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Canadas womens basketball team had two shots at berths at the London Olympics -- with 10 long months in between. Saints #27 Jersey . But rather than spending those months fretting about their Olympic future, coach Allison McNeill prefers to think it was time well spent. The Canadians open a three-game exhibition series versus China on Wednesday, as they hit the home stretch -- finally -- in their quest for a berth at the Games. Canada failed to qualify through the FIBA Americas championships in September, but earned a spot in the last-chance qualifier June 25--July 1 in Ankara, Turkey. "In many ways it turned out to be a good thing for us because we were still a little young last year, during the (first) qualifier, and I feel like weve got a few players that have another year of pro under their belt," McNeill said Tuesday. "Hopefully were just a little bit better to go to the second qualifier." No. 7 China, fourth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has already booked its ticket to London and is using the three-game series on B.C.s lower mainland as a tune-up for the Games. "Theyll be a great test for us, to see where were at for sure," McNeill said. The Canadians have eight returning members of the squad that played at the world championships two years ago, including experienced veterans like Kim Smith and Teresa Gabriele, both of Mission, B.C., and Chelsea Aubry of Kitchener, Ont. Theyre gunning for their first Olympic appearance since the 2000 Games in Sydney. Following the China series, the team will hold a brief camp in Toronto before travelling to France to play the host team, plus Great Britain, Croatia and Czech Republic, before heading to Turkey. "Because we have a core group thats been at worlds, we sort of looked and said, OK whats the best way to prep this group. Is it more training against each other? No. We dont think so," McNeill said. Womens soccer is the only Canadian team that has qualified for London. The mens basketball team was knocked out at its FIBA Americas tournament without earning a second chance. McNeill admitted watching other Canadian athletes and teams go through their qualifying -- coupled with the long wait for their own shot -- has been stressful. She and several players were closely following Canadas mens volleyball team in its qualifying tournament last week which went down to the final heartbreaking game -- the Canadians lost to the U.S. which ended their shot at the Olympics. "You know what, its very emotional," McNeill said. "Weve been working with our sports psychologist, talking about everybodys attachment to results, you get focused on getting there and being there and how hard youve worked. "Were working very hard with our sports psychologist on just staying in the moment, enjoying the moment, and being ready to play our best just because we want to play our best and the outcome will take care of ourselves. "Were also trying to grab onto some positive momentum in thinking about all the people who have qualified." The Canadians must finish top-five in the second-chance tournament to earn a spot in London. Canada is the fourth-ranked team in the tournament at No. 11. The Czech Republic is top-ranked at No. 4, Mozambique is at the bottom of the rankings in 37th. "We feel that there are five berths and there is no reason why we cant get one of them," McNeill said. "Were not going to this tournament just happy to be there, we really feel like we deserve to be there and we are in contention for one of those five berths. "Definitely were as ready with this program as weve ever been." The three-game series versus China, McNeill said, is the perfect Olympic sendoff for her team. The games are Wednesday in Langley, Thursday in Richmond, and Friday in Abbotsford. "Just my nature -- and our players and staff feel the same way -- its just good to promote our game," she said. "It will be nice to have our home support." Canada was drawn in a pool with No. 8 France and No. 19 Mali for the Olympic qualifying event. Saints #5 Jersey . The Formula One circus has arrived in town and on this Thursday afternoon the teams crew members are setting up their equipment in the pit lane ahead of the three day race weekend. Saints #64 Jersey . Darvish is scheduled to make his season debut Sunday at Tampa Bay after getting through an extended bullpen session without any issues. DENVER -- Aaron Brooks got word just before game time that he would start in place of an ailing Ty Lawson, and then took advantage of his opportunity. Brooks had 27 points and a career-high 17 assists to lead the Denver Nuggets past the Detroit Pistons 118-109 on Wednesday night for their fourth win in five games. "Aaron did a great job of picking those guys apart," teammate Darrell Arthur said. "He did whatever he wanted to. He got to the rim. He got guys open for easy looks. He did a great job managing the floor today." Brooks said he found out Lawson, who was suffering from a sinus infection, wouldnt be able to play when Lawson walked off the court and told him after struggling in pregame warm-ups. "I thought he was joking at first," Brooks said. "I was like, Quit playing around. Get back out there. But thats what you have to do. We all stepped up." Randy Foye added 22 points, Kenneth Faried had 14 and J.J. Hickson had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets. Wilson Chandler also sat out after receiving an injection to treat a hip injury. Greg Monroe scored 22 points to lead the Pistons, who lost their 11th in a row on the road. Rodney Stuckey added 18 and Kyle Singler and Charlie Villanueva each had 13. "Aaron Brooks was able to get in the lane and Randy Foye just caught fire from 3," Monroe said. "Anytime you have a backcourt that ones getting to the rim and the other is knocking downn 3s, its going to be tough on any night. Kenny Stills Saints Jersey. " Trailing by seven at the half, the Nuggets rallied to take an 85-84 lead into the fourth quarter. After Singlers 3-pointer put the Pistons in front 82-75, the Nuggets outscored Detroit 10-2 over the final 3:20 of the third quarter to regain the lead. Brooks started the spurt with a 3-pointer and a driving reverse layup and Foye closed it by hitting a 3 and finishing a fast-break with a layup after stealing an inbounds pass. Denver used another 10-2 surge to stretch its lead to 104-91 midway through the final period. Detroit pulled to 113-109 with 54.2 seconds remaining as Singler and Villanueva hit 3s around a layup by Hickson. But Hickson had another layup and Anthony Randolph converted a three-point play to give the Nuggets a nine-point cushion with 31.7 seconds remaining. Stuckey scored 14 of his points in the first half, helping the Pistons take a 61-54 lead. Detroit led by as many as 11 points early on. NOTES: Pistons C Andre Drummond sat the game out after injuring his neck on Saturday against Indiana. ... Pistons G Chauncey Billups, a former Nugget and native of Denver who has been sidelined by a knee injury, returned a warm ovation from the crowd with a couple of waves of his hand. ... The Pistons lost Josh Smith to ejection midway through the third quarter after he picked up a pair of technical fouls in quick succession. ... Brooks previous career high for assists was 13 against Phoenix on Nov. 17, 2009. cheap jerseys from china ' ' ' |
