Olympic Qualifying: RJ Barrett dominates the second half as Team Canada defeats Greece

Hi there, fellow Canadians! The Canadian men’s national team took the court Tuesday night in Victoria, British Columbia, in their first game of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Their opponent was Canada’s eternal rival: Greece.

Knicks fans tuned in through various means to see their beloved RJ Barrett, who was in the starting lineup for the red, white and...just red and white. RJ got off to a slow start, scoring only three points in the first half as the Greeks rode their hot three-point shooting to a 50-46 halftime lead.

However, true Knicks fans know that RJ is a second-half player. He showed that once again for his nation, scoring 19 in the final two periods to help Canada to a 97-91 win.

Greece had their share of three-point snipers, but they lacked the strength and athleticism to deal with RJ. Watch him take the dribble hand-off and simply out-hustle and out-muscle some poor bastard.

RJ pledged to work on his off-the-dribble shooting this summer, and he showed off a deadly step-back three to push the Canadian lead to 10.

RJ struggled from beyond the arc (1-6), but overwhelmed the Greeks at the rim (7-8). He also chipped in 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Canada now moves ahead to face Team China on Wednesday. A win would assure them of a berth in the quarterfinals. Don’t count out our Canadian hero!