Canada jumps 10 spots in a year in world men's basketball ranking

Canada might have had a disappointing finish to their men’s basketball campaign at the Paris Olympics, but perhaps that’s a testament to how far they’ve come.

In today’s FIBA rankings, Canada jumped up to fifth place in the world.

While a country that produced 26 NBA players last season, it wasn’t always known as a basketball nation. And even despite many individual success stories at the pro level, top-level international competition had always eluded Canada.

Prior to last year’s FIBA World Cup, where they finished third place for their first-ever World Cup medal, Canada was sitting 15th in the world, meaning they’ve jumped 10 spots since just last August.

At the Olympics, Canada went 3-0 in the round-robin stage before falling to France in the quarterfinal in an 82-73 loss.

“They came out the aggressors; they punched us in the mouth,” Canadian star point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of the loss. “We obviously tried to make our run in the second half. It wasn’t enough, but that’s what happens when you let teams get off to a good start.”

France, meanwhile, kept things close in the gold medal game against the United States, though they ultimately fell by a 98-87 score.

The United States ranks first in the updated rankings, while Serbia, Germany, and France come in at 2-3-4. Spain, Australia, Argentina, Lithuania, and Latvia all close out the top 10.

Overall, it’s been a period of strong growth for the Canadian side, who competed at the Olympics in men’s basketball for the first time in 24 years.

The Canadian women are also currently ranked fifth in the world, though that ranking has yet to be updated following the Olympic Games, where they went 0-3 in the group stage and failed to advance to the quarterfinal.

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