Team Canada Basketball Thread V3.0

[BilboBanginz]

Not ideal

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[Mirotic12]

According to Euro media, Kevin Pangos signed a 2 year contract with CSKA Moscow. The contract is said to be worth $4 million net income, so over $8 million in how the NBA counts salary. It supposedly has the option for an NBA buyout clause through September 15th.

[mojo13]

According to Euro media, Kevin Pangos signed a 2 year contract with CSKA Moscow. The contract is said to be worth $4 million net income, so over $8 million in how the NBA counts salary. It supposedly has the option for an NBA buyout clause through September 15th.

wow....CSKA snuck in there and gave him the NBA out which was key for him. That's about what he got at Barca. Fantastic for KP.









and with the camp stuff...guys are still inbound...so no need to freak out yet.
Not having Brooks really hurts, as I thought he could lead this team - TT fills a needed role too. But they are both replaceable - I'm good with Wiggins/Barrett/Dort if they all show and Birch should be enough to handled TTs role easily.

Twitter has reported Mulder is playing too and that Olynyk has been physically sighted in in Florida (no confirmation he is playing but that gives hope).



EDIT: Nicholson and Nembhard just confirmed by Grange.


Looking at something like this so far:

CoJo/NAW/Keane
Dort / Mulder
Wiggins / Ejim
Nicholson / Bennett / ???
Powell / ???

We need bigs.....

I'm confident in Birch and Barrett - and semi-confident in Olynyk.

So hopefully we at least see:

CoJo / NAW / Keane
Barrett / Dort / Mulder
Wiggins / Ejim
Olynyk / Nicholson
Birch / Powell

This would be an excellent team. With Clarke, Lyles as unknowns who could crack the rotation.

[aminiaturebuddha]

CoJo was key, with the lack of depth at PG, so the fact that he's there is a big relief for me. The next big shoe to drop will be Olynyk. If he shows up, I'll be feeling much better about this team, as I think they'll have the roster flexibility to fill in the other positions in a number of different ways.

Wiggins, Dort, NAW, Ejim, Bell-Haynes, Powell...this is the makings of a pretty good roster along with CoJo, if Olynyk commits and Birch and Barrett show up as expected.

Has anyone heard why Brooks isn't there? He's got a guaranteed contract for the next two years, and didn't have any significant injuries that I'm aware of at the end of the season (in fact, he was playing some of his best ball in the playoffs).

[Mirotic12]

wow....CSKA snuck in there and gave him the NBA out which was key for him. That's about what he got at Barca. Fantastic for KP.

With Zenit this past season, he was at $1.2 million US dollars net a season. This contract with CSKA is for $2 million US dollars net per season. So it's almost double the amount.

With Barca, he got $1.5 million US dollars net per season. So $500,000 net less a season than the CSKA deal.

[Kenter16]

I am upset that Brooks isn't going to be there. That hurts. We will be able to fill his role with Wiggins and Barrett. However, Brooks was playing at an all star level. That one hurts.
TT too. He is one of the best offensive rebounders in the game. Didn't expect him 100% though. He is a Kardashian now. More important things have come up.
I am glad to see Cujo there. He is our most key player. We need him. PG falls off after him.

[frumble]

With TT out, I think Birch becomes our 2nd most important guy (after Joseph).
We have some perimeter bigs (assuming Olynyk is able to play), but who is our next best interior big after Birch?

Any word on TBH? I would like to have him in the mix for the back-up PG job (or 3rd PG if NAW is considered a PG).

[mojo13]

With TT out, I think Birch becomes our 2nd most important guy (after Joseph).
We have some perimeter bigs (assuming Olynyk is able to play), but who is our next best interior big after Birch?

Any word on TBH? I would like to have him in the mix for the back-up PG job (or 3rd PG if NAW is considered a PG).

I think Olynyk is far more important than Birch. He is better offensively than Birch in every way (inside and out). Kelly is a fantastic post player offensively if that is what is needed. KO is also a big, strong guy and not a really liability defensively. Although yes - Birch is much preferred defensively. We need both - but KO is my choice if we had to choose.

I also think Keane is easily my choice over TBH. Keane is far more experienced with the SMNT and Nurse than TBH. Keane also has a better pro resume than TBH - the French Pro-A is better than the BBL. Keane was a fine player in the BBL the previous season but moved up to Pro-A this past season. the last time Keane played (in Feb for the AmeriCup Qualfiers) - he looked like the best guard we had. He looked far better than Phil Scrubb.

[PoundTown]

Even if we suit up a core of...

Cojo
Barrett
Wiggins
Olynyk
Birch

NAW
Dort
Powell

That is still our best roster we've ever put together and by a longshot, and should be able to qualify for the olympics.

