By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber
PARIS (Reuters) – Canada’s players said the lack of urgency in the first quarter of their men’s basketball quarter-final game against France at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday was to blame for their elimination.
Canada were dominated by an explosive French team supported by a delirious home crowd at Bercy Arena in the first quarter, where France took a 13-point lead.
Although they narrowed the points gap in the second quarter and even dominated the third, the Canadian men — who last played at the Olympics at Sydney 2000 — struggled to get back into the game and lost 82-73.
“I think it was just the start, the urgency, the aggressiveness and the paying attention to details. It obviously put us in a hole,” said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder who recorded 27 points in Tuesday’s quarter-final.
“I think we won the rest of the game after the start. But when you start like that, it’s hard to play against any team.”
Guard Dort Luguentz, Gilgeous-Alexander’s teammate in the NBA, agreed.
“It was very difficult to get back into the game when they start so well like that,” Dort said. “We did everything to get back in the game, but we weren’t able to.”
Guard Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets said Canada missed some key shots that could have helped them remain in the game.
“We were able to make it within, I think a five-point game a few times. It never really got over that hump,” Murray said.
“They played a great game and we missed some shots down the stretch to kind of put a knife in the coffin.”
France will play Germany in the semi-finals on Thursday.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, Steve Keating and Vincent Daheron; Editing by Toby Davis)
