It's a good time to be a Canadian basketball fan

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The NBA all-star break is behind us. March (in all of its madness) is around the corner. The international schedule is starting to get busy.

It all means there will be plenty of basketball to consume in the coming months — especially for Canadian fans. Here's everything you should know:

The men's national team plays two key games this weekend. Both 2023 World Cup qualifying contests will take place in a bubble in the Dominican Republic — on Saturday against the host team, and on Sunday against the U.S. Virgin Islands. The first should provide a real test for Canada, which is coached by Raptors assistant Nate Bjorkgren while Nick Nurse stays with the NBA club. At No. 20, the Dominicans are ranked just two spots below a Canadian squad not only without its NBA stars, but some top players in Europe too. The Dominican is also a notoriously difficult place to play. Still, Canada should be a lock to advance to the next round of qualifying, having already beaten the Bahamas twice. And with seven FIBA Americas teams set to play in the World Cup, it would border on disaster if Canada didn't eventually book its ticket to the tournament in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. Not that the Canadian men's program isn't immune to disaster.

The women's team caught a break. Its own World Cup qualifier, which took place a couple of weeks ago, looked like it might be tricky. Canada would have to return to Japan — the site of its Olympic disappointment — and place in the top three of a four-team group without injured star player Kia Nurse and short on practice time under new coach Victor