12, with the top two teams in the tournament advancing to the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.
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Canada opens up preliminary round play against Argentina on September 1.
For a full schedule of the first round visit this link: FIBA Americas Schedule. The top two finishers excluding Brazil will automatically qualify for Rio. The next three teams advance to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
That figures to change at this year’s FIBA Americas tournament, which begins Monday.
Puerto Rico and Brazil ” the two runners-up at the past two FIBA Americas – had lost their opening games in Mexico, with the former going down 91-86 to Argentina and the latter succumbing 71-57 to Uruguay.
The Canadian men’s team has not participated in the Olympics since 2000, when Steve Nash was the star and Jay Triano was coach.
There are some holdovers from that team – notably offensive focal points Cory Joseph and Andrew Nicholson. Though Tristan Thompson and Tyler Ennis aren’t playing this tournament their inclusion to the roster would nearly be certain if Canada successfully garners an Olympic seed. He was also a key contributor for Team Canada at the 2012 U-18 Americas Championship.
Not typically regarded as a basketball powerhouse (they have qualified for the Olympics once in the past seven Games), Canada’s talent pool has been quickly increasing over the last several years, as more kids are choosing the hardwood over hockey. In the Tuto Marchand Cup, a warm-up tournament held this past week in Puerto Rico, Canada went 4-0, beating Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic and the hosts. “It’s very important to set the tone for us, set a certain standard where we should be able to play with every game”.
To close the day, defending champions Mexico dominated Dominican Republic 84-66 in a return to form performance in front of more than 10,000 fans in the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City.
“We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time now”.
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Friday, September 4: vs. Puerto Rico, 6:55 p.m.
