Team Canada Basketball Thread

[Gday_eh]

Here's my view from a ways away...

It's great to see Kevin Pangos able to spend time with the team, but with all that he has going on I'm a little doubtful he will suit up in a game.

In saying that, if he was available this would be my 12 players to play.

PG: Joseph / Pangos
SG: Murray / P Scrubb
W: Brooks / Ejim
PF: Olynyk / Powell /Bennett
C: Thompson / Birch

Obviously Kelly can play both forward and center
All four guards can play either position if need be much more flexible than Heslip
I wish I had one more spot for T. Scrubb.......

[WellYouKnow]

I dont think Ejim is the small forward alot of ppl seem to want him to be.

He's a 4 and small ball 5 to me

I think playing him at the 3 takes away the defense he provides being able to defend down low and switch from big men to guards.

I'd have him over Bennett or Nicholson and use another roster spot on a wing defender like T Scrubb or Best

[Alfred]

Has Tristan Thompson committed to team Canada?

[Kid Canada]

Here's my view from a ways away...

It's great to see Kevin Pangos able to spend time with the team, but with all that he has going on I'm a little doubtful he will suit up in a game.

In saying that, if he was available this would be my 12 players to play.

PG: Joseph / Pangos
SG: Murray / P Scrubb
W: Brooks / Ejim
PF: Olynyk / Powell /Bennett
C: Thompson / Birch

Obviously Kelly can play both forward and center
All four guards can play either position if need be much more flexible than Heslip
I wish I had one more spot for T. Scrubb.......

Pg: joseph/pangos
sg: murray/heslip/p scrubb
sf: brooks/thomas scrubb
pf: olynyk/ejim/bennett
C:thompson/powell

This makes sense to me. We need a backup SF more than a 3rd centre.

[Topher]

Has Tristan Thompson committed to team Canada?

Unfortunately I believe he has.

[Crazy-Canuck]

So anyone else think wiggins not paying has alot to do with triano? I still think he and his family still communicate with nash and barrett, so he's not entirely detached from team Canada.

I know he is currently working out with clanaghan (curry and his durants personal coach) , so he's isn't vacationing. Maybe that was the schedule conflict?

[Matty]

Wiggins is not fond of "wtf ya gonna do" basketball maybe?

I think Steve should just take on the entire responsibilities of Team Canada. Coaching and GMing, how hard can it be?

[aminiaturebuddha]

Has Tristan Thompson committed to team Canada?

Unfortunately I believe he has.

Yes, Thompson was on the camp list released by Team Canada today. If you look back in the thread you'll see that frumble posted a link to the announcement.

But I'm curious as to why you would think that a commitment by any Canadian NBA player would be "unfortunate"?

[mojo13]

So anyone else think wiggins not paying has alot to do with triano? I still think he and his family still communicate with nash and barrett, so he's not entirely detached from team Canada.

I know he is currently working out with clanaghan (curry and his durants personal coach) , so he's isn't vacationing. Maybe that was the schedule conflict?

Josh Lewenberg touches on this in his article on TSN. He doesn’t shy away from the rumored Wiggins - Triano beef. Threw Stauskas in there too.
https://www.tsn.ca/wiggins-absent-from-canada-basketball-s-loaded-summertime-roster-1.1097174

[mojo13]

Has Tristan Thompson committed to team Canada?

Unfortunately I believe he has.

Yes, Thompson was on the camp list released by Team Canada today. If you look back in the thread you'll see that frumble posted a link to the announcement.

But I'm curious as to why you would think that a commitment by any Canadian NBA player would be "unfortunate"?

Many around here think Thompson is a pretty awful player and human being.
My beef is that he has a long history when playing for Canada of going well outside his role and hurting the team. He suddenly thinks he is Lebron and wants the offense run through him. Awful turnovers and bricked, mid range fade away jumpers soon follow.

I can easily make the argument Khem Birch was a far better player just in 2016 in Manila. Plus Khem has improved drastically since then and TT has gotten worse.

Still if he plays within his role I think he could add value to the team.

[TheFutureMM]

So anyone else think wiggins not paying has alot to do with triano? I still think he and his family still communicate with nash and barrett, so he's not entirely detached from team Canada.

