Team Canada Basketball Thread V3.0

[TrueNorth31]

Fiba ( through Canada Basketball ) has a preliminary list of the Canadian U19 roster which closely matches the list from Wes. While it's not exact, remember these lists are of a precursory nature and subject to change ( much like the Victoria Team list ) . The good news is that all the stars are listed there as well.

http://www.fiba.basketball/world/u19/2021/player/Charles-Bediako

Click on teammates to see other players.

[Kenter16]

Fiba ( through Canada Basketball ) has a preliminary list of the Canadian U19 roster which closely matches the list from Wes. While it's not exact, remember these lists are of a precursory nature and subject to change ( much like the Victoria Team list ) . The good news is that all the stars are listed there as well.

http://www.fiba.basketball/world/u19/2021/player/Charles-Bediako

Click on teammates to see other players.

I will reserve my excitement until an official roster has been announced. But, there is a real possibility we are co-favourites in this tourney. That roster has 1st round talent at all 5 positions. I will be watching every game because we might see something special. Would have loved to see Sharpe and Primo there as well, that would have been incredible.

I am really curious to see Fisher and Houstan together. You could have a starting 5 of Nembhard, Fisher, Mathurin, Houstan, Edey. That's 5 first round talents plus Bediako who would start over Edey. I lied, I haven't reserved any excitement. I am expecting to be let down now...

[Kenter16]

Has anyone heard if Kabengele is hanging around camp? I would think he should be in the mix for a roster spot if he was there. Maybe Canada basketball never invited him, maybe he said no. I dug up this article from 18 months ago saying he wanted to play in the original OQT in Victoria.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/mfiondu-kabengele-striving-help-canada-basketball-olympic-qualifiers/


Just read through the article and found this quote:

“With the guys that have committed, the wave,” said Kabengele. “I’m very proud of the guys to take the first step and take the initiative, because now it’s like, ‘Oh, you’re part of it? I want to be part of it, too.’”

That's very telling. Canada basketball needs to do everything it can to make guys want to play. We have got a lot of verbal comments and a lot of no shows. There seems to be something behind the scenes going on that is discouraging guys from playing. Maybe the commitment is too much, maybe the rules are too strict, something. I would love to have someone do a candid interview with Dylan Brooks and find out why he is not coming. He is an avid supporter of the program and rumour has it convinced Brandon Clarke to come. Not a surprise that both dropped out together. But why is what I really want to know.

[mojo13]

Kabengele is a FA and his NBA career is hanging by a thread. That is not usually the type of guy who shows up to play in the summer.

Honestly I’m more interested in where the heck Kyle Alexander is (Clarke too). Alexander with a year in the ACB under his belt and a known paint defender and rim protector would be more valuable that Kabengele in my opinion. He was on the 21 man accepted invite list - why is he not there? Or is he?

[Kenter16]

Kabengele is a FA and his NBA career is hanging by a thread. That is not usually the type of guy who shows up to play in the summer.

Honestly I’m more interested in where the heck Kyle Alexander is (Clarke too). Alexander with a year in the ACB under his belt and a known paint defender and rim protector would be more valuable that Kabengele in my opinion. He was on the 21 man accepted invite list - why is he not there? Or is he?

Lyles is in the exact same boat. I think he is looking at it like a showcase. That's the way Kabengele should be looking at it too. My opinion may be biased though.
Alexander would be valuable as well. I guess we just have to wait until the arrive in Victoria on the 24th to find out who is on the team.

[ItsDanger]

Some of these young FAs should view this as an opportunity to showcase their value. Might be worth the injury risk

[mojo13]

Lu Dort supposedly scheduled for the media presser today. Crumbs to the starving mice.....

[TheRealDeal]

I guess I’m cheering for the Bucks tonight so Giannis can’t play for Greece in the qualifiers

[Mirotic12]

I guess I’m cheering for the Bucks tonight so Giannis can’t play for Greece in the qualifiers

Greece's coach Pitino already said it was unlikely Giannis played with the national team, even if the Nets ended the series in 4 games. And Greek media has implied over and over again that the Bucks don't want him to play. So it is unlikely he plays with the national team, whether the Bucks win or lose.

From a Canadian perspective there is also the fact that Giannis has been a massive disappointment every time he played with Greece, and that he always has a huge drop off in his production from the NBA to FIBA.

[Kenter16]

Do I have this right? Who am I missing?

