TORONTO (2010 FIBA World Championship) - Canada’s Miami Heat big man Joel Anthony is drawing no crumbs of comfort from last month’s draw for the FIBA World Championship that left Canada in different Preliminary Round groups from Olympic champions Team USA and world number one Argentina.

The Canadians, who reached the Semi-Finals at the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship, still wound up with some formidable opponents in Group D.

World champions Spain, along with France, New Zealand and wild cards Lithuania and Lebanon are the sides Anthony and Canada will square off against in Izmir.

“There will not be any easy pools,” said Anthony, who then paid special attention to the European sides.

“France and Spain are two teams with a lot of talent, and Lithuania has played the U.S. really tough.”

Coach Leo Rautins knows that after competing at the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens, and at last year’s FIBA Americas Championship in Puerto Rico, that every opponent must be respected.

“We’re not conceding anything or have a lack of confidence,” Rautins said.

“We’re just going to have to understand that every game has to be 40 minutes of your best basketball. I think we will get a great effort out of our guys. There will be no room for mistakes.”

Rautins says that his players should still be ambitious.

“We all want to go in and get to the medal round,” Rautins said.

“I think we want to be greedy. We want to do something Canada has never done before. It’s realistic to get to the second round, and then you keep striving for more.”

FIBA