'I'm Proud of My Guys!' Team Canada Coach Jordi Fernandez Sounds Off on World Cup Loss

In what was arguably biggest surprise in the offseason, Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became known as one of the best players in the world during the FIBA World Cup.

No, Gilgeous-Alexander's talent level wasn't the surprising part of that development. The 25-year-old has been known for his scoring ability and leadership, but because he's been the frontman for a team who hasn't been in the Western Conference conversation over the last few years, it largely went unnoticed and under-appreciated.

But not everyone forgot about Gilgeous-Alexander. Especially not players who knew they would be facing him and Team Canada during the FIBA World Cup, one of which was Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic, who led Slovenia to the quarterfinals before running into who he called one of the "best players in the world."

"Congratulations to Canada, they played great,” Doncic said following his team's loss. “They have one of the best players in the world and it was really tough to guard him."

"Tough to guard" may be an understatement, but nonetheless, Team Canada was seemingly cruising, joining the conversation as favorites to win the whole thing, even if it ended up facing the United States for the gold medal. That was, until it wasn't.

Gilgeous-Alexander put up only 15 points against Serbia in the semi-finals — which using the word only in this situation should speak to his standout performances — as Team Canada fell to Serbia in the 96-85, effectively ending its World Cup run.

📺 Serbia put on a masterful all-around performance to knock off Canada and punch the first ticket to the Final!#FIBAWC x #WinForSrbija 🇷🇸 pic.twitter.com/MtfU7Syff6
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 🏆 (@FIBAWC) September 8, 2023

Despite the disappointing outcome for Gilgeous-Alexander and company, however, Team Canada's coach made clear his feelings regarding his team's surprise-no-surprise run this NBA offseason behind Gilgeous-Alexander, Dillon Brooks and even R.J. Barrett, who finished as the team's top scorer for the semi-finals.

“I’m proud of my guys,” Canada coach Jordi Fernandez said. “It was not perfect. We were OK offensively. We were atrocious defensively. When a team shoots 62% from the field and 45% from 3, obviously something was not done well and we didn’t prepare well enough for the game.”

So, with the Gold medal out of the question for Team Canada, it can now set its sights to next summer in Paris, where it will once again get a shot at winning it all. And with a talent like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has consistently proven his ability to lead both on and off the court, doing so is certainly not out of the question.

After all, he is one of the best players in the world.

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