4 Miah-Marie LANGLOIS (Canada)
30/06/2015
News
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Canada put pedal to the metal

TORONTO (2015 FIBA Americas Women's Championship) - Canada should look a little different this summer when they host the Pan American Games and the FIBA Americas Women's Championship.

A program that has been on the up the past several years, Canada want to maintain their tough-as-nails defense that has helped them have success against most many opponents, yet they plans to speed things up on offense.

"We haven't pushed the pace and we've been very opposite to that and that's been down to our personnel, to be quite frank," coach Lisa Thomaidis said to FIBA.com.

"It really was a credit to [former coach] Allison McNeill and [ex-assistant coach] Mike McNeill, who came before me and really implemented that style of play just to be able to compete with some of the best in the world and it got us to the Olympics in 2012 and now there is a bit of an infusion of young, athletic talent that we have.

"And looking at the analytics and looking at what the best teams in the world and the pace you need to play at is something we couldn't ignore.

"For us, it's the way we need to play to make another step up on the international stage."

Canada have been very good.

They finished third at the 2011 FIBA Americas Women's Championship and then reached the London Games via the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Once in Britain, the Canadians made it to the Quarter-Finals.

In 2013, the first year under Thomaidis, Canada went on a successful run to the Final before falling to Cuba.

Last year, Thomaidis and Co finished fifth at the FIBA Women's World Championship in Turkey.

Canada do not want to settle for just being good.

They want to be great.

So while they look back with pride on how they have performed and achieved good results, Canada want to be even better on offense.

It means we'll be a bit different, hopefully a bit more exciting - Thomaidis

"We didn't play the most exciting brand of basketball but we certainly valued possession of the ball and took care of it and made teams have to defend us for almost the entire shot clock," Thomaidis said.

"More than anything, we're just trying to get some of those easy scores that teams get that we just haven't been able to get in the past, the run-outs, and we're trying to get a little bit more off our offense, a little more off our offensive rebounding, our athleticism.

"When we have the opportunity, let's get out and run.

"We have people that can really get out and run and get easy points."

However, Thomaidis insisted the defensive side of things must remain solid.

One of the new faces in the team, Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, will be an intriguing addition as Canada look to quicken the pace.

The 23-year-old Toronto native played for Donau-Ries this past season in Germany and will remain in the country to play for Wasserburg in 2015-16.

"We've had our eye on Nayo for a few years," Thomaidis said.

"I coached her in the futures games in 2011. She's one of those players that was collegiately [at Simon Fraser University] always playing inside, five feet from the basket and back to the basket. She's 6ft 2in (1.88m).

"We started to plant the seeds back then and said if you want to play at the next level, the national team, you have the physical attributes but your skills have to improve and expand.

"Credit to her, she spent the past two years in particular, to expand her game and be able to play on the perimeter, knock down the three and beat people on the dribble. She's a phenomenal athlete."

Raincock-Ekunwe did well for Canada on their recent tour to Europe, which saw them play three games in Spain and three more in France.

"She can just get up, get out on transition and run," Thomaidis said.

"We're excited about her. We think her role will increase and is a great addition.

"She is a very efficient scorer for us in Europe and a very good defender because of her athleticism and quickness. She's got tremendous touch."

Miah-Marie Langlois, a player who logged big minutes at the FIBA Women's World Championship, is one of the many players that should thrive in a more uptempo game.

She spent her first professional season with Lulea in Sweden and was named as the competition's MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year.

"She had a really good season in Sweden and really took to heart what we asked to work on and spent time working on them," Thomaidis said.

"She came back with a lot of confidence.

"She is so unassuming when you see her, but Miah has those intangibles and the mindset that she always wants to get better."

Overall, Canada could not be in a better position right now ahead of a very important summer of basketball.

"We're excited," Thomaidis said. "Every single player came back this year as a better player.

"They're all super hard workers and we're telling them it's just a matter of working efficiently and smart.

"We're a better team that we were at this time last year, but that's on paper.

"We just now have to put it together. Last year, we peaked at the right time. We have to maintain that consistency and take another step up."

Go to fiba.com/Americaswomen2015 for complete coverage of the 2015 FIBA Americas Women's Championship.

FIBA