I know he is currently working out with clanaghan (curry and his durants personal coach) , so he's isn't vacationing. Maybe that was the schedule conflict?

Josh Lewenberg touches on this in his article on TSN. He doesn’t shy away from the rumored Wiggins - Triano beef. Threw Stauskas in there too.
https://www.tsn.ca/wiggins-absent-from-canada-basketball-s-loaded-summertime-roster-1.1097174

Stauskas and Ennis have legitimate contract concerns at the moment - so I'm not blaming them just yet. I am quite surprised (and excited) that Pangos is in the mix despite his deal.

As for Wiggins and Lyles, we know for a fact that Minnesota limited him from playing in two events back in 2015 so maybe they are pulling the same stunt this offseason? I doubt it.

Regardless, we focus on all the negatives sometimes, but I'm really excited for this summer's group. We give management a hard time for every person we don't get, but they've pulled together some big names this time. Olynyk/Murray can provide the offense and the rest of our team can do the other things haha.

[Topher]

Has Tristan Thompson committed to team Canada?

Unfortunately I believe he has.

Yes, Thompson was on the camp list released by Team Canada today. If you look back in the thread you'll see that frumble posted a link to the announcement.

But I'm curious as to why you would think that a commitment by any Canadian NBA player would be "unfortunate"?

Not a fan of his as a player and person.

[Concernedcad]

Unfortunately I believe he has.

Yes, Thompson was on the camp list released by Team Canada today. If you look back in the thread you'll see that frumble posted a link to the announcement.

But I'm curious as to why you would think that a commitment by any Canadian NBA player would be "unfortunate"?

Many around here think Thompson is a pretty awful player and human being.
My beef is that he has a long history when playing for Canada of going well outside his role and hurting the team. He suddenly thinks he is Lebron and wants the offense run through him. Awful turnovers and bricked, mid range fade away jumpers soon follow.

I can easily make the argument Khem Birch was a far better player just in 2016 in Manila. Plus Khem has improved drastically since then and TT has gotten worse.

Still if he plays within his role I think he could add value to the team.

Thompson played a critical role in shutting down horford. I want what your smoking.

[aminiaturebuddha]

Unfortunately I believe he has.

Yes, Thompson was on the camp list released by Team Canada today. If you look back in the thread you'll see that frumble posted a link to the announcement.

But I'm curious as to why you would think that a commitment by any Canadian NBA player would be "unfortunate"?

Many around here think Thompson is a pretty awful player and human being.
My beef is that he has a long history when playing for Canada of going well outside his role and hurting the team. He suddenly thinks he is Lebron and wants the offense run through him. Awful turnovers and bricked, mid range fade away jumpers soon follow.

I can easily make the argument Khem Birch was a far better player just in 2016 in Manila. Plus Khem has improved drastically since then and TT has gotten worse.

Still if he plays within his role I think he could add value to the team.

I'm not here to discuss his qualities as a human being, and frankly I don't think any of us can. I've never met him, and tend to take any Kardashian-related news with a salt mine worth of salt because their entire business model is publicity by any means, good or bad, so I never know what to believe.

I do agree that he has gone outside of his role in the past with Team Canada. He obviously bears the biggest responsibility for that, but I think at least some of the blame almost must fall on Triano and the general lack of offensive talent that some of those teams have had. He rarely, if ever, goes outside of his role in Cleveland, so other people clearly know how to handle him, Triano needs to figure it out too.

All that said, it's a stretch for anyone to think that he's an "awful player". He has a couple of elite basketball skills - offensive rebounding and defensive switching. It's up to the coaching staff to figure out how to make effective use of those skills. His commitment should never be "unfortunate".

[mojo13]

Yes, Thompson was on the camp list released by Team Canada today. If you look back in the thread you'll see that frumble posted a link to the announcement.

But I'm curious as to why you would think that a commitment by any Canadian NBA player would be "unfortunate"?

Many around here think Thompson is a pretty awful player and human being.
My beef is that he has a long history when playing for Canada of going well outside his role and hurting the team. He suddenly thinks he is Lebron and wants the offense run through him. Awful turnovers and bricked, mid range fade away jumpers soon follow.

