Team Canada Basketball Thread

aminiaturebuddha · Post #1821 » by **aminiaturebuddha** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 5:16 am

In a round about way, it actually seems like you guys are kind of making the same point.

If I understood his post correctly, mojo was basically saying that this tournament proved that Australia could compete with a number of other teams for a medal opportunity and that he saw no reason why Canada can't do the same.

Then Mirotic, you basically said that any number of teams in a tournament format like we just witnessed could finish from 2nd to 8th. I'm not really sure where the dispute is - the overall point by all of you guys seems to be that, outside of the US, there is no clear rank of teams that would determine how they are expected to do in the important tournaments.

The argument that many have been making, myself included, is that we hope (and somewhat expect) that Canada should be able to get its act together to be part of a group of teams that in any tournament could have a chance at a medal. This isn't to say that they will medal every tournament, or that they should be expected to do so, only that going forward they couldn't be counted out, much like teams like Australia, France, Serbia, Croatia, Greece, Spain and Lithuania (and possibly the DR depending on the commitment they get from their talented players).

mojo13 · Post #1822 » by **mojo13** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 4:32 pm

Thank you - I refrained from responding as I wasn't sure what the ever colorful Mirotic12 and I were disagreeing about. He can certainly be opinionated, but I find his perspective interesting.

Anyways, some other notes on the SMNT for those that care:

Jordan Bachynski finally decided to make some money and signed with a Japanese league team (Nagoya Diamond Dolphins) rather than toiling away another year in the D-League. He played really well last year (D League Allstar and All Defensive team). I thought he had the capability to sign with a higher calibre league/team. The NBA is clearly moving away from a traditional center like Jordan, but I thought in some decent league he would be a very valuable paint defender. He is decently quick end-to-end for a guy his size too.
No idea about the financial package - hopefully it is more than he could get in a better league. Anyone have any details on his flame out in Turkey his rookie year out of ASU? He lasted merely a month or so before coming home. He didn't seem the type to who that would happen to. Maybe that scared the European teams off of him.

Dyshawn Pierre still seems unsigned. Perhaps he is aiming at a year in the D-league.

Peter Yannopolous doing the work of an entire nations media and still riding Nik Stauskas hard on Twitter. Nik not liking the heat and responding. I hope he doesn't get pushed too hard or we may never see him again. He still seems a bit of a baby at this point but we sure still want him around the SMNT.

frumble · Post #1823 » by **frumble** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 6:13 pm

mojo13 wrote:
Peter Yannopolous doing the work of an entire nations media and still riding Nik Stauskas hard on Twitter. Nik not liking the heat and responding. I hope he doesn't get pushed too hard or we may never see him again. He still seems a bit of a baby at this point but we sure still want him around the SMNT.

Yannopolous has been all over Hoops Hype and their "development" camps.

I only saw a couple Yannopolous tweets directed at Stauskas' no-show, and didn't see any Stauskas response. Was this a while ago?

In college news, Eddie Ekiyor will be at Carleton, not Xavier, this fall. Not sure if Xavier pulled his scholarship as a result of his hit and run incident last year, or if this is unrelated.

mojo13 · Post #1824 » by **mojo13** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 6:33 pm

Here is the passive/aggressive exchange from a couple days ago:

Read on Twitter

I thought is was pretty funny. He has a poor grasp of social media for a professional athlete. He should be thinking more about it as a extension of his personal brand for business purposes. Too much engagement with fans, ex's, thirsty groupies and other riff raft.

frumble · Post #1825 » by **frumble** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 10:06 pm

Thanks Mojo.

Will be interesting to see if Stauskas makes Philly's roster.

Speaking of Yannopoulos, he has made an early call re Canada's ideal roster for 2020:

Team [Canada] Tokyo 2020: Joseph Murray Wiggins Lyles Thompson. Ennis Barrett Jr Ejim Bennett Olynyk Hanlan Stauskas.

