By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
MANILA, Philippines – How do you understand that a team is totally on the same page? In Canada’s case, it was too easy.
Kelly Olynyk and Lu Dort gave practically the same answer when they were asked pretty much the same question.
What’s the goal of Canada now that the team is preparing for the semifinal game against Serbia?
“Our first goal was to qualify for the Olympics and our second goal is really to win this tournament and we really have a good chance”, said Dort, doubling down on what Olynyk said.
“We accomplished the first goal and the second is to win a medal, ultimately the gold”, he stated, which at this point is obvious but for many years, despite Canada’s NBA talent, it wasn’t.
That’s why there were no crazy celebrations after beating Slovenia. “Yeah, 100 percent”, Olynyk admitted. “That was never our goal to make the semis. So for us, it’s about tomorrow and then the next one. We’re focused, we’re driven, we have a goal in sight and in mind, and that’s what we’re shooting for right now. We’re kind of putting on the blinders and our head down, just pushing to the finish until then”.
Speaking about his matchup with Bogdan Bogdanovic, Dort added: “He’s a great shooter, I played against him a couple times too in the NBA, he’s a good player. So just me and Dillon Brooks, we know what we got to do, we got to take the task seriously”.
Speaking about defense and the FIBA rules, Dort as a defensive specialist added his two cents: “I mean, it’s different. It’s not one that I like better, at the end of the day it’s basketball, and there are different rules. It’s just a thing that we got to get adjusted to, but at the end of the day we’re all playing basketball, so no matter what rule it is or what refereeing it is, we’re just going to come out here and play”.
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On a personal level, he is going to have bragging rights against Aleksej Pokusevski and Vasilje Micic in OKC, if he beats Serbia: “I haven’t talked to Poku yet. I’m going to wait until after the game to talk to him, but it’s sad that he was going through an injury that he couldn’t play for the team, but hopefully he’ll be watching the game”.