A 10 per cent pandemic-limited crowd of about 800, making noise like a capacity crowd of 7,400 at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, went through a whiplash ride of emotions Saturday from giddy elation to draining dejection.
But host team sa国际传媒 will not be going to the Tokyo Olympics in men鈥檚 basketball following a wrenching 103-101 overtime loss to the Czech Republic in the semifinals of the qualifying tournament.
A breathless Canadian comeback, from a nine-point deficit with 44 seconds remaining forced overtime, filled the Memorial Centre with disbelieving hope.
But the Czechs won it in overtime with a bank shot by Tomas Satoransky of the NBA鈥檚 Chicago Bulls, with 1.8 seconds remaining. A last-gasp Canadian shot by Trey Lyles, who plays with the NBA鈥檚 San Antonio Spurs, just rimmed out.
The drought will continue as sa国际传媒 has not been to the Olympics in men鈥檚 basketball since two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash of Victoria captained sa国际传媒 to the 2000 Sydney Games.
The Czechs, meanwhile, are one step away from their first-ever Olympic appearance. They will play in the final Sunday against Greece at 4 p.m. at the Memorial Centre. Only one team will advance to Tokyo from Victoria.
鈥淚t was an amazing atmosphere,鈥� said Blake Schilb, the Czech star of the game. 鈥淭his is a great moment for our national team.鈥�
The disappointment was palpable in the Canadian dressing following the game. But what has been described as the Golden Generation of Canadian NBA players tried to look through the gloom to Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028.
Detroit Pistons guard and Canadian captain Cory Joseph addressed the players following the crushing defeat, according to veteran Canadian forward Andrew Nicholson.
鈥淐ory gave a speech and said there is light at the end of the tunnel and the future is bright,鈥� Nicholson said.
鈥淗e said we just have to stick together and things will happen.鈥�
The thing about Golden Generations is they can tarnish. But Canadian coach Nick Nurse predicted this one will have its shining moment at some point.
鈥淚 am extremely proud of our guys. They hung in there, battled and fought,鈥� said Nurse, who also coaches the Toronto Raptors of the NBA.
鈥淭hings just didn鈥檛 bounce our way today. But it鈥檚 a tremendous learning experience for our program.鈥�
The Canadians were the victims of a highly dubious unsportsmanlike foul call with 3:09 remaining that proved costly. But they wouldn鈥檛 have been in that trailing position to begin with if this talented assemblage had just been able to hit some shots.
The qualifying tournament was originally scheduled to take place last year. That was before the Tokyo Olympics were postponed a year. Victoria organizers put up $3 million to host.
The idea was to have sa国际传媒 host the qualifier, and not have to travel overseas, making it easier for the 17 Canadian NBA players to plan to perform with the national team. Most of them accepted the invitation but there were only eight on the final roster due to injuries and NBA contract issues.
鈥淚t was a difficult year to commit to this but the players who did set some type of standard for committing to the national team,鈥� Nurse said.
鈥淚f this group of guys stick together for a couple of years, it will really help 鈥� the Czech team players have been together for a couple of years.鈥�
The Czech team has never made it to the Olympics in basketball, while Greece 鈥� which shocked Turkey, with its three NBA players, 81-63 in the other semifinal 鈥� hasn鈥檛 qualified since the Beijing Games in 2008.
