Jamal Murray doesn’t look out of place in senior men’s basketball team debut

TORONTO – One night after Kia Nurse led the Canadian women’s basketball team to a gold medal, an even younger rising men’s star showed that Canada’s basketball future is indeed bright.

Jamal Murray, the 18-year-old point guard bound for NCAA powerhouse Kentucky next fall, made his senior men’s national team debut in Canada’s 105-88 victory over the Dominican Republic in their first game at the Pan Am Games. Murray didn’t look at all out of place, scoring 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in just over 21 minutes. He certainly wasn’t intimidated facing older competition.

“I play against old guys all the time,” Murray said, perhaps unaware of the humour in his statement, given the average age of Canada’s team is 24, and the Dominican’s is 25.

Team Canada head coach Jay Triano was impressed by Murray’s debut.

“He’s got a great poise to him, he knows how to control the game, he moves the basketball, can score the basketball. We’re working with him continuously on how to defend against men,” Triano said. “He’s got a confidence about him. I asked him if he was tired once and he said ‘Coach, I’m 18.’ He’s got that attitude where he wants to be on the floor, he’s a great kid to coach.”

Canada was led by sharpshooter Brady Heslip, the former Baylor star, who scored a game-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Heslip was a late addition to the Pan Am Games roster. He was a part of the Minnesota Timberwolves Summer League team, but unhappy with his playing time decided to join the Canadian team training camp. He immediately became one of Canada’s top scoring threats thanks to his near-automatic outside touch.

“Brady is a shooter, it’s not a secret,” Triano said. “Other teams are going to focus on him so other guys will have to step up. When they do that it will open things up for Brady again.”

As much as this tournament may be a coming out party for the likes of Murray, it’s equally important to NBA forward Anthony Bennett. Bennett is just three years removed from being the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft but already he is being labeled a bust. He was part of the blockbuster trade that sent Kevin Love from the Timberwolves to the Cleveland Cavaliers for fellow Canadian Andrew Wiggins. Be it in Cleveland or Minnesota he hasn’t been able to find his footing. He has averaged only 14.3 minutes per game in his NBA career and 4.7 points while battling injuries.

But he has shown up this summer looking trim, hungry, and ready to compete. You won’t see many No. 1 picks playing in minor tournaments like the Pan Am Games (just look at the roster the U.S. sent) but Bennett appears a willing and motivated participant.

“Anthony’s been great. We’ve asked him to rebound and run the floor,” Triano said. “Tonight his effort and energy was really good.” Bennett scored 15 points and was the leading rebounder with 10.

Canada has never won a medal at the Pan Am Games, its best finish coming in 1983 when it finished fourth after losing the bronze-medal game to Mexico. But as much as the goal is to win this event, it’s only the second-most important tournament of the summer. In September the Canadian team will head to the FIBA Americas tournament in Mexico City which will be its first chance at qualifying for the 2016 Olympics.

Canada is hoping to qualify for the Olympics for the first time since 2000 in Sydney. In fact, Canada has only appeared in one of the last six Olympic Games. That’s expected to change starting right now. As basketball has boomed in Canada it is starting to produce a young crop of star players.

The expectation is to perform well at the Pan Am Games, then qualify for the 2016 Rio Games. People in basketball circles expect the Canadian team to cut its teeth in Rio but then be contenders by the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

The Pan Am Games are just a warmup, and perhaps a tryout for the Olympic qualifying team. In Toronto, Canada is without NBA rookie of the year Wiggins, as well as established NBAers Tristan Thompson, Kelly Olynyk and Cory Joseph, though all four could  join the team for Olympic qualifying. With the roster potentially becoming harder to crack both players and coaches know the Pan Ams matter for evaluation.

“I think everybody wants to be there [in Mexico City] but everyone is focused on the next four days first,” Heslip said.

“Our goal here is to win,” Triano said. “In that process of trying to win, if a guy steps up and shows us that he’s got potential to be on our team later this summer we’ll cross that bridge later when this tournament is over.”

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Ian Denomme is an editor and writer for Yahoo Sports. Email him at denomme@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter.