Canada opts to enter tough pool at draw for FIBA Americas Women's Championship in August
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EDMONTONEight teams had already been slotted during the 2015 FIBA Americas Women’s Championship draw ceremony at City Hall on Tuesday.
In Group A resided Chile, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
Group B comprised Argentina, Ecuador, Venezuela, and the Virgin Islands.
All that remained were Brazil and Canada, and the host got to pick its group.
A murmur of “B”s could be heard in the audience. It certainly appeared the easier of the groups, from which the top two teams in each will crossover to play one another in the semifinals.
At the podium, Denise Dignard informed a FIBA official of the Canadians’ decision.
“A.”
Eh?
“We wanted to be on the same side as Cuba,” explained Dignard, director of women’s high performance for Canada Basketball. “We get to play them in the prelim round so as to avoid them in the semis, and then go from there.”
And with that, the field was set and the home team had made its first strategic move for the Olympic qualifying tournament, which will be contested at the Saville Community Sports Centre, Aug 9 to 16.
“We put lots of thought into it, that’s for sure,” Canadian coach Lsia Thomaidis said. “We figured that was our best way to go. Certainly when you look at the draw, it looks like there are a lot of tougher teams in that pool so we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
The tournament winner automatically secures a spot at the Rio 2016 games, while the other three semifinalists gain entry to a last-chance qualifier in June 2016. The top team in the Americas region, the United States, has already punched its Olympic ticket by virtue of capturing the 2014 World Championship.
Hopes are high for the surging Canadians, who are ranked third in Americas, behind only the United States and Brazil. The host nation effectively created a ‘Group of Death’ by joining Group A, which also features the fourth (Cuba), sixth (Chile) and seventh (Puerto Rico) ranked teams in the region.
“Those teams are all quality teams, so that’s part of it,” said Thomaidis. “We want to play tough teams throughout the tournament, we don’t want to have an easy schedule where all of a sudden you get surprised by a tough team in the semifinal.
“We’re going to be very well prepared. We played a lot of those teams (at 2013 Americas), so we’ll be ready for anything that any team throws at us.”
At the regional championship two years ago, which served as a qualifier for the 2014 World Championship, Canada lost to Cuba in the gold medal game.
As host in 2015, the Canadians also had the right on Tuesday to decide who they play in their final game of the preliminary round. Their choice?
Cuba.
“When you figure they’re probably going to be the toughest team in that pool, we wanted to have them on the last day,” Thomaidis said. “We play them heading into semifinals so it kind of works nicely in terms of the lead-up of the most important games of the tournament.”
A full schedule will be announced in the next few weeks. Team Canada, which is also competing this summer at the Pan-Am Games in Toronto, will begin training camp at the SCSC in May.
HOMETOWN FLAVOUR
It seems a pretty safe bet that there will be at least two hometown favourites when Canada competes in the 2015 FIBA Americas Women’s Championship at the Saville Community Sports Centre in August.
After their stellar play at the 2014 World Championship and now as pro rookies in Romania and France, respectively, 22-year-old twins Katherine and Michelle Plouffe’s spot on the Canadian roster is theirs to lose.
But over the last few months another Edmontonian has played her way onto the radar of Canadian Lisa Thomaidis, and a spot in training camp at the SCSC in May is almost certain to follow.
Following a standout two years at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas, Adut Bulgak is having a monstrous first season with the Florida State Seminoles. The 22-year-old junior centre, who is averaging 13 points and 10 rebounds a game, was named to the All-ACC First Team on Tuesday, just hours before the draw for the 2015 Americas tournament was held in Edmonton.
“She’s had a fantastic year at Florida State, so we’re looking forward to bringing her in, we want to be able to evaluate her and see where she’d fit in and where her skill set is at,” said Thomaidis.
Bulgak, who last played in her hometown in 2011 when she was a Grade 12 student at Archbishop O’Leary high school, was not invited to the senior women’s training camp last year, although she did play five games with the development women’s national team.
While a spot on the latter roster is most realistic again this summer, Thomaidis isn’t counting her out challenging for a spot on the top team. If not this year, certainly in those that follow.
“We appreciate the skill set she has,” Thomaidis said. “She’s a phenomenal rebounder and a phenomenal athlete so we want to see where she’s going to fit in and how she’s going to challenge for a spot, for sure.”
Brian.swane@sunmedia.ca
@SunBrianSwane
