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Canada's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Roster Named

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (July 3, 2016) - Canada Basketball has announced the 12-man roster that will compete in the 6-team Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT), tipping-off July 5th in Manila, Philippines.

"Our goal is to qualify for the Olympics," said Jay Triano, head coach. "We are focused on one practice at a time and one game at a time."

Canada went 4-1 in a European exhibition tournament, taking on China, Croatia, Italy and Puerto Rico. Cory Joseph (Toronto Raptors) and Joel Anthony (Detroit Pistons) joined the group for the June 29th win over Puerto Rico, and Tristan Thompson (Cleveland Cavaliers) met the team in Manila.

"We are facing some of the top teams at the qualifier and have prepared by completing a rigorous preparation schedule in Europe," said Steve Nash, general manager. "We have a tremendous opportunity to achieve an Olympic berth and our players and staff will be doing everything possible to achieve our goal of qualifying for Rio."

Canada will play in Group A taking on Turkey on July 5th and Senegal on July 6th at 6:30 a.m. ET, respectively. The Philippines, France and New Zealand will play in Group B. The top two teams from each group in the preliminary rounds will move on to the semi-final crossover games. The top two teams will then compete in the finals, with the champion qualifying for Rio. Full tournament schedule can be found here.

TSN will broadcast the tournament in Canada, broadcast schedule here.

A full list of athletes can be found below. For media requests please contact bwilliams@basketball.ca

TEAM CANADA OQT ROSTER

NAME

#

POSITION

HEIGHT

HOMETOWN

TEAM/SCHOOL

Shai Alexander

5

G

6'4

Hamilton, ON

Hamilton Heights Christian Academy

Joel Anthony

15

F

6'9

Montreal, QC

Detroit Pistons

Anthony Bennett

10

F

6'8

Toronto, ON

Toronto Raptors*

Khem Birch

9

F

6'9

Montreal, QC

Olympiakos

Melvin Ejim

7

F

6'6

Toronto, ON

Reyer Venezia

Tyler Ennis

11

G

6'2

Brampton, ON

Milwaukee Bucks

Brady Heslip

12

G

6'2

Burlington, ON

Pallacanestro Cantu*

Cory Joseph

6

G

6'3

Pickering, ON

Toronto Raptors

Levon Kendall    

14

F

6'10

Vancouver, BC

Movistar Estudiantes*

Philip Scrubb

4

G

6'3

Richmond, BC

Fraport Skyliners

Thomas Scrubb

8

G

6'6

Richmond, BC

Giessen 46ers

Tristan Thompson

13

C

6'9

Brampton, ON

Cleveland Cavaliers

*2015-16 Team

COACHING STAFF

NAME

ROLE

AFFILIATION

HOMETOWN

Jay Triano

Head Coach

Phoenix Suns

Toronto, ON

Dave  Smart

Assistant Coach

Carleton University

Ottawa, ON

Scott Morrison

Assistant Coach

Maine Red Claws

Morell, PE

Nathaniel Mitchell

Assistant Coach

Raptors 905

Toronto, ON

OQT SCHEDULE

DATE

EVENT

LOCATION

Tuesday, July 5

vs. Turkey @ 6:30 a.m. ET

Mall of Asia Arena - Manila, Philippines

Wednesday, July 6

vs. Senegal @ 6:30 a.m. ET

Saturday, July 9

Semi-Finals

Sunday, July 10

Finals


This is also available in French. Contact Bailey Williams below to get it.

For More Information & Media Requests, contact:
Bailey Williams, bwilliams@basketball.ca, 647.460.7976