Canada out of FIBA Olympic Qualifying after OT upset by Czech Republic

Team Canada was upset by the Czech Republic in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament semifinals Saturday, losing 103-101 in overtime to miss out on a spot in the Tokyo Olympics.

Tomas Satoransky (Chicago Bulls) hit a turnaround jump shot over Luguentz Dort (Oklahoma City Thunder) with 1.8 seconds left in OT to eliminate the Canadians. The winners of each of the four tournament sites (Canada, Croatia, Lithuania and Serbia) will qualify for the Olympic Games, taking place from July 23 to Aug. 8.

“I’m very disappointed for these guys,” Canada coach Nick Nurse said. “They committed and we worked super hard and we prepared hard and they played their guts out. When you do all that, you want them to be rewarded for it.”

The loss came after Canada rallied from a six-point deficit in the final 18 seconds of regulation. The Canadians trailed 94-88 with 22 seconds left when Andrew Wiggins (Golden State Warriors) made a 3-point play with 17 seconds left. Nickeil Alexander-Walker (New Orleans Pelicans) came up with a steal and Wiggins hit a game-tying 3-point shot with 11 seconds left to force OT.

Canada led 99-94 in OT before giving up a 7-0 run. With Canada trailing 101-99 in overtime, Wiggins hit a jumper with 15.6 seconds left to tie the game before Satoransky’s clincher. Trey Lyles’ (San Antonio Spurs) baseline jumper rimmed out at the OT buzzer.

New York Knicks forward R.J. Barrett led Canada with 23 points. Blake Schlib led the Czech Republic with 31 points and Satoransky had 18. Canada was playing in the qualifying tournament without key NBA players Jamal Murray (Denver Nuggets) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City), who are injured.

The Czech Republic will play either Greece or Turkey in the Canada qualifying tournament final for a spot in the Olympics.

Where does Canada go from here?

Blake Murphy, Raptors beat writer: It feels like every two or three years, we’re talking about Canada Basketball going back to the drawing board. The big difference this time around, versus 2019, was a far better commitment from their top players. They have to make sure that yet another stumble doesn’t undercut that momentum and discourage future turnout.

It’s a long road to the 2024 Olympics, with the 2022 Americas and 2023 World Cup standing as marquee events for the program to gain experience and, you’d hope, secure an earlier berth to the Olympics so they can stop playing lose-and-you’re-out wild-card qualifiers. Oh, and they have to convince Nurse to stick around.

What did we learn about Canada in the qualifying tournament?

Murphy: The biggest takeaway is something the U.S. has learned on and off over the years: It’s not enough to just have a strong talent turnout. Yes, Canada was missing some key pieces, and its road was made tougher by low turnout sinking its World Cup chances in 2019.

Still, this is a roster that was almost completely turned over from 2019, and while it improved over the course of each game, the unfamiliarity and lack of connective experience were obvious against more veteran teams like Greece and Czech Republic. Interior size and 3-point shooting are areas to address, but really this young group needs more time together.

(Photo: Mert Alper Dervis / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)