Canada's training camp roster for FIBA World Cup qualifiers features less NBA talent
15th-ranked team plays Venezuela and Panama later this month in Edmonton
Canada's men's national basketball team roster will consist of less NBA talent and more pro experience from elsewhere heading into the fifth World Cup qualifying window.
The Canadians will face Venezuela Nov. 10 and then take on Panama Nov. 13. Both games will be held at the Edmonton EXPO Centre with the team looking to qualify for the 2023 FIBA World Cup on home court. Training camp is set to go from Nov. 7-9 in the Alberta capital.
Canada, which is currently ranked 15th in FIBA, is the lone unbeaten team in the Americas, sitting atop Group E at 8-0.
After having five NBA players on the roster in the previous window and going 2-0, Canada will have to rely upon a few returnees and talent from elsewhere.
Phil Scrubb, Kalif Young, Melvin Ejim and Kassius Robertson all return to the team after competing in the fourth window. Forward Thomas Kennedy is the lone current U Sports player on the training camp roster.
Eighty countries are playing across six qualifying windows to secure their place among the 30 who will join host Japan and the Philippines in next summer's 32-team FIBA World Cup, which is a direct qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics a year later.
The FIBA World Cup 2023 is Aug. 25 to Sept. 10, 2023, in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
The World Cup is a direct qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Four final Olympic spots will also be decided in last-chance qualifiers, something Canada wants to avoid after the team's heartbreaking elimination by the Czech Republic in a last-chance qualifier in 2021 in Victoria.
WATCH | Canada takes down Panama in August:
