Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stays hungry for Canada despite making history with a first-ever semifinal appearance in the Fiba World Cup.
The Oklahoma City Thunder star unleashed 31 points on top of 10 rebounds, and four assists as Canada knocked out the Luka Doncic-led Slovenia, 100-89, on Wednesday night at Mall of Asia Arena.
Gilgeous-Alexander was thrilled to make history for the Canadians, who moved on to the Final Four for the first time in 15 participations.
“It’s an honor. Just putting on this jersey is an honor in itself and to win is another good feeling,” the 25-year-old guard said.
Gilgeous-Alexander, however, is far from done.
“We’re not satisfied. We want to win the gold,” he said.
Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the Fiba World Cup. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
After a back-and-forth first half, Canada pulled away in the third quarter behind the efforts of Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett and Dillon Brooks on both ends.
“It was really good. We started getting stops defensively. Being able to run in transition is when we’re at our best, and we did so for most of that third quarter when we got the lead,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
Gilgeous-Alexander and Canada brace for Serbia in their semis match on Friday.
“We know we got to take it one step at a time. We play Serbia, a really great basketball team,” he said. “We got to try to prepare for them the same way we did for this game, then we can focus on the gold, but we know we got to take it one step at a time.”