Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dillon BrooksThe two most crucial players in Canada’s victory over Spain, 85-88, explained last Sunday that the Canadian team now aims to win gold at the 2023 Basketball World Cup. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Canada’s top scorer with 30 points, declared after the game against Spain that the aim now is to become world champions. “We want to go to the Olympics, and we want gold in this championship,” said the Oklahoma City Thunder point guard. The win over Spain means Canada qualifies for the quarterfinals, where they meet Slovenia on Wednesday. Brooks, who finished the game with 22 points (nine points from three, 100% shot rate), expressed a similar sentiment. The Houston Rockets player warned that although the competition qualified for the Olympics, which is the main goal of the Canadians, by reaching the quarterfinals, the competition is not over yet.
“We are now traveling to the Philippines. We want to win gold. We want to make history,” he continued. The Canadians’ second-highest scorer after Gilgeous-Alexander explained that the Canadian side managed to prevail amid casualties after trailing Spain by 12 points at the start of the fourth period. “The team sacrificed themselves, which we didn’t manage to do in the last game (against Brazil),” he said. For his part, RJ Barrett, who scored 16 points, explained that the win against Spain was “a team effort”. “We are resilient. After losing the previous game, we fought together and were strong. We were down by 12 in the fourth quarter, even though we beat that team a couple of weeks ago. They had the energy, but we held on, and we made it. Canada is now confronting Luka Doncic’s Slovenia in the fight for the medals.
Date and Time
The World Cup semi-final match between Canada and Slovenia will be played this Wednesday, September 6th, at 2.30 p.m. in Spain at the Manila Araneta Coliseum (Quezon, Philippines).
How and where to watch on TV
The game can be seen on TVE’s La2, RTVE Play, and Gol Mundial.
