While the announcement of Jamal Murray’s withdrawal from the World Cup could have ruined their weekend, Canada did not lose focus when it came to tackling the biggest test of their preparation.
This Thursday evening, Jordi Fernandez’s players did indeed strike a blow, one week before the start of the World Cup and a shock against France: they beat Spain (85-80), the best selection in the world in the ranking FIBA. In Spain, and at the end of a very intense match, closed in attack and resolutely turned towards the defense.
In this context, the two teams looked each other in the eye for almost the entire game (6 points after the first quarter, 4 points difference at half-time and one point difference after the half-hour) . If Canadian incumbents, driven in particular by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (22 points and 8 rebounds) and RJ Barrett (18 points) generally dominated their Spanish opponents, the locals however managed to stay in the game by taking advantage of the slumps of the Canadian bench, thanks in particular to Juancho Hernangomez (12 points) and a very interesting Usman Garuba (10 points).
RJ Barrett saves the best for last
Once again it was RJ Barrett, on the heels of a huge 31-point 13/14 shooting performance against Germany earlier in the week, who took charge in overtime to tip , for good, the balance in favor of his own.
” He makes my life easier », also appreciated Jordi Fernandez, about the Knicks winger. ” I don’t call a lot of systems for him, because he manages to find his place in the attack without forcing. I am very satisfied with his performance so far. »
And the Spanish coach of Canada then said he was above all satisfied, from the collective point of view, with the ability of his rather young group, inexperienced at FIBA level, to conclude this disputed match in hot moments.
” Knowing how to kill a match is important. Especially for us, given our inexperience Fernández concluded. ” We have just played away matches in good atmosphere, but at the end of the day we keep in mind that these are only preparation matches. We still have to continue our way, and our progress. »
Photo credit: Canada Basketball
