CANADA QUALIFIES FOR 2010 WORLDS WITH UPSET OF DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - By basketball.ca staff
Last Updated: September 11, 2009
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Canada's Senior Men's National Team qualified for the 2010 World Championship by upsetting the Dominican Republic 80-76 on Friday at the FIBA Americas Championship.
Canada will join Argentina, Brazil and Puerto Rico next summer in Turkey.
"I told our guys, 'You haven't failed over the past few years ... you haven't been ready,"' said head coach Leo Rautins. "In 2007, we weren't ready. In 2005, we weren't ready. Last year, at the wild card [Olympic] qualifier, we weren't ready.
"When you look at this tournament, we're the youngest team by a couple of years. The fact that these guys can overcome that, and come together as a group, I'm really proud of them."
Jermaine Anderson led Canada with 21 points, Carl English had 13, Jesse Young 11 and Levon Kendall 10 with 11 rebounds. Aaron Doornekamp scored eight points but made two big baskets that were key in the Canadian win.
"It's beyond words," Anderson told the Toronto Star. "We finally accomplished something as a group."
The game was close from start to finish. The Dominican Republic led 16-13 after the first quarter, led by Charlie Villanueva's seven points.
In the second quarter, Luis Flores and Carlos Morban led the Dominicans to a 35-30 halftime lead. Morban had eight points while for Canada, Young had seven and Anderson and English netted five each.
Rautins said he was encouraged by his team's first-half defence and knew it was only a matter of time before the shots started falling.
"We had good looks," said Rautins. "Quite honestly, we didn't have great movement. I wasn't worried whether we were gonna get a shot, it was a question of (using) our movement to get better shots.
"I honestly felt during the course of the game, whether we got down or we got up, there was a sense of calm with this team. Whatever was going to happen on the floor was OK, we were going to get through it."
English made two straight three-pointers in the third quarter to give Canada a 56-51 lead but the "Road Warriors" were never able to pull away as the Dominicans came back and ended the first 30 minutes tied at 56.
Late free throws seal Canadian win
In the final quarter, Canada had some big baskets from long range, especially by Rautins, Anderson -- who completed a four-point play -- and Doornekamp who got Canada up by four (76-72) with 1:26 left.
Joel Anthony made two free throws with 19.2 seconds left to give Canada a 78-74 lead but Al Horford dunked on an offensive rebound to cut the lead to two. Kendall was fouled with 13.9 seconds left but injured his nose, so Rautins made both free throws to secure the huge win for Team Canada.
Canada hasn't qualified for a FIBA World Championship since 2002 when they finished 13th. The Dominicans have missed the FIBA World Championship since 1978.
Flores and Villanueva had 17 points each for the Dominicans and Horford finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Rautins hopes the win will silence critics of the Canadian basketball program.
"These guys have taken a lot of crap," he said. "They've been crapped on, they've been ignored, they've been put down. Unfairly so, because the people who have criticized them are really not aware of what we're up against in the world of basketball.
"To see these guys achieve this, honestly, it's as satisfying a feeling as I can imagine having. It's tremendous."
Canada will meet Brazil in Saturday's semifinals (6:30 p.m. ET).
***
After Canada's unexpected qualification, coach Leo Rautins told ESPNdeportes.com that he's looking to add three NBA players to the roster. "We're going to be making some changes," Rautins said. "Maybe [Steve] Nash, Matt Bonner, Jamal Magloire. We're very excited."
***
The Dominican Republic still could be invited to Turkey. In the past, some teams which have placed fifth at FIBA Americas championships have received an invitation. "As always, we are going to apply all our efforts for the fifth [place] team in the tournament to receive an invitation," Horacio Muratore, executive president of FIBA Americas told ESPNdeportes. "From there, the general secretary [of FIBA] and the central bureau will analyze and decide."
***
In other games on Friday:
A perfect shooting night by Angel Daniel Vassallo and great performances by Larry Ayuso and Carlos Arroyo gave Puerto Rico an 86-82 win over previously unbeaten Brazil. Vassallo finished with 20 points as he shot 8-8 from the field (5-5 2pt, 3-3 3pt, 1-1 free throw) in 19 minutes played. Ayuso scored 25 points, including 11-11 from the free throw line, and Arroyo finished with 16 points and six assists. Anderson Varejao led Brazil with 22 points and Tiago Splitter had 19.
Brazil, Puerto Rico and Argentina all finished the quarter-final round with 6-1 records but Brazil took first place due to its points average against the other two teams. The Puerto Ricans needed to win by six points to finish first in the quarter-finals. In the semifinals Brazil plays Canada (3-4) at 6:30 p.m. ET and Puerto Rico faces Argentina at 9:00 on Saturday.
***
Argentina defeated Uruguay 73-66 to win its sixth straight. Luis Scola played only in the second half but still led the Argentines with 19 points. Esteban Batista led Uruguay (2-5) with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
***
Mexico (1-6) finished its participation in the championship on a positive note by gaining its first victory of the quarter-final round, 74-67 over Panama (1-6). The Mexicans had beaten the U.S. Virgin Islands 80-63 in the preliminary round. Against Panama, Anthony Pedroza and Horacio Llamas led Mexico with 18 points each. Danilo Pinnock was tops for Panama with 20 points.
This was the last game for Mexico's Llamas, who played more than 16 years with the national team, making his debut in 1993. "It is a great loss for Mexican basketball. I would have liked to see him with more international accomplishments but he played in a bad period for Mexican basketball," said Mexican national team head coach Arturo Guerrero.
