FIBA Americas U-18 Championship for Men (June 16-20)

The Pools are as follows:

Group A
Brazil
United States
Virgin Islands
Mexico

Group B
Canada
Argentina
Columbia
Puerto Rico

Overall if past performance is any indicator I would say Pool B is probably the tougher of the two.

We play in order Puerto Rico, Colombia,and Argentina with 1 and 2 in the pool crossing over in the semi-finals. We have a very strong entry but we cannot look past anybody in the first round.

I feel like we are capable of beating the USA but would prefer to meet them in the Gold Medal game. This could be a historic tournament for Canada!

Here are the players who will represent us :

Matthew Atewe Centre 6-9

Braxston Bunce Centre 6-10

Tyler Ennis Guard 6-2

Kaza Keane Guard 6-1

Trey Lyles Forward 6-9

Conor Morgan Forward 6-8

Duane Notice Guard 6-2

Marko Pirovic Forward 6-7

Xavier Rathan-Mayes Guard 6-4

Jamal Reynolds Guard 6-4

Denzell Taylor Forward 6-7

Andrew Wiggins Forward 6-7


This is a very solid lineup!

Arguably the most talented group of players we have ever fielded at this age.

There is a core of key players who are with the outstanding Bounce CIA AAU team. The chemistry should be there.

A medal is a modest expectation for this kind of talent!

Gametime vs. Puerto Rico is 4:00 p.m. their time I'm not sure if there is a time difference at all.

It appears from looking at a time zone map that we may be two hours behind but I'm not positive. If correct gametime would be 2:00 p.m. Toronto time.

Is there any local coverage?

Xavier Rathan-Mayes tweeted:

Everyone go online and watch our game at http://FibaAmericas.com to watch us play Puerto Rico 3pm eastern time #TeamCanada

So it is available then.

We need this first step on the way to big things!

According to a few sites (USAbasketball, etc.), the time difference is 1 hour. Canada plays at 3:00pm EDT. Gonzaga's board says the game is streaming on "www.fibaamerica.com" , the USA game is earlier so will be able to check earlier.

Sorry, no streaming, only Live Stats through the FIBA America site.

Better than nothing!

Canada leads 24-10 at end of first quarter.

43-17 at the half. Trey Lyles already has a double-double.

63-32 at end of third!

77-51 next up Colombia!

Equal mins. impressive showing!!!

Puerto Rico vs. Argentina today should give us an idea of the relative strength of our pool. Could be an interesting tilt!

My bet is its a competitive game with Argentina coming out on top!

Of course the key games are tomorrow:

USA vs. Brazil
Canada vs. Argentina

These will likely decide the semi-final crossovers which will be the key to deciding the champions.

Anyone know if/when Canada Basketball will put together a bid to host one of these tournaments? It seems like we are always travelling to Central/South America for one of these tournaments. It would be sure nice to see our teams on home soil.

Best of luck to the entire team but especially Tyler Ennis and Matthew Atewe, former teammates at Fr Henry Carr.

Henry Carr Basketball

After struggling a little (17-17 end of 1st) Canada goes on huge run in 2nd Quarter to lead 47-32 at half.

Wiggins 13 McIntyre 10 Rathan-Mayes and Lyle 8 each.

Colombia is hanging in they outscored us 27-19 in the third.

Game score : Canada 66 Colombia 59

Huge 4th quarter 32-8

Final score : Canada 98 Colombia 67

Canada has qualified for the Worlds in Lithuania.

Now lets get a medal!

To avoid facing the U.S. in a semi-final we will need a win over always-tough Argentina.

Big win 75-68 we will likely get Brazil in the semi-finals. USA is breezing!

We have the matchup we hoped for but they are the home side.

This may not be easy at all!

Tough loss - Brazil hit some big shots in the 4th quarter. Argentina tomorrow for bronze. They too will be tough!

Canada wins bronze 68-66 over Argentina.

I hoped for more. Becoming a force on the world stage takes time I guess.