State of the Union. Team Canada Basketball. (FIBA Americas Aug.31-Sep.15)

frumble · Post #3981 » by **frumble** » Wed Nov 4, 2015 5:39 pm

ESPN's list of top 100 NCAA players for this coming season is out (list is not based on potential, but current impact).

Three Canadians made it: WIltjer 6, Murray 19, and XRM 61.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/13991627/cbbrank-counting-top-100-players-college-basketball-2015-2016

HangTime · Post #3982 » by **HangTime** » Thu Nov 5, 2015 6:18 pm

Not sure if it was posted anywhere.

Here are some highlights.

Competition level wasn't great, but strong showing.

21 Points
8/15 FG
4/8 3-Pointer
2/2 FT

12 Rebounds
3 OFF
9 DEF

9 Assists
3 Steals
1 Block
3 Turnovers

29 Minutes

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InmT9ZBqMg8[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NiSoi3mFWs[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTanKV1_5Fw[/youtube]

hsb · Post #3983 » by **hsb** » Thu Nov 5, 2015 6:22 pm

Thanks. Watching him take over Pan Am was one of my favorite moments across all tournaments this summer. Will be watching him closely this season. Straight baller.

curryking3 · Post #3984 » by **curryking3** » Thu Nov 5, 2015 6:23 pm

Jamal why you do dis to your Ottawa brethren...

:cry:

WhatYaWant · Post #3985 » by **WhatYaWant** » Fri Nov 6, 2015 2:40 am

curryking3 wrote:Jamal why you do dis to your Ottawa brethren...

lol
it
wasnt the ottawa geegees

Boogie! · Post #3986 » by **Boogie!** » Fri Nov 6, 2015 2:42 am

so were draftinh im next year right?

frumble · Post #3987 » by **frumble** » Fri Nov 6, 2015 11:50 pm

Ennis getting the start for Milwaukee tonight (vs. NY). Good chance to show what he can do before MCW returns (as early as tomorrow).

Powell off to great start for Dallas.

Lyles finally got his first FG last night. 2/13 for the season, but decent rebounding numbers (10 in about 36 minutes).

Olynyk also off to a slow start shooting. 4/18 and his playing time is down from last season.

Stauskas shooting only 12/35, but at least is getting a chance to play and seems to have green light.

Nicholson and Sacre have each only played 4 minutes (each have been DNPs for 3 of 4 games).

Post #3988 » by **Undefeated** » Mon Nov 9, 2015 2:31 am

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL5bdH7mmUk[/youtube]

Left Side Drive · Post #3989 » by **Left Side Drive** » Mon Nov 9, 2015 2:59 am

Undefeated wrote:[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL5bdH7mmUk[/youtube]

He looks so good. Hasn't lost a step from FIBA. Pray the lottery balls can fall into our favor.

frumble · Post #3990 » by **frumble** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 5:04 pm

D League kicks off tonight.

I believe there are 5 Cdns on opening day rosters - Bhullar and Post on Raptors 905, Ejim and Kabongo on Erie, and Bachynski on Westchester.

mojo13 · Post #3991 » by **mojo13** » Tue Nov 17, 2015 5:31 pm

I'm interested in people's thoughts on our Canadian boys after the first three weeks of the season. Here are my quick thoughts:

Dwight Powell - Very impressive start to the season. Very much improved, better at defense, better at rebounding (which was his main weakness). He has been solid all year and is easily the third big in Big D. How soon do we start advocating for him starting at the 4 over TT on the SMNT?

CoJo - not much to say to this board, he has obviously been pretty good. Seems to have improved yet again and is a borderline starter in the league. I still think he is our best guard next summer by a longshot.

Ennis - at least he is finally healthy and picked up a few starts with MCW hurt. Nothing flashy, but he seemed to run the offense fairly well. It seems Jason Kidd likes him - Kidd said he reminded him of Mike Bibby (decent praise). Anyone see him play? I have not.

Stauskas - has been brutal shooting so far. I guess the good is that has been starting and has the green light to launch brick after brick. It will be interesting to see if he is benched before he finds his shooting touch. He seems to be playing decent D, a primary critique, (ok - not horrible) and is a decent play maker. He really needs that shot to fall - I am wondering if he just cant get it off against NBA athletes?

KO - A victim of Steven's funky rotations and too many bigs in Boston. But he looks to be playing ok as the Celtics third big.

Wiggins - getting better and better. I don't have much else to say.

Andrew Nicholson - is really falling off the cliff, not playing much at all. All DNPs except 2 games where he received a total of 6 minutes. Looks like he is out of the Magic's plans for good and may be out of the league next year. He may be off the SMNT team too if we get full participation next summer.

Trey Lyles - Nothing much to report so far. Still getting his feet wet as a rook, but not hearing much of anything good about him so far. Sort of "meh" from the Jazz fans. He needs time - still really young

Sacre - hanging by a thread. He seems to be nothing more than an insurance policy for the Lakers. Not long for the league I suspect.

Bennett - not really on my radar. Is there any progress with him?

Ejim - cut from the Magic and in the D. Nothing much to report yet.

And in Europe:
It sounds like Pangos is playing really well. Even saw some writer claim he will be a top 10 PG in Europe within a couple years. Also hearing good things about Heslip and Khem Birch. Sounds like Hanlan is doing well, but I haven't heard much about anyone else.

frumble · Post #3992 » by **frumble** » Wed Nov 18, 2015 5:25 am

That's a very good summary.

