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PARIS — The mathematical equation is rather unusual and possibly troubling for Team Canada as it heads towards the playoff round in basketball.
Can a power forward who might be 6-foot-5 in height cover a jack-of-all-trades who might be 7-foot-5?
That’s the matchup coach Jordi Fernandez is talking about heading into the sudden-death game between Canada and France on Tuesday afternoon — the remarkable Dillon Brooks against the remarkable Victor Wembanyama — and that’s the opening serve in the quarterfinal match.
“We’re going to start with Dillon on Wemby and we’ll go from there,” Fernandez said. “Dillon is a very good defender He’s going to be up to the challenge. And he’s going to do it without fouling. And he’s going to set the tone for us with his physicality on the ball.”
Brooks has matched up against Wembanyama before, but never in a game of this much consequence. The winner advances to the final four and will be assured of playing in a medal game.
The loser is out of the medal hunt.
“It doesn’t get better than this at the Olympics,” Fernandez said. “Our guys need to be better (in some areas, including rebounding).
When asked what worries him the most heading into the playoff game, the coach said: “Their experience. Their size. They have a super player in Wemby. That’s enough to be concerned about.”
For his part, Brooks relishes the challenge of facing the basketball giant from the San Antonio Spurs. He’s been studying Wembayyama for some time now. “This is most important game for us,” Brooks said. “Wemby’s a great player, but I have to take the ball away from him.
“I’m going to have to surround him, be physical, keep the ball away from him. Make sure the shots he takes are tough shots.”
And he cant wait for the challenge rather than be intimidated by it.
“I can tell my boys (back home and in the NBA) that I was on the best player in the world and I stopped him,” Brooks said.
He can’t wait to have that conversation, when and if it comes.
The challenge for France is almost the opposite of that of the Canadians. How do the French, with big men like Wemby and Rudy Gobert up front, deal with a Canadian backcourt that should include Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray and Andrew Nembhard.
A big vs. small matchup, with the Canadians being the deeper team and probably with the better defenders.
“We have a lot of great players, I think that’s our strength,” Brooks said. “Our ultimate goal is to win gold.”
The Canadian team has had strong play — but not NBA MVP-like play — from Gilgeous-Alexander to date in the tournament. They’ve had strong play from Nembhard of the Indiana Pacers. They’ve had so-so play from Murray, who has a lot more to give and hasn’t given it yet.
“Our group has so much versatility that works in our favour,” Fernandez said.
“We’ll play the game that comes to us,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
He isn’t searching for a 30-point night. He’ll take what their giving and hopefully take advantage of that.
“They have two guys who are elite players,” he said. “I think we have a lot more than that. We’re going to have to see what the game brings and adjust accordingly. That’s our strength. We have lot of options.”
So far, Team Canada has benefitted from the scoring of Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett and Nembhard. They have gotten sharp defence from Brooks and Lu Dort at forward and have steady play from centre Dwight Powell, who will be the third-smallest player on the floor Tuesday.
What they haven’t gotten yet is much from Nickeil Alexander-Walker, a three-point shooter who hasn’t hit many shots. Or from veteran Kelly Olynyk, who was expected to be better. And from Trey Lyles, who has almost been invisible in the tournament.
“We’re going to need everybody from Shai to Kelly,” Brooks said.
The winner of the Canada-France game will play the winner of the Germany-Greece game. Team USA plays Brazil in their quarterfinal and Australia plays Serbia in the fourth playoff game.
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