WASHINGTON (AFP) — Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse had barely finished celebrating the team’s first NBA title in June when he took on his next formidable challenge — guiding Canada in the Basketball World Cup.

I think our guys have made a lot of strides, play hard, have chemistry

After just two months on the job, the 52-year-old American is hoping to mastermind a surprise by the Canadians when the tournament starts 31 August in China.

Nurse’s task is made more demanding, however, because Canada had been placed in a “Group of Death” also containing Senegal, Lithuania and Australia.

Canada finished 3-2 in a five-game exhibition tour in Australia after splitting two home games against Nigeria.

Following an 84-68 defeat to World Cup holder United States on Monday in Sydney, Nurse said: “I’ve learned a lot about them (the players).

“I’m a new coach for this team and they’re still trying to learn me, I think, and we’ve made a lot of progress.

“I think our guys have made a lot of strides, play hard, have chemistry.”

Nurse won’t have the American Kawhi Leonard on his Canada bench, as he did when the Raptors dethroned the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.

He will also have to do without Canada’s top young player, the 19-year-old New York Knicks forward RJ Barrett, who was a late withdrawal.

But the Canadians have talent and, crucially, a respected leader with international experience.

Nurse was an assistant on the British team during the 2012 London Olympics and a coach in the British Basketball League (BBL) for 11 seasons.

He guided championship squads with the Birmingham Bullets in 1996 and Manchester Giants in 2000. He took the BBL Coach of the Year award in 2000 and 2004.