Team Canada Basketball Thread

mojo13 · Post #121 » by **mojo13** » Thu Mar 24, 2016 10:10 pm

Congrats to Justin Jackson on making the Nike Hoop Summitt World Team roster.

And I guess to Thon Maker too - who is Canadian-"ish"? A small piece of me is hoping we can steal him from the Ozzies.

http://www.usab.com/news-events/news/2016/03/world-team-roster-announced.aspx

Is JJ considered an elite talent with NBA potential or is this a favor to Roy Rana to make sure there is at least one Canuck repping?

Pooh_Jeter · Post #122 » by **Pooh_Jeter** » Fri Mar 25, 2016 5:38 am

I made my thoughts on Doornekamp well known in the previous thread. There is absolutely no reason to have him on the team, let alone playing meaningful minutes. I'm glad someone like Mirotic who knows Euro basketball has come to the same conclusion.

Dillon Brooks progression this year is definitely a boon for the program going forward, but it may be a bad thing for this summer. If his stock continues to rise you would think he would consider entering the draft. It's a weak draft by most accounts and he could certainly move himself into consideration as a first rounder if he continues to play this well.

TheFutureMM · Post #123 » by **TheFutureMM** » Fri Mar 25, 2016 2:42 pm

Pooh_Jeter wrote:I made my thoughts on Doornekamp well known in the previous thread. There is absolutely no reason to have him on the team, let alone playing meaningful minutes. I'm glad someone like Mirotic who knows Euro basketball has come to the same conclusion.

Dillon Brooks progression this year is definitely a boon for the program going forward, but it may be a bad thing for this summer. If his stock continues to rise you would think he would consider entering the draft. It's a weak draft by most accounts and he could certainly move himself into consideration as a first rounder if he continues to play this well.

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/NCAA-Tournament-Sweet-16-NBA-Draft-Prospect-TV-Schedule-Thursday-5400/

According to DraftExpress Dillon is heavily leaning towards entering this year's draft. I have two trains of thought on this...

From any prospects perspective, if you have a good shot at going in the first round - you should probably enter the draft. You're guaranteed roughly 1 million dollars after tax if you get picked at 30. Even if you don't stick in the league that's an amazing amount of money. The problem is when you're on the bubble which from all account Dillon probably is.

From a Team Canada perspective I would much rather have Dillon go back to school for another year instead of him getting drafted as a second rounder. I see tons of positives for going back to Oregon for a Junior year. Another year of development under an excellent coach in Altman, another year of being the man on what will be another great Oregon team (Boucher, Bell, Benson, Dorsey will all be back), player of the year contention, great facilities, etc. I think this is a much better set-up for growth then bouncing around the D-League.

tl;dr Because of the new NCAA draft rules Dillon is allowed to declare, send NBA feelers, and go back to school if he doesn't like what he is hearing. If Dillon gets a first round guarantee he should declare no question. However, if he is going to be a second rounder I'd rather he go back to school. As you said Pooh, if he goes back to school maybe he gets the call-up for Canada.

Thoughts anyone? Anyone think he should declare if he is a 2nd-rounder?

Mirotic12 · Post #124 » by **Mirotic12** » Sat Mar 26, 2016 12:36 am

Junior Cadougan started playing in Greece awhile ago in a small club. Here are his stats:

http://widgets.baskethotel.com/site/esake/player/5081837/

Post #125 » by **Double Helix** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 2:39 am

Nik Stauskas has finally started showing signs of life and relative consistency as a shooter in the NBA.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUsZAFUQtCs&sns[/youtube]

https://thesixersense.com/2016/03/24/nik-stauskas-his-improvement-should-not-be-ignored/

Shooting 39% from deep since December 26th and post-All Star break (19 x games) he has a TS% of .565 and averages of 9.2ppg/3rpg/1.8apg over 24mpg. Sounds pedestrian but that's good enough for a 100 ORTG over that span (probably the best 19 game span of his brief and largely irrelevant NBA career thus far) and it might be enough to avoid him becoming a Fredette-ish send down to the Dleague or worse. The 76ers are a mess of course but he needed to take advantage of that chaos and close out this year in a way where he'd give himself some more time and more leash in the NBA and he seems to be doing that at the moment.

Good for Nik. He's always needed a little more time to get comfortable to his competition levels but he's looking more confident lately.

frumble · Post #126 » by **frumble** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 4:30 pm

Nicholson with a career high 24 pts last night (on 9/9 shooting).

Thanks to 55% shooting in March, he is having his best statistical season since his rookie year. Not sure if it will be enough to get him another NBA contract, but nice to see.

