QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES — All tournament long, Dillon Brooks had provided the grit, toughness, and timely shooting for the Canadian men’s national team.
In Sunday’s Bronze medal game vs. the United States, he saved his best for last.
Brooks scored a Canada record 39 points, including seven three-pointers, five assists, and four rebounds, providing the spark for his country in a game that was Gold Medal-worthy, playing into overtime after an impossible sequence from United States’ Mikal Bridges, who converted a four-point play with an incredible corner three that sent the game into overtime. Canada was able to regroup in the extra frame, outscoring the Americans 16-7 in the final five minutes to secure the 127-118 win. Brooks’ 39 were also the most ever in a FIBA medal game.
The contest, as expected, played out with numerous runs, a back-and-forth affair with both sides playing stretches of the top quality basketball that you would expect from two rosters that comprise mostly NBA players. .
First, it was the Canadians, racing out to an 8-0 start after a Lu Dort three. Then it was the Americans who turned things up, with an extended 19-2 scoring run spanning the end of the first quarter (of which at the end they trailed 34-25) and into the second. A big factor in the run was then bench play of the USA team, whose depth was stronger than that of the Canadians, and showed to the tune of a 23-8 bench points advantage at the break.
A three-pointer from Brooks, three-point play from Gilgeous-Alexander, and runner from Brooks got Canada the lead back, 42-40, and two additional threes from Brooks (who had five makes from downtown in the first half on his way to 21 points), gave Canada a 58-54 lead, and they led 58-56 at halftime.
With 4:15 to go in the third, moments after Bridges hit a corner three with the shot clock winding down to get the United States within one, 74-73, Gilgeous-Alexander scored on a pretty left hand scoop. On the ensuing play, Bobby Portis was called for an unsportsmanlike foul on Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Alexander-Walker connected on the free throws, giving Canada a 79-73 lead. Threes from Alexander-Walker and Kelly Olynyk, as well as a Gilgeous-Alexander pull up, allowed the Canadians a nine-point cushion, 91-82, going into the fourth quarter.
Dort picked up his fourth foul just six seconds into the fourth, and the Americans, after a three-point play from Olynyk put Canada up 94-84, went on a run once again. They tightened up their defense, and, getting a three-pointer from Tyrese Haliburton, a lay-in from Austin Reaves, and another three from Haliburton off of a back tap, tied the game at 94 with 6:58 remaining in regulation. Edwards gave the Americans the lead with 6:22 remaining on a jumper over Dwight Powell, and, in some ways, it looked like the better talented team was going to emerge victorious. The USA managed stops on the defensive end (they were now double-teaming Gilgeous-Alexander) and were hitting with more frequency on the offensive end.
Both sides went neck and neck the rest of the way, exchanging leads up until the 1:12 mark of the fourth, when Brooks, after Edwards tied the game with a layup, drove and was fouled, and made one of two free throws. Edwards, on the next possession, milked the clock, and passed out to Haliburton who missed badly on a three from the top.
After securing the rebound, Gilgeous-Alexander worked on the left side on Bridges, hitting an elbow pull-up over the Brooklyn Nets’ forward. After Edwards missed, Brooks was fouled and made the free throws.
111-107 Canada, 20.6 seconds remaining. The game was all but over.
Except, Bridges has other ideas.
On the ensuing possession for the USA, Reaves missed a fall away, and Bridges, who rebounded the ball, was fouled by Barrett with 4.2 seconds on the clock.
In a sequence that was reminiscent of Reggie Miller’s eight points in nine seconds in Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Bridges, after making his first free throw, missed the second on purpose. Inexplicably, Canada did not box Bridges out, and he rushed to secure the ball in the right corner. In doing so, he quickly turned towards the basket and nailed the triple over Brooks with 0.2 on the clock. Miraculously, we had a tie ball game, just four seconds after Canada had a 111-107 lead.
Almost just as amazing as Bridges' shot was the near game-winning three that Olynyk just missed on, catching the inbound from Brooks and hitting the back rim.
So to overtime we went, in what had turned out to be the game of the entire tournament.