I can easily make the argument Khem Birch was a far better player just in 2016 in Manila. Plus Khem has improved drastically since then and TT has gotten worse.

Still if he plays within his role I think he could add value to the team.

Thompson played a critical role in shutting down horford. I want what your smoking.

Yeah hopefully he knows his role and can do that for Canada against the DR. But watch the 2016 Olympic Qualifiers and you’ll see what I mean. FIBA is also very different game than the NBA. Some guys translate better than others and in my opinion TT is poorly suited for FIBA ball.


To Aminiturebhudda: I don’t think it is unfortunate at all. I’m happy he is involved. I just don’t think he is as good as some people make him out to be. As said, if he plays within his means he should add value but I certainly don’t pencil him in a a starter. I even question if Khem Birch could add more value in that defensive role. As least Birch can provide some badly needed rim protection. No one else provides any rim protection, including Thompson. I do however want to point out I greatly respect TTs commitment to play and am very happy he is playing. As you said, hopefully Triano controls him.

[aminiaturebuddha]

To Aminiturebhudda: I don’t think it is unfortunate at all. I’m happy he is involved. I just don’t think he is as good as some people make him out to be. As said, if he plays within his means he should add value but I certainly don’t pencil him in a a starter. I even question if Khem Birch could add more value in that defensive role. As least Birch can provide some badly needed rim protection. No one else provides any rim protection, including Thompson. I do however want to point out I greatly respect TTs commitment to play and am very happy he is playing. As you said, hopefully Triano controls him.

I agree, I'm not sure he should necessarily be a starter either. Given that list, I might actually start Olynyk and Powell, who I think could actually work well together, and then bring TT in for defensive/rebouding purposes when needed and depending on matchups. Nice to finally have that roster flexibility though to have choices to make!

[TooBad]

Report: Wiggins not playing for Canada because of rift with Triano

https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/1550942?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[CharlieTO]

Great turn out. Better than I anticipated. It would have been, dare I say, foolish to think that there was going to be 100% attendance. Every candidate has their own personal commitments to consider, whether it be a wedding or family event so I'll give those who aren't attending the benefit of the doubt. I think maybe Andrew would be a little concerned that Dillon or Ejim would earn more minutes based on performance because this team is much more likely to be run as a meritocracy and not one that rewards minutes based on potential and/or ego coddling. I'm all in support for Andrew and want him to succeed and reach his full potential and maybe it's not best for him to take part in his pursuit of that. As for Trey, I think this guy may be tired as heck with being a second or third option off the bench. These guys want to be THE GUY and have a tough time settling for less and being frustrated in their journey to reach that level. Having to handle it in their offseason isn't music to their ears and egos. They're at an age and stage in their career where their pursuit of the ideal is still possible and so maybe that's what they're focused on more than anything else and anything that checks their ego and forces them back to reality won't be accepted. There are arguments against this perspective and I'm not endorsing it just trying to understand it. Hopefully they answer the call down the road.

[frumble]

Agree with the sentiments above that Ejim is an undersized 4 rather than a SF, and that T. Scrubb has a good chance of finding a spot on the team as the back-up SF.

Ironic that Doornekamp, whose insertion into the game over Wiggins may have been the final straw for Wiggins, hasn't played for Canada since either.

In any case, Brooks and T. Scrubb is not a bad SF situation.

Gday_eh, re Pangos, you think his free agency and possible NBA summer league will prevent him from playing? Or did you mean something else?

Would be great if he played, but if he can't. Murray, Joseph, and Scrubb is not a bad 3-man rotation for the two spots (and should be enough to limit Heslip to situational duty).

Re the bigs, if all are available, some good players will be cut. E.g., Bennett, Nicholson, and Ejim fighting for one spot behind KO, TT, Powell, and Birch. I am very much looking forward to some sets with Powell and KO in the game at the same time.

All in all, a promising list of invitees.

[TooBad]

Its funny everyone is upset with not having Wiggins but not having Lyles probably hurts more. He is designed for FIBA, Wiggins is not.