After helping the Thunder become championship contenders, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is doing the same thing for Team Canada, writes Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman. The Canadians swept through tough competition in Group A and are among the favorites to win a medal as they prepare to face France in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
It would be a significant accomplishment for Canada, which is seeking its first men’s basketball Olympic medal since winning a silver in 1936. A recent influx of NBA players, led by Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished second in this year’s MVP voting, has the country on the verge of becoming an international basketball power.
“We have a lot of talent, and we know that,” he said. “We all want to win, so we’re giving up whatever it takes to get to the final goal. … As far as Canada, we’ll be ready for whoever we see.”
They’re on different sides of the bracket, so Canada will likely face Team USA if it can advance to the gold medal game. Gilgeous-Alexander is looking forward to a possible rematch with the Americans after defeating them for the bronze medal in last year’s FIBA World Cup.
“They play to their strengths,” he said of Team USA. “They’re obviously very talented, very deep. You almost have to make no mistakes and play a perfect game when you play against them.”
There’s more from Paris:
- Carlik Jones, one of the stars for South Sudan during its Olympics run, believes the nation has a bright basketball future, per Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. The former NBA guard averaged 18 points, 7.7 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals in three Olympic games. “It is just the beginning,” he said. “Not a lot of people expected us to be here. I do not think a lot of people expected us to compete as well as we did. And we just got to keep working. Only time will tell. I got a lot of faith in those guys. We play any of these three games over and am putting us over them any day of the week. So, I just think that we just need to keep the confidence in ourselves and keep moving forward.”
- Franz Wagner and Moritz Wagner sparked Germany to a 3-0 record in pool play. Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops examines the success of the Wagner brothers, both in the NBA and in international competitions, and compares them to some other prominent brother combinations in Olympic history.
- All 12 of the men’s basketball teams decided to stay outside of the Olympic Village, according to Eurohoops. The first week of competition was held in Lille, so the teams opted for locations that were closer to Bercy Arena.
Makes you wonder if something happened in the “village” that forced them to leave. Perhaps some behavioral issues, or something very embarrassing.
No pros are going to stay in the village, which is basically a dorm.
The village is great for the amateur athlete…
The average basketball player gets paid a lot more than the average amateur athlete…