Nets’ Jordi Fernandez, Canada begin 2024 Paris Olympics vs. Greece

Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez and Team Canada begin their 2024 Paris Olympics run against Greece on Saturday. Here’s more.

Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez has been doing a lot of multi-tasking this summer as he is trying to prepare his Nets for the upcoming 2024-25 NBA season while getting the Canadian Men’s National Team ready for the 2024 Paris Olympics. By all accounts, it seems that Fernandez has done a good job of balancing both obligations as Team Canada is one of the best teams in the field.

Fernandez will be leading a Canadian team with some great players in Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray along with a talented supporting cast of players like Houston Rockets guard Dillon Brooks and Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett.

If Canada is going to leave Paris with the gold medal, Fernandez and company will have to play/coach the best basketball of their lives given how tough the rest of the competition is.

The group that Team Canada is in, Group A, will pit them against two of the five best teams in the Olympics, per the FIBA World Rankings, and they will also have to face a Greece team that will have two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo leading them on the floor.

Team Canada will be facing Greece on Saturday at 3 PM ET and it will be a matchup between the seventh-best team in the world (Canada) and the 14th-best team (Greece). More of the information for the event is in the X post below.

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Former Notre Dame center Lauren Ebo makes Nigerian Olympic team

Congrats, Lauren!

Make that five women’s basketball players with Notre Dame connections in the 2024 Olympics. [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag], who finished her collegiate career with the Irish during the 2022-23 season, has been named to the final roster for Nigeria for the upcoming competition. Ebo took to social media after the announcement and appears to be a little shocked to even have this honor

Ebo just played for a professional team in Turkey and recently signed with another team in Poland. Now, she’ll try to help the Nigerians capture their first Olympic medal in basketball, men or women. She joins a women’s basketball competition already featuring [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag] and [autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag] for the U.S. and [autotag]Natalie Achonwa[/autotag] and [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] for Canada.

Ebo and Prosper were teammates with the Irish during the aforementioned season with Ebo transferring in and Prosper enrolling at Notre Dame early. They’ll play against each other when Nigeria and Canada wrap up group play Aug. 4. Rounding out that group are Australia and host country France.

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Notre Dame’s Cassandre Prosper teaches French ahead of Olympics

Time to get educated.

Notre Dame guard [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] missed most of this past season, but the next two weeks should help make up for that. She’s off to Paris to represent Canada for the 2024 Olympics. She’s incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity at this stage of her career.

To help get Irish fans in the Parisian spirit for the Olympics, Prosper, who hails from Montreal, shared a few French words and phrases on social media:

Those of you who took French in school might have known some of these already, but for everyone else, it’s a nice little educational moment.

This tweet was made the same Prosper scored six points in Canada’s pre-Olympic 77-74 victory over Australia in Spain. Former Irish standout [autotag]Natalie Achonwa[/autotag] contributed 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and grabbed six rebounds.

Elsewhere, the U.S. bounced back from [autotag]Arike Ogunbowale[/autotag]’s All-Star MVP performance by topping Germany, 84-57, in its last game before the Olympics in London. [autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag] scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, and [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag] had eight points.

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Nets’ Jordi Fernandez, Team Canada loses to Team USA in exhibition 86-72

Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez and Team Canada lost to Team USA on Wednesday in an exhibition opener for both teams 86-72.

The Brooklyn Nets are about to compete in the Las Vegas Summer League that begins on Friday to see what the second-year players have learned from last year. The start of the summer league is just one day away so in the meantime, it’s time to catch up on what Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez is doing.

Fernandez is also the head coach of the Canadian Men’s National Team and as such, he has been trying to be in two places at once as he has been watching Nets practice on video after he has ran practice for the Canadians in person. The first taste of what Nets fans could expect from Fernandez was shown on Wednesday when Team Canada lost to Team USA 86-72 in the USA Basketball showcase in Vegas.

Putting the loss aside since it is a tune-up game for both teams until the games become real towards the end of the month, fans could see how Fernandez likes to operate his offense and defense.

Granted, Team Canada is more talented than Brooklyn is expected to be this upcoming season as Fernandez currently has the services of players like MVP-runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets.

It was clear from the beginning that Fernandez requires his players to play hard and to be willing to extend themselves on the defensive end as Gilgeous-Alexander and Dillon Brooks of the Houston Rockets were pressuring Team USA ball-handlers well beyond the three-point line.

Also, it looks like Fernandez’s offense prioritizes ball movement and body movement as most of the players on the Canadian National Team are better on the move than they are remaining stationary. Team Canada is expected to be one of the best teams in the Olympic field and it’s easy to see why with the talent they have.

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Joel Embiid’s Team USA debut went about as poorly as possible and basketball fans were unforgiving

There will be better games ahead for Joel Embiid.

It was a big win for the U.S. when Joel Embiid made the decision in April to play for Team USA over France or Cameroon for the 2024 Olympics. He gave the team a much-needed size boost to hold up against some of the bigger teams they’ll face in Paris.

That decision did not pay immediate dividends in his exhibition debut for Team USA, though.

Embiid fouled out in the third quarter of Wednesday’s game against Canada after just 12 minutes on the floor. That includes an unsportsmanlike foul for elbowing Dwight Powell in the face. He finished with five points on 2-of-5 shooting with six rebounds, two assists and four turnovers.