On Canada’s first possession, Gilgeous-Alexander played a two-man game with Powell, hitting a floating jumper over Edwards for his 26th point. After Dort forced Edwards into a tough fall way attempt, Gilgeous-Alexander hit a step-back three over both the outstretched arm of Reaves and a grounded Bridges, who had fallen to the floor on Gilgeous-Alexander’s move. 116-111 with 3:27 remaining, and 29 points from Gilgeous-Alexander.
Brooks made things a six-point advantage with a baseline fadeaway over Reaves with 2:30 to go. However, the USA still had an opportunity under 90 seconds, but Bridges, with his team down 121-115, dribbled the ball off his foot with just 1:06 remaining.
Gilgeous-Alexander, winding the clock and driving left on Bridges on the next possession, was doubled by Reaves. Alertly, Gilgeous-Alexander turned and found Barrett up top, who buried the three and, simultaneously, any hopes that the USA had of coming back. A 124-115 lead with 43.8 seconds left was too much for the Americans to come back from.
Along with his 31 points (on 11-for-20 from the field), the final assist from Gilgeous-Alexander to Barrett was his 12th assist, and he also managed six rebounds. SGA had been the catalyst all tournament long for the Canadians, and this game, when they needed him most, was no different.
The story on Sunday though, was Brooks.
The often maligned player with the bad boy image, who admittedly morphs into a different persona on the court, had not only his best game of the tournament, but the top scoring game in any FIBA medal game ever.
12-for-18 from the field. 7-for-8 from three-point range. 39 points.
Brooks’ performance was not only something that was needed for Canada, but also, in a way, needed for him.
Criticized by some fans for being someone whose antics may not match his talent, Brooks showed, on a gigantic stage against fellow NBA competition, the game that he possesses. All tournament long, really, he had displayed it - three-point shooting, defense, attacking, and in between jump shots.
"It feels amazing," Brooks said to reporters of the win. "We knew we wanted to come out here and finish strong as a team and as a country and put smile's on our country's face. I feel like we did that today."
Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, did what he did all tournament. Canada’s closer, its best player coming up big in the biggest moments, meeting the challenge presented by Bridges, one of the world’s best perimeter defenders.
“It feels good,” Gilgeous-Alexander told reporters after the win. “It’s a part of history. It’s an honor to be part of this group. We came together in a short amount of time, and to get a medal is special.”
The Bronze was the best finish for Canada in their FIBA World Cup history, topping its sixth place finishes in 1978 and 1982.
And, so, Canada did it. After all the talk about Canada basketball finally being on the map now with NBA representation, finally being taken seriously, finally a threat to at least win a medal.
Sunday’s victory wasn’t just about this year. Obviously, we know that the United States did not have their best at this FIBA World Cup. We also know that with their best, the United States are always the favorites when it comes to international competition, that no country can assemble what they can assemble as far as pure talent.
And, while that is true, it is also true that the world talent has improved, the global talent pool becoming greater.
Such is never more evident than for Canada, a country that in the past had minimal NBA representation and whose last Olympic Games was in 2000, led by Steve Nash. Sure, in the 1990s and 2000s you had the likes of Nash, Rick Fox, and Jamaal Magloire in the NBA. But now, their talent pool, for the first time ever, is deep. They will be in the Olympics next summer for the first time in 24 years. They had a very good core in this FIBA Cup, but for the Olympics, the team could be even better.
Along with the seven NBA players from this team, absent is Jamal Murray, one of the best point guards in the entire NBA. Absent is Shaedon Sharpe, one of the league’s promising young talents with an ability to score and defend to go along with other-worldly leaping ability. Sharpe averaged 9.9 points in just 22.2 minutes, but averaged 23.7 points over the final 10 games of the season for the Portland Trail Blazers. Then there’s Montreal’s Benedict Mathurin, the Indiana Pacer who was an early favorite for Rookie of the Year last season, averaging 16.7 points per game in just 28.5 minutes. There’s Andrew Nembhard, also of the Pacers, Oshae Brissett (Celtics), Brandon Clarke (Grizzlies), Chris Boucher (Raptors), Trey Lyles (Kings), and the other Andrew, Wiggins, who would be a crucial part of Canada’s 2024 Olympic team if he decided to play. It will be a tough choice to narrow down to a final roster for next summer in Paris.
Point is, Canada has basketball talent that it has never had, achieving results that it has never had.
It is a new era for Canada basketball. And this might be just the beginning.
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