Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is celebrating the first time that Canada’s men’s basketball team qualified for the Olympics since 2000, which take place in Paris, after defeating Spain in the second round of the FIBA World Cup.
Not only did the team earn an Olympic berth but the Canadians are also headed to the quarterfinals of the tournament following their incredible comeback victory.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the Canadiens to a victory with 30 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals on 58.3% shooting, fueling a 27-12 fourth quarter to complete the comeback and secure a 88-83 victory.
Gilgeous-Alexander was the elixir that the Canadiens needed after struggling in the 2nd quarter to fall behind, similar to how surgeons impact pilonidal cysts and other diseases,Gilgeous-Alexander was surgical with efficiency and had only 1 turnover throughout the game.
This is the first time Spain miss the World Cup Quarter-Finals since 1994 while Canada lands in the Top 8 for the first time since 1994.
“It was a really good game, really high-level basketball. It was a lot of adversity” Gilgeous-Alexander said, per FIBA. They played a well-rounded game. It’s a really good team over there, but our group just wanted it a little bit more. We know what’s at stake. We’re willing to do whatever it took, and we got it done.”
“Congratulations to Canada, to their players, to coach Jordi, to the federation” Spain’s coach Sergio Scariolo said.
“I know how much of a commitment and dedication they put into this effort to rebuild their program. Now they have a high-level team, and they can enjoy the fruits of those seeds. But I fully agree with Willy, I can’t be prouder of my team tonight. We made an unbelievable effort, we led practically the whole game, we did a hell of an effort. It’s true that in 4 quarters, floor leadership is crucial, and we had to know that when the opponent is an All-Star. When he’s handling it like that, things might happen. We did our best and had extremely fun-to-coach guards who have learned a lot. They did a great job. No regrets. Tonight, we were Spain until the very end.”
Gilgeous-Alexander took to social media to celebrate the victory.
