Fifteen years later, it is a sa国际传媒 front-page picture that readers still bring up. It showed Steve Nash of Victoria walking off the court in tears following the quarter-final loss to France in the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics.
sa国际传媒 hasn鈥檛 been back to the Olympics since in men鈥檚 basketball. And now, Nash must wait a little longer in transforming from Canadian captain in the Olympics to Canadian GM in the Olympics.
sa国际传媒 still has a shot to qualify for Rio 2016 through a last-chance world tournament next July. But Friday鈥檚 stunning last-play, one-point semifinal loss to Venezuela in the FIBA Americas qualifier in Mexico, with qualification for Rio hanging in the balance, still feels raw and devastating.
It also illustrates a troubling trend in Canadian international sport of failing to convert chances in team sports outside ice hockey. It happened at sa国际传媒 Place this summer to deflate an expectant capacity home crowd in the loss to England in the quarter-finals the 2015 women鈥檚 soccer World Cup. It happened to the heavily Island-flavoured Canadian men鈥檚 rugby sevens team this summer in its loss in the Americas/Caribbean Olympic qualifier that instead saw the U.S. advance to Rio. And need anyone be reminded of the men鈥檚 national soccer team two years ago? Needing only a draw to advance to the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for World Cup Brazil 2014, it collapsed completely in a humiliating 8-1 loss in Honduras.
Despite the fine national team play of Victoria players Fred Winter and Josh Howatson the past decade, sa国际传媒 has not qualified for the Olympics in men鈥檚 volleyball since 1992 in Barcelona. sa国际传媒, captained by Winters, is currently 1-3 in the 2015 World Cup taking place in Japan, from which the top-two among the 12 teams will qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
There are some bright spots, such as the potent Langford-based Canadian women鈥檚 rugby sevens team, which has qualified and is a legitimate Olympic podium threat for Rio. But the fact remains, the wholly-unexpected bronze at London 2012 in women鈥檚 soccer was the first medal won by sa国际传媒 in a team sport at the Summer Olympics since Doug Peden and Art and Chuck Chapman of Victoria captured silver in basketball at Berlin in 1936.
Friday鈥檚 tight defeat at the FIBA Americas had so many eerie similarities to the crushing final-game loss, also to Venezuela, by Ken Shields-coached sa国际传媒 in the 1992 FIBA Americas that denied qualification to the Barcelona Olympics. That ended a Canadian run by the likes of University of Victoria stars Eli Pasquale, Gerald Kazanowski and Greg Wiltjer, along with Howard Kesley of Vancouver and Karl Tilleman of Calgary, which resulted in a fourth-place showing at the 1984 L.A. Olympics and sixth place at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games.
A key player on that Canadian team was current head coach Jay Triano. It was that mostly Western-based national team group that Nash grew up watching in Victoria, and was inspired by, as he eventually assumed the mantle of Captain sa国际传媒 in his decade-long national team tenure . It included the 5-2 record, but quarter-final loss at Sydney 2000, and being named 2004 FIBA Americas MVP, despite that sa国际传媒 failed to qualify that year for the Athens Olympics.
Two-time NBA MVP Nash is a hands-on national-team GM, who even shags balls during pre-game warm-ups. The Island legend has done his best to tamp the high expectations riding on this current group of emerging Canadian NBA players, which has been dubbed the Golden Generation. They are still young and it showed glaringly Friday against Venezuela.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very disappointing, obviously. Our dreams have been put on hold,鈥� said Triano.
Nash and Triano must now make sure not for long, and that what happened to Portugal鈥檚 much-heralded but eventually underachieving Golden Generation in soccer, doesn鈥檛 happen to sa国际传媒 in basketball. Qualifying next year for Rio, at the last-chance tournament, would be an important step.
鈥淭he heartbreak is real. I love these guys to the death. We鈥檙e a strong family and we鈥檙e not done, yet. We [will] bounce back,鈥� Nash tweeted Saturday.
sa国际传媒 defeated host Mexico 87-86 Saturday on a buzzer-beater by Toronto Raptors guard Cory Joseph in a meaningless FIBA Americas bronze-medal game since only the top-two 鈥� Argentina and Venezuela 鈥� earned tickets to the Rio Olympics out of this 12-team regional qualifier. sa国际传媒, Mexico and fifth-place Puerto Rico advance to the 18-team last-chance world qualifier next July in which the final three berths for Rio 2016 will be up for grabs.
