Canadians eye podium in basketball World Cup

The 2014 women’s world basketball championship was a coming-out party for Canada. The Canadians roared past France and China in the elimination round in Turkey, finishing fifth in Lisa Thomaidis’s world debut as the team’s head coach.

“That 2014 worlds was really a huge moment for us,” Thomaidis said. “It was a bit of a ‘here we are’ kind of moment, like we’re coming on the scene and making people stand up and take notice.”

The four years since their best world championship finish in 28 years have seen Canada solidify its spot among the world’s top teams and on Saturday, Canada tips off the World Cup in Tenerife, Spain, ranked a programhigh fifth.

“I think we probably took some teams by surprise at that point in time,” Thomaidis said. “But 2014, not too many expectations, and 2018 I would say there’s quite a few expectations.”

Indeed, Canada has been mentioned as a medal contender. The target is to win a quarter-final game, a step the Canadians have not been able to take since the team’s bronze at the 1986 worlds.

It’s a far different team than took the floor four years ago. Several veterans retired after Canada’s seventh-place finish at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Several young players such as Kia Nurse, Nirra Fields and Nayo Raincock-ekunwe have injected a big dose of athleticism. Once known as a strong defensive team, they’ve allowed Canada to push the pace on both ends.

“We were holding our own (in 2014) with the past style of play, we were very disciplined at both ends of the floor, we weren’t playing with a very fast pace, but we were disciplined and we were locked in defensively,” Thomaidis said. “In terms of personality, in terms of style of play, we’re quite different from that 2014 team. Trying to play much more up-tempo, trying to extend our defence and having some dynamic players on the roster certainly changed the way we’ve been able to play, so that’s been fun.”

The Canadians open the 16-country tournament versus No. 20 Greece on Saturday, then play South Korea (No. 16) on Sunday and France (No. 3) on Tuesday.

Canada is taking no team lightly. The World Cup is “such a tough competition,” Thomaidis said.

“There’s no easy games, so it is tough to do well in this tournament, as it should be.”