Canadian basketball teams taking lessons, not medals, home from Paris Olympics

Jordi Fernandez wants the sting of disappointment to stick with his players.

That’s how Canada’s men’s basketball team will grow, the head coach said Tuesday after the country was ousted from the Olympics.

“I think if you remember this feeling, it’s not a good feeling,” Fernandez said. “And you come back to the Olympics and you remember this feeling, that’s how you break through.”

Canada was expected to challenge for three basketball medals in Paris. Instead, all three teams are heading home without hardware.

“Teams that I’ve been part of that have won and had lots of success, there’s always some disappointment at some point. You don’t know how much you can do until you go through tough times,” Fernandez said.

“I think we’ve had success because we’ve won a lot of games in the last two years. But in this tough time we cannot forget. We cannot forget how this feels. And that’s how we move on.”

The men’s team came to Paris ranked seventh in the world and riding high after claiming bronze at last summer’s FIBA World Cup.

A star-studded squad headlined by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Toronto Raptors forward R.J. Barrett went 3-0 in preliminary round play before suffering an ugly 82-73 loss to the French in the quarterfinals Tuesday.

Canada finished the tournament fifth overall.

The Canadian men had not played in the Olympics since the 2000 Games in Sydney, and a lack of experience may have played a role in Paris.

“Obviously it’s the best basketball players in the world. So it’s a very hard tournament, if not the hardest,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “And once you get to the elimination round, everything matters a little bit more. And I think we’ll be more prepared for that next time.”

Canada’s women’s team also had high hopes of reaching the podium.

Ranked fifth in the world heading into the tournament, the group featured four current WNBA players and eight athletes with Olympic experience.

The Canadians struggled from the outset, however, starting with a 75-54 loss to France where the host nation went on a 22-0 run in the second quarter.

Canada then dropped games to Australia and Nigeria, and crashed out of the tournament following a winless preliminary round. The country finished 11th overall, down from its ninth-place finish at the Tokyo Games.

The results aren’t indicative of how the team is trending, said guard Shay Colley.

“I think (the future) is very bright for us” she said. “We have young players Aaliyah (Edwards), Laeticia (Amihere) in the WNBA, we also have Kia (Nurse) and Bridget (Carleton) still in their prime. So I feel like it’s going to be a great group when we get time together and continue our journey.”

Head coach Victor Lapena also believes big things are in store for the Canadian women’s team.

“This program is amazing. The Canada Basketball program has a tremendous future, as you saw on the court with some of our kids,” he said.

“And looking towards the future, we need just time. Time to breathe, time to think about what we need to be better at next time when we play in these kinds of events. … Because this program deserves to always be playing big games like this.”

Canada’s women’s 3×3 team fared better at the Paris Games.

After going 4-3 in round-robin action, the Canadians topped Australia to earn a semifinal spot. There, they lost a spirited contest to eventual gold medal winners Germany. In the bronze medal matchup, the team fell 16-13 to the United States.

Paris marked Canada’s first Olympic appearance in the discipline, which made its debut in Tokyo three years ago.

The country’s 3×3 program is still in its infancy, created in 2019 by twin sisters Michelle and Katherine Plouffe, who’d spent years with the national women’s team.

The goal was always to grow the game, Michelle Plouffe said.

“To have an actual program now, and to have the support of Canada Basketball, and to have girls who are now interested in playing 3×3, it’s huge,” she said.

“It was never just about us. It was always about leaving a legacy behind. And I think we’ve made a big leap forward in doing that. So it’s been a huge journey, and I’m just so grateful.”

Plouffe said she doesn’t know what’s next for her personally, but she believes the 3×3 program is just getting started.

“We’re thinking of future generations, and we’re thinking of who’s coming up behind and who can stand on our shoulders,” she said. “And we’ve always had that in our minds — it’s bigger than us.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 7, 2024.