Andrew Wiggins Says Canada’s Loss To Venezuela Is The Worst Of His Career

It was all going so well for Canada.

Andrew Wiggins was scoring with ease from all over the court, Nik Stauskas and Brady Heslip were making it rain from deep, and Kelly Olynyk and Anthony Bennett were dominating the paint with rare finesse and power. But that was during group play in Mexico City, before the lights shined brightest on the youngest – and certainly most talented – team of the FIBA Americas field. The tournament’s Semifinals proved a much, much different story.

With an automatic bid to next summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on the line, the Canadians played their worst game of the summer, falling to heavy underdog and eventual champion Venezuela by the score of  79-78. Fortunately for Canada, though, its time in Mexico ended on the high-note of a game-winning shot by Corey Joseph in the ensuing consolation contest.

After narrowly winning third-place, though, Wiggins – who managed just nine points on 11 shots and had four turnovers in the Semifinals – was still clearly consumed by the heartbreaking setback to Venezuela. Here’s the 20-year-old courtesy of TSN’s Josh Lewenberg:

“This game won’t make up for it,” said Wiggins, who called Friday’s loss the worst of his young career. “We’re a day late in how we played today. It’s hard. It hurts. Everyone on the team is still hurting but we have another chance [to qualify for the Olympics] and we have to prepared for it.”

The Canadians beat Venezuela 82-62 just eight days before their loss on Friday night. They committed a tournament-high 17 turnovers in their rematch with the Venezuelans, and shot 5-of-17 from three-point range. Wiggins and Joseph, arguably Canada’s two most accomplished NBA players, combined for 14 points on 5-of-19 shooting.

Wiggins isn’t being dramatic, basically – this was a horrible loss for he and his team, one that all but completely nullifies the immense promise gleaned from their previous two weeks of play. But it’s also not the end of Canada’s Olympic hopes, either. Steve Nash’s squad will compete against a host of quality sides in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament next summer, with three final berths to Rio up for grabs.

It won’t be easy for Canada, and that’s assuming Nash can convince his top talent to participate. If some of our northern neighbor’s NBA players opt against playing in the qualifiers, their Rio chances will be done before the tournament even begins.

Fortunately for the Canadians, though, it seems like their cast of youngsters will be stung by the shocking loss to Venezuela for quite some time. And if Wiggins’ words and obvious on-court potential are any indication, disappointment of today could be what leads Canada to triumph of tomorrow.

[Via TSN] [h/t/ Pro Basketball Talk]

×