Who we know is there - RJ, Powell and Dort. Plus a few U19s

Who we think is there - Lyles, Nicholson, Klassen, Dournkampe and Ejim

Who we think is coming late - Wiggins and CoJo

Who we think is out - Brooks, Brissett, TT, KO, Birch

[Kenter16]

Do I have this right? Who am I missing?

Who we know is there - RJ, Powell and Dort. Plus a few U19s. Nurse mentioned NAW and Mulder at today's presser.

Who we think is there - Lyles, Nicholson, Klassen, Dournkampe and Ejim

Who we think is coming late - Wiggins and CoJo

Who we think is out - Brooks, Brissett, TT, KO, Birch

[mojo13]

Mulder and NAW just mentioned by Nurse. Add them to think/know.

[TrueNorth31]

Fiba ( through Canada Basketball ) has a preliminary list of the Canadian U19 roster which closely matches the list from Wes. While it's not exact, remember these lists are of a precursory nature and subject to change ( much like the Victoria Team list ) . The good news is that all the stars are listed there as well.

http://www.fiba.basketball/world/u19/2021/player/Charles-Bediako

Click on teammates to see other players.

I will reserve my excitement until an official roster has been announced. But, there is a real possibility we are co-favourites in this tourney. That roster has 1st round talent at all 5 positions. I will be watching every game because we might see something special. Would have loved to see Sharpe and Primo there as well, that would have been incredible.

I am really curious to see Fisher and Houstan together. You could have a starting 5 of Nembhard, Fisher, Mathurin, Houstan, Edey. That's 5 first round talents plus Bediako who would start over Edey. I lied, I haven't reserved any excitement. I am expecting to be let down now...

You seem to have a lot of highs and lows with your fandom. I feel bad for you given the general lack of information. For me I'm fairly optimistic about this group for several reasons. We know that 3 of the players are nearby in Tampa with the main team and are destined for the U19 squad. I'm a little concerned though that they may take Mathurin along as twelfth man like they did with SGA in 2016. I think that would be a mistake with his development. You'd think with the camp being held at Monteverde that would give Nembhard and Houstan a certain comfort level at their own campus. Paul Weir made $ 900,000 K last season at the D1 level before losing his job. I'm sure he wants back into the game, he wouldn't cast his lot and reputation with this team unless he thought it was going to be pretty good. Also we know that the Elijah Fisher is physically at camp. If he's as good as his reputation he's a huge get. Another factor is that Covid doomed the U17 team last season, so the 2003 guys want a venue to show their skills.

Sharpe, Boakye and Primo would have been nice, but your never going to have the perfect team. As Grange says -

"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."

It's taken me a long time to get to this point. I remember back in the day watching an early national team practice and asking Jay Triano about some of the players who were not there. He sort of got mad at me and told me to focus on the guys who answered the call and were actually there. At the time I didn't understand, but I do now. Team's are almost never perfect.

[TrueNorth31]

Kabengele is a FA and his NBA career is hanging by a thread. That is not usually the type of guy who shows up to play in the summer.

Honestly I’m more interested in where the heck Kyle Alexander is (Clarke too). Alexander with a year in the ACB under his belt and a known paint defender and rim protector would be more valuable that Kabengele in my opinion. He was on the 21 man accepted invite list - why is he not there? Or is he?

Lyles is in the exact same boat. I think he is looking at it like a showcase. That's the way Kabengele should be looking at it too. My opinion may be biased though.
Alexander would be valuable as well. I guess we just have to wait until the arrive in Victoria on the 24th to find out who is on the team.

I like the Kabengele notion, but I'm afraid that ship may have sailed. Unfortunately he has no guaranteed contract for next year and he's with a relatively new team next year with the Cavaliers who he's going to camp with and probably is worried about injury.

Brissett is in the same boat and said this.

"According to the source, Brissett opted out because his $1.7 million salary is non-guaranteed for next season, and he wants to be healthy for an important year ahead of him."

https://fieldhousefiles.substack.com/p/why-brissett-isnt-with-team-canada

Mulder has no contract guarantee, but is with the same team that seems to like him and he's found a niche with the Warriors ( speaking of them where the hell is Wiggins ? ). Lyles is the one that really surprises in terms of being there. No contract next year, hard ass agent ( Rich Paul ) and he left Canada as a 7 year old. Maybe it's a showcase thing, but I'm not so sure. I mean he's been in the NBA 6 years so they know all about him. Maybe he just wants to be an Olympian ( on a side note his father Thomas is a noted Blues musician - go figure ) ?

[Bruin]

Now Greece officially won’t have Giannis

[Jstock12]

No Printezis for Greece. This is huge as well.

