Canada Basketball has announced the 16 athletes who will be attending the senior men’s national team training camp ahead of the fifth window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 qualifiers.
Trae Bell-Haynes, Melvin Ejim, Aaron Best, Kadre Gray, Jahvon Henry-Blair, Kenny Chery, Thomas Kennedy, Owen Klassen, Conor Morgan, Jean-Victor Mukama, Prince Oduro, Lloyd Pandi, Kassius Robertson, Thomas Scrubb, Phil Scrubb and Kalif Young will be training before Canada hosts their next two games in Edmonton.
Notable names from the previous qualifying windows in Victoria and Hamilton as well as some players involved in the AmeriCup, such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dwight Powell, Kelly Olynyk, Dalano Banton and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, are unavailable during this window due to NBA commitments.
Canada, ranked 15th in the world in the FIBA World Rankings, faces Venezuela on Nov. 10, at 9:10 p.m. ET / 6:10 p.m. PT before hosting on Panama Nov. 13 at 7:10 p.m. ET / 4:10 p.m. PT. Both games will be held at the Edmonton Expo Centre and broadcast live on Sportsnet.
The only remaining undefeated team in Group E, Canada is 8-0 after beating both Argentina and Panama in the August window of games. Venezuela sits second at 7-1, followed by Argentina at 6-2, Dominican Republic at 5-3, Panama at 2-6 and Bahamas at 2-6.
The 12 teams who advanced past the first phase of qualifiers were divided into two groups, Group E and Group F, and the three best teams in each group and the best fourth-place team will move on to the World Cup.
Of the 80 national teams playing across six qualifying windows, 30 teams will join hosts Japan and the Philippines in the 32-team edition of the World Cup set to take place from Aug. 25 to Sept. 10, 2023, in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
