Andrew Wiggins uses the elliptical during the Canadian men’s national basketball team training camp in Toronto on Monday.Mark Blinch/The Globe and Mail
The Canadian women's basketball team has seized its spot in the 2016 Rio Summer Games, and now the men's squad is working out in a Toronto training camp with its best collection of talent yet, preparing to secure its own berth in the Olympic tournament.
The men will head to Mexico City at month's end for the FIBA Americas Championship in an effort to qualify for their first Olympic appearance since 2000. With players such as Andrew Wiggins, Kelly Olynyk, Nik Stauskas and Cory Joseph now added to the mix, this will be a more NBA-heavy roster than the one that earned a silver medal at the Pan American Games last month. The group has taken time to shore up its defence since then, study its San Antonio Spurs-inspired offence and learn from the Olympic experiences shared by general manager Steve Nash and coach Jay Triano.
While the team is bursting with youthful talent, it has little experience with international basketball, which is very different from the NBA game. It's slower, more tactical, has some different rules around the rim, allows a player just five fouls instead of six and is played in regulation for 40 minutes, not 48.
Players such as Anthony Bennett or Andrew Nicholson have versatility that translates well in international play.
Now Canada adds valuable length in seven-footer Olynyk and outside shooting from Stauskas. And then there's the emerging star, Wiggins, who is making his debut with the senior national team in international play. It's difficult to predict what the new mix will produce.
"I played international a few times when I was younger, so I kind of know what to expect, but not fully because I didn't play at this level," Wiggins said. "I'm really looking forward to it. We've got youth – and that will be both a negative and a positive.
Of the 16 players in training camp vying for 12 roster spots, 10 are currently affiliated with an NBA team, one is an NCAA freshman (point guard Jamal Murray) and five are playing professionally in Europe.
There will be two berths up for grabs in the 10-team tournament in Mexico City, which begins with a group stage and second stage, then progresses to semi-finals and the final.
The United States has already qualified for Rio, so they won't compete, but Canada will still face powerhouses such as Argentina, Puerto Rico and Mexico, not to mention Brazil, which dismantled Canada 86-71 in the Pan Am gold-medal final.
Canada opens competition on Sept. 1 against Argentina; to make the final, Canada will have to play 10 games in 12 days.
Canada finished sixth in the past two men's FIBA Americas Championships, in 2013 and in 2011. It also came up short in its bid to lay in the 2012 London Olympics.
Canada's top scorer in 2013 was Joseph, who averaged 16.1 points a game.
After the team failed to qualify for the 2014 world championships, he was part of a Canadian squad that did an 11-game European tour last summer.
The 24-year-old point guard, who just signed a free-agent deal with the Toronto Raptors after four seasons with the Spurs, will be this team's floor leader and will help out a defence that underperformed at the Pan Ams.
"Cory has been with the program for three years now, and knows our defence; although it's different from what he did with the Spurs, he's been really good at picking it up," Triano said. "We're using an offence like the Spurs – it's been duplicated by many teams in the NBA … I wanted my point guard to be comfortable with the sets we're running, so there's a strategic reason – I wanted Cory to be as comfortable as possible."
One of Canada's top talents, Tristan Thompson, is not participating in camp, but has been there to show support. He's in the middle of a difficult contract impasse with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and therefore doesn't have an insurable contract in hand. The Cavs' board-crashing defender will be a massive loss for Canada in Mexico City. Milwaukee Bucks point guard Tyler Ennis won't play either, since he's recovering from shoulder surgery.
Before heading to Mexico City, Canada will play a four-game tournament in Puerto Rico from Aug. 23-26.
"I think we need the time on the floor together," Nash said of the exhibition tournament. "Every day in practice we're getting more familiar with one another, and they're gaining understanding of what we're asking them to do at both ends of the floor. We're looking to gain confidence as a team in a competitive environment."