Kelly Olynyk Scores 24 Points as Canada Survives Another Day

I won't pretend to know the most inner workings of Kazakhstan basketball.  It actually took me a while to even know how to spell Kazakhstan.  What I have learned recently however is that basketball is not their best sport and the Canadian national team took advantage of that.  In a game that was played in the early morning hours here in the states, team Canada dismantled the Kazakhs 108-70.  Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk finally found his offensive game and poured in 24 points in 24 minutes.  He was remarkably efficient, shooting 75% and pulling down nine boards.  His impressive effort came at the right time for the Canadians as they now still has a fighting chance at advancing to the quarterfinals.

Fellow Gonzaga commit Mangisto Arop, who has been the most consistent performer for the Canadians, had a nice easy game against the Kazakhs.  Manny only played 15 minutes and realized early that he didn't need to strain himself to help his team get the win.  He only attempted four shots, two of which he converted and finished with seven points. 

As I mentioned before, the Canadians still have a fighting chance at advancing in this tournament but will need some help.  They have a very important game tonight against Argentina at 6:30 PM PST.  Canada must beat the Argentinians tonight and their will probably be a three-way tie with Argentina and Spain.  It will likely come down to point differential so we will have to see how the games play out.  

Here is the link to the FIBA U19 site where you can track the game tonight.