After going undefeated in the group stages, quarterfinals and semi-finals, Canada finally met their match, suffering a 118-36 loss to the USA in the finals of the FIBA U16 Americas. I wouldn’t put too much stock into this final loss as USA was just on a completely different level this year. In 6 games, the USA outscored opponents by 384 (!!!) points, good for an average margin of victory of 64. This was an all-time great U16 USA squad.
The important thing is Canada’s U16 team took care of business. They clinched a berth for the 2024 FIBA U17 World Cup in Turkey next summer. To be quite honest, the silver medal was a nice surprise, especially considering this Canadian U16 squad was not considered to be strong by most.
Stay tuned later this week as I’ll have a new edition of the Canadian Roundup with some of my notes on standout prospects. Until then, you can check out Hair Canada’s (who is truly the trusted source when it comes to evaluating Canadian talent) thoughts:
