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

[Young_Buc]

I am very excited to see Stauskas and Wiggins play together

I think their offensive games compliment each other very well. Although, I am a bit concerned about Stauskas' defense but I hope he holds his own.


Joseph/Anderson
Stauskas/Heslip
Wiggins/Ejim
Bennett/Powell and Nicholson
Olynyk/Sacre
12th man: Mullings or Doornekamp

Assuming out of the contention: Thompson, Murray, Brooks, Lyles, Ennis,

Murray over Anderson
Thompson over sacre
12th man mullings

[mojo13]

As usual, frumble is bang on.

I was a huge proponent for English leading into the PanAms but am quite shaken after what we witnessed. He played very uninspired bball. Perhaps Rautins is out there to give us the FIBA veteran leadership I am high on. Maybe Jermaine Anderson too.

Anyone know where I can buy a "Just Say No to Doornekamp!" bumper sticker? Are we really that weak on the wing? Surely Bennett or Ejim or Staukas playing out of position or a three guard line up is a better option?

[Young_Buc]

What are people seeing in doornenkamp?!!!!! He is a TERRIBLE player. No sarcasm but SIM BHULLAR did more for the team than him. I respect what candougan english and doornenkamp have done all these years playing and getting pummeled. But maybe, just maybe they've gotten pummeled because they are horrible ball players that have no business in the team.

[Chriscross]

I am very excited to see Stauskas and Wiggins play together

I think their offensive games compliment each other very well. Although, I am a bit concerned about Stauskas' defense but I hope he holds his own.


Joseph/Anderson
Stauskas/Heslip
Wiggins/Ejim
Bennett/Powell and Nicholson
Olynyk/Sacre
12th man: Mullings or Doornekamp

Assuming out of the contention: Thompson, Murray, Brooks, Lyles, Ennis,

Murray over Anderson
Thompson over sacre
12th man mullings

Once again, Murray will be in school and even if Thompson signs, Cavs aren't going to let him play

[mintsa]

Who had actually confirmed to play for this tourney ??

Wiggins ? cojo ? TT ? oly ?

[jonny three time]

Who had actually confirmed to play for this tourney ??

Wiggins ? cojo ? TT ? oly ?

Triano said that Ennis won't because he's hurt. TT is between maybe and doubtful, have to see how things play out the next few weeks. Everyone else is likely unless something comes up. It sounds like they're either not asking players to give firm commitments before camp starts, or they're not telling the public about firm commitments in case someone backs out.

I'm holding out hope for Thomson. He should get signed before then and he's still young enough to play in the summer after a deep playoff run.

[Mattd97]

As usual, frumble is bang on.

I was a huge proponent for English leading into the PanAms but am quite shaken after what we witnessed. He played very uninspired bball. Perhaps Rautins is out there to give us the FIBA veteran leadership I am high on. Maybe Jermaine Anderson too.

Anyone know where I can buy a "Just Say No to Doornekamp!" bumper sticker? Are we really that weak on the wing? Surely Bennett or Ejim or Staukas playing out of position or a three guard line up is a better option?

agree on everything said

[Rapcity_11]

What are people seeing in doornenkamp?!!!!! He is a TERRIBLE player. No sarcasm but SIM BHULLAR did more for the team than him. I respect what candougan english and doornenkamp have done all these years playing and getting pummeled. But maybe, just maybe they've gotten pummeled because they are horrible ball players that have no business in the team.

Who do you play over Doornekamp?

[aminiaturebuddha]

As usual, frumble is bang on.

I was a huge proponent for English leading into the PanAms but am quite shaken after what we witnessed. He played very uninspired bball. Perhaps Rautins is out there to give us the FIBA veteran leadership I am high on. Maybe Jermaine Anderson too.

Anyone know where I can buy a "Just Say No to Doornekamp!" bumper sticker? Are we really that weak on the wing? Surely Bennett or Ejim or Staukas playing out of position or a three guard line up is a better option?