[Mirotic12]

Prep Game Results :

June 12 2021

Poland 80 - Mexico 75

Russia 69 - Tunisia 42


June 13 2021

Mexico 74 - Tunisia 61

Poland 63 - Russia 78


June 16 2021

Slovenia 94 - Croatia 80

Poland 89 - Tunisia 66


June 18 2021

Serbia 80 - Puerto Rico 68

Lithuania 95 - Dominican Republic 62

Greece 101 - Mexico 98

Turkey 80 - Russia 62

Slovenia 97 - Croatia 88

Poland 75 - Latvia 73


June 19 2021

Serbia 104 - Mexico 67

Italy 83 - Czech Republic 71

Germany 102 - Tunisia 75

Russia 77 - Turkey 64

Italy 82 - Tunisia 56

Germany 95 - Czech Republic 62

Greece 77 - Puerto Rico 69


Teams that will be at the Victoria qualifying tournament in bold.

[TrueNorth31]

Add Nembhard to the camp list ( I assume the kid is Mathurin ? ).

Read on Twitter

Kaza Keane's team is in the French Jeep Elite League playoffs so he can't make it. Phil Scrubb's squad , Limoges finished their season just on Tuesday, so between travel and a 3 day quarantine who knows. I thought Phil looked a little banged up in February in P.R. , still beggars can't be choosers.

[Kenter16]

Fiba ( through Canada Basketball ) has a preliminary list of the Canadian U19 roster which closely matches the list from Wes. While it's not exact, remember these lists are of a precursory nature and subject to change ( much like the Victoria Team list ) . The good news is that all the stars are listed there as well.

http://www.fiba.basketball/world/u19/2021/player/Charles-Bediako

Click on teammates to see other players.

I will reserve my excitement until an official roster has been announced. But, there is a real possibility we are co-favourites in this tourney. That roster has 1st round talent at all 5 positions. I will be watching every game because we might see something special. Would have loved to see Sharpe and Primo there as well, that would have been incredible.

I am really curious to see Fisher and Houstan together. You could have a starting 5 of Nembhard, Fisher, Mathurin, Houstan, Edey. That's 5 first round talents plus Bediako who would start over Edey. I lied, I haven't reserved any excitement. I am expecting to be let down now...

You seem to have a lot of highs and lows with your fandom. I feel bad for you given the general lack of information. For me I'm fairly optimistic about this group for several reasons. We know that 3 of the players are nearby in Tampa with the main team and are destined for the U19 squad. I'm a little concerned though that they may take Mathurin along as twelfth man like they did with SGA in 2016. I think that would be a mistake with his development. You'd think with the camp being held at Monteverde that would give Nembhard and Houstan a certain comfort level at their own campus. Paul Weir made $ 900,000 K last season at the D1 level before losing his job. I'm sure he wants back into the game, he wouldn't cast his lot and reputation with this team unless he thought it was going to be pretty good. Also we know that the Elijah Fisher is physically at camp. If he's as good as his reputation he's a huge get. Another factor is that Covid doomed the U17 team last season, so the 2003 guys want a venue to show their skills.

Sharpe, Boakye and Primo would have been nice, but your never going to have the perfect team. As Grange says -

"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."

It's taken me a long time to get to this point. I remember back in the day watching an early national team practice and asking Jay Triano about some of the players who were not there. He sort of got mad at me and told me to focus on the guys who answered the call and were actually there. At the time I didn't understand, but I do now. Team's are almost never perfect.

I am definitely in a low right now. And is basically just because we are all left to guess who is at camp. I care who comes and who doesn't, but it won't change my loyalty either way. I don't appreciate the secrecy here. The fun part of being a fan is figuring out lineups, starters, rotation players, who compliments who and debating over the last cuts. I feel like we are being robbed of that and I am not sure the reason. It makes you feel like there is something to hide. Which is weird because there isn't anything to hide. Tell us who's at camp so we can get behind those guys. Canada Basketball owes me nothing, but if they want people to care and get into in, they need to be more open.

Anyways, I have resigned to the fact we won't find out anything until they get to Victoria. It is what it is.

[Mirotic12]

Kaza Keane's team is in the French Jeep Elite League playoffs so he can't make it. Phil Scrubb's squad , Limoges finished their season just on Tuesday, so between travel and a 3 day quarantine who knows. I thought Phil looked a little banged up in February in P.R. , still beggars can't be choosers.

The French League playoffs will be over soon. It ends on June 26. Keane's team Le Mans is very likely to lose to ASVEL in the first round. So their season will probably end in like a day or two.