North Americans are far too dismissive of basketball that isn't NBA but we also need to acknowledge that FIBA basketball is different. Some of the rules are different and the spacing is different. In FIBA you can have a 7 footer plant himself under the basket all day long. The Czech Republic scored at will by passing the ball to 7'1" Balvin or 7'0" Vesely. When that shot wasn't available they bumped it out to the perimeter and Scilb killed us from 3 shooting 7/12 of 58%.
We're also dismissing how important team chemistry is. Cobbling together some NBA stars 3 weeks before a FIBA event and expecting to win is unrealistic. European players grow up with FIBA basketball and some of these teams have been together for 10 years or more.
Arguing that the Czech team is better than the Canadian team based on a 103-101 OT win is a lazy argument and doesn't hold up to much scrutiny. Yes, that Czech team is very good but one can't argue they're better based on the outcome from one FIBA game. The Canadian team is more talented. They just are. What is shows is that in FIBA you need size at centre and you need good 3 point shooting. It also bears mentioning that if we played them under NBA rules, the Czech team would have struggled.
That said, the world plays FIBA basketball so we need to adapt. The key seems to be ensuring Canadian junior talent come up though the system playing FIBA U16, U17, U18, and U19 World Cups and Continental Cups. That way Canadian players are accustomed to FIBA basketball by the time they get to the national team. At the national team level we need continuity to build team chemistry. That means having a core group who stay with the program over the long term: 8 years or more.
The Victoria OQT was disappointing but Canada is on the right track. Our junior teams continue to shine. Our FIBA U19 World Cup team just won bronze (beating Serbia) to go with the gold we won in 2017. It's implausible that this success won't transfer into success at the senior level. It will. Canada Basketball needs to stay the course.
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Last edited by isaidso; Jul 13, 2021 at 12:39 PM.
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