Nearly 100 years after its last medal, men's basketball in Canada finally has its own Dream Team

Midway through the second quarter of last Sunday's final pre-Olympic tune-up, with Canada leading Puerto Rico by five points, Nickeil Alexander-Walker took a handoff from teammate Trey Lyles and calculated his choices on the fly.

In a split-second Alexander-Walker, a sixth man for the Minnesota Timberwolves and a key component of Canada's attack, had reached the right elbow — that spot, about 18 feet from the basket, where the free throw line meets the top of the lane. From there, he could pull up for a jump shot, or turn the corner and drive to the hoop.

Right then you couldn't blame a casual viewer, eyes fixed on the man with the ball, for losing sight of Lyles. Puerto Rico's defenders certainly didn't notice him advancing to a spot deep in the lane, just to the left of the basket, where a pass might arrive. At that same moment, Alexander-Walker chose option three, a bounce pass into an empty space where he expected Lyles to materialize.

Lyles, a 6-foot-9 power forward who averaged 20 minutes a game with the Sacramento Kings last season, arrived on time, grabbed the pass, and banked the ball off the glass and through the hoop to put Canada ahead 32-25 in a game they would eventually win 103-93.

Two players with NBA pedigree and deep-rooted familiarity, and the flawless execution that follows when those two factors come together.

Last summer Canada won bronze at the FIBA Basketball World Cup, qualifying for Paris along the way. This summer they'll end Canada's 24-year absence from the Olympic men's basketball tournament, and enter the competition in a unique position — newcomers with unfinished business. 

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Canada's men's team last reached an Olympic