<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Leo Rautins, the head coach of Canada's national men's basketball team, realized last summer at the Tuto Marchand Continental Cup in Puerto Rico that his squad was really -- finally -- coming together as a team. In years past, the Canadian men's basketball program was beset with turmoil and controversy, which trickled down to the national squad. "The reality is, we had a lot of guys who couldn't stand each other," Rautins said yesterday, after a morning workout at the Air Canada Centre. But during a 74-61 loss to Brazil at last year's Marchand Cup, veteran forward Dave Thomas was sucker-punched by a Brazilian player. As Rautins -- somewhat reluctantly -- recounted the story yesterday, later that night, the Canadians spotted the Brazilian at a club and surrounded him. "They basically said to him: 'you f...ed with our guy, we're going to get you. Don't play the next time you play us.' And he didn't. And I love when guys stick together like that," Rautins said. He said his players will need that closeness, that commitment to each other, if they hope to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. The national team is currently training at the ACC in preparation for the last-chance Olympic qualifying tournament in Athens, which begins on July 14. Only the top three finishers from the 12-team event go to Beijing. But while the odds are against them, Rautins and his players firmly believe that they can do it -- even without former NBA MVP Steve Nash, one-time NBA all-star Jamaal Magloire and AWOL forward Denham Brown in the lineup. "The biggest thing I stress to them is we have this much margin for error," said Rautins, holding his thumb and forefinger an inch apart. "It's negligible. We can't screw up." Nash, who found the energy and commitment to play in a charity soccer game in New York City last week, is unlikely to join the team for the Athens tournament, although there is an outside chance he will play in Beijing if the squad qualifies for the Olympics. Still, Canada, which finished fifth at the FIBA Americas tournament last summer, is ranked 17th in the world and is considered a team on the rise. Canada, which opens the Athens event with games against Slovenia and South Korea, was one of the better defensive squads at the Americas event, led by the shot blocking and rebounding of Philadelphia 76er Samuel Dalembert. In Rowan Barrett, Juan Mendez, Carl English and Jermaine Anderson, Rautins has a solid mix of two-way players who have been standouts in the top European leagues for years. They also have Miami Heat forward Joel Anthony, who was unable to play last summer because of injury.</div> Toronto Sun
