Olynyk, Canada lose to Croatia; Kazakhstan up next

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Canada lost to Croatia today and now needs a victory in the worst way at the FIBA U19 World men’s basketball championship being held in Auckland, New Zealand.
Team Canada, including Kelly Olynyk of Kamloops, finished the first round in third place in Group D, thanks to a 1-2 record. The top three teams in each of four four-team groups advanced, taking their records with them.
Canada now is in Group F, along with Croatia (4-0), Argentina (3-1), Australia (3-0), Spain (2-2) and Kazakhstan (1-2) — a victory is worth two points with a team getting one point for a loss.
The top four teams in the group will move on to the playoff round, with the other two falling into the classification round for ninth to 12th place.
The Canadians opened the second round with the loss to Croatia, and will play Kazakhstan next, followed by Argentina.
In the other Group F game today, Argentina beat Spain, 92-75.
“Croatia swept Group D and was looking really strong,” Olynyk wrote in his daily note to The Daily News. “They’re a tall, long and skilled team that was going to give us a tough game, no matter what.”
Croatia, led by guard Toni Prostran and centre Mario Delas, did just that, especially with Canada starting slowly.
“We came out a bit flat and found ourselves down (43-31) after the first half,” Olynyk wrote. “Their point guard and a forward who is leading the tournament in scoring went off in the first half, combining for 36 of their 43 points.”
That would be Prostran, who finished with 29 points, and Delas, who added 26, raising his tournament-leading scoring average to 25 points.
“In the second half we came out really strong and contained them well, opening up a four-point lead going into the fourth quarter,” Olynyk added. “The fourth quarter was a battle. One of their role players and shooters hit three straight three-pointers to put them ahead.”
Dino Butorac came off the bench and dropped three bombs on the Canadians in a span of 1:59 as Croatia went from trailing by one to leading by seven.
“I finished the game with eight points and six rebounds, fouling out late in the fourth,” Olynyk continued.
Canada had lost the final game of the first round, 82-75, to Spain on Saturday.
“The Spain game was a tough one,” Olynyk wrote. “They are all skilled players and they happened to shoot the ball really well that day. They made some tough shots early and down the stretch that hurt us.
“We were down for the first three quarters then fought back to take the lead in the fourth. I think the push took a lot of our energy and they made it happen in the end.”
Olynyk had 10 points and 13 rebounds in the loss.
Between Spain and Croatia, Canada did have a day off.
“We practised and did a bit of sight-seeing,” Olynyk wrote. “We went to ASB Showgrounds which is a convention centre set up with various booths with art, food and merchandise.
“We then toured around, stopping at various places like Mission Bay and Mt. Edna, one of New Zealand’s many dormant volcanoes.”
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com