Team Canada Basketball Thread

[aminiaturebuddha]

Spain game:
Canada finished the French tournament with a win over Spain 88-72 (48-36 at the half). Nate Darling scored 22 points, RJ Barrett had 16 (and 8 assists) and Jordan Henry added 12 (+ 5 asts). Spain ends the tournament winless, Canada is 2-1. Both teams will play in the same Group C at the WC.

The win over Spain and them going winless is very interesting because, as you point out, Canada and Spain are in the same group at the World's. Canada's other two preliminary round games are against Mali and Japan, which they should win - although obviously Canada's teams have lost games they should've won before. Finishing top of their group could set them up for a good run in the playoff rounds, where they might not have to face the US or France until hopefully the semi-final round.

[frumble]

Spain game:
Canada finished the French tournament with a win over Spain 88-72 (48-36 at the half). Nate Darling scored 22 points, RJ Barrett had 16 (and 8 assists) and Jordan Henry added 12 (+ 5 asts). Spain ends the tournament winless, Canada is 2-1. Both teams will play in the same Group C at the WC.

The win over Spain and them going winless is very interesting because, as you point out, Canada and Spain are in the same group at the World's. Canada's other two preliminary round games are against Mali and Japan, which they should win - although obviously Canada's teams have lost games they should've won before. Finishing top of their group could set them up for a good run in the playoff rounds, where they might not have to face the US or France until hopefully the semi-final round.

Yes, if we win our group, and if France and the US win theirs, we would not face either until the finals.
We would play the 4th finisher in D (likely Iran or Angola) in the round of 16

We would then play the winner of A2/B3 in the quarters.
Assuming France wins A, A2 likely to be Argentina or NZ (Korea is the 4th team in A).
B3 likely Puerto Rico or Germany (maybe Lithuania).

Getting way ahead of myself here, but semi opponent would likely be Italy or Lithuania.

So, yeah, if we win our pool it looks like a favorable draw to a medal.

I believe we have won only two medals in FIBA play:

Bronze in the 2010 U17s (Pangos led a team also featuring Bennett, Pierre, Lomomba, Hanlan, Notice, Webster-Chan, and a very young Andrew Wiggins).

Bronze in the 2005 U21s (highlighted by Levon Kendall's monster performance in upset over US).

[hsb]

Read on Twitter

Mike is the son of the original Raps coach Brendan Malone, yes?

Yup, that's his dad.

[TheFutureMM]

I have stuck up for the coaching / management staff a lot over the last two years (since the FIBA America's loss) and this is really a bummer to hear. Obviously you have some insight into this and I appreciate the post - any chance you can give us your perspective on whether or not the players are justified in not coming? I appreciate the unbiased posts but would love to hear your opinion on the absences (not looking to have you name any specific players or situations).

It had to do with the coaching staff (or a coach I should say ) promising certain group of guys if they were to be on the team. Guys talk with each other and stuff spread between them which caused some of the player to not trust what they were told.

I love the insight buddy. I've always wondered if there was an ego component to it for some of these kids though and it's only now becoming an issue with the talent level in Canada increasing. Imagine being one of the top options on your team, one of the best players in the States, and by default, one of the best players in Canada but ultimately having to play a smaller role on team Canada. For some, this isn't an issue (Darling, Henry, Sheppard, etc) but I have to imagine being Walker or Alexander or especially Dort/Akot it must be frustrating not knowing how much time you are going to get on the court ahead of Wigginton or Barrett. Like am I coming onto this team to come off the bench for 10 minutes a game? Is it even worth my time? Especially because Barrett is younger and his dad is involved with management I would imagine there could be resentment issues.

It's hard to compare situations because in the US it's such an honor to even make team USA - it's like an even more exclusive all-NBA team. But for Canada, these kids already know they're the best in the country, so it might come down to how many minutes they are going to get, or if it's even worth their time when they could be playing in AAU stuff where they are more featured.

Anyways to me this is a hypothetical problem I've been thinking about that could be non-existent. Interested to hear your thoughts.

[TheFutureMM]

Also Jamal Murray made second all-rookie team. Was less than ten votes away from first!

[aminiaturebuddha]

Also Jamal Murray made second all-rookie team. Was less than ten votes away from first!

Yeah, 10 votes away from a Knick. Hernangomez had a decent year, so I'm not saying that he or Murray deserved it more, but I'm sure if Murray had been playing in New York and Willy in Denver the votes would be different.

[frumble]

538.com with scathing commentary on Wiggins' defense. League worst. And rated Thompson least offensive player in the league.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-nba-haters-ball/


LEAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER
Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota Timberwolves
...
Possession by possession, there are a few defenders who are as bad as Wiggins. When Wiggins contests a shot, opponents have a 56.1 effective field goal percentage; when they are unguarded, they have a 56.4 eFG percentage. Fundamentally, getting a shot up against Andrew Wiggins is the same as getting an open shot.

