Team Canada Basketball Thread V3.0

[mojo13]

Now rumors flowing on Twitter that Wiggins, CoJo and Dort are not at camp. Hopefully that is just a "yet"?

This is such a window into the Canada Basketball / Canball Fan relationship. It is just rumors and we shouldnt be worried about them, but Canada Basketball has built such a legacy of mistrust.

Getting really sick of it.

[aminiaturebuddha]

Now rumors flowing on Twitter that Wiggins, CoJo and Dort are not at camp. Hopefully that is just a "yet"?

This is such a window into the Canada Basketball / Canball Fan relationship.

Getting really sick of it.

Yikes, that would be devastating. Wiggins would also have a lot of explaining to do after making a big deal of committing, with his social media post and in subsequent interviews.

But as you say, hopefully they just haven't arrived yet.

[mojo13]

Now rumors flowing on Twitter that Wiggins, CoJo and Dort are not at camp. Hopefully that is just a "yet"?

This is such a window into the Canada Basketball / Canball Fan relationship.

Getting really sick of it.

Yikes, that would be devastating. Wiggins would also have a lot of explaining to do after making a big deal of committing, with his social media post and in subsequent interviews.

But as you say, hopefully they just haven't arrived yet.

People are internet sleuthing right now and finding Instagram posts of Wiggins at a lake in Minnesota stamped today. CoJo sand surfing in some desert....it is pretty f-ing funny at this point.

[OntZags]

Is it time to panic or simply start rosterbating for Paris 2024...

[mojo13]

Now rumors flowing on Twitter that Wiggins, CoJo and Dort are not at camp. Hopefully that is just a "yet"?

This is such a window into the Canada Basketball / Canball Fan relationship.

Getting really sick of it.

Yikes, that would be devastating. Wiggins would also have a lot of explaining to do after making a big deal of committing, with his social media post and in subsequent interviews.

But as you say, hopefully they just haven't arrived yet.

People are internet sleuthing right now and finding Instagram posts of Wiggins at a lake in Minnesota stamped today. CoJo sand surfing in some desert....it is pretty f-ing funny at this point.

Someone responded to me on Twitter saying Dillon Brooks had an agreement that he didn't need to report to camp until the 21st. Assuming it is true, the other guys would likely have the same thing. Recall CoJo at the WCs not showing up until way, way late.

Gonna make for an ill-prepared team though....

[Kenter16]

Now rumors flowing on Twitter that Wiggins, CoJo and Dort are not at camp. Hopefully that is just a "yet"?

This is such a window into the Canada Basketball / Canball Fan relationship.

Getting really sick of it.

Yikes, that would be devastating. Wiggins would also have a lot of explaining to do after making a big deal of committing, with his social media post and in subsequent interviews.

But as you say, hopefully they just haven't arrived yet.

People are internet sleuthing right now and finding Instagram posts of Wiggins at a lake in Minnesota stamped today. CoJo sand surfing in some desert....it is pretty f-ing funny at this point.

I find all these rumours to be infuriating. Why do we need to be web sleuths to simply find out who is in camp? Why can't we just get a straight answer from Rowan Barrett. 'These are the players we have in camp... These are the players we expect to arrive soon... Everyone else has issues we need to work out and we can't guarantee they play.' He doesn't have to tell us who is dealing with what issue, why they are late or anything. Just answer the WHO question. And I feel for the reporters. Grange and Blake Murphy seem to ask questions leading to roster issues and the Canadian brass completely avoid them. "We can only get behind who's here" or "The guys here should be applauded for their sacrifice". That's great, I want to get behind them to, I want to applaud them, so please tell me who the f*** is here! Mirotic gives us updates daily on who has a ingrown toe nail in the greek camp, but we don't even know who's in Tampa! I'm exaggerating, but my point is still there. We get fake camp rosters that get hopes up, phantom rosters that show up on FIBA sites and a GM that just shrugs his shoulders to the media.

If Wiggins and Dort do not show up there are some real issues that need to be discussed within Basketball Canada. These guys said they were in only a couple weeks ago. If they pulled out we need to know why. Unfortunately we won't find out why. But somebody better be asking the questions. More importantly changing things to get these guys to commit. Figure it out, what ever it is. Brooks and Clarke we in, but they are not coming. TT was always a stalwart, why has he changed his mind? O'Shae was in, now not. Maybe it's time we stop looking at each players reasons why not to and ask why Canada can't give them reasons to play.

