MEXICO CITY — It’s all well and good to have depth and abundant talent but when basketball games get close down the line, the need is dire for someone to step up and take control.
And for all the good things about the Canadian senior men’s team — and there is no reason for anyone to panic at this point — that lack of a take-charge leader helped bury them against Argentina here Tuesday in Canada’s first game at the FIBA Americas championship.
Despite a rather dull performance and a far too hesitant and uncharacteristically lacking consistent work ethic, an eventual 94-87 loss to Argentina might have been there for the taking in the final five minutes.
But instead of anyone taking charge, instead of someone glancing at his teammates and saying “Hey, I got this,” Canada faltered in its first big game of this new era.
It went that way most of the afternoon for Canada, which lacked the intensity and hustle that had become its trademark during four straight wins at the Tuto Marchand Cup in Puerto Rico last week.
“We have to play free, I think we were real hesitant,” head coach Jay Triano said. “Maybe it was the importance of the game, maybe it was because it was the first game, but we just seemed very hesitant compared to the way we were playing.”
Canada was beaten to almost every loose ball, looked tentative on offence, and was battered on the backboards after out-rebounding teams all last week. They committed 22 turnovers that led to 20 Argentina points.
As wake-up calls go, it was as emphatic as a bucket of cold water to the face.
“I think everyone came out of the gates a little tentative,” said guard Brady Heslip. “We were supposed to be the aggressors and dictate how we wanted them to play. From the get-go, they got the ball where they wanted to, to who they wanted to.”
Who, not surprisingly, was 35-year-old international icon Luis Scola, the Raptors forward who has been an Argentine mainstay for about a decade and a half.
The veteran poured in 35 points — 18 in the third quarter alone — and controlled the game. He’d make big shots when they were needed most, calm jittery teammates when Canada looked to make a run; he touched the ball on every possession as Argentina ran its record to 2-0 after beating Puerto Rico on Monday.
“I believe experience is a big part of this tournament because there are a lot of different things the younger players aren’t really used to,” Scola said.
“There are players from many different leagues, many different countries. Players play in the NBA, Euro leagues, South America. There’s a mix of styles and rules so there’s a lot of confusion a lot of times.”
It’s not like Argentina’s a bunch of stiffs that a team laden with NBAers like Canada should roll over. Only the most misinformed would think that. Scola and Andres Nocioni were part of teams that won 2004 Olympic gold and the silver medal at the 2002 world championships. As much as people look at Canada with its huge number of NBA first-round picks and thinks “favourites,” no one should discount Argentina.
“They’re young players,” said Triano. “I think people forget we’re a fairly young team, we’re fairly new at this, so this is a good growing experience for us. I didn’t hear we were projected to be the favourites. I knew that after we played well in Puerto Rico teams would be looking forward to playing us, but obviously we have to be better, making better decisions.”
“It’s probably a good wake-up call for us, that this happened now,” said Heslip. “The guys that haven’t been down here before, they’ll see there are not going to be any easy games.
Canada continues its four-game opening round by facing Cuba Wednesday afternoon.