Ennis continuing to get more playing time, and playing well. On Sunday he had a season high in minutes and a career high in assists (12).

Assuming he is healthy and willing, I am thinking Ennis will be the backup point this summer, with Pangos (or Scrubb) as the 5th guard (Joseph and Stauskas starting, Ennis and Heslip as first off bench at the 1 and 2, respectively, and Pangos as the leading option for 5th guard (with Scrubb, Cadougan, Hanlan, and Mullins as the other candidates)).

Rautins, Anderson, or English returning to the program, or Murray somehow managing to play, might change things, but I don't see any of those things happening.

Joseph, Stauskas, Ennis, Heslip, and Pangos is not a bad set of guards. Might be our best ever.

Mirotic12 · Post #127 » by **Mirotic12** » Thu Mar 31, 2016 2:20 am

frumble wrote:Nicholson with a career high 24 pts last night (on 9/9 shooting).

Thanks to 55% shooting in March, he is having his best statistical season since his rookie year. Not sure if it will be enough to get him another NBA contract, but nice to see.

Ennis continuing to get more playing time, and playing well. On Sunday he had a season high in minutes and a career high in assists (12).

Assuming he is healthy and willing, I am thinking Ennis will be the backup point this summer, with Pangos (or Scrubb) as the 5th guard (Joseph and Stauskas starting, Ennis and Heslip as first off bench at the 1 and 2, respectively, and Pangos as the leading option for 5th guard (with Scrubb, Cadougan, Hanlan, and Mullins as the other candidates)).

Rautins, Anderson, or English returning to the program, or Murray somehow managing to play, might change things, but I don't see any of those things happening.

Joseph, Stauskas, Ennis, Heslip, and Pangos is not a bad set of guards. Might be our best ever.

English can't play anymore. He played in Greek League last year and all he could do was hit jump shots, and even then it had to be against bad defenders. Against good defenders he could barely even get his shot off. And he could only play at full level for like 5 minutes, then the rest of the game he was gassed. His defense was awful also. And after like a month or so of playing he could barely even run anymore.

He would have a zero chance of making Canada's national team. Just for perspective, he was replaced on AEK this year by 37 year old Giannis Kalampokis, and he played way better than English did. Another way to compare it, Scrubb played limited minutes in AEK before they loaned him, but you could see he was a way better player than English.

English is like 3 years past the date that he should have retired. He used to be a fairly solid player in the Spanish League, and he was always a useful guy because he could shoot and he always played with a competitive edge to him. But I don't think he could even make a roster in a decent European league anymore. As they say, father time is undefeated.

TheFutureMM · Post #128 » by **TheFutureMM** » Thu Mar 31, 2016 3:46 am

frumble wrote:Nicholson with a career high 24 pts last night (on 9/9 shooting).

Thanks to 55% shooting in March, he is having his best statistical season since his rookie year. Not sure if it will be enough to get him another NBA contract, but nice to see.

Ennis continuing to get more playing time, and playing well. On Sunday he had a season high in minutes and a career high in assists (12).

Assuming he is healthy and willing, I am thinking Ennis will be the backup point this summer, with Pangos (or Scrubb) as the 5th guard (Joseph and Stauskas starting, Ennis and Heslip as first off bench at the 1 and 2, respectively, and Pangos as the leading option for 5th guard (with Scrubb, Cadougan, Hanlan, and Mullins as the other candidates)).

Rautins, Anderson, or English returning to the program, or Murray somehow managing to play, might change things, but I don't see any of those things happening.

Joseph, Stauskas, Ennis, Heslip, and Pangos is not a bad set of guards. Might be our best ever.

I'd be shocked if Nicholson didn't get another deal in the NBA next year. He's a perfect 13th man on a good team (never thought I'd type that out). Lucky for him, his skill set is in demand in the new NBA. Someone will give him a deal but it will almost for sure be at the end of the summer when all of the good FAs are gone and teams are looking for their bargain bigs.

Re our guards - I predict the exact same thing. Rautins would be a good candidate to challenge Heslip but again continuity from last summer could keep a couple guys who are near the bubble on the team. Pretty open and shut case for Cojo/Ennis/Pangos/Stauskas/Heslip.

The real discussion starts with the bigs. After Thompson/Olynyk/Lyles we are kind of in who knows territory. I think Ejim is a safe bet and I'm starting to get a weird feeling Bennett is going to play just because he's got nothing to lose.

TheFutureMM · Post #129 » by **TheFutureMM** » Thu Mar 31, 2016 3:54 am

Mirotic12 wrote:
frumble wrote:Nicholson with a career high 24 pts last night (on 9/9 shooting).

