Canadian senior men’s basketball team exudes confidence heading to FIBA World Cup

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There is a swagger about this Canadian national senior men’s basketball team that is both palpable and warranted.

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A team that boasts two of the premiere guards in the NBA in Jamal Murray and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is just the beginning.

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There is also a young attacking forward in R.J. Barrett, whose skills, it can be argued, complement the international game even more than the NBA game where he is already a star.

Then there are defensive stalwarts in Dillon Brooks and Lu Dort. They don’t come much more hard-nosed defensively than those two.

There is plenty of international experience as well in the likes of Kelly Olynyk, who like Barrett has a game that may be more suited to the FIBA rules as well as his frontcourt mate when they share the court for Canada in Dwight Powell, another battle-tested warrior of the international game.

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But even beyond that there is depth whether it’s another savvy guard in Nickeal Alexander-Walker or the real veteran of the team in guard Cory Joseph.

As it stands, the 18 men in attendance for the pre-tournament training camp in Toronto in advance of the FIBA World Cup beginning Aug. 25 in Indonesia all have something to offer, leaving management and the coaching staff the tough job of paring that number down to 12 when the tournament begins just over three weeks from now.

From a betting perspective, Canada carries the second-best odds to win the tournament, trailing only their neighbours to the south in the U.S., who are bringing a solid group but not the A-list contingent they will bring to the Olympics a year from now.

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This is, without question, Canada’s best opportunity to medal at a World Cup, and rather than run from the pressure of expectations, recently appointed head coach Jordi Fernandez welcomes that attention.

Asked Wednesday how he viewed his team defence as a whole, Fernandez, a long-time NBA assistant with a plethora of international experience, took the opportunity to state what he expected from them.

“If we don’t have the goal to be the best defensive team in the tournament – and if I’m not wrong that would be the best defensive team in the world — we would be selling ourselves short,” Fernandez said.

“That’s how I feel,” he continued. “We are good enough. I’m not going to shy away from saying it. These guys are good enough on the defensive end to be No. 1 and that’s going to help us win games.”

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Perhaps as important as the level of talent this roster boasts is the already established camaraderie it has. As Murray pointed out in his availability with the media, all of these guys have been playing together or against one another since they were kids.

It’s a tight group that enjoys being around one another, whether that’s on the court or just sharing a meal.

Murray, for instance, had every excuse in the book to take a pass this summer following the Denver Nuggets’ championship run and would have still be welcomed with open arms next summer should the team qualify for the Olympics.

But the idea that he might miss out on something with people he considers friends, just didn’t sit well with him.

“I want to be here, I want to play,” Murray said. “I want to see the guys, be around the guys, be a part of this. Everybody knows these are good friends of mine, we’re not just teammates, we’re peers. We all grew up playing against each other, playing with each other so it’s fun to be in this environment and just have fun playing basketball.”

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Murray is just a month and a half removed from his first NBA championship, so catching up to his Canadian contemporaries who have had a little more time to get ready for this camp has put him in a unique position.

As much as he wants to play, he has to get to a point physically again where he isn’t subjecting himself to possible injury.

Don’t expect to see him playing big minutes in the tune-up games the team will play in Germany and Spain, but good luck to the Team Canada official should one try to hold him out of the lineup for the World Cup itself.

Murray, like the other 17 players in camp, believes this edition of Team Canada has what it takes to bring home a medal. Expect him to be right in the middle of whatever this team does.

Even if you don’t expect it, Fernandez does.

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“Jamal and Shai are both made for big moments and we have all seen it,” Fernandez said. “One thing that is not any different between the NBA and FIBA is in that fourth quarter, when the lights are on, those guys are going to perform. What makes me feel very good is that sometimes I’m going to have to help them and sometimes the best way to help them is to get out of the way. So, I’m very confident with those two guys and the rest of the group on how we are going to close games.”

If that sounds a little premature, given the team has been together for only a handful of days, so be it. Fernandez knows what he has, and can’t wait to unleash it on the rest of the world.

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