Canada dropped an 88-72 decision to a talented Argentine squad in Saturday's semifinal at the FIBA-Americas Olympic qualifying tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
"We didn't play well today, and they're better than us -- maybe one through 12," said Canadian coach Jay Triano. "They shared the ball, they all made shots, they can all post up, they can all score from different positions. That's a good basketball team."
Manu Ginobili, of the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, led Argentina with 26 points, while teammate Luis Scola added 18.
Canada's Shawn Swords, left, Steve Nash, and Greg Newton, right, sit on the bench in the fourth quarter during Canada's 88-72 loss to Argentina in the semi-final of the FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament.(AP Photo/Frank Rivera)
Argentina, silver medallists at last year's world championships, automatically qualified for Athens as did the United States, 87-71 winners over Puerto Rico in the second semifinal Saturday.
Canada will take on Puerto Rico in the third-place game Sunday for the final Olympic berth. Canada defeated Puerto Rico 89-79 in the preliminary round of the tournament.
"Puerto Rico is going to be just as tough playing in their own building and they've been focused on this third spot for some time just like we have," said Triano.
The Canadian squad, who had Friday off after an unenviable schedule of eight games in eight days, kept up with the sharp-shooting Argentineans in the first quarter of Saturday's game, but as the game progressed, the Canadians' exhaustion showed.
A three-pointer by Ginobili, who had five threes in the first half, made it 42-30, and another three by Ginobili got the lead up to 17 -- 51-34.
Ruben Wolkowyski's dunk early in the third quarter, followed by Andres Nocioni's turnaround jumper made it 67-40 and caused Triano to take a timeout.
The break didn't cool down the red-hot Argentineans, who continued to move the ball around with ease on offence, creating scoring opportunities at almost every possession.
Argentina led 75-44 after three quarters at which point Jay Triano decided to rest his starters.
"There is no perfect game, but I think we were extremely intelligent to read the Canadian defence and to perform as one on offence," Argentina coach Ruben Magnano said through a translator.
Argentina and the U.S. joined Serbia and Montenegro (world champion), Greece (host nation) and Angola (African champion) among teams that have qualified for Athens.
Toronto's Denham Brown, who plays at the University of Connecticut, was Canada's top scorer on Saturday with 13 points.
Steve Nash of Victoria, Canada's only NBAer at the tournament, had 12 points. The Dallas Mavericks point guard added four assists.
Rowan Barrett of Scarborough, Ont., Canada's top scorer throughout the tournament with an average of 23.5 points per game, had 10 points in a losing cause.
United States defeats Puerto Rico
In other action, the United States, playing without point guard Allen Iverson, topped hometown favourite Puerto Rico, 87-71.
Iverson sprained his right thumb Thursday night in a second-round game against Puerto Rico and will miss the remainder of the tournament.
Ray Allen led a well-balanced American attack with 15 points. Tim Duncan chipped in with 14 points, while Jermaine O'Neal had 14 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Sharif Fajardo was the top player for the Puerto Ricans with 14 points and seven rebounds. Carlos Arroyo had 12 points and five assists.
The Americans held a 49-37 edge at halftime.
The game didn't go without an altercation. Tracy McGrady of the U.S. and Eddie Casiano of Puerto Rico got involved in a brief taunting and shoving match at the end of the first half, but it was broken up before any players were ejected.
Puerto Rico had an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter and eventually pulled to 81-71 with just over four minutes left to play on a Arroyo layup, but Puerto Rico didn't score again.
"The game was getting out of hand and we lost our poise," U.S. coach Larry Brown said. "We're disappointed with the way things turned out, but we won and we're going to Greece and we have to finish this thing tomorrow."
with files from Canadian Press