The former MVP that he is, Embiid will almost certainly have better games to come. But that didn’t stop basketball fans on social media from ripping him for his struggles adjusting to international rules.

Social media reaction to Joel Embiid

Former Duke basketball star RJ Barrett set to play for Canadian Olympic team

RJ Barrett, who now plays for the Toronto Raptors, will play for Canada in Paris this summer in the country’s first Olympics since 2000.

For the first time since 2000, Canada will play in the Olympics for men’s basketball, and former Duke star [autotag]RJ Barrett[/autotag] made the 12-man squad.

Barrett will play alongside Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, an MVP finalist from this past NBA season, and Denver Nuggets guard and 2023 NBA champion Jamal Murray. The Canadians finished third at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup to secure a spot in Paris this summer, defeating the United States in the bronze medal game.

Barrett, the No. 1 overall prospect in the Class of 2018 and one of the highest-rated Duke commits in program history, spent just one season with the Duke basketball program in 2018-19. He, predictably, had one of the best freshman campaigns in school history, averaging 22.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game while he and [autotag]Zion Williamson[/autotag] led the Blue Devils to the Elite Eight.

Barrett, after being the third overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, spent his first four full seasons with the New York Knicks before being traded to the Toronto Raptors in the middle of last season. He’s averaged 18.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game as an NBA player.

Barrett will join [autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag] (United States) and [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] (South Sudan) as Blue Devils in Paris for this summer’s games.

Former and current Notre Dame players make Canadian Olympic team

Best of luck representing the Maple Leaf!

The Olympic roster for Canada’s women’s basketball team has been announced, and Notre Dame will have some fine representation. In fact, two names should be very familiar for Irish fans. One might be more surprising than the other depending on how you look at it.

Not surprising is that [autotag]Natalie Achonwa[/autotag] will play in her fourth straight Olympics, a record for Canada women’s basketball. The other Notre Dame representative will be current Irish guard [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag], who will make her Olympic debut in Paris. She was injured early this past season and didn’t suit up for the Irish again. Hopefully, this experience will give her confidence for the 2024-25 season.

The Irish also will have two former players representing them for the U.S. in [autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag] and [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag]. Few expect that team not to win gold, so the only real drama for Irish fans here is whether Achonwa and Prosper can help bring Canada its first women’s basketball medal.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

USC Canadians are joining Team Canada for 2024 Summer Olympics

USC athletes are also populating the Team Canada roster for the Paris Summer Games.

The USC Trojans are building a roster not just on Team USA for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, but also for Team Canada.

Per USC Athletics:

“Tt the Canadian Athletics Championships, Aaron Brown (USC, 2014) won the 200m title with a time of 20.09 (+3.1w) and will represent his native country in the event at the Paris Olympics.”

Also of note is that Simi Awujo was named to the Canadian Olympic women’s soccer team. USC Athletics points out that “It will be the first Olympic Games for Awujo, who has previously played with Canada at the 2023 World Cup. The USC senior is one of four midfielders named to the 18-player roster. Awujo owns 17 caps with the Canadian National Team heading into the Olympic tournament. She has started six times and owns one international goal, scoring for Canada against Brazil in the semifinals of the SheBelieves Cup this past April. Awujo also competed with the Canadian U-20 squad at the U-20 World Cup in the summer of 2022 and later that year received her first call up to the senior National Team. She was named Canada Soccer’s 2022 Young Player of the Year.”

Congratulations to every USC Olympian on every national roster across the globe. Best wishes to every Trojan who will compete in Paris.

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Nebraska gymnast selected as Olympic Alternate

Emma Spense was selected as an alternate for Team Canada, the team announced on Friday. 

A Nebraska gymnast has been selected as an alternate for the upcoming Paris Olympics. Emma Spense was selected as an alternate for Team Canada, the team announced on Friday.

Spence confirmed the news herself on her social media accounts.

My main goal for trials were to walk away from the meet knowing that I gave it all I had, I enjoyed the process, and I competed with my heart on my sleeve. I am so proud of my performances over the last two years and the things I have achieved. The reality is, you can give something everything you have and it still might not be enough. This is my second Olympic cycle, and once again although this position isn’t an easy one at all, I am proud to say I am a 2024 Olympic alternate.

Spence earned the non-traveling alternate slot after her performances at the Pan American Games and the Canadian Championships. The 2024 Olympics’ gymnastics events will take place from July 27 to August 5.

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2023 FIBA World Cup: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dominates in 107-76 win over New Zealand

Instant reactions, highlights from Canada’s blowout win against New Zealand.

After struggling against Germany in their first exhibition game, Team Canada bounced back with a strong showing against New Zealand in a 107-76 win.

This was Canada’s second friendly as they continue to prepare for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which is set to kick off on Aug. 25.

It appears Canada will go as far as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will take them. After an eight-point outing last time, he bounced back with a much stronger performance of 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting, three assists and six steals in 19 minutes.

Off the bench, Lu Dort had 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting and two steals in 19 minutes.

Canada quickly set the tone of this game as they entered halftime with a lopsided 67-38 lead. A 39-14 second-quarter scoring advantage helped put this game out of reach.

Canada’s full box score from their win over New Zealand can be viewed below:

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Let’s look at the instant reactions and highlights of Canada’s 31-point exhibition win and Gilgeous-Alexander’s dominating performance on both sides of the court.