Yeah, I've made my feelings on Doornekamp known before, but frumble's right, it seems like the coaching staff value his contribution for whatever reason more than some of the other guys. I get that he's an "effort" type player that coaches like, but he's really got to go.

An interesting possibility for one of the final roster spots is Mullings, as TheFuture mentioned a few pages back. I wouldn't have considered him as a strong possibility before, but if we assume that the SG rotation will include Stauskas and Heslip, two below-average defenders, it might be useful to have a guy come in for spot minutes to play solid D. I think Mullings proved he can be that type of player in the Pan Am games, and was also an excellent defender in college (2-time All-Defensive team in the WAC at NMST).

I'd probably put his odds of making the team at about 3-1, but I'm starting to think he might be a smart choice.

[MEDIC]

I don't mind Doornekamp. Kind of a glue guy. Plays hard. He probably shouldn't be playing big minutes, but I think he fits the roster.

Carl English was pretty bad. As a fellow Newfoundlander I want to see him do well, but there are just too many young guards that would provide more to the team.

Most of the vets can be replaced with younger, more athletic, more skilled players at this point in the program.

[Young_Buc]

What are people seeing in doornenkamp?!!!!! He is a TERRIBLE player. No sarcasm but SIM BHULLAwR did more for the team than him. I respect what candougan english and doornenkamp have done all these years playing and getting pummeled. But maybe, just maybe they've gotten pummeled because they are horrible ball players that have no business in the team.

Who do you play over Doornekamp?

At the 3? Ejim, stauskas (if he's not starting) or even Bennett.

[Rapcity_11]

What are people seeing in doornenkamp?!!!!! He is a TERRIBLE player. No sarcasm but SIM BHULLAwR did more for the team than him. I respect what candougan english and doornenkamp have done all these years playing and getting pummeled. But maybe, just maybe they've gotten pummeled because they are horrible ball players that have no business in the team.

Who do you play over Doornekamp?

At the 3? Ejim, stauskas (if he's not starting) or even Bennett.

1. Ejim....ok maybe. But he's clearly better as a undersized PF and not all that great anyway. Doesn't provide the spacing needed.
2. Stauskas wasn't there.
3. Bennett would be awful at the 3. His skills are much more valuable at the 4. And even if he plays the 3, who plays the 4/5?

I'm not a huge fan of Doornekamp or anything, but the other options are just as bad. With a better roster, hopefully he doesn't need to see the floor.

[frumble]

An interesting possibility for one of the final roster spots is Mullings, as TheFuture mentioned a few pages back. I wouldn't have considered him as a strong possibility before, but if we assume that the SG rotation will include Stauskas and Heslip, two below-average defenders, it might be useful to have a guy come in for spot minutes to play solid D. I think Mullings proved he can be that type of player in the Pan Am games, and was also an excellent defender in college (2-time All-Defensive team in the WAC at NMST).

I'd probably put his odds of making the team at about 3-1, but I'm starting to think he might be a smart choice.

Yes, he does bring a different skill set than Stauskas, Heslip, English or Rautins, and might therefore be more valuable as the 5th wing.

I think Canada will probably take more than 12 players to the Tuto Marchand Cup, and won't make the last cuts until after those games. Maybe Mullings is one of those taken and gets a few more games (against higher level competition than the PanAms).

They have four games in four days at the Marchand (against Argentina, Brazil, DR, and PR), so should be lots of playing time even if they take 14 or 15 players. Good chance to hold a last minute tryout for a couple spots.

At the 3? Ejim, stauskas (if he's not starting) or even Bennett.

Stauskas at the 3 would most likely mean Heslip at the 2. Not sure how much I want both on the floor on the same time given their defensive deficiencies.

Re Bennett or Ejim at the 3, during the entire PanAms, neither played the 3 even for a minute. That is, they were never in the game when two other bigs were in. It was a very strict substitution pattern such that no more than two of Bennett, Nicholson, Ejim or Bhullar were ever in the game at the same time, and generally it was Bennett or Bhullar sharing the 5 and Nicholson and Ejim sharing the 4. The few deviations involved only one of these four in the game at a time, not three of them (that is, a couple times Doornekamp moved up to the 4 when Brooks was in).

