Aside from the United States, Canada was the least experienced of the eight teams remaining in the quarterfinals of the FIBA World Cup. With a young roster composed of seven NBA players who, with the exception of Kelly Olynyk and Dwight Powell, have only played in a maximum of one tournament with the senior team, Canada entered Wednesday's matchup against Slovenia as an international underdog.
After all, Slovenia is the No. 7 ranked team in the world and returned nine of 12 players from the 2021 Olympics, where it placed fourth. Its lone NBA player, Luka Doncic, has played more international games than the majority of Canada’s NBA players combined, joining the senior team in 2016 when he was just 17 years old — not to mention playing FIBA rules in the Liga ACB with Real Madrid between 2015-18.