Team Canada Basketball Thread V2.0

hsb · Post #621 » by **hsb** » Thu Dec 6, 2018 9:25 pm

Well put.

Mirotic12 · Post #622 » by **Mirotic12** » Fri Dec 7, 2018 7:46 pm

Greek media reported that Olympiacos is going to buyout Naz Mitrou-Long's contract from the Jazz. He's going to get a long-term contract and a big raise.

However, it was said that Olympiacos has been scouting him, and they don't think he's ready to make their rotation. He's seen as a talented project for the club. So he will either be a 6th guard and they will work on developing him, or he might be loaned to another Greek League club for playing time.

mojo13 · Post #623 » by **mojo13** » Fri Dec 7, 2018 9:55 pm

Mirotic12 wrote:Greek media reported that Olympiacos is going to buyout Naz Mitrou-Long's contract from the Jazz. He's going to get a long-term contract and a big raise.

However, it was said that Olympiacos has been scouting him, and they don't think he's ready to make their rotation. He's seen as a talented project for the club. So he will either be a 6th guard and they will work on developing him, or he might be loaned to another Greek League club for playing time.

Interesting stuff Mirotic. Do you have any source for that? I'd be curious to see it - I'm not seeing anything on the interwebs yet.

I assume there will be a tonne of pressure on him to assimilate into the Greek NT. Assuming he is good enough. You have any idea of what kind of money he will be offered?

TheFutureMM · Post #624 » by **TheFutureMM** » Sat Dec 8, 2018 4:11 pm

Interesting read re: Thompson's take on Canada making the World Cup. He's very much in favor of Ejim making the squad and I 100% agree with him.

https://ca.nba.com/news/tristan-thompson-thinks-melvin-ejim-should-definitely-be-on-team-canada-at-fiba-basketball-world-cup-2019-china/wv06mkgflh871nl2crf0rsl33

mojo13 · Post #625 » by **mojo13** » Sat Dec 8, 2018 5:48 pm

I wrote about this in the summer when it happened, but I caught Rowan Barrett on the radio discussing how the core vets (TT, KO, CoJo, Powell) will be heavily involved in picking the WC team. I think this makes Ejim is a lock if healthy. I also think Scrubb, Pangos and even Heslip have a high chance on being on the team. This will not be 11 NBA guys. Maybe 6 to 8 I think.

Interestingly, TT follows all the main NBA guys on Instagram...except one....surprise, surprise, it's Andrew Wiggins. May not mean much, but if there is a wiff of chemistry issues there, I doubt Wiggins is included. I don't think Lyles is engaged at all, and I'd be very concerned about Stauskas as well. Pretty much every other NBA guy has shown some form of public engagement in the last year. Be it actually playing, or showing public support through interviews, tweets, Instagram etc.

Anyone know the FA situation this summer? I know Stauskas will be, but the WC isn't until late August so it is less of a problem. Except guys signing with new teams will have the added pressure to not play.

mojo13 · Post #626 » by **mojo13** » Sat Dec 8, 2018 5:50 pm

And on the heels of the great analysis of Brandon Clarke, The Stepien does a great write up on Luguentz Dort. Highly recommend the read, these guys are doing great work.
https://www.thestepien.com/2018/12/06/draft-notes-need-talk-luguentz-dort/

After reading this....Dort might have a higher upside than Barrett.

mojo13 · Post #627 » by **mojo13** » Sat Dec 8, 2018 6:26 pm

Dang, Lithuanians now messing with our players. First Naz Long, now this.

Read on Twitter

PoundTown · Post #628 » by **PoundTown** » Sat Dec 8, 2018 6:42 pm

TheFutureMM wrote:Interesting read re: Thompson's take on Canada making the World Cup. He's very much in favor of Ejim making the squad and I 100% agree with him.

https://ca.nba.com/news/tristan-thompson-thinks-melvin-ejim-should-definitely-be-on-team-canada-at-fiba-basketball-world-cup-2019-china/wv06mkgflh871nl2crf0rsl33

YOu definitely know what you’re getting with him. Energy, defense and in his 10 to 15 min a game role, he really complements a lot of our other guys well with his athleticism. I don’t see a better option to backup Kelly at the four other than lyles and I just don’t see that happening.

aminiaturebuddha · Post #629 » by **aminiaturebuddha** » Sat Dec 8, 2018 6:59 pm

mojo13 wrote:Dang, Lithuanians now messing with our players. First Naz Long, now this.

Read on Twitter

I'd be very curious to know what these "sources" are, and if this guy really has any connections to Iggy. He's always been so proud about repping Canada in the junior ranks that this would be a pretty big shift, even if he does have strong links to Lithuania.

mojo13 · Post #630 » by **mojo13** » Sat Dec 8, 2018 7:23 pm

Doubt it happens if iggy is an NBA player as he’d need to renounce Canadian citizenship to get his Lithuanian back. Not a dual citizenship country.

If turns out to be a Euro pro then it is possible. As the Lithuanian passport would be very valuable.

bozothepope · Post #631 » by **bozothepope** » Sat Dec 8, 2018 10:47 pm

aminiaturebuddha wrote:
mojo13 wrote:Dang, Lithuanians now messing with our players. First Naz Long, now this.

