TORONTO – It’s been 21 years since Canada was represented at the Olympics for men’s basketball, and with this latest heartbreaker in the books, that drought will continue.
With a thrilling but ultimately ill-fated 103-101 loss to Czech Republic in overtime of Saturday’s semi-final, the Canadians were eliminated from their last-chance qualifying tournament, failing to punch their ticket to Tokyo in the process.
It was yet another painful setback for a program that has experienced so many of them over the past two decades, but in many ways, this one felt like a new low.
“Everybody’s disappointed,” point guard and team captain Cory Joseph said afterwards. “We had enough to make it, we just didn’t get the job done, again.”
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Wherever he plays, Andrew Nicholson finds his way to points.
It can be easy to forget that the former first-round pick is still 31, well within his years of utility to the national program. It’s a program he’s long been committed to, too, as Nicholson entered this Olympic qualifier with 36 men’s national team caps, good for third on the roster.
And while he didn’t quite work out as an NBA player, he has found a home in China. For four consecutive seasons, Nicholson has averaged at least 21.8 points, doing so with remarkable efficiency. Somewhat ironically, Nicholson didn’t play with Canada in China for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, but he saved one of his better international performances for his frequent professional home, helping lead Canada to a 109-79 victory against China on Wednesday.
Minnesota Lynx Lynx PR June 29, 2021
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Canada Basketball today named Minnesota Lynx forwards Natalie Achonwa and Bridget Carleton to their Tokyo 2020 Olympics Women’s Basketball 12-player roster.
The Guelph, Ontario native Achonwa is making her third Olympic appearance, after competing in the 2012 London and Rio 2016 games for Canada. She has been a member of the national team program for over a decade, after making history as the youngest player ever selected at age 16. In her last Olympic games, the 6-3 forward appeared in all six contests for the Canadian team and averaged 5.0 points and 2.8 rebounds during 11.4 minutes per game. In 2020, Achonwa competed in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament that went 3-0 to secure Canada’s third consecutive Olympic appearance where she averaged 13.3 points and 6.3 rebounds and earned Tournament All-Star F
FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament: Andrew Wiggins, RJ Barrett lead Canada to victory over Greece
Greece had Canada on the ropes in the first half but Canada would prevail behind offensive outbursts from their two stars in the second half. Andrew Wiggins did not disappoint in his return to Canada Basketball, going for a game-high 23 points, while RJ Barrett had 18 of his 22 points in the second half. https://images.daznservices.com/di/library/NBA Global CMS image storage/1f/66/irvgotti 1cfldr6xwy73t1tkyk0ey4t3wq.jpg?t=1378242313&w=500 By Kyle Irving @KyleIrv
url copied to clipboard RJ Barrett, Dwight Powell and Andrew Wiggins
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