TORONTO (August 8, 2023) -- The FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023 journey began for Canada’s Senior Men’s National Team with training camp in Toronto last week. An extended training camp roster of 18 players began preparation for the World Cup, as well as a series of exhibition games in Germany and Spain that will take place over the next six weeks.

After the announcement of Jordi Fernández as head coach, the week was the first time that Fernández has been able to be on the court with the players that will make up the program’s World Cup roster.

With a core group of athletes providing their commitment year after year, on-court familiarity is a big part of Canada’s plan for success.

“It’s really exciting,” Team Canada veteran Dwight Powell said. “It's awesome to see everybody show up, ready to work, egos aside. Everybody's locked in on the goal to win and compete for our country. It's a different energy when everybody shows up on that, with that mindset. You can feel it in the building.”

When the team steps onto the court in Jakarta in just over two weeks, Fernández knows that this group will be ready to seize the moment.

“One thing that is not any different between the NBA and FIBA is, in that fourth quarter, when the lights are on, those guys are going to perform. What makes me feel very good is that sometimes I’m going to have to help them and sometimes the best way to help them is to get out of the way.”

Though the team is just wrapped up training camp, defensive potential is already a key headline.

“If we don’t have the goal to be the best defensive team in the tournament – and if I’m not wrong that would be the best defensive team in the world — we would be selling ourselves short,” Fernández said.  “That’s how I feel. We are good enough. I’m not going to shy away from saying it. These guys are good enough on the defensive end to be No. 1 and that’s going to help us win games.”

Gilgeous-Alexander is ready for the challenge.

‍“Yeah, we're going to play fast,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Play hard. Play very tough defensively and play together offensively.”

When Fernández took over as head coach, he explained that Gilegous-Alexander had kept the team connected behind the scenes, through group chats and phone calls, a sign that the point guard’s leadership extends well beyond the basketball court.

“It’s cool because it doesn’t feel forced,” Fernández said of Gilgeous-Alexander’s leadership. “It comes natural.  I think the guys have that relationship where they know each other, they like each other. Shai always has a smile on his face.

“And we need to have a group that enjoys being together,” Fernández said. “They have fun working together. There has to be that level of happiness and fun and hanging out. That is important for us as an organization. We are going to do it right. We are going to compete and [the] guys will enjoy it so all those guys make it happen.”

Canada finished World Cup Americas Qualifiers with a FIBA-best 11-1 record. As the program gets down to the 12 players who will compete at the World Cup, Powell made it clear that the team appreciates the effort of everyone who has had a hand in helping Canada become the first team from the Americas to qualify for the World Cup.

“I think there are a lot of guys that contributed to us being here that deserve a lot of credit, who sacrificed their time and competed at a very high level and put us in an amazing position,” Powell said. “The commitment of the guys that are here, I think we all recognize not only the sacrifice we're making, the sacrifice they made. and I think we feel that and we owe it to the organization, to those guys, to ourselves, and to kind of the history that we've had of wanting to reach the goals we wanted to reach and not quite getting there. So there's a lot packed into all of this and hopefully we can translate it into competing and winning.”

Gilgeous-Alexander was phenomenal in FIBA Men's Basketball World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers action last July. With another NBA season under his belt with the Oklahoma City Thunder, he joined the Senior Men’s National Team this summer only months after being named to the All-NBA First-Team.

As the Hamilton native’s star power has continued to grow, the NBA All-Star remains passionate about being an inspiration for Canadians watching from home with their own passion for hoops.

“I think the country, where I come from, is the reason I’m the player I am today,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “With the opportunities that I got growing up and the coaches that helped me and the fans that were behind me and ultimately the city I grew up in, where I was raised, all of it goes back to being in Canada. And playing for the country, the nation, the fans, everyone that represents it and wears Canada on their chest, on their driver’s license, whatever it is, it’s an honour and it means a lot. And we all wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for it.”

While Fernández had singled out Gilgeous-Alexander’s leadership in his first days after being announced as head coach, GIlgeous-Alexander was quick to shift the conversation back to his teammates.

“We all wanna win,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “And that’s what we’re focused on. We all just wanna do whatever it takes to get the job done, that’s all we’re focused on and that’s one of the things we really wanna get done.”

So, what does the team believe it can accomplish as they prepare to kick off their World Cup journey?

“Anything we put our minds to,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We're for sure talented enough. It's just about us coming together, playing as a team, building camaraderie on and off the court. We'll be fine.”