Read on Twitter

I'd be very curious to know what these "sources" are, and if this guy really has any connections to Iggy. He's always been so proud about repping Canada in the junior ranks that this would be a pretty big shift, even if he does have strong links to Lithuania.

If it was his "dream" to represent Lithuania, why didn't he represent them at the Nike Hoop Summit in April?

TrueNorth31 · Post #632 » by **TrueNorth31** » Sun Dec 9, 2018 12:09 am

mojo13 wrote:Dang, Lithuanians now messing with our players. First Naz Long, now this.

Read on Twitter

My understanding of FIBA rules is that Iggy can't switch his citizenship.

"Under FIBA regulations a player, over the age of 17, with two or more legal nationalities who has played in a main official competition of FIBA is considered as having chosen a national team and is therefore not eligible to compete for another national team in a FIBA competition. "

Iggy played for Canada at the FIBA 2016 U17 Worlds ( the World University Games are not a FIBA event). He was age 17 - 6 months , so his bed has been made and I don't believe you can revoke your choice. Fiba has these rules so that players don't switch their allegiance on a helter-skelter basis. People need to understand these issues generally happen with 2 countries, Lithuania and the Philippines. In both countries Basketball is the number one sport of the country, so some of their followers tend to be zealous fanatics who grasp at any straw. I believe there was a social media onslaught from Lithuanians regarding having Nick Stauskas play for them - we see how well that went.

mojo13 · Post #633 » by **mojo13** » Sun Dec 9, 2018 12:28 am

I thought this only applies to those that played in a senior competition, not youth. Naz Long has only played youth for Canada and its why many of us were clamoring for him to play for Canada at the AmeriCup to lock him in with us.

Further guys switch nationalities all the time to counties they have zero ties to. Let alone a birthright citizenship.

Th rule is you can only switch once and if you have already played for your country then you need to be released by the federation.

TrueNorth31 · Post #634 » by **TrueNorth31** » Sun Dec 9, 2018 12:35 am

Mirotic12 wrote:Greek media reported that Olympiacos is going to buyout Naz Mitrou-Long's contract from the Jazz. He's going to get a long-term contract and a big raise.

However, it was said that Olympiacos has been scouting him, and they don't think he's ready to make their rotation. He's seen as a talented project for the club. So he will either be a 6th guard and they will work on developing him, or he might be loaned to another Greek League club for playing time.

I'm not sure I'd believe this. Long is on an NBA 2 way contract. His minimum salary is from $ 77,000 - to $380,000 - he doesn't have to appear in a game, he just has to be on the roster. He gets a little more than $ 5000/day. Last year he was up for about forty days - so he made about $ 280,000.

He's also just one Ricky Rubio, Donovan Mitchell injury away from getting a significant NBA shot with massive riches to be found if all goes well. I doubt his agent would squander this opportunity.

Now if next year if he's not on a two way and he seems like he's spinning his wheels trying to crack the NBA ,Greece would be a nice option for him. This is just the way it is.

TrueNorth31 · Post #635 » by **TrueNorth31** » Sun Dec 9, 2018 2:16 am

mojo13 wrote:I thought this only applies to those that played in a senior competition, not youth. Naz Long has only played youth for Canada and its why many of us were clamoring for him to play for Canada at the AmeriCup to lock him in with us.

Further guys switch nationalities all the time to counties they have zero ties to. Let alone a birthright citizenship.

Th rule is you can only switch once and if you have already played for your country then you need to be released by the federation.

Mojo my strong understanding is that if your over age 17 - that's the key age for Fiba. Appear in a FIBA event after this age and there's generally no going back. This would be FIBA rule 3-18 +23 ( and yes it's very confusing).

Also your conflating the naturalization rule with the eligibility rule. Players use this to switch nationalities - Andray Blatche, amongst others, never played for the States in a FIBA sanctioned event - so he was naturalized by the Philippines. Each country can have one of these guys ( Canada naturalized Sam Dalembert). I believe you've suggested Canada Basketball try to do this with a Raptor ( perhaps Pascal Siakim - he's never played for the Cameroons ? ).

Long is an interesting case - according to the records he has never played for Canada at a FIBA sanctioned event - youth or otherwise
( yes he was named to the America Cup team but never showed up - you say he played for a youth team - can you detail which one exactly ? ). My understanding of the rules is that if he's never played for Canada and he can prove if he was eligible for Greek citizenship at birth/had a Greek passport before age 16 and providing they wanted him - he can play as a Greek.

I believe there is no switch only once rule. Do you have an example of that assertion or can you cite the applicable FIBA regulation?

This is an interesting case that helps explain things a little.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11840306

frumble · Post #636 » by **frumble** » Sun Dec 9, 2018 2:12 pm

TrueNorth31 wrote:Long is an interesting case - he according to the records has never played for Canada at a FIBA sanctioned event - youth or otherwise
( yes he was named to the America Cup team but never showed up - you say he played for a youth team - can you detail which one exactly ? ). My understanding of the rules is that if he's never played for Canada and he can prove if he was eligible for Greek citizenship at birth/had a Greek passport before age 16 and providing they wanted him - he can play as a Greek.

