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

[frumble]

When do you think we're going to get the roster for the Pan AMs? Has to be soon as the the first game is on the 21st.

PanAm games training camp starts July 12, so I would guess we will at least have a training camp list within the next two weeks.

[Undefeated]

Is anyone watching the U16 championship? Entertaining game.

[Undefeated]

OT

[raptors2019]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/canbball/status/615353989589299201[/tweet]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlyCgP4V3uQ[/youtube]

Canada is representing very well in these FIBA tournaments.

[#9]

the vid is private

[Undefeated]

That was one of the best age group games I've ever watched and that includes men's. Great job by Carly Clarke coaching that team.

[Latrell]

Looks like Kevin Pangos will be joining the Mavs Summer League team.

[curryking3]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/canbball/status/615353989589299201[/tweet]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlyCgP4V3uQ[/youtube]

Canada is representing very well in these FIBA tournaments.

We made it!

[duppyy]

Looks like Kevin Pangos will be joining the Mavs Summer League team.

Maybe they are hoping he plays like Steve Nash

[frumble]

Looks like Kevin Pangos will be joining the Mavs Summer League team.

I think we have seen summer league info about:

Bhullar, Sacramento
Hanlan, Utah
Heslip, Minnesota
Lyles, Utah
Pangos, Dallas
Scrubb, Toronto
Stauskas, Sacramento

I haven't seen anything re Powell, but I would think he would be on Dallas' team. It would not surprise me if Birch also landed an invite with someone.

No Ennis (injury), Wiggins (practice, but no game action) or Bennett (will be playing for Canada).

[aminiaturebuddha]

From this Flip Saunders interview it seems Bennett will not be in summer league, as he "will be playing for Canada."

http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/video/teams/timberwolves/2015/06/26/150626FlipMediaAvailabilitymp4-3631051

I really think this might be a good thing for Bennett. The guy really needs minutes in a competitive setting to find his game again. If he plays for the Pan-Am team, I'm assuming that he'd be one of the few NBA talents on board. He would have the chance to be one of the primary offensive options on the team, play lots of minutes, and hopefully get some confidence back. If he plays well there, then maybe he puts himself in a good spot to make the FIBA Americas tournament team.

His first two years have gone just about as badly as possible (aside from a Greg Oden situation). He needs to try something different, and maybe playing for the National Team will give him the opportunities that yet another year in summer league wouldn't.

[ronaldo922]

The USA has brought some good names to the Pan Am Games Training Camp if you guys like college players.


Some Names

Melo Trimble
Fred Van Vleet
Ron Baker
Denzel Valentine
Malcolm Brogdon
Isisiah Cousins

[mojo13]

I'll take Kyle Wiltjer over any of those guys.

70/75 from three in 5 minutes with one ball at the Nike Skills Academy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JrHYAW7eWc

[frumble]

From this Flip Saunders interview it seems Bennett will not be in summer league, as he "will be playing for Canada."

http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/video/teams/timberwolves/2015/06/26/150626FlipMediaAvailabilitymp4-3631051

I really think this might be a good thing for Bennett. The guy really needs minutes in a competitive setting to find his game again. If he plays for the Pan-Am team, I'm assuming that he'd be one of the few NBA talents on board. He would have the chance to be one of the primary offensive options on the team, play lots of minutes, and hopefully get some confidence back. If he plays well there, then maybe he puts himself in a good spot to make the FIBA Americas tournament team.

His first two years have gone just about as badly as possible (aside from a Greg Oden situation). He needs to try something different, and maybe playing for the National Team will give him the opportunities that yet another year in summer league wouldn't.

I agree; PanAms would be a great opportunity for him. I just hope Saunders is right.


Re Canadians in summer league, Hoops Hype is tweeting that Maurice Walker will be with Orlando.

[aminiaturebuddha]

I'll take Kyle Wiltjer over any of those guys.

