Canada again failed to qualify for the men’s Olympic basketball tournament. His last appearance was at the 2000 Sydney Games with a team led by Steve Nash.
A Canadian team of eight NBA players lost in the semi-finals of a last chance Olympic qualifier in Victoria, British Columbia, 103 on Saturday -101 against a team from the Czech Republic with an NBA player.
The only NBA player in the Czech Republic, Tomas Satoransky, made a jump shot in the last seconds of extra time.
The Czechs move in on Sunday Final against Turkey or Greece to win against Tokyo. Canada, trained by Nick Nurse of the Toronto Raptors, is dropping out of Olympic qualifying.
Canada has the most NBA players of any nation except the US, but has had another staggering Olympic qualifying elimination to a lesser-known basketball nation.
In 2015, a Canadian team with nine NBA players lost 79:78 to Venezuela, with zero NBA players, in a winner-to-Rio Olympic game in a qualifier for America. Canada lost another Winner-to-Rio game against France in a last-chance tournament.
This year’s team had the 2014 NBA No. 1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins and the outstanding New York Knicks outstanding RJ Barrett, however his two top scorers from the NBA, the injured Jamal Murray and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and his top NBA Big Man were missing. Kelly Olynyk.
When Canada’s last Olympic appearance in 2000, Nash led a gruff team that almost made it to the round of medals. Nash and center Todd MacCulloch were their only NBA players. Nash’s devotion was so great that he was reportedly sobbing and dragged off the floor after Canada lost to eventual silver medalist France in the quarter-finals.
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