Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett are both playing for Canada’s national team in the upcoming FIBA America Championships that begin in about a week.
The Tulo Marchand Cup is a warm-up tournament to prepare teams for FIBA, and on Sunday afternoon the Canadians took on Team Argentina. The Wolves’ contingent played a big role in the victory, with Wiggins scoring 18 points on 6 of 13 shooting including a couple of three-pointers while Bennett put up 10 points and 13 rebounds.
After Canada led for much of the game, Argentina managed to tie the contest late before Wiggins gave Canada the lead for good on a baseline jumper with just 26 seconds remaining.
Hopefully Wiggins doesn’t play too many minutes for Canada, but you can be sure that they’ll be using him as much as they need to once the real tournament begins.
And not only will he be the MVP of the tourney for Canada, Wiggins’ Wolves teammate Ricky Rubio thinks that the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year will win an NBA Most Valuable Player award, someday, too.
“I think Wiggins is going to be an MVP one day,” said Rubio, who missed a large chunk of last season due to a severely sprained ankle injury.
“He’s a great player, [has] fit in this league very well since day one, and I think as a team we’re really young but we’re adding some veterans that’s going to help us to grow up and follow where we’re going to go – going to make the playoffs.”
Rubio also talked a bit about the Wolves’ playoff chances.
“I always dream big, and I always put the bar level really high,” the 24-year-old said at the Bonifacio Global City branch of Adidas during a press conference. “I know the Western Conference is really tough. There’s a lot of good teams who can make the playoffs, but I believe. I believe in me, I believe in my team, and I think we can do it.”
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“If we stay healthy, there’s no doubt that we’re going to have a chance,” said Rubio, who’s about to enter his fifth year in the NBA – all with Minnesota. “We [all] have to be there to do that, and dream big.”
We’re just over a month away from Wolves’ training camp. August is almost over. There’s light at the end of tunnel.
Stay strong, Wolves fans.
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