Canadian women keep close eye on men’s team

In between their two daily practices, Canada’s women’s basketball team has been keeping a close eye on the men.

Canada’s women’s squad clinched its spot in the Rio Olympics way back in August, while the men are two wins away from earning their first berth in 16 years.

“I was up at 4:30 in the morning the last couple of days, watching them,” said women’s head coach Lisa Thomaidis.

The Canadian women host China in three exhibition games Saturday, Sunday and Monday at the Saville Centre in Edmonton, as their final preparation for Rio kicks into high gear.

The men, meanwhile, are playing at a last-chance qualifying tournament in Manila, where they need a victory over New Zealand in Saturday’s semifinals, and then a win in Sunday’s final to clinch their first Olympic berth since 2000.

Four years ago, the women were in the exact same spot, securing the last spot for the London Olympics just one month out from the Games.

“It’s too early to get up (to watch the men) when we have two practices a day, but I think I’m going to wake up on the weekend to see their games,” Lizanne Murphy said. “I really hope they qualify, that would be so great for our country.

“I think we’re going to do great regardless, but I just think it would mean so much more, and it would get the guys committed to playing for Canada. Because I think they just need to play on the big stage and they would show how much you can love playing for your country.”

The women’s team, No. 9 on the most recent FIBA rankings, looks forward to a tough test from No. 8 China, the team the Canadians face in their first game in Rio on Aug. 6.

“These are going to be great games, China is good, they’re playing very well,” Thomaidis said. “So it will be a great chance for us to test ourselves against someone different. We can only do so much against ourselves and against those boys.”

(The women regularly scrimmage against a group of male high school and university players.)

The Canadian women made the quarter-finals four years ago in London, and aren’t shy about saying their goal in Rio is a medal. They have some recent solid results. The women went 5-0 in winning their first-ever Pan Am Games gold last summer, then won the FIBA Americas qualifying tournament.