The Canadian Men's National Team resumes its' pursuit of a spot at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China.
With qualification within reach, Team Canada hits the road for two tough contest against Venezuela and Brazil respectively.
Former NBA Champion Joel Anthony and sharpshooter Brady Heslip headline the 12-man roster. Roy Rana will guide the ship as head coach and will be joined by assistant coaches Patrick Tatham, J.D. Jackson and Michael Meeks.
Canada's first test will come on Friday, November 30th at 5:15 p.m. against Venezuela in Caracas, Venezuela. The Canadians will be in tough against a Venezuelan squad who have won seven of the last 11 games against Canada in major FIBA competition.
Ball movement has been key for the Venezuelan side as they've assisted on 72.7% of their made field goals in the qualifiers — the highest rate amongst teams in the Americas.
Keeping Venezuela off the glass will be key for the Canadians as 6'8 power forward Nestor Colmenares has been dominant on the offensive glass throughout the qualification process grabbing a total of 30 offensive rebounds the highest among players in the Americas.
Efficient scoring has led the way for the Canadians, they've averaged a tournament-high 95.6 points per game on 51.3% from the field.
You can watch LIVE in Canada via DAZN the tweet below.
First place in Group F is on the line in Caracas.⁰⁰ Watch @CanBball (7-1) take on Venezuela (7-1) in #FIBAWC qualifying LIVE.👇#WeAreTeamCanada #ThisIsMyHouse https://t.co/I6QExfSacX
— DAZN CA (@DAZN_CA) November 30, 2018
How to watch
Date: Friday, November 30, 2018
Time: 5:15 p.m. ET
Location: Parque Miranda, Caracas, Venezuela
Watch: DAZN
Group E
Team | Games | Wins | Losses | +/- |
USA | 8 | 7 | 1 | 197 |
Argentina | 8 | 7 | 1 | 154 |
Puerto Rico | 8 | 5 | 3 | 24 |
Uruguay | 8 | 5 | 3 | -64 |
Mexico | 8 | 3 | 5 | -31 |
Panama | 8 | 3 | 5 | -48 |
Group F
Team | Games | Wins | Losses | +/- |
Canada | 8 | 7 | 1 | 184 |
Venezuela | 8 | 7 | 1 | 84 |
Brazil | 8 | 7 | 1 | 108 |
Dominican Republic | 8 | 5 | 3 | 70 |
Virgin Islands | 8 | 2 | 6 | -113 |
Chile | 8 | 1 | 7 | -125 |
A total of seven teams will qualify from the Americas region and will be apart of 32 teams total at the biggest edition of FIBA World Cup in China in 2019 (Aug. 31-Sept. 15, 2019).
The full schedule and team roster is below.
Team Canada FIBA Qualification schedule
Date | Game | Place |
November 30 | Canada @ Venezuela | Caracas, Venezuela |
December 3 | Canada @ Brazil | Sao Paulo, Brazil |
*All Team Canada basketball games can be watched live and on-demand on DAZN.