70/75 from three in 5 minutes with one ball at the Nike Skills Academy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JrHYAW7eWc

I think Wiltjer would be a great addition to the Pan Am team (and possibly even to the FIBA Americas team as a backup to Wiggins for his shooting if we don't get both Stauskas and Heslip on the team). Has anyone heard anything about his summer plans? I know he's still working on getting his body right for the NBA, but I can't think of a really good reason why he couldn't commit at least to the Pan Am team.

[frumble]

I'll take Kyle Wiltjer over any of those guys.

70/75 from three in 5 minutes with one ball at the Nike Skills Academy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JrHYAW7eWc

I think Wiltjer would be a great addition to the Pan Am team (and possibly even to the FIBA Americas team as a backup to Wiggins for his shooting if we don't get both Stauskas and Heslip on the team). Has anyone heard anything about his summer plans? I know he's still working on getting his body right for the NBA, but I can't think of a really good reason why he couldn't commit at least to the Pan Am team.

Before the Nike Skills Academy he was at Gonzaga participating in some scrimmages (with, among other former and current Zags, Rob Sacre). There are more scrimmages scheduled for mid to late July. A lot of the Zags tend to stay on campus and work out/scrimmage as a team for much of the summer, and it would not surprise me if Wiltjer opts to do that.

But it would be great if he did play at PanAms.

I don't think FIBAs would be an option, as I figure he would need to be on campus for classes in September. This would likely rule out Pierre and other NCAA guys as well (FIBAs run through September 12).


Argentina has released its preliminary PanAm roster:
http://www.fibaamericas.com/mex2015/en/not2.asp?r=CF52F3D7F40142FDBF3B752E0E3D8828

Matias Bortolin, Nicolas Brussino, Facundo Campazzo, Marcos Delia, Pablo Espinoza, Tayavek Gallizi, Patricio Garino, Franco Nahuel Giorgetti, Nicolas Laprovittola, Marcos Mata, Nicolas Richotti, Selem Safar, Juan Manuel Torres and Luca Vildoza. Invited to train: Roberto Acuna, Ignacio Alessio, Franco Balbi, Ivan Basualdo, Tomas Zanzottera and Javier Saiz.

Article notes that a few players had to bow out due to club playoff commitments, and that "More senior players like Luis Scola and Andres Nocioni are expected to be with Argentina after the Pan American Games and to compete at the FIBA Americas Championship."

Mexico hasn't released a PanAm roster, but this article notes that Gustavo Ayon will skip PanAms but play at FIBAs.

http://www.fibaamericas.com/mex2015/en/not2.asp?r=0FD747906E1A43C2ABA49466F4905DFE

I think it is clear now (if it wasn't before), that few teams are going to send top level players to PanAms, and that there will be little overlap between PanAm rosters and FIBA Americas rosters.

[aminiaturebuddha]

I don't think FIBAs would be an option, as I figure he would need to be on campus for classes in September. This would likely rule out Pierre and other NCAA guys as well (FIBAs run through September 12).

Good point, haha, I was only really thinking about the start of the NCAA basketball season and absent-mindedly forgot about the whole "attending classes at university" thing. Can't imagine why I might have done that seeing as the NCAA clearly isn't a monopolistic money-making organization, but rather is solely concerned with the educational welfare of its "student-athletes".

[TheFutureMM]

I'll take Kyle Wiltjer over any of those guys.

70/75 from three in 5 minutes with one ball at the Nike Skills Academy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JrHYAW7eWc

I think Wiltjer would be a great addition to the Pan Am team (and possibly even to the FIBA Americas team as a backup to Wiggins for his shooting if we don't get both Stauskas and Heslip on the team). Has anyone heard anything about his summer plans? I know he's still working on getting his body right for the NBA, but I can't think of a really good reason why he couldn't commit at least to the Pan Am team.