Wiggins’s deficiencies are too many to list quickly, but at root the issue seems to be basic effort. He barely jumps to contest shots, doesn’t run hard to close out, and gets lost watching the ball.

But the truly destructive part of Wiggins’s defense is how much of it there was. In the way that defenders like Draymond Green or an in-his-prime Tony Allen seem to be in all places at all times, challenging seemingly every shot on the floor, Wiggins is omnipresent in his awfulness. He defended the 10th most shots in the league, by far the most by a below-average defender. Most teams do their best to hide their weak defenders, but opponents seek Wiggins out like no other defender in the league.



LEAST OFFENSIVE PLAYER
Tristan Thompson, Cleveland Cavaliers

... with Bismack abdicating the throne, who is the least passed-to man in the league?

...

a little ways down the list is another name, and a bigger number: Tristan Thompson played 30 minutes per game for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but was passed the ball just 14.6 times per game and 17.5 times per 36 minutes.

Thompson isn’t as offensively bereft as many of the other players on the list this season or in seasons past. He has good instincts in pick-and-roll and finds space off the ball (or at least, puts himself in positions where LeBron James can find him). But he also has by far the smallest offensive role on the team. Kevin Love, who has seen his role reduced drastically from his superstar days in Minnesota, got 37.8 touches per 36 minutes. James got 66.8; Irving got 67.2; even Iman Shumpert, who cannot dribble, pass or shoot, got 30.1. Richard Jefferson, who was drafted when Thompson was 10 years old, got 26.8.

Like Marcus Smart, Thompson has other skills that are important to the Cavaliers. They trust him with important responsibilities. Just not with the basketball.

[Bobby Plump]

To me Wiggins, with all that natural talent, is a disappointment, lacking in grit, willpower and intensity. His defence, or lack of it is no secret, but he also goes through stretches in games where he disappears on the offensive side, either not asking for the ball or settling for a low percentage shot.

[frumble]

Some more summer league roster info has come out the last couple days.

So far it looks like:

Dillon Brooks - Memphis
Justin Edwards - Toronto
Dylan Ennis - OKC and Golden State
Olivier Hanlan - San Antonio
Stefan Jankovic - Orlando
Kris Joseph - Charlotte
Naz Long - Indiana and Sacramento
Jamal Murray - Denver
Kevin Pangos - Washington
Xavier Rathan-Mayes - New York
Kyle Wiltjer - Houston

[aminiaturebuddha]

Some more summer league roster info has come out the last couple days.

Kris Joseph - Charlotte

Interesting to see Kris Joseph make a reappearance. What's his contract situation in Europe like these days? Any chance he'd be content with one of the new NBA 2 way contracts, and be playing in the G league and therefore maybe be available for Canada's qualifying games?

[Patman]

Simi Shi-ttu led a prospect camp in scoring and rebounding, winning co-MVP:

http://www.nbadraft.net/nbpa-top-100

[mojo13]

Some more summer league roster info has come out the last couple days.

Kris Joseph - Charlotte

Interesting to see Kris Joseph make a reappearance. What's his contract situation in Europe like these days? Any chance he'd be content with one of the new NBA 2 way contracts, and be playing in the G league and therefore maybe be available for Canada's qualifying games?

I don't think two-ways are meant for a guy like him. I don't have the source right now, but pretty sure I read the Two-ways are only for guys with less than 4 years pro experience. Really the purpose is to allow NBA to lock down their claim on more young prospects to see how it turns out.

Guys with shots at two ways will be the recently turned pro's of XRM, Brooks, Boucher etc. And 2nd and maybe third year guys. A guy like Wiltjer could be in line for one. We'll know on him couple days. The Rockets need to exercise their option on him by July 1st or waive him. He is due the 2nd year minimum which is ~$1.7M per year. That might be a little expensive for him and the Rockets offer a two-way instead. However the CP3 trade today maybe cleared some roster space for Wiltjer.

Two-ways probably aren't going to guys like Pangos, Birch, Ejim as they are likely too old and making too much in Europe - or don't have a way out of their current contracts. Pretty sure Pangos isn't leaving Zalgiris this year and highly doubt he is NBA caliber.
Maybe Dyshawn Pierre for a two way - but he is a little old and had a really good rookie year in Germany. He can likely get good money with a big upgrade to a better Euro team/league.

Kris Joseph really has not had an impressive career in Europe to date. He most likely is a FA and has bounced around allot. He has been no more than a middling player on middling teams in middling leagues. Same with Hanlan so far for that matter (but he is way younger).

Birch, Pangos, Ejim, Pierre, Doornekamp are all much better players on much better teams/leagues (or likely soon to be for Pierre).

