Preview: Canada Look to Reclaim Pan Am Games Gold Medal
Four years ago, Canada scored one of their most famous victories in their history - defeating the USA in the final of the Pan American Games to claim their first gold medal in front of ecstatic home crowds at the Ryerson Athletic Centre in Toronto.
This week, the nation will watch and wait to see if the team can reclaim the women's basketball gold at the 2019 games being held in Lima, Peru.
With the team's biggest-name players absent, the roster for Lima is an interesting combination of professional players with wide-reaching international experience and some of the country’s most visible college talent.
The younger contingent - Hailey Brown (Michigan Wolverienes), Hanna Hall (Buffalo Bulls), Alyssa Jerome (Stanford Cardinal), Aislinn Konig (NC State Wolfpack), Shaina Pellington (Oklahoma Sooners) - have all competed for Canada at junior level, but this will be their first taste of first-team competition. They have proved, though, on a national and domestic level they are all highly capable of competing when the pressure is on.
Also on the squad, Jamie Scott and Ruth Hamblin both know what it takes to go all the way in international competition, both being part of the team that won gold at the 2017 AmeriCup.
This experience will be vital to the team, as will that of their remaining professional players; Cassandra Brown, Sami Hill, Alex Kiss-Rusk, Ceejay Nofuente and Emily Potter.
"This has been on my sights for many months now as a possibility while working through my rehab. It feels great to actually be chosen," Emily Potter tells us here at TTN. "It will be almost a year to the day from the last time I played an official basketball game, but I am so excited for the experience as a whole and to play for Canada at a multi sport event, which will be my first."
Teams in the competition will play in two groups of four, the top two in each advancing to the medal round. Group A will see juggernauts the USA face Argentina, Virgin Islands and Colombia, while Canada find themselves facing trickier opponents in Group B.
In recent years, Brazil have not been on the same elite form they have been in the past, but with a full-strength roster for the games - including the recognisable names of Erika De Souza and Clarissa Dos Santos - they definitely should not be an early write-off.
Puerto Rico come into the Pan Am Games hot off the heels of their FIBA World Cup debut, with newfound belief and a drive to improve their standings in the international game. Their roster features Jazmon Gwathmey and Jennifer O’Neill, who boast both experience in both the WNBA and top-flight European basketball, as well as Islays Quinones from Dartmouth Big Green in the NCAA.
Debutants Paraguay turned heads at the last AmeriCup, only just missing out on the medal round. Playing a big part in their boom was Paola Ferrari, who had the highest scoring average of any player in the tournament. In addition, Maria Caraves proved highly effective on both ends of the court.
While it looks like a tough field, knowing their opponents' big hitters in advance may be an advantage to Canada's game plan - containing the players who are likely to pose the biggest threat could be the key to navigating through a tough first phase of competition.
In addition to being the returning champions, the team are the only Canadian contingent in this year's Pan Am tournament, the only hope of bringing a basketball medal back to Canada. However, they don't seem to be feeling any of the weight of expectation: "I don’t feel any pressure right now to win," says Potter, "just to take it day by day to ensure that we try to reach our potential as a team, wherever that lands us."
Check back here for updates on their progress in the Pan Am Games, while the full details can be found on the official website of Lima 2019.
Picture: FIBA.com