[Mirotic12]

I think Olynyk is far more important than Birch. He is better offensively than Birch in every way (inside and out). Kelly is a fantastic post player offensively if that is what is needed. KO is also a big, strong guy and not a really liability defensively. Although yes - Birch is much preferred defensively. We need both - but KO is my choice if we had to choose.

I also think Keane is easily my choice over TBH. Keane is far more experienced with the SMNT and Nurse than TBH. Keane also has a better pro resume than TBH - the French Pro-A is better than the BBL. Keane was a fine player in the BBL the previous season but moved up to Pro-A this past season. the last time Keane played (in Feb for the AmeriCup Qualfiers) - he looked like the best guard we had. He looked far better than Phil Scrubb.

Not really. The NBA is strangely obsessed with drafting any young French player in the Pro A that ever steps on the court at a young age. It doesn't make it that good of a league. It's way overrated by NBA and US sports media.

It's honestly no better at all than the German League.

[TrueNorth31]

I doubt that they will have exhibition games, but a controlled scrimmage with Uruguay or China could certainly be done ( no fans, have fiba refs, don't keep score , play 4-5 quarters - this is a common thing at the college level ).

I would have liked to have seen some exhibition games , but then camp would have had to open 10-14 days earlier and you would have had to have gone to Europe most likely to find matches. If you did this though, you'd have much less NBA player participation ( remember if they qualify they have to further commit for another 6 weeks ). I've heard through a source that the 3 week Aussie training camp slog before the World Cup was the primary reason NBA players didn't participate. With an abbreviated break between the bubble this last season, as well as the late season this year opening camp early was a no go for the NBA contingent. Another issue is that the French Jeep league is still playing and we have an inordinate number of Canadian players in that league. Alas the cold hard reality of Covid and not qualifying out of the World Cup has become an issue.

I once read about a rule that NBA players on international teams (so non USA Basketball) can only spend a total of 28 days with their national teams in a calendar year. I can't remember where I read it, but it was a major sports media source. If that's correct (it may not be), then a long training camp probably wouldn't work for Canada, since if they qualify for the Olympics, they would probably need another training camp and preparation period in the same summer.

I believe there is something to this. In the press conference to announce the team Barrett mentioned that they were right up against the time limits for having NBA player participation this summer. Now I don't think it's 28 days ( unless they don't count the actual days of the tournaments ) , but it is a certain defined number of days . I note Lithuania is opening camp today, with their 2 NBA posts, so they are following a similar timeline.

Also Roy Rana has been named an assistant coach to the German team and Jokic has announced he will not play this summer for Serbia.

[TrueNorth31]

For what it's worth they've posted a Canadian roster on the Victoria Fiba site.

http://www.fiba.basketball/oqt/canada/2020/team/Canada#|tab=roster

I read 24 names , although it's already dated since it includes Brooks and Brissett who per Grange are not coming.

Perhaps this is some ongoing working document or ongoing supplemental roster and they add/delete names as they arrive/ don't arrive ?

I note no Olynyk or Birch , but most of the names match Grange and Murphy's reporting.

Also they have a few of the U19 players on the list. They open camp on Friday so these kids are warm bodies for scrimmage.

Given the lack of communication from Canada Basketball I'm wondering what's going on ?

Edt : Murphy is saying CB has some press availability later today.

[Kenter16]

Read on Twitter

?s=19

And there it is... Canada Basketball is asking for a 7 week commitment from these guys. Sounds like if they win Victoria they head to Hawaii for another camp and the onto Japan. It's tough for these nba guys to give up their whole summer. They all have there private work outs and off season team plans.
I wonder if they said it was 'manditory' to be there for the whole summer.

Sent from my SM-G973W using RealGM mobile app

[TrueNorth31]

Well the press conference has come and gone and well - things are as clear as mud.

Read on Twitter

We do know Dwight Powell is there and in a practice jersey.

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/video/powell-sacrifice-secondary-comes-representing-181832164.html

[TrueNorth31]

Eric Koreen has a story up in the Athletic.

https://theathletic.com/2656111/2021/06/16/dwight-powells-choice-to-play-for-canada-shows-its-a-tough-decision-i-dont-use-the-word-sacrifice-lightly/

"The last two days have been familiar for longtime followers of the senior men’s national team: It was more a case of who was not there than who was. Several members of the 21-man group Canada Basketball announced would be heading to Tampa last month were not on the 24-man list of players eligible to play in the tournament and Olympics submitted to FIBA, although it should be noted that general manager Rowan Barrett did not confirm the accuracy of the list. The frontcourt took the biggest hit, with Kelly Olynyk of the Rockets, Khem Birch of the Raptors and Tristan Thompson of the Celtics, the former two of whom will be free agents in August, not in Tampa. Additionally, it is not believed Memphis’ Dillon Brooks and Indiana’s Oshae Brissett, who are on the list, will be available to play in Victoria, B.C."

