Sports clich?s are almost as old as the competition itself.
Pick your favourite: ?We just take it one game at a time?, or ?We just have to play our game?, and on, and on.
Such maxims sound good, but aren?t always stated with true conviction.
That?s not the case at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia, where Edmonton?s Mangisto (Manny) Arop and his teammates on the Canadian men's basketball team back up exactly what they say.
Team Canada finished first in its pool with a 5-0 record, and has advanced to play Brazil in a quarterfinal game Sunday. The Canadians punctuated a perfect preliminary round with a rousing
94-85 win Friday over the United States, on Friday eliminating the two-time defending Universiade champs from medal contention.
?I just look at it like another game ... I don?t really reflect on it in terms of how big it is,? says Arop, a six-foot-six swingman who attended Ross Sheppard. ?In my eyes right now, it?s just one game out of the way and we?re a step closer to our goal.?
The objective is to bring Canada its first Universiade gold medal in men?s basketball. So far, Canada has looked every bit a contender, winning by an average of more than 30 points, unfazed by powerhouse opponents like the USA and Australia.
?There?s no intimidation at all,? says Arop. ?We?re just (working) to accomplish a goal that we set and we just worry about what we do, not things we can?t control, like what other teams do, or who they have.?
Arop scored 14 points while shooting five-for-five from the field and three-for-three from beyond the arc against the United Arab Emirates in Canada?s second game. He has been sidelined since spraining his ankle against Australia on Wednesday, but is poised to return in the quarterfinals.
While Arop is a veteran of the Canadian junior team, Universiade is the first international multi-sport event he has been part of. It comes on the heels of his breakout first season at Indiana State, where Arop led the Sycamores in rebounding (5.1 per game) and ranked second in scoring (12 per game).
?It was good for me to find a place where I was able to play my game and ride that momentum,? says Arop, who played two seasons at Gonzaga in Spokane before transferring to ISU and sitting out the 2011-12 season as a redshirt. ?The biggest thing was just getting an opportunity to work on things that I need to improve. It was a great year.?
Led by former Toronto Raptors coach Jay Triano, the Canadian team has been together since early June, and went 9-0 at the Four Nations tournament in China last month. The lineup includes future NBA prospects like Jordan Bachynski (Arizona State) and Kevin Pangos (Gonzaga).
?This is a very tight-knit group, we have (great) players and we also have great coaches,? says Arop. ?It?s a group that works really hard and plays well together.?
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