Yeah, no record of him appearing for Canada at a FIBA event on the FIBA or Basketball Canada sites.

http://www.basketball.ca/files/2015-02/naz_long_profile.pdf

http://www.basketball.ca/en/player/nazareth-long

http://www.fiba.basketball/search?searchtext=Long#tab=players_and_teams

mojo13 · Post #637 » by **mojo13** » Sun Dec 9, 2018 11:05 pm

I’m just going to leave this right here:

Read on Twitter

I mean Yves Ponnes is one of the most athletic guys in the NCAA. You just don’t see this often. Or ever.

frumble · Post #638 » by **frumble** » Mon Dec 10, 2018 5:08 pm

Updates re our injured guards:

Jaelin Llewellyn made his debut yesterday. played 36 minutes and had 17 points (7 for 16 shooting) and 4 assists against St. John's.
Princeton next plays Saturday against Iona.

Lindell Wigginton likely to return Saturday vs. Drake.

Howard Washington still out for Syracuse. I am not finding anything definitive re a return timeline, but I am guessing it will be at least another month.

Hair Canada · Post #639 » by **Hair Canada** » Mon Dec 10, 2018 6:43 pm

frumble wrote:Updates re our injured guards:

Jaelin Llewellyn made his debut yesterday. played 36 minutes and had 17 points (7 for 16 shooting) and 4 assists against St. John's.
Princeton next plays Saturday against Iona.

Lindell Wigginton likely to return Saturday vs. Drake.

Howard Washington still out for Syracuse. I am not finding anything definitive re a return timeline, but I am guessing it will be at least another month.

Great to see Llewellyn back. I love his game. Not going to be easy to get noticed in an Ivy League college, but I think he has a shot at making a splash.

Wigginton might find out that coming back to dominating the Iowa state backcourt is not that easy. Besides Shayok (who plays more of a wing and leads the team in scoring), there are also Nick Babb, who's been the starting PG in his absence, and especially the two very talented freshmen: Talen Horton-Tacker (who I think is a better NBA prospect than Wigginton) and Tyrese Haliburton, who had 17 assists in yesterday's game. All of these can score and pass and all like to have the ball in their hands and initiate the offense. Wiggy will have to play it smart and integrate into the team structure without making wild plays and taking wild shots. That said, he'll have many offensive options, so if he plays smart basketball and not hero-ball he might be able to show that he is a potential NBA PG after all.

Mirotic12 · Post #640 » by **Mirotic12** » Wed Dec 12, 2018 8:01 pm

mojo13 wrote:Interesting stuff Mirotic. Do you have any source for that? I'd be curious to see it - I'm not seeing anything on the interwebs yet.

I assume there will be a tonne of pressure on him to assimilate into the Greek NT. Assuming he is good enough. You have any idea of what kind of money he will be offered?

Major Greek sports media was talking about it like a week ago or so. But they said it was not going to happen right away, they had to reach a deal with the Jazz. So maybe it doesn't happen. But the reports seemed to indicate Long was frustrated with the Jazz not playing him in the NBA, and him being stuck all the time in the G-League, which he feels is below his level as a player.

Nothing was mentioned about him and Greek national team.

TrueNorth31 wrote:'m not sure I'd believe this. Long is on an NBA 2 way contract. His minimum salary is from $ 77,000 - to $380,000 - he doesn't have to appear in a game, he just has to be on the roster. He gets a little more than $ 5000/day. Last year he was up for about forty days - so he made about $ 280,000.

He's also just one Ricky Rubio, Donovan Mitchell injury away from getting a significant NBA shot with massive riches to be found if all goes well. I doubt his agent would squander this opportunity.

Now if next year if he's not on a two way and he seems like he's spinning his wheels trying to crack the NBA ,Greece would be a nice option for him. This is just the way it is.

That's a very low salary for EuroLeague teams. If you count bonuses, then put the salary in gross terms and in US dollars, that would be the lowest salary on Olympiacos. The team's 16th man makes more than that. Anyway, the media claim he didn't say he was doing it for the money, it as for playing time. He can't get any playing time with the Jazz, and he has no interest in staying in the G-League, because the level is so low.

But those 2 way G-League deals are still very low salaries compared to European basketball. Even in mid-size Greek clubs, he would make more than that, and in lower size Greek clubs, probably around that same amount. In bigger Greek clubs, he would get substantially more than that.

In the smallest Greek League clubs, good Americans/Canadians get like €150,000 to €220,000 euros net income a season, plus their car and apartment/condo/townhouse and utility expenses paid for by the club. Even smaller clubs in Greek, Italian, Spanish leagues regularly have former NBA players on them. Hell, even in those country's second divisions, you will get former NBA players. The 2 way NBA contracts helped out for salaries only for those players as compared to what they got before in G League. It didn't make those salaries at all competitive with playing in a good European league.