What's next for Canada at the Basketball World Cup

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The drought is over. On Sunday in Indonesia, Canada secured its first Olympic men's basketball berth since 2000 with a thrilling 88-85 victory over Spain at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. Needing a win in their group-stage finale to avoid elimination, the Canadian men came through to beat the defending World Cup champions for a spot in the quarterfinals — and, more importantly, earn that trip to next summer's Olympics in Paris.

Now that its main mission is accomplished, a more relaxed Canadian team can take a free roll at the country's first-ever World Cup title. In the process, we might get a better idea of its chances of winning Canada's first Olympic basketball medal since 1936.

Canada's quarterfinal opponent in the Philippines on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET is Slovenia, powered by NBA superstar Luka Doncic. The 24-year-old Dallas Mavericks guard ranked second in NBA scoring last season with 32.4 points per game and leads the World Cup with 26.4.

But Canada has its own — and arguably better — young star in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The 25-year-old Oklahoma City Thunder guard ranked fourth in NBA scoring last season with 31.4 points per game and placed fifth in MVP balloting — three spots ahead of Doncic. Though the Slovenian put up gaudier numbers (he also averaged 8.6 rebounds and 8.0 assists, compared to 4.8 and 5.5 for Gilgeous-Alexander), some critics viewed him as somewhat of a chucker, compiling empty stats for a disappointing Dallas team that failed to reach the post-season.

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