I largely agree with this (as an ideal scenario, not a prediction of who would actually be there.

Among the guards. Joseph, Murray, Ennis, and Stauskas would be pretty much locks. I can see an argument for Pangos over Hanlan as the 5th, and I can see Basketball Canada giving serious consideration to P. Scrubb as well.

Re the SFs, unless he reclassifies, Barrett would be class of 2019, which means he would most likely be drafted in 2020, and would not be available for the 2020 Olympics. So we are still lacking a backup for Wiggins. Maybe Brooks. Or Pierre. Or the same discussion about whether Ejim would be used in that role.

And for the bigs, I agree with Olynyk and Thompson. Ejim, Bennett and Lyles would certainly be in the mix, along with Powell, Birch and Nicholson.

mojo13 · Post #1826 » by **mojo13** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 11:23 pm

Well we can be pretty much guaranteed we won;t get all those guys committed.

A couple points:
I can easily see Pangos being better than Ennis, Scrubb and Hanlan in a few years - he probably is right now. Especially at FIBA ball where outside shooting is at a premium. Those other three are sub par shooter in my mind - especially Ennis and Hanlan. Pangos is a very high bball IQ player, maybe one of the best in our system. Really wish he was in Manila.

This Olympics hammered home how badly FIBA ball needs shooters. We are going to live an die by Olynyk, Lyles, Nicholson, and Murray. If Stuaskas finds his game that will be a huge bonus. We also need Wiggins to develop a reliable FIBA three pointer or else he is no different than Derozen. One dang shooting guard that could hit a 3 pointer could have made the difference in Manila.

Bennett over Nicholson and Powell? I don't think so by a large mark. Maybe Bennett will turn his career around but Nicholson in FIBA is a much better player. Powell I think has higher upside and is improving rapidly. I think I'd rather have either of them over Ejim as well today and likely four years from now, but that is a solid debate. Ejim has a certain grit about him and is improving his game. He gets a great three point shot and look out. Khem Birch could be more valuable to the team as the list above lacks interior defenders besides Thompson. Man what a difference DeAndre Jordan made when Coach K realized he should start.

It will be interesting to see how Powell develops. It seems he needs to find an outside shot and become a stretch for 4 or bulk up and become a 5 that can defend the paint and rebound. I have no idea which way he goes, but if he stays like this I am not sure there is long term role for him in the NBA.

Stuaskas may not even be playing bball in four years time - he sure seems to be auditioning for a TV job (I am not ever sure I am joking here). Bennett may not be playing in four years as well - he is a big wildcard in my eyes right now. Nicholson and Powell seemed to solidified their careers in the NBA. But who knows - Stauskas and Bennett in Europe playing FIBA brand ball and actually improving could be a boon to the national team. I am now convinced we'd be way better off with leading player on a Euroleague team over a 12-15th man on an NBA team any day. We need a Teodosic or De Colo not an Ennis or Stuaskas (in current form). We need leaders used to playing big moments, carrying a team in crunch time. Not afraid to take open shots...

If the coaching doesn't change do we not expect Heslip and Doornekamp in the mix? We need our Canadian style nepotism.

My ideal roster for 2020 would be: Joseph, Ennis, Murray, Pangos , Stauskas, Brooks , Wiggins, Lyles, Thompson, Nicholson, Olynyk, Powell

Barrett Jr is just too young for me - too much can happen from now to then. Brooks seems like a SF option.
Bennett and Ejim, out for Powell and Nicholson. Could see Ejim there easily.
Pangos over Hanlan. Easy choice for me right now.

Right now I am more interested in who suits up for the First Round of the World Cup Qualifiers in November 2018.
The 2020 Olympic Qualification system is very different and is seems quite premature to worry about that roster. Basically the Top 2 placing FIBA Americas Teams at the 2019 World Cup get directly into the 2020 Olympics. The next 2 placing FIBA Americas Teams get entry into similar last chance qualification tournaments (now 4 tournaments of 6 teams) which need to be won for entry into the Olympics (4 spots total). But also 16 teams "best teams" (no idea how that is determined) not qualified for will also be invited to those last chance tournaments.

