More like 'Non, Canada'

I am so sorry, Northern friends.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

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Moonlight, Waning Winter; Homer Watson; 1924

When I wrote that Team USA had an exceedingly lucky draw in the knockouts of the men’s Olympic basketball tournament, this is what I meant. Canada, who went undefeated in the group play just like the United States, drew host nation France, a very tough opponent, in the quarterfinals. Team USA got Brazil, against whom the Americans played a clean first half en route to a lopsided victory. It was so lopsided even Tyrese Haliburton got some burn!

Canada had no such luck against the French. Despite Rudy Gobert playing just four minutes under mysterious injury circumstances, and despite Victor Wembanyama going just 2/10 from the floor, the French bottled up Canada’s impressive offense and hit some big shots to pull off a wire-to-wire win. In the scoring column, Guerschon Yabusele and Isaia Cordinier led the way. Yes, Guerschon Yabusele and Isaia Cordinier. They outdueled Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray. The French got huge defensive contributions from Big Vic, Nicolas Batum (a very impactful scoreless game over 30 minutes) and Frank Ntilikina.

Here are the highlights. Wembanyama’s play around the 1:40 mark (the steal on R.J. Barrett after the turnover) and the block on Dillon Brooks at 6:10 — wow. Even in a rough game he drops jaws.

This is, to put it plainly, heartbreaking for Canada. With its best roster ever, and a really strong cycle overall, the team fails to medal at the Olympics. Canada hasn’t medaled in men’s basketball at the Olympics since 1936. The final score of the gold medal game that year (won by Team USA) was 19-8. They played on dirt. A 74-year-old James Naismith himself handed over the medals.

Canada has a top-4 player in the world these days, and 10 of the 12 players on the roster are in the NBA, many of them in prominent roles for good teams. They had roster continuity, with most of the roster having been together to win bronze at the World Cup last summer, beating Team USA to medal. The program, after a lot of promise but few results in the Nash and early Wiggins eras, seemed to have put it all together.

And then, poof. Out in the quarterfinals, which precludes the chance for a medal.

SGA is only 26, so if he wants he can squeeze another Olympic cycle or two into his career. The 2028 Olympics, of course, aren’t too far afield. But to make the L.A. Olympics field, Canada will need to perform well at the 2027 FIBA World Cup … which is in Qatar. That’s a commitment. SGA, one would expect, should have some long playoff runs in the next few seasons. Will that impact his availability in the next cycle? If he opts not to head back to the World Cup this time, is Canada’s Olympic spot at risk?

Lu Dort, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, R.J. Barrett and Andrew Nembhard are all good NBA players, and younger than SGA. A team based around those players is not anywhere close to the level of this Canadian team that will finish no higher than fifth. The big men on this team, excluding Trey Lyles, are all well into their 30s. Dillon Brooks, 28, has another cycle in him. And then there is …

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We Need To Talk About Jamal Murray

You can explain all of this away. He was injured in the playoffs (and still showed out in Game 7 against the Timberwolves despite an awful series). He hasn’t played FIBA basketball since 2015. He wasn’t comfortable in his role coming off the bench. Bad games happen.

You can explain all of this away, but it sticks in my mind that Murray is the second-best player on a team with a championship and expectations for more, yet he’s never even risen to the level of a top-tier All-Star snub and he’s never made All-NBA. His playoff performances do speak for themselves — there are way more hits than misses there — but he simply wasn’t good enough for Denver this postseason and he simply wasn’t good enough for Canada this tournament.