Team Canada Basketball Thread

[Patman]

FIBA has a long list of complaints with Brazil http://www.fiba.com/news/fiba-suspends-brazilian-federation - but it is clearly really because they still have not paid FIBA for the Wild Card for entry to the last World Cup (rumor it was $1-2MM). They were in hot water leading up to the Olympics, with FIBA threating to suspend Brazil on many occasions. But the IOC put pressure on FIBA to allow the host country to play.

Last fall FIBA finally said enough is enough and fully suspended Brazil. Their spot in this Americup us labeled TBA as well as their spot in the u19 WCs this summer. I am sure their are many others, but those are the two I noticed.

It would be nice for Canada to see this stay unresolved. One less competitor during the WC qualification process.

They should be allowed to compete, but be forced to play Bruno and Bebe for entire games.

[mojo13]

Justin Jackson and Dillon Brooks both invited to the NBA combine.

XRM was not - as far as I can tell so far.

Dillon Brooks was also asked to participate in 5 on 5 which i believe indicates he is on the cusp. Mid / late 2nd round at best.

[Young_Buc]

Can Jackson be taken in the 1st? Would love to buy a 2nd to put him on the 905

[aminiaturebuddha]

Draft Express scouting reports on Patterson and McNeilly from Jordan Brand Classic:

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/jordan-brand-classic-global-showcase-scouting-reports-5895/

Here some highlights from the reports (more detail in original):

Although he had an up and down week and may not look physically overwhelming, McNeilly was arguably the best long-term prospect in Brooklyn. He has physical upside, a tremendous foundational skill set for his age, and a level of self-assuredness and poise that you rarely see from a 16-year-old. He still needs to develop physically and can continue to play with more vigor, but McNeilly has a chance to be a high-level NBA prospect if he progresses as expected. The Canadian guard is without a doubt worth following as he's one of the best young prospects in all of Canada right now.

Patterson proved to be one of the most polished prospects on the Jordan Brand Global roster, and was outstanding when we evaluated him at the 2017 BioSteel Futures Game. At 6'6, he has excellent size for a guard prospect, especially considering that he's at his best on the ball and really projects as a lead guard long term. He's instinctual, ambidextrous, skilled and confident, and should be able to have an immediate impact at the college level when the time comes. Because he's not an elite athlete, his long-term upside will likely revolve around what type of shooter he is long term. Overall Patterson's versatility and positional size make him an intriguing prospect to track.

It's now a few days old, but www.nbadraft.net also has a write-up about the Jordan Brand Classic on the two Canadians.

http://www.nbadraft.net/jordan-brand-classic-global-showcase

Addison Patterson 6’6 190 SG/SF – Athlete Institute (Canada)
The 6’6 versatile wing ran the point for the Blue Team and showed some solid court vision while passing out of drives and half court distributing. In an ideal environment, I see him a secondary ball handler or a scoring wing with playmaking ability. Although he missed a few layups, he’s got good driving ability and wasn’t too phased by the defense but can work on protecting the ball in tight spaces to minimize turnovers. He used his hands a bit much on defense but has tools and athleticism to be a good perimeter defender and rebounder for position. In addition to his athletic gifts, he made two of his three attempts from downtown. Over the course of the practices and games, Patterson looked like the top talent of the bunch, earning MVP with 25 points and eight rebounds.

Cashius McNeilly 6’4 177 PG – Thornlea (Canada)
McNeilly was solid but didn’t have his best showing with 5-14 shooting but finished with 15 points and five rebounds. He’s very athletic, as he’s very quick with the ball and an effortless on foot jumper. He’s got a nose for the ball and glides all over the court. Offensively, he’s got a quick trigger and gets off his shot but must improve. His shot mechanics aren’t bad but he tends to drift at times when he shoots off the dribble.

[RaptorsLife]

Justin Jackson was invited to the nba draft combine

[TheFutureMM]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/29/sports/basketball/houston-rockets-daryl-morey.html

Don't know if it's been posted yet but found a great article on Kyle Wiltjer. Sounds like Houston really likes him and his fit in their system.

[Lord_Zedd]

Bennett released from his club in Turkey

Read on Twitter

[mojo13]

Bennett released from his club in Turkey

Read on Twitter

I feel bad for the kid. He will go down in history even though much of the blame can be put on the Cavs.

