Canada upset by Brazil in physical loss to open men’s GLOBL JAM campaign

TORONTO — One of the consequences of a condensed, five-day tournament like GLOBL JAM is that the preparation is equally as swift, giving those involved little time to dive into the intricacies of a given roster.

A concern Canadian men’s under-23 head coach Dave Smart made clear leading into the showcase event.

“(It) worries me in that we don’t have a lot of time to evaluate our toughness level,” the men’s bench boss told Sportsnet a day before action began. “And our fight level, it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen when you get punched in the mouth. That’s my biggest worry.”

Well, Smart got some answers on Wednesday, and unfortunately for his team and the crowd in attendance at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, they came in the form of a tournament-opening 85-78 loss to Brazil.

Xaivian Lee led Canada’s effort as the guard finished with team-highs of 16 points and nine assists to go with six rebounds in 31 minutes of action. Aden Holloway, in his debut with Canada Basketball, was right behind with 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc, while captain Vasean Allette rounded out the red-and-white’s double-digit scoring performances with 11 points on a less-than-ideal 5-of-17 showing from the field.

Ultimately, it was Brazil’s aggression that proved to be the difference maker as the visitors committed to a rim-pressure game plan and capitalized early, both at the basket and the charity stripe. The Brazilians carved out a plus-10 edge on paint points and nailed 13 free throws while attempting twice as many as the Canadians through the first half. They flipped a 14-5 deficit to start the game into a surprising, yet modest, one-point lead after the opening frame, and then into a 43-36 advantage at the break.

“It’s a tough team to play against, they’re physical, they attack a lot at the rim and they’re smart in terms of getting themselves to the foul line, and we just didn’t do a great job defensively,” Smart said following the loss in his anticipated return to the Canadian sidelines.

Brazil finished the game 21-of-30 from the charity stripe, while Canada marginally caught up at 15-of-23.

“Because we’re inexperienced together, we’re kind of a half-step late in most places, so you put yourself in foul situations,” Smart explained. “But then some of the foul trouble was just, you know, being aggressive at times that we didn’t need to be aggressive and not being aggressive when we needed to be aggressive.”

Meanwhile, another catalyst for Canada’s problems was Nathan Mariano, already a member of Brazil’s senior men’s team at age 21. The brolic six-foot-seven youngster finished with 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and five blocks after he finished the first half with 16 points on just one miss and two made threes.

Canada, on the other hand, converted at 33.3 per cent from the field and 22.2 per cent from distance as the trio of Allette, Lee and Boakye led the way with six points apiece.

“Offensively, we weren’t great, but we were pretty good considering the limited time in camp,” Smart added after Canada finished the game with splits of 34.2/32.4/65.2 from the field, distance and free throw line.

Entering the night, the pairing of Allette and Lee was touted as pivotal for the red-and-whites’ success by Smart, and although it was their defence the coach had concerns over, it was the duo’s offensive struggles early on Wednesday that stuck out as they combined to shoot 5-of-16 from the field at the half.

And although Lee seemed determined to change that trend coming out of the break as the guard — who prepares to join the national champion Florida Gators in the fall after transferring from Princeton — chipped in eight points on 3-of-4 shooting in the third. An effort punctuated with a tough and-one finish that not only helped cut Canada’s deficit as low as five points in the frame, but also had the local crowd the loudest it had been since tip-off.

Yet when it appeared that Canada had finally thrown a meaningful punch back, Brazil swiftly responded with a counter jab in the form of a Mariano triple at the third quarter buzzer to put his squad up 60-52. The leading scorer finished 3-of-6 from beyond the arc to go with an already impressive 7-of-9 showing from two-point range.

The finishing blow followed soon after, when Canada had cut the deficit to just three points thanks to an eight-point fourth-quarter from Holloway, but saw that momentum wiped away due to a Michael Nwoko unsportsmanlike foul while attempting to box out at the free throw line. The moment was indicative of Canada’s struggles on the night, as Brazil took advantage and held on for a statement win against the GLOBL JAM host.

“I mean, we just have to be better,” Smart said. “And it’s a tough team, because they shot so many foul shots that it gets to a point where, you know, at first we trusted our help in the back row and then, with a lack of time (together) you don’t trust when things get tense. So it’s just a learning experience.”

Both squads return on Thursday, starting with Brazil taking on Japan (0-1) at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT.

Canada, meanwhile, will match up against Georgetown (1-0), presumably needing a win to keep its hopes of advancing to the gold medal game on Sunday alive. The Hoyas, representing the USA, opened their GLOBL JAM schedule with an emphatic 35-point win over Japan on Wednesday. Tip-off between the North American opponents is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.