'We're a really good team': Canada confident heading into basketball quarterfinals at Paris Olympics

PARIS — Andrew Nembhard and the rest of the Canadian men's basketball team expected to be here.

It's been 24 years since Canada played Olympic basketball, but the squad competing in Paris believes it's capable of greatness.

“I can’t say I didn’t feel like this was going to happen," Nembhard said after Canada went 3-0 in preliminary round play. "We have a really talented group and we should be in this position. But it’s nice to see it kind of come to fruition. And seeing how many years it took us to get back to this point, it’s good for the country.”

Now comes the hard part — the knockout stage.

Canada will continue its quest for gold Tuesday when it faces host France in the quarterfinals.

“We know what the next round entails," said point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. "You know it’ll be a good team on the other end of it, no matter who it is. Nobody to be taken lightly. That's why we came, to play the best in the world and try and beat them.”

The Canadians chalked up wins over Greece, Australia and Spain in the preliminary round and finished at the top of Group A, averaging 89 points-per game.

Facing stiff competition to start the tournament will benefit the team going forward, said Canada head coach Jordi Fernandez.

“I think we’ve played with a Game 7 mentality because we’ve played in the toughest pool in the Olympics. Even though it was not truly Game 7 … we also knew that these teams are so good that we cannot relax," he said.

"I think we are more prepared than other teams that had big leads. We haven’t had those big leads and even if at times we had it, those teams were so competitive that they came back. I like where we’re at. I believe that this group of death, like lots of people (called it), will help us be more prepared.”

There are things Canada needs to improve on as it moves forward, Fernandez said, including being "better as a group" and closing out games.

His team was up 49-38 at halftime in its final preliminary round game, but allowed Spain back in midway through the third and hung on for an 88-85 victory.

"When you don't have experience in this type of game and you don't know what this type of games mean, the only way that you can get experienced is going through it," Fernandez said. "Now we have a group of guys that have gone through a World Cup, now they're going through the Olympics and I think right now our experience is taking us to the next level."

Canada's next opponent won't be an easy out.

France beat Japan and Brazil in preliminary play, but fell to Germany and finished second in Group B after putting up an average of 81.0 points-per game.

Canada will look to its strong defence to contain French stars Victor Wembanyama — who led the tournament in steals (eight) in the preliminary round, and collected the second-most rebounds (32) — and Rudy Gobert.

The Canadians have threats of their own. Heading into the knockout phase, R.J. Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., has 63 points, third-most in the tournament, while Hamilton's Gilgeous-Alexander is close behind with 55.

The team is also making the most of its opponents mistakes, leading the competition in points from turnovers with an average of 22.3 per game.

Canada's players simply just need to be themselves as the Olympics continue, Gilgeous-Alexander said.

“We’re a really good team," he said. "We have a lot of ways we can hurt you. We just have to keep getting better.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2024.