RJ Barrett was a stud
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the unquestioned leader of this team, but RJ Barrett has the deepest connections to Canadian basketball, grew up in the system and was the team's best player on Saturday night. It was a fitting full-circle moment with his father Rowan present cheering him on.
Barrett led Team Canada with 23 points, shooting 8-for-13 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. He opened the scoring for the team with a lefty layup in the teeth of Greece's defense, then had the closing remarks with a triumphant dunk in the final seconds.
The Greek team had no answers for Barrett, who was relentless in attacking the paint. He had a ferocious dunk off of a handoff, driving right into the paint with Greece helpless to stop him. He later drove baseline and pumped the Greek defenders out of position before laying it in. One of the weaknesses in Olympic basketball is a lack of athletic wings, and part of the reaosn why Canada has risen so highly is they have a player like Barrett who can make a significant impact against teams ill-equipped to stop him.
The entire bench was a colossal dud
Rather than single out every player on the Canadien bench, we will simply highlight the group as a whole: they were truly awful.
As a group, the six players who played off the bench (Melvin Ejim never made it into the game) scored just 14 points, shooting just 4-for-20 from the field and an embarrassing 0-for-10 from deep. They had eight turnovers to just five assists, and they were not compensating with elite defense.
Andrew Nembhard scored two points but had four turnovers. Trey Lyles had the worst turnover of the night with a minute to go, allowing Greece to close to within two points. Nickeil Alexander-Walker went 0-for-5 for 0 points (zero everything - all he recorded in the box score were missed shots). Kelly Olynyk went 1-for-6. We already discussed Murray's poor night.
The starters were good enough for Canada to win this game, but if they are going to advance in the knockout rounds they will need a well-rounded effort from their bench and starters. That didn't happen on Saturday, and it nearly cost them the game.
Canada's next game is Tuesday, July 30th at 7:30 AM ET.