TORONTO — Slowly but surely, it’s been building and is starting to look more and more like a finished product.
The Canadian women’s national basketball team had, perhaps, their best offensive outing in a 90-53 rout of the Dominican Republic to reach the semifinals of the 2021 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup on Thursday.
Canada will play either Puerto Rico or Colombia in the semifinals of the tournament Friday night.
The Canadian side overwhelmed the Dominican Republic with a three-point barrage that saw it go 14-of-34 from deep with guard Aislinn Konig, in particular, getting a chance to showcase her marksmanship as she went 7-for-9 from distance and finished with a game-high 23 points.
“That three-point shot is such a valuable one in the game today, and so to be able to knock down some threes at a pretty good clip has been a great sign for us, and a number of different people have been knocking them down,” said head coach Lisa Thomaidis after the game. “So, yeah, it’s certainly allowing us to spread the floor and then identify and get the ball inside as well with some single coverage. So we’re happy with that, certainly.”
#AmeriCupW @jamiegracescottSmooth as silk. @CanBball pic.twitter.com/YudQ5dbUan
— FIBA Women's AmeriCup (@americupw) June 17, 2021
Six different Canadian players hit a three on Thursday and every player on the roster, with the exception of more traditional bigs Kayla Alexander and Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, attempted at least one three-pointer.
As has been noted before over the course of this tournament, Thomaidis and her staff have been hard at work trying to implement a new, more modern offensive system into the team in time for the Olympic Games.
Given the relatively weak competition Canada has seen so far, though, with world-ranked No. 15 Brazil by far the team’s toughest test of the tournament to date, it’s a little difficult to tell just how effective this new offence Canada is working on has been as most games Canada’s been in have been over within the first five minutes of the opening period.
However, looking at Canada’s overall team statistics during the tournament you can get a clear picture of just how good Canada has been offensively, and where the team likely needs to improve.
Through five games played at the AmeriCup thus far, Canada has been undefeated and the most offensively efficient team in the tournament, averaging 86.8 points per game while shooting 47.3 per cent from the field and 41.4 per cent from three-point range.
That mark from three-point range is by far the best of any team in the tournament and is all the more impressive when you consider the fact Canada has been taking the second-most triples per game during the event.
Additionally, the 47.3 per cent from the field that Canada is shooting also tops the tournament so far.
#AmeriCupW @jamiegracescott catch-and-shoot@CanBball pic.twitter.com/0079UbAGj7
— FIBA Women's AmeriCup (@americupw) June 17, 2021
But while Canada’s been remarkably efficient so far, the team is probably turning the ball over more than it would like, averaging 15.2 giveaways per game. This is something that hasn’t come back to bite Canada yet — and likely won’t in this tournament given how much more talented Canada is than the rest of the field — but as it progresses through the summer, taking on better competition leading up and into the Olympics, the Canadians can ill afford to give the ball away that much.
Overall, though, this new and improved offence looks to be going right on track to become a modern-day three-point heavy attack that wants to get out in transition, move the ball all over and find open cutters.
Yes, turnovers have been a problem, but that’s likely more a result of rust that the team is still trying to shake off.
Over Canada’s last two games it has turned the ball over just 11 and 12 times, respectively, with the team looking crisper and crisper on the offensive end on almost every subsequent possession.
Thursday’s game wasn’t Canada’s highest scoring of the tournament, but it was still probably the team’s best outing offensively. As noted before, the team shot lights out from three-point range, and that was mainly because of the concerted effort the team made to move the ball around, as evidenced by the 25 assists the team recorded on 35 made field goals.
Another reason why Canada was as deadly from deep as it was on Thursday was because the team found a way to get into the paint before looking for open shooters after the Dominican Republic’s defence collapsed. This is proof of a process that is working and bodes well for Canada’s future prospects, particularly because this new offence opens up a lot more for the entire team, as every player except Merissah Russell scored for Canada on Thursday.
“Sharing the ball, getting good ball movement, lots of different people touching it and then taking advantage when [they] close out,” said Thomaidis. “They were playing a lot of zone today, a lot of wide-open looks for our shooters. And credit to them, they were knocking them down, and credit to the team for finding them. We’re really emphasizing those wide-open shots. Those are the ones that we value the highest. So it’s a matter of us finding them and generating them and I thought we did a good job of that today.”
Though it came against a severely mismatched Dominican Republic side, it’s clear that Canada’s new offence is coming together.
There are a few kinks to work out, but the foundation appears to be there and it’s making an already fearsome team that much scarier.
