For Canada, anything short of men's basketball medal will a disappointment

VILLENEUVE-D'ASCQ, France – Canada Basketball CEO Rowan Barrett answered the question without answering the question.

Asked if anything short of a medal in men’s 5x5 basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics will be a disappointment for Canada, Barrett replied, "our goal every single time we step out is to hit the podium. That's it."

Canada has medaled once in men’s basketball – silver at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, losing to the U.S. 19-8 in the final – and its previous Olympics appearance came in 2000.

But with the country’s massive growth and investment in the sport, the emergence of stars (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, RJ Barrett) in the NBA and last year’s bronze at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, beating the U.S. for third place, expectations have changed.

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Qualifying for the Olympics and being competitive are no longer goals for Canada Basketball. It will be a disappointment if Canada doesn’t finish on the podium in Paris. Canada plays France Tuesday, and the loser will exit the Olympics without a chance at a medal.

Canada has 10 NBA players on its 12-person roster – one of whom is an All-NBA player and MVP runner-up in Gilgeous-Alexander, and Murray won a title as the No. 2 player for the Denver Nuggets two seasons ago.

When Canada held its training camp in Toronto in July, Rowan Barrett and Canada men’s Coach Jordi Fernandez, the new Brooklyn Nets’ head coach, addressed the team and talked about winning gold.

"We believe that we're good, and that we're going to have a chance," RJ Barrett said.

Canada reached the quarterfinals with a 3-0 record in group play, beating Greece, Australia and Spain, and France provides a quality opponent. But Canada is favored.

The growth of basketball in Canada over the past three decades is multi-pronged: NBA expansion to Toronto and Vancouver; Vince Carter joining the Raptors; Canadian Steve Nash’s emergence as a star and two-time MVP; immigration; investment in youth basketball.

Utah Jazz assistant coach Scott Morrison grew up in Canada and played at the University of Prince Edward Island.

"The first step in accomplishing something like that is you got to believe it's possible. And for a long time, there was no belief that Canadians could be that good at basketball," he said. "If I'm a kid in Toronto and I'm seeing that and I'm seeing Nash do what he did and be wherever he's from and I'm from the city, I'm like, ‘I can do this too. I'm more athletic.’ Everyone now starts to believe that they can do the same thing."

The Vince Carter and Steve Nash Effect remains mythical. But it requires more than just watching in awe to become a great player.

"What you started seeing was more club basketball at younger ages, more house leagues," Rowan Barrett said. "Now you're getting more hours on the court."

Rowan Barrett also credited the Internet. "The Internet gave you vision to what’s going on in the game – other kids my age, what they look like around the world, what the skills look like. When I was a young player, I had no idea what was going on in another gym. But now you know.

"You can see a kid who’s younger than you and more skilled than you and that pushes you to develop and pushes the understanding of what you can be.

"Now all of a sudden our kids are thinking, ‘Hey, you know what? Not only can I maybe make the NBA, I'm going to star, I'm going to be an All-Star. The ceiling, whatever ceiling might've been there, was gone. Very important. And then once you start seeing athletes starting to come through, now there's pathways that you can see."

A longtime contributor to Canada Basketball, Rowan Barrett, who became the men’s national team general manager in 2019, implemented the junior academy program in 2012. Two players from that initial youth academy class (RJ Barrett and Nickeil Alexander-Walker) were first-round picks in the 2019, and both are on the Olympic team.

Rowan Barrett and Canada Basketball also mined data. “If you're tall and you can run and move, you can be a basketball player. And I think it's that simple. ... So you’re looking at those athletes," he said. "I won’t get into the secret sauce of heat mapping and where the height is in the country and all those things we did.

"We did quite a few things like that using census data to help us. What we did effectively was we found the best ones in those ages and we trained them. We started investing more money into our youth teams."

Eight of the 12 players are from Ontario, including RJ Barrett, Gilgeous-Alexander, Murray and Dillon Brooks. They bring confidence and ability that never previously existed.

"Instead of getting bronze, we want the gold," Brooks said.

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