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Samuel Dalembert didn't show up at all. The rest of the Canadian national team showed up for only half of their game against Korea, but it was enough, just barely and so very dramatically.
In one of the most unlikely comebacks in national team history Canada dug themselves out of a well-deserved 19-point hole in the second half to outlast Korea 79-77 and keep their dreams of playing in the Olympic basketball tournament alive.
A remarkable step-back three-pointer by Olympic veteran Rowan Barrett as the shot-clock was winding down with just over a minute left pulled Canada to within two points with just over a minute to play and Toronto's Jermain Anderson put Canada up for good with another triple with 37 seconds left.
Those two baskets along with a final free throw by Anderson, a lay-up by him and two more by Newfoundland's Carl English were the finishing touches on a 13-0 run by Canada in the final three minutes that allowed them to overcome Korea's 12-point lead.
Levon Kendall, centre, Rowan Barrett, right, of Canada and Joo Sung Kim of South Korea fight for the ball during a group C basketball game for FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament at the indoor Olympic arena in Athens on Wednesday. (Thanassis Stavrakis/AP)
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Canada will now face Croatia, which features Toronto Raptors point guard prospect Roko Ukic, on Friday in the quarter-finals. Croatia beat Puerto Rico 95-81 on Wednesday to finish the opening round 2-0.
While Dalembert's absence was unexplained -- speculation was that he'd had a falling out with the national team coaching staff -- Canada was able to overcome it and their own dismal first half performance when it seemed certain they were going to leave Athens with an 0-2 record and dashed dreams of Olympic glory.
Barrett led the way with 22 points, while Levon Kendall pulled down 14 rebounds.
Instead Canada advances to the quarter-finals for another must-win game on Friday. A win there would advance them to the semi-finals and provide them two chances to earn one more victory to qualify for the Olympics by earning one of three spots available in this 12-team tournament.
Canada's surge was set up by an energized third quarter, inspired by a massive effort by Vancouver's Kendall as he helping Canada to a critical 6-2 rebounding edge on the offensive end. Defensively Canada did a much better job challenging Korea's perimeter shooters also, as they held them to 1-of-7 in the third period as Canada routed Korea 26-14 in the period to enter the fourth quarter by just four points, 63-59.
Their second-half energy gave them a 44-26 rebounding advantage including a 14-2 edge on the offensive glass in the second half, but that was only just enough to offset Korea's performance from deep, where they shot 13-of-25, or at the line, where they converted 16-of-22 compared with Canada's 11-of-18 showing.
Worse, Canada turned the ball over 18 times, a total that was somewhat off-set by the fact they managed six second half steals in forcing 11 Korean turnovers in the second half.
Canada was trailing 49-33 after two quarters as for the second consecutive game Leo Rautins team couldn't sustain any kind of intensity, or at least withered against the energy of their opponent.
The Koreans primary form of offense is the three-point shot, usually set up by some modest dribble penetration before a kick-out to a waiting shooter. Canada disrupted them not at all and often aided their cause by collapsing multiple defenders on post entries -- even though Korea showed no inclination to score from down low; or scrambling to help against dribblers even though they rarely showed any serious intent to go to the rim.
The result was wide-open three-point shooters and Korea took full advantage, finishing with nine makes in the opening 20 minutes against 14 attempts. But that was just part of Canada's problems in the early going.
Just as bad was their lack of care with the basketball as they finished the half with 13 turnovers to just five by their opponents.
And while Canada shot fairly well in reply -- they hit five-of-11 from the three-point line themselves -- they took little advantage of what might have been presumed to be an edge in size and strength as they earned only two trips to the free-throw line, while Korea got their 12 times and made 10. Similarly they managed just five offensive rebounds to four for the Koreans.
All of this was happening while Dalembert, the Philadelphia 76ers centre was nowhere to be found. Dalembert, who joined the national team after being granted Canadian citizenship last summer, was innefective against Slovenia and was singled out by Rautins. Instead of responding Dalembert wasn't available for Canada during the do-or-die game, although it wasn't clear exactly the circumstances. He didn't appear to be on the Canadian bench during the game.
Korea came out quickly but Canada used a 13-4 run to jump out to a 20-16 lead late in the first quarter. That was the last bright spot for Canada in the first half as Korea dominated the Canadians the rest of the half.
