LILLE, France — There is no cape that goes along with Dillon Brooks’ Team Canada uniform, but maybe there should be.
He has that Superman look about him. He flies through the air with more intensity than ease — non-stop and and plays with a passion and an exuberance that separate him from almost the rest of his Team Canada teammates at the Olympic men’s basketball tournament.
He doesn’t play pretty the way Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might. He doesn’t control the offence the way Andrew Nembhard can when given the opportunity. He doesn’t play in straight lines the way Dwight Powell does as an undersized centre.
He just goes for it. All the time. With the ball. Without the ball. On offence. On defence. And nonstop it seems as Canada has now made its way unbeaten through the apparent Group of Death has advanced to a higher seeded position for the eight team playoff round of the Olympics.
“He’s a competitor,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, after leading Canada in points in a way too close 88-85 win that pushed Canada to 3-0 in the Olympics.
“Three games down,” said SGA. “Three to go.”
And then back to talk of Brooks, the forward and giant defender from Mississauga. “He plays that way in every uniform you put him in but when he puts that Canada across his chest, it means something. He goes harder. He goes 150 percent all the time. That’s what makes him so special.”
He’s on the floor when the game begins and Canada needs to start quickly in the tournament. He’s on the floor late in games, especially if they are close, because his 1-on-1 defence is nearly peerless. He’s pretty much on the court throughout most of the game so long as he’s not in foul trouble, and he wasn’t in foul trouble at all Friday against Spain.
So far, through three Canadian wins, different players have stepped up when needed but Gilgeous-Alexander has been there for all three games when needed most and Brooks, outside of fouling out in the opening game against Greece, has been.
Brooks scored nine points in the first quarter against Spain and was almost the perfect defender as the game grew closer than it should have been in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
And he’s more than garnered the attention of coach Jordi Fernandez, especially after his play in Olympic qualifying last summer and now in his significant role on Team Canada.
“He’s a special person,” said Fernandez. He’s a fighter. And he sets a gone for everybody else. We’re very fortunate to have him. It means the world for him to play for Canada and I would have to say it — he’s been amazing with his role, what he means for the group, his toughness, his leadership on the defensive end, being very productive offensively. We’re very happy to have Dillon Brooks.
“And (I’d) like to have him on my team for the rest of my life.”
Fernandez may be saying the same thing about Nembhard, who has his strongest game for Canada in the win over Spain. This is what Canada needs, a different player stepping up on a different night. It was RJ Barrett offensively the first two games and Nembhard, the Indiana point guard, stealing the show Friday night with 18 points and energy when Canada needed it.
When asked the other day which Canadian player has been the biggest surprise to date, Jamal Murray said Nembhard. “I wasn’t that familiar with his game,” said Murray.
When asked the same question last night, Gilgeous-Alexander said the same thing. “I knew he was good,” said SGA. “I didn’t know he was this good.”
They knew Dillon Brooks was this good. But just watching him he leaves the impression that is a love of his. Being at the Olympics. Playing for Team Canada.
“Three down” as SGA said. “Three to go.”
The win for coach Fernandez was special for any number of reasons, starting with the playoff qualifications, the victory over Spain, his native country and program he used to be part of it and it was emotional also to coach against Rudy Fernandez, the 39 year old Spaniard, playing in his sixth and final Olympics.
“I don’t know if anyone will ever do that again,” said coach Fernandez. “I don’t know if anyone will ever come close to that.”
This is Dillon Brooks’s first Olympics. Six seems a long way away, Six games — now that matters for this tournament.
