TORONTO — Although Saturday’s outcome felt slightly hollow, even by admission of those involved, the high-note ending wasn’t without its value for Canada Basketball.
While the Canadian under-23 men entered what ended up as an 89-74 win against Japan on Saturday at the Mattamy Athletic Centre already with the knowledge they wouldn’t advance to the GLOBL JAM gold medal game, they made the most of the situation.
Earlier in the day, the Georgetown Hoyas (representing the United States) managed to pull out a two-point victory against Brazil, meaning that even though Canada beat Japan, in a three-way head-to-head for the 2-1 squads, the red-and-white still fell short via point differential tie-breaker.
And to learn that during warm-ups did impact the Canadians, at least initially.
“You come out and think (if) you win the game and you go to the gold medal game, and then you find out that (even if) you win the game, you don’t go to the gold medal game … your intensity level probably drops,” Canada head coach Dave Smart admitted after the win.
“It shouldn’t, but it does.”
GLOBL JAM on Sportsnet
Top Canadian under-23 players are set to square off against international counterparts at GLOBL JAM this week in Toronto. Catch all of Canada’s games, along with the men’s and women’s final on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
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Explaining why the Canadians found themselves down as many as nine points in the first quarter en route to a 25-24 deficit after the opening frame, before snapping out of it to secure the 15-point win.
The backcourt pairing of Xaivian Lee and Aden Holloway led the red-and-white with 18 and 16 points, respectively. Lee also chipped in team-highs of eight rebounds and six assists. Enoch Boakye followed closely with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and seven rebounds, while Elijah Mahi and Justin Rochelin added 11 points apiece.
“It’s been great,” the bench boss said after Saturday’s win. “I spent 18 years as an assistant (with Canada Basketball) … and I learned a lot, I enjoyed it. Now I’m here and I’ve got these guys … so for me it’s been a pretty good experience.”
Meanwhile, the Canadians’ early malaise resulted in a 7-2 run by the Japanese, but the response by the red-and-white is what stood out. Canada went on a 12-4 charge of its own, highlighted with triples from Holloway and Lee.
And while Smart wasn’t ready to put either of the guards, or fellow backcourt member Vasean Allette, on the same level as another former Canada Basketball youngster turned senior team member, he was happy with the trio’s growth throughout the showcase.
“They’re not Andrew (Nembhard), but they’re pretty solid point guards,” Smart explained, who coached the Aurora, Ont. native and now NBAer at the under-18 level. “It all goes back to the guards have the ball in their hands and they’re trying to know where people are supposed to be, and it’s not perfect, but I think they’ve done a good job of taking care of the ball for the most part … I think it’s as good as can be expected.
The trio of floor generals helped Canada start the second quarter on a 10-3 push as their lead ballooned as high as 11 points before holding on to a 49-43 lead. Holloway fronted things with 12 points at the break, albeit on 4-of-12 shooting.
Canada’s defence did the talking come the third quarter, however, as it held Japan to 12 points while forcing six turnovers from a team that had given the ball away just once through the first half. The Japanese were limited to just 35.6 per cent shooting from the field for the night and 30.8 per cent from beyond the arc.
“I thought it was pretty impressive what we did,” Smart said. “At the end of the first quarter and through most of the second quarter, until the last two minutes to get back into it defensively and doing some good things.”
Canada, almost literally, cruised to victory from there, finishing plus-10 for fast break points — showcasing the kind of pace Smart had been asking for more of following each game of the tournament.
The win in many ways stood as everything coming together for the Canadians, albeit with little to play for.
Canada’s fate was sealed courtesy of a calculated effort from the Brazilians, who intentionally goaltended a late free throw against Georgetown to make their path to a gold medal game the easiest. Brazil already owned the point differential tie breaker between themselves, Canada and the Americans, so by orchestrating a scenario in which a three-point attempt at the buzzer either sealed a win or meant avoiding overtime where they could lose hold of that tie-break advantage, was the most ideal.
And while that robbed the Canadians of an opportunity to earn a spot in the gold medal game on Sunday with a win against Japan, there appears to be no love lost.
“I mean, (Brazil was) trying to get to the final,” Smart said. “They didn’t want to go to overtime and possibly lose by 12, so it is what it is. We put ourselves in that position and that’s the way things go. You control your own destiny.
“They had that luxury because they beat us, so I’m not going to complain about it.”
Catch live coverage of both the women’s and men’s finals on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+. The Texas Longhorns and the Canadian under-23 women face off for gold at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT, followed by a Brazil-Georgetown men’s title showdown at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.
