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| Team Canada. (FIBA.basketball photo) |
Canada's preparation for the Tokyo Olympics saw a reality check on Friday, as Puerto Rico scored a 65-61 upset in the 2021 FIBA Women's AmeriCup semi-finals.
Canada, the world no. 4-ranked women's basketball squad, struggled offensively and was unable to put away the 23rd ranked team, suffering a shock defeat.
Though seen as a bump on the road as the Canadians turn their attention to the bronze medal match against Brazil and continue their campaign towards the Olympics, head coach Lisa Thomaidis sees the event as a silver lining her team can learn from as they get back to the drawing board.
"Absolutely. Anytime we get a chance to play in a close game, against a team that's going to be in the Olympics, it's a tremendous gift for us. This is exactly what we want," the veteran coach said after the loss.
"We need close games to evaluate where we are and what we need to continue to improve. It's disappointing as it is but in the long run, it's going to be a very good thing for us."
Canada went 4-0 in the group stages and dominated the Dominican Republic in the quarter-finals. However, against the hosts, the team shot horridly from three-point range at 2-of-18 and the free-throw line at 11-of-22. They converted only 35.82 percent from the field overall.
"We certainly had our shooting woes tonight. It's unfortunate, we just had a number of people just kind of go cold after a number of great performances throughout the tournament," Thomaidis noted.
"I thought we had a lot of open looks, certainly from the free throw line they were open looks, but yeah, couldn't get them to go down tonight, unfortunately."
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| (FIBA.basketball photo) |
Perhaps the only positive takeaway is the emergence of Laeticia Amihere, a 19-year-old who plays for the South Carolina Gamecocks.
The 6-foot-1 forward finished with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds in the losing effort. With Minnesota's Natalie Achonwa out indefinitely with a knee injury, Amihere could possibly fill in that absence in the frontcourt.
Of course, aside from Canada playing Brazil tomorrow, the squad will still be able to fortify their Olympic roster with perhaps the likes of Kia Nurse and Bridget Carlton once the WNBA season is over.
The Canadian side remains upbeat and outspoken about their ultimate goal to win a medal in the Olympic stage, which would cap years of success in the international scene.
If anything, Thomaidis is grateful the growing pains happened now instead of in Tokyo when the team will have not the luxury of time while in the thick of competition.
"We have been working a lot on working together as a team, sharing the basketball, working hard to make great shots. That's what we have to continue to strive towards and that's going to be the same goal tomorrow as it was today as it was in the beginning of the tournament," she said.
"Our objective is the same, and we've got to get back together and again, perform against a very tough Brazil squad tomorrow, and get to playing Canadian basketball."
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