Team Canada falls to Team USA in first Olympic look at Brooklyn Nets Coach Jordi Fernández

Jordi Fernández coached a basketball game for the first time tonight as Brooklyn Nets head coach. No, it didn’t take place on an NBA stage. No, he didn’t even coach the Nets, but it was our first look at him in a competitive basketball setting since he updated his résumé with that title.

His opponent? Just LeBron James, Anthony Edwards, Steph Curry, and the rest of the NBA Avengers. Fernández came to the bout with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, and Dwight Powell, who made up his starting five. Not too shabby — but certainly not a blockbuster film cast.

But luckily for Fernández and company, tonight’s affair took place in Vegas rather than Hollywood. Sin City’s hot sands welcomed the boys from the Great White North early on, as Team Canada jetted out to an 11-1 lead to open the game. It took over four minutes for Team USA to notch its first field goal — a long-range missile from Curry.

Team USA frequently settled for outside shots early on which Team Canada was happy to surrender given their notable size disadvantage. Stingy defense at the top of the key eagerly provided by SGA and Brooks helped force seven first period turnovers for Team USA as well, catapulting Team Canada to easy transition buckets and a first period 21-14 lead.

“I like the commitment and like I said the energy,” said Fernández of his team’s first period defense. “We got to keep showing our hands. We’re gonna have to keep showing our hands or we’re gonna get in foul trouble.”

The latter part of that quote would have been some useful advice for Joel Embiid, but more on that later.

As the first period bled into the second, Team USA seemed to recall its size and athleticism. Stiff rim protection at one end and inside pressure allowed red, white, and blue to carve out a 16-3 run to open the second frame.

Fernández wasted little time trying and halt the run, burning one timeout after an immediate Team USA burst that brought the score to 21-20 before blowing another after they seized a 28-23 lead. While Team USA kept the intensity up, Team Canada just managed to tread water before the scoreboard trickled down to halftime reflecting a 41-33 deficit.

Team Canada’s first half offense largely depended on Gilgeous-Alexander and Murray pick-and-roll actions. Bigs Dwight Powell and Kelly Olynyk initiated some sets with dribble hand-offs, perhaps giving us a preview of what Fernández hopes to accomplish with Claxton who’s shown a liking for such schemes.

Fernández also put Powell in the drop for much of the game. The Nets infamously did the same with Claxton to start last year before re-implementing the switch as a “break glass in case of emergency” option.

Powell being used in the drop tonight is no guarantee the Nets will do so with Claxton next year even despite both players being mobile bigs. Team Canada’s disadvantage on the glass, made evident by their -8 defensive rebounding differential, certainly played a factor in that strategic decision. Regardless, it remains something to keep an eye on given how fluid Brooklyn was with it last year.

Fernández also seemed to emphasize the importance of generating transition, or at least transition-like offense given Team Canada’s efforts to force turnovers (15). The team oftentimes darted up the court off the inbound following made USA baskets to catch defenders sleeping and simulate a fast break. That’s another tendency the Nets are familiar with, as they often sought out such opportunities to generate easy offense last year.

Both teams picked up the second half right where they left off — with Team Canada doing what they could fundamentally but Team USA imposing their will on the smaller opponent.

Team Canada did steer into the skid regarding their lacking physicality at one point in the third, drawing contact on Joel Embiid enough times to make him foul out roughly halfway through the third frame. Whether it was Fernández instructing his players to bait the former MVP or just Embiid unaccustomed to the international playing field yet, that’s undoubtedly something Nets fans would hope to see translate to the NBA stage.

With The Process out of the way, Team Canada stayed in Team USA’s rearview mirror as the game reached its later stages. They frequently generated buckets inside with slick off-ball cuts — another welcome sight for Brooklyn fans as the Nets wings often seemed glued to the perimeter last year either due to spacing issues or just lacking effort.

But eventually, the show that is Team USA basketball began to take form. Whether it was James blowing past defenders or Tatum putting them in the spin cycle, the stars and stripes generated easy buckets inside to stay in front. Anthony Edwards, had arguably the top highlight of the night, taking us into the final frame with a buzzer-beating triple.

Stifling defense delivered by Anthony Davis, who finished with four blocked shots to go with 10 points and 11 rebounds, made coming back a disheartening and rather impossible errand for Team Canada. Even Fernández recognized that, neglecting to play most of his starters down the stretch including leading scorers Barrett (12 PTS), Gilgeous-Alexander (10 PTS), and Brooks (10 PTS).

As Team Canada unloaded its bench and Team USA used the remaining minutes to work on their chemistry and timing, the two units coasted to the finish line where Team Canada fell by an 86-72 final score.

Next Up

Fernández and Team Canada will be back in action July 19 against France and reigning rookie of the year Victor Wembanyama. That contest will be another exhibition game before the Olympic group round begins on July 27.

• Box Score: Team USA 86, Team Canada 72 - USA Basketball
• USA Basketball tops Canada 86-72 in exhibition opener on the road to Paris Olympics - Tim Reynolds - AP
• The good, the bad and the ugly from Canada’s exhibition loss to Americans - Doug Smith - Toronto Star