The first round of the FIBA Americas tournament was like a four-game warmup to eliminate the worst team in each group. Cuba simply wasn’t good enough, though 21-year-old Jasiel Rivero has talent. The surprise was a weak team from Brazil. It’s understandable that Leandro Barbosa, Nene Hilario, Anderson Varejao and Tiago Splitter preferred to rest, but younger NBA players like Bruno Caboclo and Lucas Nogueira might have helped. The second round gets under way at 1:00 Eastern on Sunday, with every team
No, Canada! Luis Scola Leads Argentina To FIBA Americas Win
Aiming for a 2016 Olympic medal next summer in Rio (and dreaming of gold in 2020) the Canadian team began its FIBA Americas tournament with an ugly loss to Argentina. Canada could not stop 35-year-old forward Luis Scola was unstoppable, who scored 35 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in a 94-87 upset. [Read more…]
EXCLUSIVE: Andrew Wiggins “Most Likely” To Play for Canada in Olympics Qualifier
BROOKLYN — Andrew Wiggins will “most likely” play for Team Canada in this summer’s FIBA-Americas Olympic qualifying tournament, a huge piece of positive news for a Canadian federation that has been hoping and praying that the NBA’s most exciting rookie will play for his national team. Wiggins gave me the “most likely” quote as he warmed up for the Rising Stars challenge Friday night at the Barclay’s Center. When I pressed him and asked it he was 100 percent in, he hedged