Here is the graphic.
http://www.fiba.com/qualification-og

slothrop8 · Post #1827 » by **slothrop8** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 11:31 pm

I think Lyles is our best big by 2020.

mojo13 · Post #1828 » by **mojo13** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 11:36 pm

slothrop8 wrote:I think Lyles is our best big by 2020.

Very tough to disagree. He is improving quickly and seeming has a game that translates well to FIBA. The only counter is we have a lot of bigs and a long time to 2020. I love Olynyk's FIBA game though.

slothrop8 · Post #1829 » by **slothrop8** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 11:43 pm

mojo13 wrote:
slothrop8 wrote:I think Lyles is our best big by 2020.

Very tough to disagree. He is improving quickly and seeming has a game that translates well to FIBA. The only counter is we have a lot of bigs and a long time to 2020. I love Olynyk's FIBA game though.

I like Olynyk's FIBA game too. You're very right - anything could happen by 2020 - but I like the way Lyles' game is trending though. He shot a poor percentage a lot of the time in Summer League - but he showed an aggression and a diversity of offensive skills I wasn't sure he had. I'm very interested to see how his game progresses.

frumble · Post #1830 » by **frumble** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 12:13 am

mojo13 wrote:Right now I am more interested in who suits up for the First Round of the World Cup Qualifiers in November 2018.

November 2017.

Only 15 months away, and still no idea which leagues will release players. Has anyone heard anything? Even speculation?

frumble · Post #1831 » by **frumble** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 3:32 pm

I spent some time looking for info re which leagues are likely to release players for the qualifying windows starting in November 2017, and how national teams plan on dealing with the lack of availability of NBA, other pro, and NCAA players, but I haven't found anything definitive.

There is some speculation that Euro League and Euro Cup will work something out with FIBA.

Re national team planning, it seems the Philippines doesn't want to shut down its domestic league and is contemplating forming a core of young (university) players who would train together and then be available to form the bulk of the qualifying team (perhaps supplemented by a handful of pro players who would be released from their domestic teams).

Australia also plans on using "younger" players, given the lack of availability of their NCAA and NBA players.

Mirotic12 · Post #1832 » by **Mirotic12** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 3:58 pm

aminiaturebuddha wrote:In a round about way, it actually seems like you guys are kind of making the same point.

If I understood his post correctly, mojo was basically saying that this tournament proved that Australia could compete with a number of other teams for a medal opportunity and that he saw no reason why Canada can't do the same.

Then Mirotic, you basically said that any number of teams in a tournament format like we just witnessed could finish from 2nd to 8th. I'm not really sure where the dispute is - the overall point by all of you guys seems to be that, outside of the US, there is no clear rank of teams that would determine how they are expected to do in the important tournaments.

The argument that many have been making, myself included, is that we hope (and somewhat expect) that Canada should be able to get its act together to be part of a group of teams that in any tournament could have a chance at a medal. This isn't to say that they will medal every tournament, or that they should be expected to do so, only that going forward they couldn't be counted out, much like teams like Australia, France, Serbia, Croatia, Greece, Spain and Lithuania (and possibly the DR depending on the commitment they get from their talented players).

Yes, but I am also making the point that the Olympics is a very unbalanced and weak tournament, as it is very unfair to the European teams. As I said, the best European teams often miss the Olympics. France, Russia, Serbia, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Turkey are regularly NOT in the Olympics, because the qualification through Europe is so ridiculous hard.

While teams like Brazil, Argentina, and Australia have incredibly easy ways to qualification. The point is, you have teams in Europe that if you follow both EuroBasket and Americas tournament, you can clearly see are better than Brazil and Argentina, and often times better than Australia.....and never, never ever make the Olympics.

