One way Canada Basketball can avoid more Olympic disappointment? Focus on the grassroots
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Canada Basketball arrived at the Paris Olympics with legitimate hopes of three medals.
It left with none.
In the days since, plenty of blame has been assigned: the women’s team didn’t have enough practice time together, or the men lacked experience, or the 3×3 format was too large a departure from regular events.
But if Canada Basketball wants to make good on its vast podium potential moving forward, it should start by reinforcing its commitment at the grassroots.
“It’s weird for Canada building these young teams because we’re caught somewhere between America and Europe. We think like America, [but] we don’t have the prospects like them. And so the kids develop at a later rate,” said Wes Brown, who founded Monday Morning Scouting Report, a top service in Canada.
WATCH | Canada men knocked out of Olympics by France:
Despite being stacked with NBA players and getting off to a strong start, the Canadian men’s basketball team had a disappointing loss to France in the Olympic quarterfinals.
In the U.S., development is often built around pure skill and a big enough player pool that when that talent comes together, they can almost always win — just look at the senior men’s team semifinal comeback win against Serbia at the Paris Olympics for an example.
In Europe, basketball is taught more through team concepts, with emphasis on passing and off-ball movement on top of one-on-one skills. Just look at how France beat Canada despite its two most talented players — Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert — combining for six points.
“I just think that’s one thing they need to do as well is balance out players who can impact today and prospects with the upside,” said Brown, who says Canada may lean a little too much toward the American side of thinking.
Canada has the second-most NBA players of any country, but the Paris Olympics were the men’s first appearance in 24 years after winning bronze at last year’s World Cup.
At the U-19 level, Canada earned a gold medal at the 2017 World Cup and a bronze in 2021 but has never reached the podium otherwise. The U-17 team has not won a medal since bronze in 2010.
Though they did not all play in the World Cup, that 2017 age group included RJ Barrett, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander all Nickeil Alexander-Walker — all members of the Olympic team.
Identification gap
Tyrell Vernon, the head coach of the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Calgary Surge, said that experience together is vital.
“It’s trying to identify the size and the talent that we need from an early age. And it’s not always going to be the same team every age group. People develop at different times. So sometimes it’s hit and miss. Sometimes you’re rolling the dice and you’re guessing on some talent. But I think all in all, it’s needed. You can’t just have no program and then go into the final,” Vernon said.
Vernon, the 35-year-old from Hamilton, Ont., also came up through the Canadian basketball system as a player, eventually joining the teams at McMaster and St. Francis-Xavier.
He said the biggest gap that currently exists in the system is talent identification in a country that’s so spread apart. A more thorough identification process could unearth more talented frontcourt players, which was a clear weakness for the team in Paris.
“We don’t have the same vast numbers and population that other countries have. So sometimes you just gotta get lucky a little bit,” he said. “But if there is some size out there that’s young and that really loves the game, I think that’s where Canada [Basketball] steps in and says, hey, listen, we’re gonna put you through a training program.”
WATCH | Canadian women go winless in group stage:
Canada falls to Nigeria 79-70 and is eliminated from the women’s basketball tournament at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The Candians dropped all three of their preliminary round matchups.
Funding required
Vernon did note, however, that having eyes and ears on basketball courts across the country requires funding — which is where the Olympic failure hurts even more.
Had any of the Canadian teams won medals or advanced further, it would have boosted support from Own The Podium, an organization that assists Canadian sports programs based on medal potential.
Moreover, the spotlight of, say, a men’s gold-medal game against the U.S., might have led to increased corporate sponsorship too.
The 25-year-old said that during recruitment, he felt as though he needed to prove more to scouts than his American counterparts.
“They always have to see you against this person. They always have to see you against that person. I think just being Canadian, they always want to see that one more. So it’s political, but it is what it is,” he said.
But as the senior team continues to assert itself on the national stage, that stigma should be reduced.
“Guys like that put on for us and just show that they can compete with the best and Shai is one of the best guys in the league. So it just shows that Canada has talent as well,” Miller-Moore said.
WATCH | Canadian 3×3 team drops bronze-medal game to U.S.:
France defeats Canada 82-73 and advances to the men’s basketball semifinals at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Same applies to women’s teams
These are all lessons that can be applied to the women’s side as well. At the age-group level, though, the women have enjoyed more recent success.
Earlier this summer, the Canadian women won silver at the U-17 and U-18 championships. Last year, they won their second-ever medal at the U-19 level.
As those players grow together, the senior women’s team should reap the rewards — perhaps even as soon at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Even the 3×3 team has now created a culture for the discipline in Canada where there wasn’t one before.
“That’s been definitely in our minds, not just us who are playing now, but what’s going to come after us when we continue on to other things,” said Katherine Plouffe, a member of the team since 2019.
“And that’s been part of it is how to create a program that has a special culture, that’s very character-based and what kind of teammates will blend together to make a great team on the court.”
After missing medals in Paris, Canada Basketball must now wait four more years before it can end its Olympic podium drought that dates back to 1936.
But the work toward doing it should begin now.
