Dillon Brooks is continuing his impressive FIBA streak, helping lead Canada to an 86-79 win over Greece in his team’s Olympic opener. Brooks, who made a trio of three-pointers in the win, also had an impressive 2023 World Cup, averaging 15.1 points per game en route to a bronze medal.
As Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews writes, Brooks pushes himself to another level in international play.
“I like to play for my country; it gives me a lot of passion to do so,” Brooks said. “For the game itself, you have to be 40 minutes attentive to detail. All those things add a lot more to a player, and I like the ball as well.”
Brooks also impressed on defense alongside Thunder wing Luguentz Dort. According to Urbonas, when that duo shared the floor, Canada outscored Greece by 23 points.
“I’m really proud of Dillon,” national team coach Jordi Fernandez said. “This is how it looks when they let Dillon Brooks play. And it’s just not about the defensive end. With Lu Dort, he’s the best perimeter in the World Cup. But he’s extremely efficient offensively.”
Brooks said he didn’t care if his international play changed how NBA fans felt about him.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic share the honor of having the same odds for Most Valuable Player next season, but Anthony Edwards is a dark horse, Jason Jones of The Athletic writes. Zach Edey is currently the favorite for Rookie of the Year over top-two picks Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr, but Cody Williams is a player Jones believes may be getting overlooked. Jones talks through all the major awards, as well as some teams he does or doesn’t believe in.
- Former NBAer Xavier Sneed signed with Bnei Herzliya Basket, a team in Israel, the club relays in a release (Twitter link). Sneed played 13 games across two seasons (2021-23) on two-way or 10-day contracts with the Hornets, Grizzlies and Jazz. He’s scored 22 points in 87 total minutes at the NBA level.
- As we relayed Sunday, Australian guard Dante Exum seemed to be nearing a return from a right index finger injury. Boomers coach Brian Goorjan confirmed as much, stating that he expects Exum to return on Tuesday vs. Canada, according to Fox Sports’ Matt Logue (Twitter link).
Dillon Brooks has been an absolute beast since he was at Oregon. I’ve said it a million times but if Chris Boucher is healthy going into the tournament then Oregon prob wins the title & Dillon Brooks would be perceived a lot differently. The fact that he lasted til the 2nd round was just madness. Idek if he’s made an all-defense team yet & that’s just as crazy to me. Obv he can’t be fouling out with 3-4mins to go like he did vs Greece but obv he won’t be guarding Giannis every game. For a guy that has been overlooked, misunderstood & hated by ‘fans’ for so long I completely understand why he couldn’t care less what we think. It’s truly weird that he gets so much hate but ofc the same could be said for dozens of great NBA players.
I’m not sure why so many rocket fans want to trade him. 20 mil a year really isn’t a lot for someone of his tier. I thought he played really good his first year in Houston took them from the joke of the league to up and coming contenders. Didn’t do it alone but he was a big part of it.
HOOOOOORAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!
(idk anything abt basketball)
Tell us you don’t have passion to play for Houston without telling us.