Teams like Latvia, Czech Republic, Belgium, Finland, Slovenia, these teams are as good as Brazil and Argentina, or better. They are definitely better than teams like Venezuela, China, and Nigeria. Same with teams like Germany....hell, let's put it this way, Georgia is every single time one of the very worst European teams, and they had like 7 guys that play or have played in the NBA on their roster.

Macedonia is considered a mid to low level European team - they are significantly better than teams like Venezuela, Angola, Iran, China, Nigeria, Senegal that can easily get into the Olympics.

The Olympics really needs to have at least 16 teams in it, because as it is now the quality of the tournament is very, very low. It's a much weaker tournament than Eurobasket, and even much weaker than World Cup.

mojo13 wrote:Jordan Bachynski finally decided to make some money and signed with a Japanese league team (Nagoya Diamond Dolphins) rather than toiling away another year in the D-League. He played really well last year (D League Allstar and All Defensive team). I thought he had the capability to sign with a higher calibre league/team. The NBA is clearly moving away from a traditional center like Jordan, but I thought in some decent league he would be a very valuable paint defender. He is decently quick end-to-end for a guy his size too.
No idea about the financial package - hopefully it is more than he could get in a better league. Anyone have any details on his flame out in Turkey his rookie year out of ASU? He lasted merely a month or so before coming home. He didn't seem the type to who that would happen to. Maybe that scared the European teams off of him.

Americans/Canadians can usually make about $500,000 a season net income with agent fees and taxes paid by the club (so like a $1 million NBA deal), in Asian leagues like Japan and South Korea.

frumble wrote:I spent some time looking for info re which leagues are likely to release players for the qualifying windows starting in November 2017, and how national teams plan on dealing with the lack of availability of NBA, other pro, and NCAA players, but I haven't found anything definitive.

There is some speculation that Euro League and Euro Cup will work something out with FIBA.

Re national team planning, it seems the Philippines doesn't want to shut down its domestic league and is contemplating forming a core of young (university) players who would train together and then be available to form the bulk of the qualifying team (perhaps supplemented by a handful of pro players who would be released from their domestic teams).

Australia also plans on using "younger" players, given the lack of availability of their NCAA and NBA players.

As of right now, the EuroLeague (which also runs EuroCup) says it will never let its players leave during the club season to play in national teams. Teams that play in FIBA's leagues (Champions League and Europe Cup) would obviously be allowed to let their players do so.

However, some of the national domestic and regional leagues have already said they would not let their players do so. Like I believe the Spanish League, VTB United League (national league for Russia), and Adriatic League already said they would not allow their players to leave during the club season.

And beyond that, even if a team played in a national/regional league that allowed their players to leave, same with if they played in a FIBA continental league, the clubs themselves would still have control over that decision, and from everything I have read about this, most of the club owners are very strongly against it, and in particular the owners of EuroLeague teams are not having any part of it, if it is up to them.

PoundTown · Post #1833 » by **PoundTown** » Thu Aug 25, 2016 12:52 pm

mojo13 wrote:Well we can be pretty much guaranteed we won;t get all those guys committed.

A couple points:
I can easily see Pangos being better than Ennis, Scrubb and Hanlan in a few years - he probably is right now. Especially at FIBA ball where outside shooting is at a premium. Those other three are sub par shooter in my mind - especially Ennis and Hanlan. Pangos is a very high bball IQ player, maybe one of the best in our system. Really wish he was in Manila.

This Olympics hammered home how badly FIBA ball needs shooters. We are going to live an die by Olynyk, Lyles, Nicholson, and Murray. If Stuaskas finds his game that will be a huge bonus. We also need Wiggins to develop a reliable FIBA three pointer or else he is no different than Derozen. One dang shooting guard that could hit a 3 pointer could have made the difference in Manila.