Besides the obvious names Brooks, Murray, Wiltjer, Boucher... Birch, to me, seems the one with a likely shot at an NBA roster spot...but he seems tied up by Olympiacos and it may need to wait until next year (Oly likely isn't permitting him to play SL - probably same with Ejim and his club). Birch may have a NBA buy-out in his current deal if an NBA team really wants him.

I don’t yet see guys like XRM or Janks (said he wants to play for Serbia) as NBA guys yet, but maybe there is enough interest in them for these two way deals. And I can see them with NBA camp invites. Naz Long (already said he wants to play for Greece), Justin Edwards, Dylan Ennis, are all a big step down and I doubt get much SL minutes nor a NBA camp invite.

[Ell Curry]

Shame that Brooks got dealt from Houston to Memphis. The Rox need wing depth badly now, and I could have seen Brooks having gotten some bench minutes. He´s not long enough to really contest shots from the best NBA 3s, but his strength and change of direction are good. He completely shut down a raw but talented DJ Wilson in the tournament, who got his numbers at the 5 mostly. I guess Memphis always needs wing depth though anyways, and Allen and Vince Carter are a combined 70 years old, so there´s a path to playing time there too.

[aminiaturebuddha]

I don't think two-ways are meant for a guy like him. I don't have the source right now, but pretty sure I read the Two-ways are only for guys with less than 4 years pro experience. Really the purpose is to allow NBA to lock down their claim on more young prospects to see how it turns out.

That makes sense. I was just kind of surprised seeing Joseph's name on that list. Given his lack of success in Europe, he has to know that he doesn't stand a chance of making an NBA roster, right? But I guess there are lots of scouts from everywhere at summer league, so maybe it's just another chance to try to showcase himself.

I really think for a guy like XRM, he might be better suited going to a mid-level European league and finding a solid place on a team for a couple of years, rather than trying for a two-way contract and constantly battling the uncertainty in the G league. But then, I'm also not sure that I ever see him as a long-term NBA player. Sure he might be able to get a few contracts here and there, but I think overall it would be better for him to establish himself in Europe as soon as possible, especially because he's a little older than most guys coming out of the NCAA.

[hsb]

Shame that Brooks got dealt from Houston to Memphis. The Rox need wing depth badly now, and I could have seen Brooks having gotten some bench minutes. He´s not long enough to really contest shots from the best NBA 3s, but his strength and change of direction are good. He completely shut down a raw but talented DJ Wilson in the tournament, who got his numbers at the 5 mostly. I guess Memphis always needs wing depth though anyways, and Allen and Vince Carter are a combined 70 years old, so there´s a path to playing time there too.

Memphis might just offer Tony Allen a vet minimum supposedly and Carter might ring chase with the Warriors. So Memphis might need him more than even Houston.

[mojo13]

Kyle Wiltjer traded to the Rockets as part of the CP3 trade.

My guess is that he is filler and gets waived July 1st by the Clips (the deadline to exercise his Year 2).
Very likely he ends right back in Houston, maybe on a two-way.

[RaptorsLife]

Kyle Wiltjer traded to the Rockets as part of the CP3 trade.

My guess is that he is filler and gets waived July 1st by the Clips (the deadline to exercise his Year 2).
Very likely he ends right back in Houston, maybe on a two-way.

I don't think you can do that have to wait a year

[Patman]

Kyle Wiltjer traded to the Rockets as part of the CP3 trade.

My guess is that he is filler and gets waived July 1st by the Clips (the deadline to exercise his Year 2).
Very likely he ends right back in Houston, maybe on a two-way.

I don't think you can do that have to wait a year

If he clears waivers, I don't see why not. That means every other had a chance to pick him up and did not.

[frumble]

Fivethirtyeight's individual player projections for next season are out.

Here is how they project the Canadians in terms of Wins Above Replacement in 2017/18.

Thompson 3.2
Olynyk 3.1
Wiggins 2.3 (big improvement from this past season's 0.1)
Powell 1.3
Murray 1.2 (projected to be 2.0 the season after next).

Joseph 0.9
Lyles 0.6
Ennis 0.1
Stauskas 0.0
Anthony 0.0

Boucher 0.0
Nicholson -0.2
Brooks -0.2

[frumble]

Re summer league, Charlotte's media release on Monday had Joseph on the summer league roster:

http://www.nba.com/hornets/hornets-announce-2017-orlando-pro-summer-league-roster

But the roster page on NBA.com does not have him listed.

http://www.nba.com/magic/summer-league/rosters

Also missing are XRM (Knicks) are Naz Long (Indiana).

The only Canadians I see listed for Orlando summer league rosters are: Jordan Bachynski (Detroit), Dyshawnn Pierre (Indiana), and Stefan Jankovic (Miami).