Maybe this is just my frustration boiling over, maybe nothing is wrong. Every other national team seems to get great turnouts. We do not. We seem to always have everyone buying in until it's camp time and then everyone just falls like flies. I will never give up on team Canada. I will always be a fan. I bought a ticket package to the OQT last year. I was going to be at every game. If they have tickets this time, I will be first in line. As someone who financially backs this team, for as little as it is, I want to know what's going on with 'MY' national team. I don't want everything to be clouded in secrecy.

I still expect Wiggins and Dort to show up. Cojo was always a question mark for me. I have been reading the Pistons back pages and his contract option is likely to be decided on draft night. If they draft a Suggs or Cunningham the thought is that they will have too many guards and Cojo is the easiest to just let go of. If they don't draft a guard, it's likely they keep him. So, it will basically come down to the lottery on Tuesday night.

Anyways, I have said my peace. Maybe I am out to lunch. But I can't help but be frustrated.

[aminiaturebuddha]

You're definitely not the only one who's frustrated, Kenter. I basically feel the same way. It's a little ridiculous that we can't get straight answers when camp is starting already.

Also, I realize that they always need to maintain good relations with players and agents, but if this is NBA teams meddling behind the scenes (as it seems is the case with Brissett), what's the harm in making that public? If I'm in the Team Canada camp, and reporters ask about players who initially said they were interested, and then were told in no uncertain terms by their NBA teams not to participate, I would answer the questions with something along the lines of "We thought that X player was interested, and we hope to have them in the program in the future, but for this summer, X NBA team, who holds his contract, were clear that they didn't want him to play. I would suggest you direct any further questions about that player to NBA team."

[Kenter16]

You're definitely not the only one who's frustrated, Kenter. I basically feel the same way. It's a little ridiculous that we can't get straight answers when camp is starting already.

Also, I realize that they always need to maintain good relations with players and agents, but if this is NBA teams meddling behind the scenes (as it seems is the case with Brissett), what's the harm in making that public? If I'm in the Team Canada camp, and reporters ask about players who initially said they were interested, and then were told in no uncertain terms by their NBA teams not to participate, I would answer the questions with something along the lines of "We thought that X player was interested, and we hope to have them in the program in the future, but for this summer, X NBA team, who holds his contract, were clear that they didn't want him to play. I would suggest you direct any further questions about that player to NBA team."

Because FIBA has an agreement with the NBA and they are not allowed to hold players back from playing. So, the NBA team will never admit it. They can't. Only if there is an existing injury can they hold someone back.

[aminiaturebuddha]

You're definitely not the only one who's frustrated, Kenter. I basically feel the same way. It's a little ridiculous that we can't get straight answers when camp is starting already.

Also, I realize that they always need to maintain good relations with players and agents, but if this is NBA teams meddling behind the scenes (as it seems is the case with Brissett), what's the harm in making that public? If I'm in the Team Canada camp, and reporters ask about players who initially said they were interested, and then were told in no uncertain terms by their NBA teams not to participate, I would answer the questions with something along the lines of "We thought that X player was interested, and we hope to have them in the program in the future, but for this summer, X NBA team, who holds his contract, were clear that they didn't want him to play. I would suggest you direct any further questions about that player to NBA team."

Because FIBA has an agreement with the NBA and they are not allowed to hold players back from playing. So, the NBA team will never admit it. They can't. Only if there is an existing injury can they hold someone back.

Seems like an absolutely useless agreement then. Obviously this isn't a court, but it's a little like saying you can only be convicted of murder if you admit you killed someone. Is there no recourse for national team programs if NBA teams are "strongly discouraging" players from suiting up for international games? And if there isn't, and it's the honour system, what's the point of the agreement?

It seems like the only thing that national programs could do if this is the situation is start being open about the process. Thinking it through logically, if Team Canada came out and said, "we understand that their NBA team made it clear that they didn't like the idea of X player participating" what is the NBA team going to do? If they come out and publicly deny it, then the player would have cover to play with the national team, if that's what they want to do. And if they don't deny it when asked (if reporters did their jobs), then that would seem to be a tacit admission that NBA teams are operating in bad faith with FIBA.

But I realize that no one is going to push it to that level of brinkmanship because they'd be scared of burning too many bridges. But damn it if the steel girders in our bridges always seem to be rusting away all on their own anyway.

[Kenter16]

Alright, what we do know is Dwight Powell is there.

He is an elite screen setter and an efficient inside scorer. He was second in the NBA in screen assists per 36, but was first after March 1st. He isn't the best interior defender, but he is at a passable level in the NBA. Boxes out well, but not the best rebounder. He will get a lot of minutes in Victoria and I don't think that's a bad thing. Pairing him with Andrew Nicholson may work out well. Nicholson can spread the floor, shoot the three, score inside and rebound a little. They may compliment each other well. Would lack some defense there, but not in a significant manner.