Bennett over Nicholson and Powell? I don't think so by a large mark. Maybe Bennett will turn his career around but Nicholson in FIBA is a much better player. Powell I think has higher upside and is improving rapidly. I think I'd rather have either of them over Ejim as well today and likely four years from now, but that is a solid debate. Ejim has a certain grit about him and is improving his game. He gets a great three point shot and look out. Khem Birch could be more valuable to the team as the list above lacks interior defenders besides Thompson. Man what a difference DeAndre Jordan made when Coach K realized he should start.

It will be interesting to see how Powell develops. It seems he needs to find an outside shot and become a stretch for 4 or bulk up and become a 5 that can defend the paint and rebound. I have no idea which way he goes, but if he stays like this I am not sure there is long term role for him in the NBA.

Stuaskas may not even be playing bball in four years time - he sure seems to be auditioning for a TV job (I am not ever sure I am joking here). Bennett may not be playing in four years as well - he is a big wildcard in my eyes right now. Nicholson and Powell seemed to solidified their careers in the NBA. But who knows - Stauskas and Bennett in Europe playing FIBA brand ball and actually improving could be a boon to the national team. I am now convinced we'd be way better off with leading player on a Euroleague team over a 12-15th man on an NBA team any day. We need a Teodosic or De Colo not an Ennis or Stuaskas (in current form). We need leaders used to playing big moments, carrying a team in crunch time. Not afraid to take open shots...

If the coaching doesn't change do we not expect Heslip and Doornekamp in the mix? We need our Canadian style nepotism.

My ideal roster for 2020 would be: Joseph, Ennis, Murray, Pangos , Stauskas, Brooks , Wiggins, Lyles, Thompson, Nicholson, Olynyk, Powell

Barrett Jr is just too young for me - too much can happen from now to then. Brooks seems like a SF option.
Bennett and Ejim, out for Powell and Nicholson. Could see Ejim there easily.
Pangos over Hanlan. Easy choice for me right now.

Right now I am more interested in who suits up for the First Round of the World Cup Qualifiers in November 2018.
The 2020 Olympic Qualification system is very different and is seems quite premature to worry about that roster. Basically the Top 2 placing FIBA Americas Teams at the 2019 World Cup get directly into the 2020 Olympics. The next 2 placing FIBA Americas Teams get entry into similar last chance qualification tournaments (now 4 tournaments of 6 teams) which need to be won for entry into the Olympics (4 spots total). But also 16 teams "best teams" (no idea how that is determined) not qualified for will also be invited to those last chance tournaments.

Here is the graphic.
http://www.fiba.com/qualification-og

Great looking team, but I really would find a way to get Ejim in there. We may find we need him in certain situations, ala playing the States. who really just play their big Small Forwards (George, Anthony, Lebron, Durant) at the 3 and 4 spots, and a guy like Ejim would be our best bet to slow down some of those guys, especially if Wiggins is taking a breather assuming we would go small to match them. Also, think they could forgo adding Pangos, due to Murray being capable of taking back up point minutes should one of Joseph or Ennis get hurt. So, I would probably just swap in Ejim for Pangos. I think Brooks could play the 2 or the 3, same with Stauskas at FIBA level.

frumble · Post #1834 » by **frumble** » Thu Aug 25, 2016 3:46 pm

Some early NCAA news. Brooks still out with a broken foot. No word on when he will return. Boucher and Ennis have put up good numbers so far on Oregon's European exhibition tour.

Who are some other notable NCAA guys to watch this season?
XRM, Florida State
Nolan Narain and Montague Caesar-Gill, San Diego State
Justin Jackson, Maryland
Jalen Posyer, UNLV
Chris Egi and Corey Johnson, Harvard
Marial Shayok, Virginia
Kevin Zabo, Kent State

Am I forgetting anyone?

pantalones · Post #1835 » by **pantalones** » Thu Aug 25, 2016 3:58 pm

frumble wrote:Thanks Mojo.