There does seem to be some speculation that things are still in a flux and some players might still show up ( I.E. someone claiming to be Kelly Olynyk's second cousin says he's coming on twitter ) Alas such is life as a Canada Basketball aficionado...

[mojo13]

Koreen claiming the 24 man list on the fiba website is the list submitted to fiba is idiotic.

We all here know better than this. Years of looking at fibas very inaccurate and weird pre tournament roster names have taught us this. The Canadian media today are equally to blame for all the confusion going on.

Wait for something official. Pictures. Something.

Koreen isn’t there and doesn’t know.

[TrueNorth31]

Barrett answering some questions today.

https://ca.movies.yahoo.com/rowan-barrett-thanks-players-staff-182002143.html

I think what we need to remember this is going to be a grind. The entire 7 week commitment is going to be in a bubble environment. Practice and go back to your room. Probably no fans or family in the stands watching you play. If your a player you see all sorts of fellow players dropping like flies due to injury. In many ways I'm actually amazed at our turnout. These guys are to be commended for committing and I certainly understand how some guys in the end decided not to play.

[TrueNorth31]

Koreen claiming the 24 man list on the fiba website is the list submitted to fiba is idiotic.

We all here know better than this. Years of looking at fibas very inaccurate and weird pre tournament roster names have taught us this. The Canadian media today are equally to blame for all the confusion going on.

Wait for something official. Pictures. Something.

Koreen isn’t there and doesn’t know.

Yes I'm surprised it's taken on a life of its own. My understanding is that it's a working document and a general wish list of potential players in your pool that can be added and subtracted to as things progress and should be viewed as being somewhat in flux. It is not a camp list . Still I don't think you should totally ignore this list either. Apparently the final roster is usually handed in 48 hours before the tournament .

I have a friend who was chef de mission on one of our national teams and told me the final roster turn in is quite a lavish ceremony. I'm afraid though with no Canadian reporters on the ground in Tampa , confusion is going to rule the day for the next week.

[TrueNorth31]

Grange with another excellent story on the program.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/article/canada-basketball-grateful-players-sacrificing-summer-national-team/

"The world — as we need any reminder after the past 15 months or so — isn’t perfect, and so it shouldn’t be any surprise that the still-evolving edition of the Canadian men’s national basketball team isn’t perfect either.

It likely never will be, and coming to accept that should be an admission test for Canadian basketball fandom.

On paper a ‘Dream Team’ version of Canada’s best is loaded at every position and sprinkled with the kind of elite, difference-making players that allow teams to win at the highest level.

It’s intoxicating."

Wise words. Also he pointed out the players have actually been there since June 12 for testing and pre quarantine.

Here's another story I've never heard about Dwight Powell in 2019 and how the Mavericks talked him out of playing.

"But Powell was on the other side of that coin in 2019 when he had every intention of playing for Canada at the World Cup but backed out when Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle visited him in Toronto to let him know in person how important Powell was to what the Mavericks wanted to do that season. "

I just don't think the casual fan understands the amount of pressure these guys are under NOT to play. Most fans just want to be entertained and be happy and don't think of any other factors.

[Kenter16]

For what it's worth they've posted a Canadian roster on the Victoria Fiba site.

http://www.fiba.basketball/oqt/canada/2020/team/Canada#|tab=roster

I read 24 names , although it's already dated since it includes Brooks and Brissett who per Grange are not coming.

Perhaps this is some ongoing working document or ongoing supplemental roster and they add/delete names as they arrive/ don't arrive ?

I note no Olynyk or Birch , but most of the names match Grange and Murphy's reporting.

Also they have a few of the U19 players on the list. They open camp on Friday so these kids are warm bodies for scrimmage.

Given the lack of communication from Canada Basketball I'm wondering what's going on ?

Edt : Murphy is saying CB has some press availability later today.

Rowan Barrett's comment to Grange's question about the list was simply 'I haven't seen the list of the FIBA site'. That list should be disregarded completely.
Honestly, I don't hate any guy who wears the Canadian Jersey and root for them loyally... but if I see Owen Klassen getting any minutes in Victoria I will lose it! He's on the list if you guys haven't looked.

Canada basketball is asking a lot again. It's nobody's fault, that's the time commitment it takes. That is a big problem when it comes to NBA players. I don't blame them either. It really all comes down to Canada's poor results in all competitions. Our world ranking is poor. Which leads to poor seeding in large tournaments. That just makes everything more difficult. We need to get results in these type of tournaments in the future. If we can get better seeding, maybe we can get to medal rounds easier, thus automatically qualifying for (in the case) the Olympics. If there was no qualification tournament this summer we would see a much better turnout.