On both ends of the court, and particularly on defense, Houston Rockets forward Dillon Brooks has made quite an impression with his play for Canada in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Brooks was a force, yet again, in Wednesday’s quarterfinals win over Slovenia, which sent Canada into Friday’s semifinal versus Serbia. Brooks spent significant time covering Slovenia’s Luka Doncic, a superstar with the rival Dallas Mavericks, and helped limit the perennial NBA MVP contender to 8-of-20 shooting (40.0%).
Buy Rockets TicketsJordi Fernandez, head coach of Canada’s men’s basketball national team, was blunt in his assessment of Brooks’ showing versus Slovenia. Aris Barkas of EuroHoops.net captured his comments from Manila:
I think yesterday we did a great job as a team defensively, and especially Dillon put on a defensive clinic. It should be in a FIBA museum at some point.
Complete video of Fernandez’ comments is available below. As for what’s next, the tip of Friday’s semifinal between Canada and Serbia is 3:45 a.m. Central, with the game televised on ESPN+.