My very quick thoughts are that so far the best news has been Powell's performance. Honorable mentions to Joseph (his minutes, FG%, and 3 PT FG% have each gone up in each of his five seasons) and to Ennis for doing fairly well in his limited opportunity.

The biggest disappointments have been: 1) Olynyk seeing his time and performance down from last season; 2) Stauskas continuing to shoot horribly at the NBA level; 3) Ennis being back to DNP status since Carter-Williams came back; and 4) Lyles and Bennett not getting many opportunities and doing nothing with them.

I think there is a very strong possibility that Nicholson, Anthony, and Sacre are out of the league next season. Maybe Bennett too. And no way Stauskas would be starting, or even in the rotation, on any team other than the Sixers.

I'll try and add some thoughts re the Euro, D-league, and NCAA guys later this week.

Post #3993 » by **Dirk** » Wed Nov 18, 2015 11:12 pm

[tweet]https://twitter.com/EarlKSneed/status/667024748522655744[/tweet]

Jstock12 · Post #3994 » by **Jstock12** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 5:06 pm

Hanlan had a wonderful game today in a battle between the two best teams in Lithuania.

21 points (7/9 FG, 7/7 FT), 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 6 drawn fouls.

mojo13 · Post #3995 » by **mojo13** » Fri Dec 4, 2015 8:11 pm

I am hoping to happily eat crow on my Nicholson comments. He seems to be reviving his NBA career off of life support. Keep it up Andrew!

I keep hearing great reports about Pangos in Gran Canaria. Taking the ACB by storm!

Dwight seems to be losing some early season minutes and momentum with McGee's return.

mojo13 · Post #3996 » by **mojo13** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 9:56 pm

Xavier Rathan Mayes is looking like a legit PG in the ACC. He seems to be making the transition fairly well as a fulltime PG and it seems to help that he has some weapons around him in the two freshmen. Assists are way up, TOs are down. Scoring is down as he is charged with spreading it out and he may be leading the ACC in assists. He is still struggling to shoot the three consistently it seems. He is not really appearing on the Draft Boards (yet?) but perhaps they haven't noticed the growth in his game yet. He seems to have an outside shot at the NBA at this point.

Kyle Wiltjer seems somewhat the same player as last year - or maybe Gonzaga has disappointed me somewhat so far this season. He seems the same liability on defense a little slow but is an excellent offensive player. Unfortunately I think he needs to be at a Jimmer or Morrison level on offense to get a legit shot an the NBA. He is borderline at this point as well.

Dillon Brooks seems to be playing pretty good but at this time seems like yet another borderline prospect. They seem to question his size for the NBA. His last 5 games or so he is playing really well.

Jamal Murray may be the only legit NBA-caliber player we have in college at the moment....

Anyone else worth mentioning in the NCAA that I am missing?

Post #3997 » by **Undefeated** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 10:32 pm

mojo13 wrote:Anyone else worth mentioning in the NCAA that I am missing?

I've only watched two of their games, but Boucher stood out the most for Oregon.

Simi and RJ have been killing it at Montverde. Too bad they lost last night in the quarter finals in the City of Palms classic. I believe they lost to Lonzo Ball's team.

mojo13 · Post #3998 » by **mojo13** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 12:07 am

I hope Simi and RJ are both playing the FIBA U17s this summer.

Anyways....here is a good article from the National Post on Kevin Pangos' success so far in Gran Carnia. He is playing really well and should be in serious in discussions as Team Canada's best PG after Cojo. His growing FIBA experience could be crucial for the SMNT and he could be a more valuable fit than Tyler Ennis (or Scrubb or Hanlan).

http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/canadas-kevin-pangos-making-most-of-his-time-playing-in-the-canary-islands-as-he-awaits-a-chance-with-the-nba

Mirotic12 · Post #3999 » by **Mirotic12** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 11:38 am

Phil Scrubb is about to get loaned from Greek League and Eurocup team AEK Athens. They supposedly talked with teams from Turkey, Germany, and Spain to take him for the rest of this year and next year on loan.

He basically never got any playing time at all so far in AEK really in Greek League or Eurocup (league below Euroleague level). AEK changed their coach, and just after a few games, the new coach already decided to get rid of him.

I'm not sure what the deal is, he looked like a solid player to me whenever I saw him play, but that was in limited minutes. But both of the coaches at AEK would not put him on the floor. He might get loaned to a team in Spanish League that is a lot smaller than AEK and a lot less talented, so he could get more playing time. AEK is a big budget team and has a really deep roster, and they want to compete for a championship right now in Greek League, so maybe that's why he can't get playing time. So going to a small team in the Spanish League that does not have so much depth and good veteran players might help him develop more.

frumble · Post #4000 » by **frumble** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 9:44 pm

mojo13 wrote:Jamal Murray may be the only legit NBA-caliber player we have in college at the moment....

Anyone else worth mentioning in the NCAA that I am missing?

I agree that Murray is likely the only future NBA player we have in college now.

In terms of possible high Euro-level players, I would add Boucher (as mentioned by Undefeated), Egi, and Alexander. Egi is seeing nice improvement across the board at Harvard, and Alexander has been getting more playing time last few games for Tennessee.

Perhaps Corey Johnson as well.