Will be interesting to see if Stauskas makes Philly's roster.

Speaking of Yannopoulos, he has made an early call re Canada's ideal roster for 2020:

Team [Canada] Tokyo 2020: Joseph Murray Wiggins Lyles Thompson. Ennis Barrett Jr Ejim Bennett Olynyk Hanlan Stauskas.

I largely agree with this (as an ideal scenario, not a prediction of who would actually be there.

Among the guards. Joseph, Murray, Ennis, and Stauskas would be pretty much locks. I can see an argument for Pangos over Hanlan as the 5th, and I can see Basketball Canada giving serious consideration to P. Scrubb as well.

Re the SFs, unless he reclassifies, Barrett would be class of 2019, which means he would most likely be drafted in 2020, and would not be available for the 2020 Olympics. So we are still lacking a backup for Wiggins. Maybe Brooks. Or Pierre. Or the same discussion about whether Ejim would be used in that role.

And for the bigs, I agree with Olynyk and Thompson. Ejim, Bennett and Lyles would certainly be in the mix, along with Powell, Birch and Nicholson.

Why not? Sabonis repped Lithuania and Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin repped China after just getting drafted.

slothrop8 · Post #1836 » by **slothrop8** » Thu Aug 25, 2016 4:19 pm

frumble wrote:Some early NCAA news. Brooks still out with a broken foot. No word on when he will return. Boucher and Ennis have put up good numbers so far on Oregon's European exhibition tour.

Who are some other notable NCAA guys to watch this season?
XRM, Florida State
Nolan Narain and Montague Caesar-Gill, San Diego State
Justin Jackson, Maryland
Jalen Posyer, UNLV
Chris Egi and Corey Johnson, Harvard
Marial Shayok, Virginia
Kevin Zabo, Kent State

Am I forgetting anyone?

Might be stretching "notable" a bit - but New Mexico St is always worth keeping an eye on - they recruit Canada heavily and have quite a pipeline going. Matt Taylor, Jalyn Pennie, Rashawn Brown, and Tanveer Bhullar will likely play significant minutes - and they have Jermaine Haley coming in this year - though don't know if he'll redshirt or not.

Jordy Tsichmanga is an incoming freshman at Nebraska - and I think their only legit Centre - so ready or not he might get fed to the wolves in the Big 10 - which may well be good for him in the long run - though likely rough on him this year.

Nate Darling scored 50 points against RJ Barrett's (he had 30) Ontario team to lead Nova Scotia to the Gold Medal Game win in the National U-17 Boys tournament in 2015. Darling is an incoming Freshman this year for the UAB Blazers - don't know how much he'll play but if you're dropping 50 against Ontario in the National Title Game - you gotta be able to score.

slothrop8 · Post #1837 » by **slothrop8** » Thu Aug 25, 2016 4:20 pm

pantalones wrote:
frumble wrote:Thanks Mojo.

Will be interesting to see if Stauskas makes Philly's roster.

Speaking of Yannopoulos, he has made an early call re Canada's ideal roster for 2020:

Team [Canada] Tokyo 2020: Joseph Murray Wiggins Lyles Thompson. Ennis Barrett Jr Ejim Bennett Olynyk Hanlan Stauskas.

I largely agree with this (as an ideal scenario, not a prediction of who would actually be there.

Among the guards. Joseph, Murray, Ennis, and Stauskas would be pretty much locks. I can see an argument for Pangos over Hanlan as the 5th, and I can see Basketball Canada giving serious consideration to P. Scrubb as well.

Re the SFs, unless he reclassifies, Barrett would be class of 2019, which means he would most likely be drafted in 2020, and would not be available for the 2020 Olympics. So we are still lacking a backup for Wiggins. Maybe Brooks. Or Pierre. Or the same discussion about whether Ejim would be used in that role.

