Canadians on the rebound at Americas tourney
Contest every shot. It is one of the most basic coaching mantras that exists. It’s as much about prodding players to never stop giving full effort as it is a message to, well, contest every shot.
Like a lot of advice, it is something to aim for and not a precise expectation. Coaches know very well that players are not going to get in the face of every shooter. A good team defence is designed to coax certain shots from the opposition.
With fewer than three minutes gone early in the first quarter on Wednesday, Cuban forward William Granda seemed destined to take one of those shots. He came around a screen, going from left to right. He was inside the threepoint arc, but found himself in a rather awkward position to take a jumper.
In effect, as Granda rose up to take the shot, the Canadian team had already won the possession. If the shooter finds mesh on that kind of a look, so be it.
And then as Granda was poised to take the shot, Andrew Wiggins fought past the screen, rose up, and practically swallowed the basketball, all the while sending a message to Granda. It was the highlight of Wiggins’ first eight minutes that rendered the rest of Canada’s 10159 destruction of Cuba irrelevant at the FIBA Americas men’s basketball championship Wednesday.
“That was a great first quarter for him, attacking the basket, looking to get offensive rebounds, which he’s very good at,” Canada coach Jay Triano said. “He was the best player on the floor in the first quarter.”
“He’s a killer,” added Anthony Bennett, Wiggins’ teammate with club and country. “Anywhere he goes, he has that mentality, just go out there and play hard.”
That part of his game has been in dispute for as long as Wiggins has been a known quantity. People see the athleticism, the fluid gait and the ability to lock down a player on defence. The question has been: does his effort and skill development match the talent?
A day after a disappointing start to the tournament in a loss against Argentina, Canada did the expected and destroyed Cuba, by far the most overmatched team in the tournament.
It was Wiggins’ opening salvo that guaranteed there would be no Miracle in Mexico City: The first two Canadian points came on put-backs off offensive rebounds from Wiggins. He dominated the air around the rim, ensuring the rebounding woes of Game 1 did not re-appear. He pushed the ball in transition. It was a reminder that he is, not by a small margin, the most athletically gifted player in this tournament.
Wiggins checked out in the first quarter with 10 points, five rebounds, an assist, steal and block, and was actually laughing with teammate Melvin Ejim on the bench afterwards, a lightness that does not always come out of the stoic prodigy. He finished with 15 points, matching Nik Stauskas for the team-high.
“I just wanted to start the game off aggressive and give my team momentum the rest of the game,” Wiggins said.
Cory Joseph is the most experienced of the NBA players on the Canadian team, and the de facto captain, but this squad, and program, belongs to Wiggins if he wants it.
He is at the centre of how the team wants to play: fast, and above the rim. Triano and general manager Steve Nash want to leverage Canada’s depth and fleetness by playing up and down the court while using a large rotation, and it is a smart bet. Not only is it the right move given this country’s young talent, but also the decreased minutes would make it less scary for NBA teams to clear their players to participate for Canada.
Wiggins is the personification of that style. Where he stands out is that in every meaningful game, he’ll likely surpass 30 minutes of floor time, particularly as the stakes rise. There’s no adequate substitute for a star.
“I think Andrew’s going to be a guy that we need to play very well and we need to be a focus for us offensively, for sure,” Triano said. “He’s proved he can do it in the NBA. We need him to be the focal point of what we’re doing. I think when we do that, other teams are going to have problems.”
It is one thing to dominate Cuba, it is quite another to lead your team over the course of a two-week slog. Andrew Wiggins does not need to carry the Canadian team, he just needs to be the team’s finest example of its ethos. Next up for Canada is Venezuela on Thursday.