Canadian women open with slam dunk
Gaucher hits milestone in balanced attack against familiar opponent
The total rolled up through bad times and good, through winless summers of disappointment and prolonged success at the highest international level of the game.
On Saturday, Kim Gaucher reached a significant milestone in her Canadian basketball career, and that she did it with one of the team’s most decisive Olympic wins in decades just made it more satisfying.
The 32-year-old Gaucher played her 200th game in the red and white of Canada in a 90-68 thrashing of China to open the Rio Olympics tournament. The level of satisfaction and pride had to run deep.
“That kind of longevity, that kind of commitment to this program, is just irreplaceable,” coach Lisa Thomaidis said of Gaucher, who has been with the senior program for more than a decade.
“It shows amazing commitment, and we’re so indebted to her for being with us this long ... The leadership is second to none, and she’s a big reason why we’re here.”
Gaucher dished out seven assists, grabbed 10 rebounds and added three points in her second Olympic tournament.
While the win at the Youth Arena in this suburb of Rio was nice and will be important as the tournament goes on, the native of Mission, B.C., can remember some bad old days that make these good ones that much nicer. There were summers when Canada — if it could even get a game against the top teams in the world — was mere fodder, yet she hung in there.
To be near the end of her national team career and now at milestone level — on a team that harbours legitimate aspirations of winning the first Canadian women’s Olympic basketball medal ever — is gratifying almost beyond description.
“I think it’s really cool,” Gaucher said. “I’ve had some longevity in this program, and I’m really proud to have been through it and kind of helped bring it back to what it was before I got there. I have a great sense of pride in that.”
Gaucher is also on the deepest team she’s ever been on.
Canada used all 12 available players in a series of interchangeable lineups, an attribute that will help as the grind of five preliminary-round games in 10 days takes hold, and every player scored. Tamara Tatham led the way with 20 points and Lizanne Murphy had 12, but it was the depth that made the game so easy.
“No one on our team has a big ego, so if Shona (Thorburn, another veteran point guard) is doing amazing, I want her to play a lot, and if Michelle (Plouffe, a centre) is killing it, give her the ball,” said starting point guard Miah-Marie Langlois. “We don’t care who scores. Everyone scored today. It’s hard to stop 12 players, and that’s what we rely on.”
And what they will need in a tournament that includes a game every other day before the playoff round even arrives. “You can just roll people in at different times with different threats on the floor,” Thomaidis said. “It’s a very long tournament — we do have the day off between — but as much as you can get people rolling early, I think it just helps with confidence, too.”
It was the fourth time Canada and China had met in a month and the comfort level was obvious as Canada got over any early Olympic jitters and won going away.
“We’ve played China so many times that you have that level of familiarity with them, so coming in we knew they’d have some new things ready for us,” Thomaidis said. “But I think any time in a first game, the more familiar you are with your opponent, the easier you can settle in and get through those first few minutes.”