The lessons learned on 颅Blanshard Street this summer will dictate how Nick Nurse 颅navigates the road to Paris 2024.
Nurse鈥檚 contract as Canadian men鈥檚 basketball team head coach was extended through to the next Summer Olympics. Guided by Nurse, the Canadian team failed to qualify for the recently-completed Tokyo Olympics following an upset loss to the Czech Republic in the qualifying tournament which took place at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
鈥淥ne of the biggest lessons that came out of the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament in Victoria this past June is just how important the process of selecting the group of 12 committed players is,鈥� said Nurse, in an open letter Monday to 颅Canadian basketball fans.
鈥淎s the head coach of this program, with Paris 2024 in front of us, my first and biggest task immediately at hand is to begin to build that kind of continuity in sa国际传媒,鈥� added the Toronto 颅Raptors NBA head coach.
鈥淲e believe to get where we are going we need to lay out a three-year commitment 鈥� from today to Paris 2024 鈥� and players need to decide that yes, they are in. We need to lay out what鈥檚 waiting on the other side, and how we鈥檒l invest in their journey. This is one of the lessons we鈥檝e learned time and again. I think everyone sees it clearly鈥�
What became obvious, both in the Victoria qualifier and in the Tokyo Olympic tournament itself, is that national teams that spend time together and play as a unit can overcome the sheer talent of NBA-laden national teams thrown together at the last moment.
鈥淸A] lesson learned is that chemistry, camaraderie and continuity can 鈥� and often will 鈥� trump talent,鈥� Nurse concurred.
鈥淜eeping a core group of players together is crucial. Accomplishing this is the key to getting where we want this program to be and to me, it is also a sign of immense respect for all of those countries and players that do it year after year. This is why we鈥檙e doing it. As the head coach of the senior men鈥檚 national team, our goal is to get this team on the podium, by 颅leveraging this golden era of ball in sa国际传媒. That鈥檚 what they hired me to do. That鈥檚 what this three-year plan is about.鈥�
The goal is not to have to worry about returning to 颅Victoria for another last-chance qualifier in the spring or 颅summer of 2024. The aim is to qualify directly for Paris 2024 out of the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Japan/Indonesia/Phillipines, the road to which will begin Nov. 22-30 of this year with the first of six World Cup 2023 qualifiers in windows on a home-and-away basis over a 15-month period.
sa国际传媒 has not qualified for the Olympics in men鈥檚 basketball since captain Steve Nash of Victoria led the national team to Sydney 2000.
鈥淲hile I have this opportunity, I want to give it my best shot,鈥� said Nurse.
