.

But for now, Team Canada has to be satisfied with their performance.

Here are three things that stood out in their final group stage matchup.

THE BENCH RUNS DEEP

Many of the key players during Canada’s bronze medal run in last year’s FIBA World Cup remain on the roster.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to lead this squad, RJ Barrett has given them excellent secondary scoring, and Dillon Brooks and Luguentz Dort combine for one of the deadliest defensive pairings in the tournament.

In today’s win over Spain, Team Canada got some added punch they didn’t have in Manila.

Andrew Nembhard exploded for 18 points off the bench, both Trey Lyles and Khem Birch provided solid frontcourt minutes though limited, and then of course, Team Canada has an NBA champion in Jamal Murray giving them a lift off the bench when needed.

Their deep lineup has allowed head coach Jordi Fernandez to manage his stars accordingly.

Over eight games in last year’s World Cup, SGA averaged over 32 minutes a game and Barrett was over 30 mpg.

So far during the Olympics, nobody is playing more than 28 mpg.

There may come a game where everything falls on SGA’s shoulders offensively, but as it stands, Team Canada is putting forth a much more egalitarian effort.

PERIMETER DEFENCE STAYS SHINING

Two stats really jumped out to me during the group stage for Team Canada.

The first, opponents have shot 29 per cent from deep (27-for-93).

The second, Team Canada generated six 24-second shot clock violations.

With the FIBA three-point line almost two feet shorter, it was widely expected that teams would lean on their perimeter shooting to offset Canada’s superior scoring talent.

Instead, Canada’s perimeter defence has made life miserable for their opponents.

So far through the tournament, teams are averaging 37.4 per cent from deep.

The Canadian coaching staff must be pleased with their proficiency at limiting the three-ball.

The six shot clock violations really popped out as you’re watching the games live.

In reality, they probably should’ve had more if not for a few heaves.

What stands out is how often opposing teams are getting deep into the shot clock and forced to take low quality attempts.

Canada has forced 15 turnovers per game so far, one more than the tourney average.

NEMBHARD CLOSED FOR MURRAY

This blurb really combines two critical observations from the game versus Spain.

If you watched games from Indiana’s playoff run last season, you’d recall watching Nembhard step up in clutch situations, hitting big-time buckets.

That ability has carried over to Team Canada.

The Aurora-native hit two big time threes in the second quarter and closed the game going 4-for-5 in the fourth.

On first glance, it might feel controversial that he played in clutch time over Murray, but if you watched the game live, he was in rhythm and earned the right to play.  

Even though Nembhard had two quiet games to open, the match against Spain showcased his upside.

It isn’t fair to ask him to shoot 80 per cent every game, but simply having the option to roll out a player running that hot is a significant luxury.

This was a game Team Canada was grateful to have him because Murray was once again not at his best.

By now, it seems obvious that Murray’s nagging injury is keeping him for playing at his optimal level.

But given how little time there is between games, Team Canada can’t afford to wait around.

Murray closes the group stage shooting 6-for-18 from the field and 1-for-10 from deep.

While he leads the team with 4.7 dimes a game, he’s accumulated a minus-16 net rating, third-worst only ahead of Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Nembhard.

Now that they’re in the knockout stage of the tourney, it wouldn’t surprise me to see coach Fernandez be more selective about which bench players get into games.

Canada is so talented, they can cherry-pick one or two players game by game as needed.

The five starters have gone plus-41, 39, 32, 27 and 23 respectively and it’d be wise for Team Canada to lean on them more with only three games to go.