Canada had the toughest group in the opening round of men’s basketball at the Paris Olympics and now they will have the toughest path to a medal.
Canada will play France in the first round of the playoffs with a berth to the semifinals on the line. If Canada advances, they would play the winner of Germany-Greece in the semifinals.
Then if Canada survives that, they would likely take on the United States in the final, barring a major upset:
The Bracket for the Olympic Men’s basketball tournament is here.
Canada on the opposite side as the US.
Will have to get through France + Winner of Germany/Greece to get to the Gold Medal game. pic.twitter.com/v1E1Vnr15M
— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) August 3, 2024
Canada won Group A and finished 3-0 with a plus-20 point differential. This placed them as the third seed in the playoffs behind No. 1 seeded United States and No. 2 seeded Germany who finished plus-47.
Serbia beat South Sudan on Saturday afternoon which allowed Serbia to clinch the No. 4 seed. France finished with the No. 5 seed, followed by Australia, Brazil and Greece.
Since teams in the same opening group are not allowed to play in the opening round of the playoffs, Canada wasn’t allowed to play the lower-seeded Australian team. Therefore, they are forced to take on France, which will be a tough challenge.
Canada will have to get by France, potentially Germany and the United States if they want to win the gold medal. If Canada gets passed France they will at least be in the running for the bronze.
Canada had many tough tests to get to this spot, but if the Canadians want to finish 6-0 and get the gold they will truly have to earn it.
Former Raptor Bruno Caboclo goes off for Brazil
Brazil had a slim chance of making it out of group play, but Bruno Caboclo’s performance secured them a spot in the quarterfinals.
He put up 33 points on 13-for-19 shooting from the field along with 17 rebounds in Brazil’s 102-84 win over Japan.
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