As we head into the Second Round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers, Canada has been one of the outstanding teams in the Americas region. They have achieved a 5-1 record, which puts them alongside USA, Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela as the joint-leaders by record across the Americas groups.

The only loss for Canada came against the Dominican Republic, in a matchup of the top two teams from their qualifying group in the First Round. In the third window, Canadian fans were treated to flashes of what a full strength Canadian side might look like and the Canadian team will look to keep this momentum heading into the fourth window .

Stats Breakdown

Highlighting how finely tuned the Canadian offensive machine has been, Canada has been a statistical juggernaut in the Americas qualifying region:

1st - Points scored
1st - Field goal percentage
1st - Rebounds
1st - Three point shots made
1st - Assists per game
3rd - Three point shooting percentage

Key Players

Window 3 saw many of Canada’s biggest names including Cory Joseph, Kelly Olynyk, Dwight Powell and Dillon Brooks represent their country. It also saw a notable debut to the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers for Duke University’s RJ Barrett, who delivered two outstanding performances, averaging 13.5 points per game and shooting over 50% from the field.

Melvin Ejim and Phil Scrubb have led the team in scoring across the qualifying campaign to date, each averaging 14.8 points per game. Ejim in particular has also been incredibly efficient, shooting more than 70% from both two point and three point range, as well as from the free throw line.

Complementing this offensive production, Brady Heslip has been electric from beyond the perimeter, leading the Americas Qualifiers with 21 made three point shots. Kelly Olynyk has been Canada’s most effective rebounder, averaging 7 per game in the two games he’s played. The introduction of Corey Joseph for Window 3 also brought a new dimension to how the team created offense, averaging 7 assists per game across his two appearances. There will be interest surrounding Tristan Thompson joining the Canadian squad in window 4, and how he combines with the established contributors.

Next Games

The start of the Second Round will see Canada take on Brazil at home, and the team will then travel to Chile to play a road game.

Brazil (FIBA World Rank 11)

Brazil will prove a tough matchup, equalling Canada’s 5-1 record. Their only loss came at the hands of Venezuela, who were able to hold them to just 56 points. Besides that one blemish, Brazil have been formidable. Critical to this success has been Anderson Varejao, who has been a huge presence in the paint for Brazil and has been the team’s leading scorer (12.5 points per game) and is the third leading rebounder in all of the Americas qualifying (9 rebounds per game). He has also been the only player in the Americas qualifying region to have three “double double” games.

While Brazil is the higher ranked team according to the FIBA World Ranking present by Nike, Canada has arguably been the more impressive team in the qualifying games played so far. When we look at how the teams match up (based on the stats of qualifying games played) Canada looks to have several key advantages. A key fact to note however is that Brazil has held opponents to 10 points per game fewer than Canada.

This should be a close match up between two teams that have been dominant in their games so far and it will be fascinating to see how this game plays out on the hardwood.

Chile (FIBA World Rank 82)

Canada will be heavy favourites in their second game of the window, coming up against Chile, who have a 1-5 record coming into the second round. Their lone win came in a narrow victory against Colombia. It’s also notable that Chile have lost twice in the Qualifiers to Canada’s first opponent of the window, Brazil.

Chile’s outstanding performer has been Sebastian Suarez, who is leading the team in scoring with 13.8 points per game and has had two 20 point games in qualifying. Having shot 15/29 (52%) from beyond the three point line, Suarez will be the player to watch from Chile.

FIBA