And for the bigs, I agree with Olynyk and Thompson. Ejim, Bennett and Lyles would certainly be in the mix, along with Powell, Birch and Nicholson.

Why not? Sabonis repped Lithuania and Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin repped China after just getting drafted.

Korkmaz played for Turkey in the Olympic Qualifying tournament too this year. It's somewhat rare that new draftees get released - but it does happen.

bozothepope · Post #1838 » by **bozothepope** » Thu Aug 25, 2016 4:53 pm

slothrop8 wrote:
frumble wrote:Some early NCAA news. Brooks still out with a broken foot. No word on when he will return. Boucher and Ennis have put up good numbers so far on Oregon's European exhibition tour.

Who are some other notable NCAA guys to watch this season?
XRM, Florida State
Nolan Narain and Montague Caesar-Gill, San Diego State
Justin Jackson, Maryland
Jalen Posyer, UNLV
Chris Egi and Corey Johnson, Harvard
Marial Shayok, Virginia
Kevin Zabo, Kent State

Am I forgetting anyone?

Might be stretching "notable" a bit - but New Mexico St is always worth keeping an eye on - they recruit Canada heavily and have quite a pipeline going. Matt Taylor, Jalyn Pennie, Rashawn Brown, and Tanveer Bhullar will likely play significant minutes - and they have Jermaine Haley coming in this year - though don't know if he'll redshirt or not.

Jordy Tsichmanga is an incoming freshman at Nebraska - and I think their only legit Centre - so ready or not he might get fed to the wolves in the Big 10 - which may well be good for him in the long run - though likely rough on him this year.

Nate Darling scored 50 points against RJ Barrett's (he had 30) Ontario team to lead Nova Scotia to the Gold Medal Game win in the National U-17 Boys tournament in 2015. Darling is an incoming Freshman this year for the UAB Blazers - don't know how much he'll play but if you're dropping 50 against Ontario in the National Title Game - you gotta be able to score.

Grant Mullins, California

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2016/04/27/california-grant-mullins-graduate-transfer-columbia

Duane Notice, South Carolina

frumble · Post #1839 » by **frumble** » Thu Aug 25, 2016 5:39 pm

Those are good suggestions re other guys to follow.

Re New Mexico State, Rashawn Brown has transferred out.
I think Haley red shirted last season. Surely he will play this season? Given his flakiness over the past few years, I guess I shouldn't take that for granted.

Re Mullins, I follow Cal pretty closely. Jordan Matthews transferring to Gonzaga and Jaylen Brown leaving for the NBA will open up some playing time. Mullins should have every opportunity to take it. I am hoping he fares better in Berkeley than did their last Canadian player, Emerson Murray. They are reportedly in the running for Abu Kigab and Oshae Brissett, so maybe they will establish a pipeline to rival Oregon's.

Re Barrett playing in the summer he is drafted, I am not saying it is impossible, just unlikely. I believe several pages ago (during a Jamal Murray discussion), Mojo detailed how rarely first round picks play FIBA in the summer they are drafted.

mojo13 · Post #1840 » by **mojo13** » Thu Aug 25, 2016 6:29 pm

What is our NBA Draft thoughts on our current NCAA guys?

Dillon Brooks and Chris Boucher I think are the only two on draft boards. Both mid 2nd rounders.

XRM is seemingly off the radar right now but a possibility if he has a break out year. His first year as a lead PG was not that smooth. I

Nolan Narain and Montague Caesar-Gill both will be interesting to watch. Both have an outside shot at the NBA but need substantial growth. MCG was once thought a possible NBA prospect while in highschool. He was decent in his rookie year at Missouri.

Justin Jackson, Maryland - he I will watch closely. He may be a legit NBA prospect - a little early to tell though.

Marial Shayok, Virginia - I dont know. He keeps regularly improving and my Cavs fan buddy is really high on him. Maybe an outside shot at a 3 and D role in the NBA?

Slim picking right now - not one sure fire NBA prospect in the mix.