Thanks to 55% shooting in March, he is having his best statistical season since his rookie year. Not sure if it will be enough to get him another NBA contract, but nice to see.

Ennis continuing to get more playing time, and playing well. On Sunday he had a season high in minutes and a career high in assists (12).

Assuming he is healthy and willing, I am thinking Ennis will be the backup point this summer, with Pangos (or Scrubb) as the 5th guard (Joseph and Stauskas starting, Ennis and Heslip as first off bench at the 1 and 2, respectively, and Pangos as the leading option for 5th guard (with Scrubb, Cadougan, Hanlan, and Mullins as the other candidates)).

Rautins, Anderson, or English returning to the program, or Murray somehow managing to play, might change things, but I don't see any of those things happening.

Joseph, Stauskas, Ennis, Heslip, and Pangos is not a bad set of guards. Might be our best ever.

English can't play anymore. He played in Greek League last year and all he could do was hit jump shots, and even then it had to be against bad defenders. Against good defenders he could barely even get his shot off. And he could only play at full level for like 5 minutes, then the rest of the game he was gassed. His defense was awful also. And after like a month or so of playing he could barely even run anymore.

He would have a zero chance of making Canada's national team. Just for perspective, he was replaced on AEK this year by 37 year old Giannis Kalampokis, and he played way better than English did. Another way to compare it, Scrubb played limited minutes in AEK before they loaned him, but you could see he was a way better player than English.

English is like 3 years past the date that he should have retired. He used to be a fairly solid player in the Spanish League, and he was always a useful guy because he could shoot and he always played with a competitive edge to him. But I don't think he could even make a roster in a decent European league anymore. As they say, father time is undefeated.

To be fair he did technically make our (C) team last year - but it was super obvious he was done. Going in many of us thought he'd probably play his way onto our (B) team for FIBA America's but that was until about one game into Pan AMs. He's a jump shooter who can't make shots anymore.

Had English played even half-decent at Pan AMs I bet there was a chance he would have got the last spot for our FIBA team as a nod to his contributions over the years. Who knows though.

frumble · Post #130 » by **frumble** » Thu Mar 31, 2016 3:44 pm

Mirotic12 wrote:English can't play anymore. He played in Greek League last year and all he could do was hit jump shots, and even then it had to be against bad defenders. Against good defenders he could barely even get his shot off. And he could only play at full level for like 5 minutes, then the rest of the game he was gassed. His defense was awful also. And after like a month or so of playing he could barely even run anymore.

He would have a zero chance of making Canada's national team. Just for perspective, he was replaced on AEK this year by 37 year old Giannis Kalampokis, and he played way better than English did. Another way to compare it, Scrubb played limited minutes in AEK before they loaned him, but you could see he was a way better player than English.

English is like 3 years past the date that he should have retired. He used to be a fairly solid player in the Spanish League, and he was always a useful guy because he could shoot and he always played with a competitive edge to him. But I don't think he could even make a roster in a decent European league anymore. As they say, father time is undefeated.

Yes, you are probably right re English.

So, assuming Joseph, Ennis, and Stauskas lock up three spots, perhaps Scrubb challenges Pangos, and perhaps Rautins rejoins the program and challenges Heslip.

TheFutureMM wrote:
The real discussion starts with the bigs. After Thompson/Olynyk/Lyles we are kind of in who knows territory. I think Ejim is a safe bet and I'm starting to get a weird feeling Bennett is going to play just because he's got nothing to lose.

Yes, the real discussion starts with the bigs. Assuming no Powell or Nicholson, my preferred set would be:
Olynyk
Thompson
Lyles
Birch
and one of Ejim and Bennett.

Post #131 » by **Undefeated** » Sun Apr 3, 2016 2:21 pm

Women's Final Four tonight and there's going to be a couple of Canadians playing in it.

Jamie Weisner and Ruth Hamblin for Oregon State and played with the DWNT last summer.

Of course Kia Nurse from UConn and Julia Chandler from Syracuse.

Lots of talk of how Oregon State has a legit shot at upsetting UConn so should be an exicting match-up between Weisner/Nurse and Hamblin/Stewart.

Made a highlight of Weisner's 38 point game against DePaul last week which is the most points scored in a tourney game.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlPTXwvwmj0&spfreload=5[/youtube]

JPHolling · Post #132 » by **JPHolling** » Sun Apr 3, 2016 4:42 pm

Has there been any news on Bennett? I havent heard a single word out of him since he was cut. Still wish he was with the raptors... but it didnt work out

TheFutureMM · Post #133 » by **TheFutureMM** » Sun Apr 3, 2016 7:27 pm

JPHolling wrote:Has there been any news on Bennett? I havent heard a single word out of him since he was cut. Still wish he was with the raptors... but it didnt work out

Haven't anything about him. It's kind of late in the season for him to join a team - hopefully he's busy getting his body right but who knows.

