Canada to face US in Australia as part of basketball World Cup preparations

TORONTO — The Canadian men’s basketball team will take on the United States in a World Cup warmup match this summer in Australia.

The announced match will take place Aug. 26 at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. It will cap Canada’s World Cup preparation schedule, which includes a game against Nigeria in Winnipeg, a pair of games against host Australia in Perth and two games against New Zealand in Sydney.

The Canada versus U.S. match will be the first meeting between the senior teams of the North American rivals since the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, where the U.S. downed Canada 113-63 in a preliminary-round game.

Canada’s talent pool has become a lot deeper in the 12 years since. Thirteen Canadians were on NBA rosters at the start of the 2018-19 season, and more talent is coming from the U.S. college ranks. Canada also has a solid contingent of European-based players that drove the team through the qualification process when the NBA-based players weren’t available.

“The USA has been the gold standard in FIBA basketball for several years so this will be a great opportunity for our program,” Canada general manager Rowan Barrett said in a release. “In addition, having the chance to play tough road games against Australia and New Zealand will be a valuable experience for our team on the road to the World Cup.”

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The Canadian Press