Canada to play Venezuela in FIBA Americas semis Friday to clinch spot in the Olympics
(photo: José Jiménez Tirado/FIBA Americas)
The Canadian National Team, led by head coach and former Olympian Jay Triano, who is also an assistant coach for the Trail Blazers. Canada last made the Olympics in 2000 and they will play Venezuela on Friday, with a win punching their ticket to Rio 2016. Mexico’s win over Argentina helped the Canadians reach the number one seed.
Canada will play Venezuela at 4 PM in Mexico City on Friday. You can watch that game on WatchESPN or through the FIBA Americas website americas2015.com. Venezuela qualified with a win yesterday over Panama. Venezuela hasn’t qualified for the Olympics in basketball since 1992, when they finished second in the Tournament of The Americas in Portland. They’ve been without their only NBA player, Greivis Vasquez, for the entire tournament.
Canada has rolled through all of their opponents after losing the opener to Argentina. And Argentina, being an older team, may be running out of gas after losing by 12 to Mexico with Luis Scola playing 33 minutes and scoring 26 points. But all that matters for Canada is Friday.
Erik Gundersen
Erik Gundersen is the Trail Blazers beat reporter for The Columbian. He's a graduate of the Allen School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon in addition earning a degree in Spanish. He's covered the NBA for four seasons. You can also occasionally find his work on ESPN.com's NBA section for their TrueCities series. He also fist-bumped with Kanye West once. Follow @BlazerBanter on twitter for more Blazers and NBA news.