Anyone think Tyler Ennis has the potential to be better than Cory Joseph? Watched him play on the 1st and he looked very composed playing 26 minutes.

The Milwaukee situation is incredibly unique as Giannis is going to be playing Point-Forward next year with probably a 3 and D guard manning the 1. If I'm Tyler I'm trying to stay away from that role and hopefully leading the bench unit when Giannis is out - way too much potential with the ball in his hands.

mojo13 · Post #134 » by **mojo13** » Mon Apr 4, 2016 10:38 pm

Yes...the last month has been pretty good for our NBA boys.

Ennis - seems to be making the most of his opportunity. Playing with poise maturity and an improving 3pt shot. It seems the Bucks fan base is really warming up to him and are advocating for him to to be with the team next year as the primary PG backup and perhaps the leader of the 2nd unit. I can't see the Bucks being successful with MCW and Giannis on the floor together (neither can shoot) so I think MCW will be moved in the summer (maybe Bayless and Vasquez too). Could he be better than Cojo? Tough call - I think he has the potential to be a better offensive PG (especially if his outside shot keep improving), great potential to be a better floor general is certainly there. He is really a high IQ player that looks like he can run a team. I don't think his D will ever be to Cojo's level. As to who will be better for the SMNT at their peaks? I guess it depends on what you need out of your PG. I think they will certainly compliment each other and give great flexibility to the SMNT.

Trey Lyles - playing really well lately and has been a pleasant surprise all season. He has been surprising from deep and really looks like the modern stretch 4. Much of the Jazz fanbase is really high on him. http://www.slcdunk.com/2016/3/11/11178210/utah-jazz-trey-lyles-rookie-week-derrick-favors-trevor-booker-carlos-boozer-donyell-marshall He may be one the key pieces to the SMNT in the near future.

Nichsolson - Scott Skiles cast his voodoo magic and like a zombie reincarnated, Nicholson stepped out of his grave. The guy can score in the NBA (9 for 9 from all over the court the other night) and surely he will find a home next year - someone can use his talents off the bench right? Months ago I was thinking he'd be out of the league soon.

Stauskas - even though he is playing much better lately and growing on some 76ers fans, most still think he is pretty awful. His one elite skill is not very elite and it is tough to see what else he brings to the table. Still he is young and has much room to improve, however it better be fast. I think he has place on the 76ers next year, but without meaningful improvement in 16/17 he could be in trouble.

Dwight Powell had a great start to the season, then disappeared for a few months and now is back in the mix with the Mavs. This is great to see - he brings some interesting versatility to the table. Still a little week inside for a big though. Great stories about his work ethic and professionalism coming out of Dallas. I expect that will translate into an improving game over the next few years. Could be a top 5 or 6 player for the SMNT in a couple years.

KO is back from injury and looking ok. Hope is is 100% healthy this summer, he will be the key to this summer's team along with Wiggins and Cojo.

TT is what he is - he'll be nice to have if he can protect the rim and paint (which we lacked last summer) but he is a complementary piece and role player to the SMNT much the same as his is in Cleveland.

I keep hearing great stuff about Khem Birch in Turkey. Pangos to a little lesser extent and not much about Hanlan/Scrubb. And from all reports Heslip can still shoot!

mojo13 · Post #135 » by **mojo13** » Tue Apr 5, 2016 7:34 pm

Also not sure if it was noted here but Melivin Ejim left the Erie Bayhawks a couple weeks back to join Umana Reyer Venezia. It is an Italian Series A team (Eurocup) that has 5 games left in the regular season and I think using him as playoffs reinforcement SF/PF to cover of a key injury. He seems to be getting immediate minutes (about 20 per game for his first two games).

Looks like he was tired of waiting for the NBA call-up and needed to make some $$$. He was doing good in the D-league, about 14-15 ppg, 7-8rbds and 3 or 4 assists.

and Ennis excited to play for the SMNT this summer.
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/bucks/bucks-taking-notice-as-tyler-ennis-makes-most-of-playing-time-b99699497z1-374568461.html

frumble · Post #136 » by **frumble** » Tue Apr 5, 2016 10:27 pm

mojo13 wrote:
and Ennis excited to play for the SMNT this summer.
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/bucks/bucks-taking-notice-as-tyler-ennis-makes-most-of-playing-time-b99699497z1-374568461.html

Thanks for posting that. Always good to see guys enthusiastic about playing for the national team.