RJ will be there and we all know how well his sophomore season went. In his interview he seems like he really wants this. Mentions the U19 win and how great that was. That's a good attitude to have around. No one has ever won on the world stage as a Canadian. It's strange to say he will be a leader at 21, but I think he will be. Helps that his Dad is the manager. You'd think that would give him a little more confidence to lead.

Hopefully today we see some pics from camp. Then us web sleuths can dissect the photos and find out whos in camp. I really need to see Cojo there to make me feel better. We really need a true PG on the roster and he is our best option at this moment.

[mojo13]

Rowan Barrett did mention Lyles, Ejim, Klassen, Doornekamp beyond Powell and Nicholson. So that gives you a couple more names to work with.

[Mattd97]

Who would've thought trey lyles would be the NBA guy to show up

[mojo13]

Who would've thought trey lyles would be the NBA guy to show up

He may be a starter too - so it is worth exploring why he had such a horrid season and didn't touch the floor since the the All Star Break.

More here:
https://www.poundingtherock.com/2021/4/22/22395799/lets-speculate-about-what-happened-with-trey-lyles-and-the-san-antonio-spurs

[ItsDanger]

Interesting that Zach Edey is there. I assume just for exposure. Listed at 7'4 but might be taller. His mobility is not too bad for his size. Still learning the game but his FTs aren't bad.

[Mirotic12]

After Ioannis Papapetrou dropped out with an injury, Greece added Lefteris Bochoridis to their training camp.

Both Georgios Printezis and Vassilis Spanoulis are injured. Printezis has an ankle injury and Spanoulis has a calf injury. They don't know if Printezis will play or not, until he gets an MRI. Spanoulis will miss the prep games, and they are claiming he can play at the tournament, but based on the reported injury, it's about 3 weeks time to heal. So if he does play, it will be with a bad calf.

Just be glad you guys don't have all these injuries to deal with. Players needing rest, not playing because of their NBA teams, etc. is one thing, but having that plus on top of it getting three rotation players that you did have available knocked out with injuries is even worse.

Some of the players said that the training camp of Pitino is very intense so far. I hope he doesn't burn the team out.

[ItsDanger]

Greece playing Mexico live on YT now, exhibition game.

[Mirotic12]

Greece's Georgios Printezis is out for the summer. His MRI showed a bad injury and he had to have immediate surgery. So at the moment, if there are no more injuries, Greece is playing without like its top 6 forwards on the depth chart.

Greece normally has several players missing every tournament. But it's already up to over half the team missing, and if Spanoulis can't play on top of it (3 weeks is the listed time for his injury), that's just too many players missing.

Looking at the depth chart of the Greek training camp, I think there is actually still enough depth and talent to be able to compete with any of the OQT teams on paper. The problem I see though is several of the players are too young and/or too inexperienced in such tournaments. Teams based around young / inexperienced players with good talent and upside, but that are not proven players, historically have generally not done well in these types of tournaments.

If Spanoulis, the most experienced Greek player is also out, that compounds the issue. Although I think the athletic level of a young Greek team could be a surprise for a team like Canada.

[Mirotic12]

Greece had a coronavirus positive and now they have to quarantine. Also, apparently, only some of the team has one vaccine shot and some don't have any. And no mentions of anyone that has two shots.

[mojo13]

Greece had a coronavirus positive and now they have to quarantine. Also, apparently, only some of the team has one vaccine shot and some don't have any. And no mentions of anyone that has two shots.

Oh man....this sucks all around for the Greek team. Maybe life isn't so bad being a Team Canada fan.

Good showing by Turkey in a 80-62 friendly win over Russia today.
Cedi Osman14/6/4
Alperen Sengün 13/8/2
Sertac Sanli 13/9
Metecan Birsen 9/7
Yurtseven 4 blocks. Larrkin held out due to injury (non-serious). Bugrahan Tuncer started at PG.

[TrueNorth31]

I thought the U19 team was training at the Raptors facility , but I was wrong they are actually nearby in Orlando at Montverde Prep ( home to top Canadian prospects Houstan and Nembhard ). Elijah Fisher apparently has been invited.

https://www.si.com/college/recruiting/basketball/elijah-fisher-blog-canadian-national-team

Camp apparently opened today, but still no official camp list from CB ( are we surprised ? )

Canadian scout Wes Brown had some scuttlebutt on potential participants.

Read on Twitter

Solid list with potentially 4-5 good NBA prospects.