***
(with information from FIBA Americas)
Canada will join Argentina, Brazil and Puerto Rico next summer in Turkey.
"I told our guys, 'You haven't failed over the past few years ... you haven't been ready,"' said head coach Leo Rautins. "In 2007, we weren't ready. In 2005, we weren't ready. Last year, at the wild card [Olympic] qualifier, we weren't ready.
"When you look at this tournament, we're the youngest team by a couple of years. The fact that these guys can overcome that, and come together as a group, I'm really proud of them."
Jermaine Anderson led Canada with 21 points, Carl English had 13, Jesse Young 11 and Levon Kendall 10 with 11 rebounds. Aaron Doornekamp scored eight points but made two big baskets that were key in the Canadian win.
"It's beyond words," Anderson told the Toronto Star. "We finally accomplished something as a group."
The game was close from start to finish. The Dominican Republic led 16-13 after the first quarter, led by Charlie Villanueva's seven points.
In the second quarter, Luis Flores and Carlos Morban led the Dominicans to a 35-30 halftime lead. Morban had eight points while for Canada, Young had seven and Anderson and English netted five each.
Rautins said he was encouraged by his team's first-half defence and knew it was only a matter of time before the shots started falling.
"We had good looks," said Rautins. "Quite honestly, we didn't have great movement. I wasn't worried whether we were gonna get a shot, it was a question of (using) our movement to get better shots.
"I honestly felt during the course of the game, whether we got down or we got up, there was a sense of calm with this team. Whatever was going to happen on the floor was OK, we were going to get through it."
English made two straight three-pointers in the third quarter to give Canada a 56-51 lead but the "Road Warriors" were never able to pull away as the Dominicans came back and ended the first 30 minutes tied at 56.
Late free throws seal Canadian win
In the final quarter, Canada had some big baskets from long range, especially by Rautins, Anderson -- who completed a four-point play -- and Doornekamp who got Canada up by four (76-72) with 1:26 left.
Joel Anthony made two free throws with 19.2 seconds left to give Canada a 78-74 lead but Al Horford dunked on an offensive rebound to cut the lead to two. Kendall was fouled with 13.9 seconds left but injured his nose, so Rautins made both free throws to secure the huge win for Team Canada.
Canada hasn't qualified for a FIBA World Championship since 2002 when they finished 13th. The Dominicans have missed the FIBA World Championship since 1978.
Flores and Villanueva had 17 points each for the Dominicans and Horford finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Rautins hopes the win will silence critics of the Canadian basketball program.
"These guys have taken a lot of crap," he said. "They've been crapped on, they've been ignored, they've been put down. Unfairly so, because the people who have criticized them are really not aware of what we're up against in the world of basketball.
"To see these guys achieve this, honestly, it's as satisfying a feeling as I can imagine having. It's tremendous."
Canada will meet Brazil in Saturday's semifinals (6:30 p.m. ET).
***
After Canada's unexpected qualification, coach Leo Rautins told ESPNdeportes.com that he's looking to add three NBA players to the roster. "We're going to be making some changes," Rautins said. "Maybe [Steve] Nash, Matt Bonner, Jamal Magloire. We're very excited."
***
The Dominican Republic still could be invited to Turkey. In the past, some teams which have placed fifth at FIBA Americas championships have received an invitation. "As always, we are going to apply all our efforts for the fifth [place] team in the tournament to receive an invitation," Horacio Muratore, executive president of FIBA Americas told ESPNdeportes. "From there, the general secretary [of FIBA] and the central bureau will analyze and decide."
***
In other games on Friday:
A perfect shooting night by Angel Daniel Vassallo and great performances by Larry Ayuso and Carlos Arroyo gave Puerto Rico an 86-82 win over previously unbeaten Brazil. Vassallo finished with 20 points as he shot 8-8 from the field (5-5 2pt, 3-3 3pt, 1-1 free throw) in 19 minutes played. Ayuso scored 25 points, including 11-11 from the free throw line, and Arroyo finished with 16 points and six assists. Anderson Varejao led Brazil with 22 points and Tiago Splitter had 19.
Brazil, Puerto Rico and Argentina all finished the quarter-final round with 6-1 records but Brazil took first place due to its points average against the other two teams. The Puerto Ricans needed to win by six points to finish first in the quarter-finals. In the semifinals Brazil plays Canada (3-4) at 6:30 p.m. ET and Puerto Rico faces Argentina at 9:00 on Saturday.
***
Argentina defeated Uruguay 73-66 to win its sixth straight. Luis Scola played only in the second half but still led the Argentines with 19 points. Esteban Batista led Uruguay (2-5) with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
***
Mexico (1-6) finished its participation in the championship on a positive note by gaining its first victory of the quarter-final round, 74-67 over Panama (1-6). The Mexicans had beaten the U.S. Virgin Islands 80-63 in the preliminary round. Against Panama, Anthony Pedroza and Horacio Llamas led Mexico with 18 points each. Danilo Pinnock was tops for Panama with 20 points.
This was the last game for Mexico's Llamas, who played more than 16 years with the national team, making his debut in 1993. "It is a great loss for Mexican basketball. I would have liked to see him with more international accomplishments but he played in a bad period for Mexican basketball," said Mexican national team head coach Arturo Guerrero.
***
(with information from FIBA Americas)
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