Jordi Fernandez reacts to Canada's foul troubles, reveals key behind loss to Serbia / News - Basketnews.com

The level of permitted contact for the Canadians in Friday's game against Serbia compared to Wednesday's match against Slovenia was markedly different during the first World Cup semifinal game.

Credit: Erikas Ovčarenko/BNS Credit Erikas Ovčarenko/BNS

The Canadian national team grappled with a stunning Serbian performance and a foul problem that tied their key players already by the middle of the third quarter of the World Cup semifinal.

Player of the Game EFF 28 Bogdan Bogdanovic Points 23 Accuracy 8-12 Rebounds 4 Assists 3

Even before the crucial ten-minute stretch began, Canadian coach Jordi Fernandez had to bench his best defensive player, Dillon Brooks, and star big man Kelly Olynyk due to their four personal fouls.

Fernandez refrained from commenting on the referees' performance, but the level of permitted contact was noticeably different from their previous game against Slovenia.

According to Opta Stats, Canada committed more personal fouls in the first three quarters than in any of their previous World Cup matches.

"It's a great stat," Fernandez responded to BasketNews' question following the loss to Serbia, 86-95.

"As coaches, we always say you have to defend and be physical without fouling. Today, apparently, we were not," he added.

"Obviously, I'm not good at judging officiating, but our guys kept fighting. In that third quarter, we could have done to seven, and we were so close to making a run, and we stayed right there. But the reality is we couldn't get a stop. That's going to be our focus. Officials never will be our focus. We're going to fight really hard [on Sunday]," Fernandez concluded.

When Fernandez was asked how these early fouls break the rhythm of the game, he didn't want to expand a lot about officiating.

"It's part of the game of basketball. Two teams of twelve. Five of each team are on the court, with three officials. Their job is to judge, and our job is to coach," Fernandez explained.

"Obviously, I got a technical on purpose. I had my reasons. But again, we lost because we didn't defend. I let the officiating for whoever judges officials. I can only say to them thanks for doing their jobs. Without officials, we could play the game of basketball. We just got to be better."

Canada managed to hold their last six opponents to below 90 points, allowing an average of just 76 points per game.

"Congratulations to Serbia, their program, country, coach, and players. They played an extremely hard physical great game," Fernandez praised the Serbians.

"I'm proud of my guys. It was not perfect. We were okay offensively, we were atrocious defensively. When the team shoots 62% from the field and 45% from three, obviously, something was not done well," he said.

"Whatever Serbia did, with all my respect, we didn’t guard anybody. It's on us. They were physical, but we scored 86 points on 49% from the field. The offense wasn't a problem. If you don't guard anybody, you don't get to win," emphasized Fernandez.

"But that's the thing with these guys. They work every day and get better. We move on to the next game: to play for the medal. I know this is emotional for everybody, but these guys will do whatever it takes to get that medal," told Fernandez.

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