Before the Nike Skills Academy he was at Gonzaga participating in some scrimmages (with, among other former and current Zags, Rob Sacre). There are more scrimmages scheduled for mid to late July. A lot of the Zags tend to stay on campus and work out/scrimmage as a team for much of the summer, and it would not surprise me if Wiltjer opts to do that.

But it would be great if he did play at PanAms.

I don't think FIBAs would be an option, as I figure he would need to be on campus for classes in September. This would likely rule out Pierre and other NCAA guys as well (FIBAs run through September 12).


Argentina has released its preliminary PanAm roster:
http://www.fibaamericas.com/mex2015/en/not2.asp?r=CF52F3D7F40142FDBF3B752E0E3D8828

Matias Bortolin, Nicolas Brussino, Facundo Campazzo, Marcos Delia, Pablo Espinoza, Tayavek Gallizi, Patricio Garino, Franco Nahuel Giorgetti, Nicolas Laprovittola, Marcos Mata, Nicolas Richotti, Selem Safar, Juan Manuel Torres and Luca Vildoza. Invited to train: Roberto Acuna, Ignacio Alessio, Franco Balbi, Ivan Basualdo, Tomas Zanzottera and Javier Saiz.

Article notes that a few players had to bow out due to club playoff commitments, and that "More senior players like Luis Scola and Andres Nocioni are expected to be with Argentina after the Pan American Games and to compete at the FIBA Americas Championship."

Mexico hasn't released a PanAm roster, but this article notes that Gustavo Ayon will skip PanAms but play at FIBAs.

http://www.fibaamericas.com/mex2015/en/not2.asp?r=0FD747906E1A43C2ABA49466F4905DFE

I think it is clear now (if it wasn't before), that few teams are going to send top level players to PanAms, and that there will be little overlap between PanAm rosters and FIBA Americas rosters.

At this point I think it's pretty much an unspoken rule between all ten countries competing at Pan AM that they are sending the B/C squads... Probably why we haven't heard much about Canada's NBA guys showing up. At this point I think we're going to get a lot of Canadian CIS players on the squad.

As someone who owns tickets (they were a gift) to the Mexico/Canada game I hope Murray ends up playing on this team. Would be cool to see him play an actual game before he heads to Kentucky.

[frumble]

I don't think FIBAs would be an option, as I figure he would need to be on campus for classes in September. This would likely rule out Pierre and other NCAA guys as well (FIBAs run through September 12).

Good point, haha, I was only really thinking about the start of the NCAA basketball season and absent-mindedly forgot about the whole "attending classes at university" thing. Can't imagine why I might have done that seeing as the NCAA clearly isn't a monopolistic money-making organization, but rather is solely concerned with the educational welfare of its "student-athletes".

I've made the same mistake - i think I had Pierre as a potential SF on my predicted roster for FIBA Americas.

At this point I think it's pretty much an unspoken rule between all ten countries competing at Pan AM that they are sending the B/C squads... Probably why we haven't heard much about Canada's NBA guys showing up. At this point I think we're going to get a lot of Canadian CIS players on the squad.

As someone who owns tickets (they were a gift) to the Mexico/Canada game I hope Murray ends up playing on this team. Would be cool to see him play an actual game before he heads to Kentucky.

I really hope Canada has a mix of NCAA guys and young pros (including Bennett) rather than CIS guys.
E.g., would be nice to see guys like Murray, Bennett, Wiltjer, Ejim, XRM, and Pierre.


At U19s, Canada-Italy is underway. Canada down 12-10. Jackson apparently healthy. Brooks on the bench with 2 early fouls.

Stream:
http://www.fiba.com/world/u19/2015/Canada-v-Italy---Group-C---Live-Stream---2015-FIBA-U19-World-Championship

Live box stats:
http://www.fiba.com/ls/#8043&11700-C-5

[Alfred]

Hey guys, haven't really been following the Canadian National team -- do we have a list of commits yet? Are the major players still on the fence regarding the National team?