No surprise with Fener though for anyone who was following. Euroleague is no joke and closer to the NBA than many realize. Rosters are littered with ex-NBA role players. Plus Fener's coach was a notoriously hard coach. It was always going to be tough for AB joining Fener midseason and trying to pick up the system (not his strong suit). He just couldn't carve out a role.

Fener took a risk, realized it wasn't working and cut bait to get help where they needed it.

Hopefully Bennett's career isn't done and he finds a place on a decent team a level down for a couple 100K a year.

[mojo13]

No NBA players for USA for most of the WC qualification process. D-Leaguers should be enough for them to qualify.
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/usa-basketball-nba-players-qualifying-fiba/story?id=47156599

[Mattd97]

No NBA players for USA for most of the WC qualification process. D-Leaguers should be enough for them to qualify.
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/usa-basketball-nba-players-qualifying-fiba/story?id=47156599

thats annoying. they were the best chance to push for change. the NBA should just release guys - their 82 game schedule is a scam anyways and most of their stars rest at their own leisure anyways

[frumble]

No NBA players for USA for most of the WC qualification process. D-Leaguers should be enough for them to qualify.
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/usa-basketball-nba-players-qualifying-fiba/story?id=47156599

Thanks for posting this.

Nothing really new - although I think is first time I have read that D-League players (at least American ones) will be made available - but nice to finally see an article re what a program is planning on doing.

[frumble]

Latest (May 4) Draft Express mock has Brooks 45th.

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2017/

No Boucher, XRM, or Jackson. (they have Jackson 22nd in their 2018 mock draft, but the 2018 mock hasn't been updated since mid April).

Jackson still has a couple weeks to withdraw his name?

NBAdraft.net has Boucher 57th and Brooks 58th.

[TooBad]

Bennett released from his club in Turkey

Read on Twitter

I feel bad for the kid. He will go down in history even though much of the blame can be put on the Cavs.

No surprise with Fener though for anyone who was following. Euroleague is no joke and closer to the NBA than many realize. Rosters are littered with ex-NBA role players. Plus Fener's coach was a notoriously hard coach. It was always going to be tough for AB joining Fener midseason and trying to pick up the system (not his strong suit). He just couldn't carve out a role.

Fener took a risk, realized it wasn't working and cut bait to get help where they needed it.

Hopefully Bennett's career isn't done and he finds a place on a decent team a level down for a couple 100K a year.

Anthony Bennett did not get cut

http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/source-anthony-bennett-still-fenerbahce-el-final-four-roster/

[TheFutureMM]

Latest (May 4) Draft Express mock has Brooks 45th.

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2017/

No Boucher, XRM, or Jackson. (they have Jackson 22nd in their 2018 mock draft, but the 2018 mock hasn't been updated since mid April).

Jackson still has a couple weeks to withdraw his name?

NBAdraft.net has Boucher 57th and Brooks 58th.

Jackson has a while to remove his name... June 12th. Speaking of, excited to see his measurements at the draft - hopefully he does the athletic tests as well.

As well, I would be surprised if Boucher or XRM got drafted. Not statistically sexy enough for their age.

[aminiaturebuddha]

Just quickly as we wait for the start of the Raptors game - the drawing for the FIBA 2019 World Cup Qualifications took place today in China. Canada was drawn into group D with the Dominican Republic, Bahamas and the US Virgin Islands.

It shouldn't be too hard to finish in the top 3 of that group to qualify for the next round, but the important thing will be beating the DR, as points carry over to the next round, and I expect they should be Canada's only real competition in that group - even without any of our NBA players.

The wikipedia page has been updated with all of the different groups for anyone who is interested:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_FIBA_Basketball_World_Cup_qualification

[TheFutureMM]

Just quickly as we wait for the start of the Raptors game - the drawing for the FIBA 2019 World Cup Qualifications took place today in China. Canada was drawn into group D with the Dominican Republic, Bahamas and the US Virgin Islands.

It shouldn't be too hard to finish in the top 3 of that group to qualify for the next round, but the important thing will be beating the DR, as points carry over to the next round, and I expect they should be Canada's only real competition in that group - even without any of our NBA players.