Based on direct reports like this one, and Ebner saying he is expecting all the non-FAs to be there, it is looking good for participation.

Ell Curry · Post #137 » by **Ell Curry** » Wed Apr 6, 2016 6:02 am

mojo13 wrote:Also not sure if it was noted here but Melivin Ejim left the Erie Bayhawks a couple weeks back to join Umana Reyer Venezia. It is an Italian Series A team (Eurocup) that has 5 games left in the regular season and I think using him as playoffs reinforcement SF/PF to cover of a key injury. He seems to be getting immediate minutes (about 20 per game for his first two games).

Looks like he was tired of waiting for the NBA call-up and needed to make some $$$. He was doing good in the D-league, about 14-15 ppg, 7-8rbds and 3 or 4 assists.

I think Ejim would be in the league if he was a more consistent 3pt shooter, so maybe in a year or two he'll make it. He's the kind of forward who can guard a bigger guy on D, still rebound a bit and use his skill on O. A lot of 2nd units need 2-3 of those guys between the pick and roll tandem.

mojo13 · Post #138 » by **mojo13** » Wed Apr 6, 2016 3:54 pm

frumble wrote:
mojo13 wrote:
and Ennis excited to play for the SMNT this summer.
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/bucks/bucks-taking-notice-as-tyler-ennis-makes-most-of-playing-time-b99699497z1-374568461.html

Thanks for posting that. Always good to see guys enthusiastic about playing for the national team.

Based on direct reports like this one, and Ebner saying he is expecting all the non-FAs to be there, it is looking good for participation.

There was also an Orlando paper the other day with a quote from Nicholson - he said something along the line that "he was not sure yet if free agency would impact his participation in the Olympic Qualifier".
I still doubt that he plays - but it sounds like he thinks there is a chance.

And XRM is exploring the draft. With the new rules this looks less serious and more of a feeler to see if he has a chance. He can attend the Draft Combine (if invited) and withdraw afterwards if he doesn't get the right feedback from NBA teams, Most likely he doesn't even get an invite to the combine and is back FSU next year.
http://www.thedailynole.com/content.php/522-FSU-s-Rathan-Mayes-to-Explore-NBA-Draft

TheFutureMM · Post #139 » by **TheFutureMM** » Wed Apr 6, 2016 6:46 pm

mojo13 wrote:
frumble wrote:
mojo13 wrote:
and Ennis excited to play for the SMNT this summer.
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/bucks/bucks-taking-notice-as-tyler-ennis-makes-most-of-playing-time-b99699497z1-374568461.html

Thanks for posting that. Always good to see guys enthusiastic about playing for the national team.

Based on direct reports like this one, and Ebner saying he is expecting all the non-FAs to be there, it is looking good for participation.

There was also an Orlando paper the other day with a quote from Nicholson - he said something along the line that "he was not sure yet if free agency would impact his participation in the Olympic Qualifier".
I still doubt that he plays - but it sounds like he thinks there is a chance.

And XRM is exploring the draft. With the new rules this looks less serious and more of a feeler to see if he has a chance. He can attend the Draft Combine (if invited) and withdraw afterwards if he doesn't get the right feedback from NBA teams, Most likely he doesn't even get an invite to the combine and is back FSU next year.
http://www.thedailynole.com/content.php/522-FSU-s-Rathan-Mayes-to-Explore-NBA-Draft

That would be crazy if Nicholson wanted to play this year for Team Canada. He has a ton of chemistry with Olynyk, Joseph, and Thompson dating back to 2013. It would help a lot to have him be in the big rotation.

He looked rough near the end of FIBAs but I honestly think it was due to him being exhausted from playing NBA, being the focal point of our offense in Pan AM, and playing 9 games in 11 nights for FIBA.

frumble · Post #140 » by **frumble** » Wed Apr 6, 2016 11:10 pm

mojo13 wrote:

And XRM is exploring the draft. With the new rules this looks less serious and more of a feeler to see if he has a chance. He can attend the Draft Combine (if invited) and withdraw afterwards if he doesn't get the right feedback from NBA teams, Most likely he doesn't even get an invite to the combine and is back FSU next year.
http://www.thedailynole.com/content.php/522-FSU-s-Rathan-Mayes-to-Explore-NBA-Draft

Stefan Jankovic has also declared. Unlike XRM, he has hired an agent, so no turning back. Not surprising given his age and that Hawaii will be ineligible for the postseason next year.

I doubt either gets drafted. Jankovic should get a decent foreign league contract.