Canada Set to Make Program History But Luka Doncic Awaits in Semis
The Canadian Senior Men’s National Basketball team is on the precipice of basketball history.
It’s been 41 years since Canada made it to a top-six finish in a FIBA World Cup tournament, the best in program history. Now this 2023 team sits a win away from a quarter-final berth and at worst a top-four finish at the tournament. In their way sits one of the world’s best: Luka Doncic.
Both Canada and Slovenia will enter Wednesday morning’s game at 4-1, with Canada’s lone loss coming to Brazil while the Slovenians dropped their most recent game to Germany in blowout fashion.
Doncic has looked virtually unstoppable throughout this tournament, averaging 26.4 points with 6.8 assists and 7.4 rebounds per game. He’ll likely see some combination of Dillon Brooks and Lugentz Dort for most of the night as Canada tries to pester the All-NBA talent with a pair of the world’s top defensive specialists.
While Doncic is certainly going to cause problems, Slovenia’s 7-foot center Mike Tobey may prove an even bigger challenge for Canada’s lackluster frontcourt. Kelly Olynyk and Dwight Powell struggled against Spain’s interior size and Canada can’t afford to have the same kind of problems against the supersized Tobey when the teams face off in Manilla.
A win Wednesday would set Canada up for a date with Serbia in the quarterfinals on Friday morning. Serbia has been led by sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanovic so far in the tournament.
On the other side of the bracket, the USA is expected to cruise past Italy in their semi-final matchup and will face the winner of the Germany-Latvia game. The Americans will be the favorites to come out of their side of the bracket and compete for a medal on Sunday, Set. 10.