The wikipedia page has been updated with all of the different groups for anyone who is interested:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_FIBA_Basketball_World_Cup_qualification

Good information. Building on that with our round 1 schedule...

http://www.fiba.com/basketballworldcup/2019/americas-qualifiers/fullschedule

November 24th 2017 -> Canada vs Bahamas
November 26th 2017 -> Canada vs Dominican Republic
February 22nd 2018 -> Canada vs US Virgin Islands
February 25th 2018 -> Canada vs Bahamas
June 29th 2018 -> Canada vs Dominican Republic
July 2nd 2018 -> Canada vs US Virgin Islands

The good news is that we only have to play the Dominican Republic once without the availability of our NBA players...

This is right here is where Steve Nash actually earns his GM title. It's one thing to convince our top guys to play, it's another to find 12 pro non-NBA players to show up for those first four games. What are options for this part? Can we grab our Euroleague / EuroCup guys for these games or is at the team's discretion? I would hate to trot out a CIS team but who knows...

[mojo13]

I have seen mixed reports on EL and EC players participating. The latest i saw is not quite outright ban but participation will be at the EL/EC club's discretion. Which I take as a flat "NO" considering the current poor relationship between FIBA and EL/EC.

If so - That would take away Birch, Bennett, Pangos beyond the NBA guys.
Still we have some decent guys not in EL/EC such as both Scrubbs, Hanlan, Ejim, Doornekamp, Pierre, Mullins, Rautins, English, Sacre, Bhullar, Bachynski, Cadugan, Kabongo, Kendall, Anderson, Bucknor, Kris and Devoe Joseph (I'm throwing out as many names as possible of guys affiliated with the SMNT over the last couple years - the sun has probably set on a few of these guys). It should be Enough to get through the first round at least.

This list could change as European teams realign their affiliation again this coming year and guys change teams.

We might also have access to guys like Wiltjer, Heslip, Brooks, Boucher, XRM depending on where they end up.

We'll we be ok in round 1. Just need as many wins as possible to carry to Round 2.

So Is Brazil out? That is big if so.

EDIT: Brazil's spot is still listed as TBA. Would be nice if they don't end up in it.

[mojo13]

The Bball gods make have smiled on us for once.
I am fairly certain Groups B and D get combined for the 2nd round. As it stands that could put us with the Top 3 of Chile, Columbia, Venezuala and TBA. If that TBA is not Brazil we will be looking pretty darn good as that will likely be an awful Bolivia. It would really only be DR and VEN as viable competitors.
If we can't be Top 3 from those combined groups we should just quit basketball.
If I understand this right we really have a nice draw.

[frumble]

The Bball gods make have smiled on us for once.
I am fairly certain Groups B and D get combined for the 2nd round. As it stands that could put us with the Top 3 of Chile, Columbia, Venezuala and TBA. If that TBA is not Brazil we will be looking pretty darn good as that will likely be an awful Bolivia. It would really only be DR and VEN as viable competitors.
If we can't be Top 3 from those combined groups we should just quit basketball.
If I understand this right we really have a nice draw.

Yeah, the FIBA website shows Group E as being A and C, and Group F as being B and D, so we got lucky with the draw. Even if Brazil is reinstated, B/D looks like the easier group.

A/C
USA
Argentina
Puerto Rico
Mexico
Panama
Uruguay
Paraguay
Cuba

B/D
Canada
Dominican Republic
Brazil/Bolivia
Venezuela
Colombia
Chile
Virgin Islands
Bahamas

Also some good news in that the June 2018 window is at the very end of June. Our game vs. DR is June 29. So more rest for any NBAers who were involved in deep playoff runs.

And the September 2018 window is 13th to 17th, which should be before NBA training camps open.

[aminiaturebuddha]

Yeah, it definitely looks like we got a favourable draw.

We've all talked ad nauseum about the difficulties of getting NBA players to commit for games, but I think one big challenge for Nash and Barrett Sr. will be getting some of those lower tier guys to commit for these qualifying games, knowing damn well that even if they play well and win, they'll probably be just setting the table for the higher level guys to come in and play games at the World Cup and Olympics. This might be fine for the young guys who can view it as an "audition", but for veterans like Doornekamp, Rautins or Sacre, the selling point is almost purely pride and love of country. I hope it'll be enough.