I don't want to get too hung up on positions, and maybe they could go some stretches with Bennett or Ejim in at the same time as, e.g., Olynyk and Nicholson, but based on what we just saw, I don't think this will happen.

For the 8 to 10 minutes a game when Wiggins is not in, I don't think we are going to see a 3rd big like Bennett or Ejim come in. We may see a 2nd SG come in to play alongside Stauskas or Heslip (perhaps Mullings). But I think we are most likely to see Doornekamp.

[mojo13]

Who do you play over Doornekamp?

At the 3? Ejim, stauskas (if he's not starting) or even Bennett.

1. Ejim....ok maybe. But he's clearly better as a undersized PF and not all that great anyway. Doesn't provide the spacing needed.
2. Stauskas wasn't there.
3. Bennett would be awful at the 3. His skills are much more valuable at the 4. And even if he plays the 3, who plays the 4/5?

I'm not a huge fan of Doornekamp or anything, but the other options are just as bad. With a better roster, hopefully he doesn't need to see the floor.

This current conversation is in regards to Doormekamp's inclusion in the FIBA Americas roster. Where supposedly Stauskas and a full compliment of 4s and 5s are available making Bennetts role as a 4 possibly redundant.

[Rapcity_11]

At the 3? Ejim, stauskas (if he's not starting) or even Bennett.

1. Ejim....ok maybe. But he's clearly better as a undersized PF and not all that great anyway. Doesn't provide the spacing needed.
2. Stauskas wasn't there.
3. Bennett would be awful at the 3. His skills are much more valuable at the 4. And even if he plays the 3, who plays the 4/5?

I'm not a huge fan of Doornekamp or anything, but the other options are just as bad. With a better roster, hopefully he doesn't need to see the floor.

This current conversation is in regards to Doormekamp's inclusion in the FIBA Americas roster. Where supposedly Stauskas and a full compliment of 4s and 5s are available making Bennetts role as a 4 possibly redundant.

There's been lots of conversation in this thread about Doornekamp's PT during the Pan-Am games...

[jonny three time]

What specific part of Doornekamps game hurts the team? He defends very well, he rebounds well and he's our best passer outside of Murray, maybe Rautins if he's there. Athleticism isn't needed if the player can defend and rebound well as it is. Flashy handles aren't needed if the player can dribble up court and drive and kick. The only knock on him is his 3 ball isn't at that 40% that you'd like it to be from a glue guy.

I'd love for one of the athletic guys on the roster to also show glue guy skills (helping ball movement, rebounding and defending well) but it just hasn't happened from the wing spot. If you want a Brooks or Mullings on the team so bad it should be as the 5th guard in favour of a guy like Heslip. With Stauskas and Rautins being bigger more complete versions of him, and Joseph, Wiggins and Murray (if he's there) being able to make 3s, Heslip doesn't exactly fill a need for the team. At least Doornekamp does things that other guys don't, while also being an example of how to play FIBA style ball without forcing his own game.

[Kohanz]

After watching the tournament, I was shocked to see that Mullings is only 6'2". He plays like a much bigger, SF type, in terms of how much he gets involved in the paint (cuts, rebounds ,etc.).

[g.muresan]

Would like to see Levon Kendall suit up -- the definition of glue guy.

[SharoneWright]

So, the Canadian Pipeline to NCAAD1 seems to be due for a slowdown in the next couple of years....

NO Canadians in the EXPN100 for 2016.

And only 1 CDN in the EXPN60 for 2017 ---- O'Shea Brissett. This dude:

Waiting for 2018, I guess??

In the meanwhile, who can fill me in on O'Shea?

[DreamTeam09]

After watching the tournament, I was shocked to see that Mullings is only 6'2". He plays like a much bigger, SF type, in terms of how much he gets involved in the paint (cuts, rebounds ,etc.).

Cool kid when he was around me. Really came out of no where as far as basketball player growing up. If he was 3inchs taller with a jumper he'd be a problem.