Canada's Medal Hopes are everything but a Slam Dunk.

 If Canada would go on to lose all three games in Men's basketball in this years Olympics, things will have come full circle for Kamloops native Kelly Olynk. When Canada emerged on to the scene at the 2010 World Championships in Turkey Canada entered the tournament with an outside shot at advancing out of the group stage. 

Now Canada has emerged on the Olympic stage with medal aspirations. The golden generation keeps getting brighter but that could be said for the majority of the world. Canada  has the household names to win every game by 30 but as the journey has taught us every game is like a March Madness type game where the team that shoots the best and plays more fundamentally should come away with the win. 

We have a tendency to be shocked when we lose games in 2015 to Venezuela and last year to Brazil. In a short tournament medal hopes can dash instantly. 

I think what it comes down to is that the gap between a bottom ten NBA team and a really good European team with a 40 minute FIBA rules game is next to nothing. One player can take over a game or have an off night at any given time. 

We also might be headed into uncharted territory. More NBA players are wanting to play in the Olympics. With a few countries experiencing a golden generation this should be the best Olympic basketball tournament ever.

 I totally remember when people thought Levon Kendal playing Big East basketball at Pitt was the biggest deal to Canadian basketball.

Right now Canada has 100 Levon Kendal's that wouldn't even make the E team. The Nash effect produced players like Olynk, Sacre, and Kendall. An amazing High School basketball era in British Columbia from 2003-2010.

The Carter effect is almost all what you will see tomorrow at 12pm on CBC.

Big question will be will their be a Kawhi Leonard effect in the next 6 years that makes Canada on paper better than USA.

I feel this is USA's last dance so to speak. In four years Durant, James, Curry et al will all be too old. You will never see USA the gold medal favorite again or at least not by this much.

France is having a golden generation right now that makes Argentina's golden generation look small. In seven years the Top 5 NBA players might not even be American. I would say in 20 years basketball might rival soccer and the push will be their eventually from NBA PA to have a week off international break.

Tip of the iceberg would be an understatement.