Steve Nash opens up on the failure of the Canadian national team at FIBA Americas: NBA Update
Team Canada lost the race to the 2012 London Olympics for the third consecutive time after they lost to Panama in the last second-round game at FIBA Americas. This loss has left several questions on the grass root system of the Canadian basketball. Despite of having the requisite following for the game, the Canadian system has failed to produce players like NBA icon Steve Nash.
The 6 ft 3 in point guard of the Phoenix Suns has come a long way after joining NBA back in 1996, when he was picked up as 15th overall by his current franchise. Nash is also a Canadian and felt grieved at the loss of his national team. He was present at the Toronto’s stock exchange, where he opened the trading session by pressing the buzzer on Tuesday.
The swingman who has been the target of Canadian media’s guns after an unsuccessful campaign, also said, that if would have fit, he would have played for national team, had they contacted him.
On the occasion, Nash said, “I wanted to consider playing this summer. But the truth is I was rehabbing an injury all summer and couldn’t have played regardless.”
However, all said and done, for a player who is earning millions in NBA, playing for national side could have been a huge risk, in terms of health.
NBA players were a revelation in the 2011 FIBA Americas and at the end of the tunnel, the team -Argentina- with the most potent NBA cast won the tournament.
However, to put the blame solely on Steve Nash for the painful debacle will not be fair. In the same vein, Coach Leo Rautins, who resigned after the defeat to Panama is also not solely responsible. It is true that, there were times that the Canadians lost the plot in crunch situations and Rautins didn’t assert himself as well as he could have, but the fact remains that there is a dearth of not only star players in the Canadian outfit, but also of good role players.
The basketball system needs an upheaval at the grass root level and some incentive has to be there for the NBA players to play for the national side.
Still, there is plenty of time left in 2016 Games at Rio de Janeiro, which will be the next best task for team Canada after losing the chance this year. There is a lot of time to rebuild and instead of sharing blame; Canadian basketball should focus on restructuring.
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