Back to Brooklyn for Nets’ Fernandez

Coach's run with Canada ends after loss to France

August 7, 2024 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

After losing in the quarterfinals to France Tuesday in the Olympic quarterfinals, Team Canada coach Jordi Fernandez can get back to Brooklyn and guide the Nets. AP Photo by Michael Conroy

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Jordi Fernandez can get back to his full-time job.

The one that landed him in Downtown Brooklyn last April as the first-year head coach of the Nets.

Fernandez’s inspiring but ultimately bittersweet run as coach of Team Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympics ended Tuesday with an 82-73 loss to France in the men’s basketball quarterfinals in front of 12,258 fans at Bercy Arena.

After falling behind 23-10 following the first quarter, the Canadians (3-1), who survived three tough opponents in the group stage, fought back from a 19-point second-half deficit to pull within 71-66 late in the fourth period.

But France’s Evan Fournier buried a pair of free throws and drained a 3-pointer off a feed from Victor Wembanyama to build a 10-point cushion for the host team with under a minute remaining.

“We didn’t match their energy and physicality,” admitted Fernandez, who helped Canada to a fifth-place finish, its best since it came in fourth at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Fernandez was eager to lead Team Canada back to the medal podium for the first time since the 1936 Berlin Olympics, but France (3-1) was able to hold off the late surge.

“I thought our guys fought in the second half, but still, the second-chance points and the free throws didn’t really help us on the defensive end,” Fernandez noted.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 27 points and R.J. Barrett added 15 for Canada, which knocked off Greece, Australia and Fernandez’s native Spain in what was termed the “Group of Death” before bowing out to the French, who will face Germany in Thursday’s semifinals in Paris.

“[We’ve] got to learn from these types of games,” said Fernandez, who can now return to Brooklyn and tend to the franchise that is relying on him to help it bounce back from 50 losses and its first non-playoff campaign in six years.

“It’s pretty cool that we get to play them and have those experiences because it really hurts,” he added. “We’re going to come back stronger and that’s how you can overcome this feeling.”

Though she misse two games in concussion protocol, Liberty center Nyara Sabally might suit up for Germany Wednesday vs. France in Paris. AP Photo by Michael Conroy

Team USA also rolled into the semis, where it will face Serbia on Thursday, with Tuesday’s 122-87 rout of Brazil behind 18 points from Devin Booker.

Though he won’t come back to Barclays Center or the HSS Training Center with a medal, Fernandez at least put Team Canada back on the map as a legitimate international contender.

“I hope that people were proud of us [and] the way we played throughout the tournament,” Fernandez said. “We wanted to give them more. I think that’s what Canadian basketball deserves. There’s a great tradition.

“There’s a lot of kids playing basketball and you can tell they love to play for their country,” he added. “So I wish I could have done better and given them more games, but like I said, this is part of how the Olympics work and these tournaments work. You win or go home, and this one, we’re going home.”

At least “going home” for Fernandez means back to work on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush, where Nets fans are eager to see their team get back to its winning ways.

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The top-seeded U.S. women’s team, bidding for its eighth consecutive gold medal, will take on surprise quarterfinalist Nigeria Wednesday in Paris.

Liberty stars Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu will try to guide the Americans (3-0) to their 59th consecutive victory in Olympic competition.

That game is scheduled to tip-off at 3 p.m. ET.

Nigeria (2-1) is in the knockout round in an Olympiad for the first time, and Stewart was on the U.S. squad that beat the African nation at the 2018 World Cup.

“Tons of respect to Nigeria for what they’ve been able to do. I feel like they’ve, you know, always been in the mix,” said the reigning WNBA Most Valuable Player.

“When you think about World Cups, especially, that they give us their best shot and it just goes to show, you know, how much the sport is growing and the parity amongst, you know, us versus everyone else in the world.”

Team Germany, which includes Liberty rotation regulars Nyara Sabally and Leonie Fiebich, will meet host France at noon.

Sabally missed the previous two games while undergoing the tournament’s concussion protocol, but she may be cleared to play in the knockout round.

New York coach Sandy Brondello will also be busy Wednesday as her native Team Australia will battle Serbia in the first quarterfinal contest.

Sabrina Ionescu and Team USA will meet Nigeria Wednesday in a quarterfinal matchup at the 2024 Paris Olympics. AP Photo by Mark J. Terrill

Following an opening-game upset loss to Nigeria, things looked grim for the Opals, but Brondello rallied her team to consecutive victories over France and Canada to reach the knockout stage.

“I’m just happy to survive. So, we got an opportunity to keep playing,” Brondello said.

NOTHING BUT NET: Fernandez found out what the Nets’ preseason schedule looks like for the 2024-25 season following Tuesday’s loss. Brooklyn will open exhibition play in Los Angeles against the Clippers on Oct. 8, host the Wizards at Barclays on Oct. 14, visit Philadelphia on Oct. 16 and welcome Toronto to Brooklyn on Oct. 18.