Canadian women's basketball team looks to take next step in Rio
Get up to speed before the tournament tips off
By Jesse Campigotto, CBC Sports
Here's a quick guide to what, when and who to watch in the women's basketball tournament at the Rio Olympics.
Hello, Nurse
Since women's basketball joined the Olympics in 1976 in Montreal, Canada has played for a medal just once, losing the bronze game to China at the 1984 Los Angeles Games that were boycotted by the Soviet bloc.
This year's team arrives in Rio with some momentum and a go-to young star. Kia Nurse introduced herself to Canadians at last summer's Pan Am Games in Toronto by pouring in 33 points in an 81-73 win over the United States (which didn't send its WNBA stars) in the gold-medal game. Less than a month later Nurse helped Canada clinch an Olympic spot by beating Cuba in the final of a qualifier in Edmonton, scoring a game-high 20 points and winning tournament MVP honours.
The six-foot guard from Hamilton, Ont., also had a hand in the powerhouse University of Connecticut program's winning its fourth consecutive NCAA title this year. Nurse averaged 9.3 points in the regular season while starting all 38 games for a team powered by top scorer Breanna Stewart, who's on the American Olympic team, and coached by U.S. bench boss Geno Auriemma. After the Huskies won the title, Nurse underwent surgery for a sports hernia, but she's expected to be fine for the Olympics.
Canada will once again look to the 20-year-old Nurse to play a key scoring role on an underdog team devoid of WNBA players. Respected bookmaker Pinnacle's odds list Canada as the seventh-most likely to win gold in the 12-team Rio tournament, just ahead of Turkey and behind host Brazil.
Dream on (and on)
The label "Dream Team" is usually applied to the U.S. men's basketball squad, but the women are even better at putting foes to sleep. In winning five straight Olympic gold medals, the Americans have outscored their opponents by an average of 24 points in the title game, including an 86-50 dismantling of France in 2012. Think the U.S. men's 17-game Olympic winning streak is impressive? The women have won 41 in a row, with their last loss coming in the semifinals in 1992.
The streak is likely to stretch to 49 by the time the flame goes out in Rio. With stars like reigning WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne, Maya Moore, Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner and Breanna Stewart headlining another formidable roster, oddsmakers have installed the U.S. as massive favourites — Pinnacle's odds imply a 93 per cent chance of victory for the Americans.
The long shots
The team with the best (and that's a relative term here) chance of upsetting the U.S. for gold is Australia, which fell to the Americans in three straight Olympic title games before taking bronze in 2012. The Aussies' top player is 6-foot-8 centre Liz Cambage, who left the WNBA in 2013 to play for big money in China, where she's among the league's top scorers.
Going off Pinnacle's odds, Spain and France are the next two strongest challengers.
Key games
The tournament tips off on Day 1 (Saturday, Aug. 6).
Canada's group-stage games are:
- Aug. 6 vs. China (1:15 p.m. ET)
- Aug. 8 vs. Serbia (1:15 p.m. ET)
- Aug. 10 vs. Senegal (4:45 p.m. ET)
- Aug. 12 vs. United States (2:30 p.m. ET)
- Aug. 14 vs. Spain (4:45 p.m. ET)
Both medal matches are on Aug. 20, the penultimate day of the Games — bronze at 10:30 a.m. ET, gold at 2:30 p.m. ET.
For a full schedule, click here.
The format
The 12 teams are divided into two groups. Canada is in Group B with the United States, Spain, Senegal, Serbia and China. Group A has France, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Belarus and Turkey.
Each team plays the other members of its group, after which the top four teams in each group advance to the knockout stage. To start the knockout round, the top team in each group crosses over to face the fourth-place team in the other group. The second-place team crosses over to play the third-place team.