Team Canada Basketball Thread

TheFutureMM · Post #4821 » by **TheFutureMM** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 12:55 am

This doesn't even feel like a home game... The crowd is totally in DRs favor.

Syd-TK3 · Post #4822 » by **Syd-TK3** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 12:58 am

Where can I watch

TheFutureMM · Post #4823 » by **TheFutureMM** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 1:01 am

Very important quarter coming up. Need to finish strong - 5 points should do it.

bozothepope · Post #4824 » by **bozothepope** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 1:07 am

Dwight Powell is pumped!

TheFutureMM · Post #4825 » by **TheFutureMM** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 1:25 am

Probably the most clutch performance I've seen from Team Canada ever. DR had total momentum in the third and cut it down to 8 only to have us bust out of the 4th with 11 straight and it just got worse for them as the quarter went on.

Cory, Olynyk, Ejim, Scrubb, Powell, and Dillon brought it in the 4th quarter. The A-listers did exactly what they needed to do.

slothrop8 · Post #4826 » by **slothrop8** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 1:36 am

Excellent effort, great result. Great 4th quarter - loved Dwight Powell’s intensity. Great team effort - now do the same but worse to Virgin Islands.

Mattd97 · Post #4827 » by **Mattd97** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 2:42 am

bozothepope wrote:Did I see Mark Cuban sitting courtside with Kevin O'Leary?

Just got home, Cuban was sitting baseline. Came to hug nav at the half
They also held a ceremony for the u19 gold winners at the half. They all got sweet rings, the family of the trainer was sitting next to us so I got to see it up close.

As for the game, good win and nice to come back when the dr got the momentum in the 3rd. Some things I noticed;
Brooks was snake bitten at the rim but had a couple very good plays on d. Powell was fantastic on offense especially finishing, and was getting elbowed bad a lot. Him and birch both need to be better on the defensive glass. Birchs offensive game is still non existent. Cojo was solid on both sides. Ejim was great on both ends and hit some good shots. RJ was differential but showed some flashes and didnt cost us on d. Nembhart had some nice takes and showed he had the moves to be someone to keep your eye on for the future -- but he was getting destroyed on defence. They picked on him and got mismatches off of him every possession and it was a big part of the run in the 3rd. We took control after he was replaced with scrubb to settle things down. He will be great but he physically looked like a kid out there and they treated him as such, he just can't be out there yet. And I don't think he would be if he weren't on rj's team. It seems some of the politics still affect this program

Brinbe · Post #4828 » by **Brinbe** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 3:09 am

Was at the game earlier tonight. Was only DR, but I really liked the makeup of our team. CoJo/Brooks/RJB/KO/Powell was way too much for them and when they turned it on in the 4th, they were completely outmatched. If we can get everyone to play, like TT/Wiggins, we have the makings of a great squad.

As for RJ, he is 100% the real deal, and at 18, there's no doubt he could already compete physically in the league. Once he adds that jumper it's over. Whoever gets him at 1 is getting a great building piece.

Also kinda sad that the attendance was what it was. Especially since it's Canada Day weekend! It was sad when the Dominican fans were making more noise in our house in the 3rd when they made their run. The future is bright for our Canadian men, I hope the bandwagon fills up in time.

hsb · Post #4829 » by **hsb** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 4:42 am

Watch on YouTube

The alley-oops were sweet.

aminiaturebuddha · Post #4830 » by **aminiaturebuddha** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 5:00 am

I was also at the game tonight, after I re-arranged some travel to be in Toronto for it. Agree with most of what others in attendance have said.

A few additional thoughts:

For me, the player of the game was Dwight Powell. His energy and enthusiasm at the beginning of the 4th quarter really broke it wide open for Canada after the DR got it close in the 3rd. Maybe it's recency bias, because he didn't do as much in the first half, but he was the difference maker for Canada when it counted.

CoJo was also a very steady floor general the whole game. Sure, he took one or two bad shots, but overall he was the clearly the leader out there on the floor.

Birch can be a real difference maker on defence. His switches are fantastic, and he often sees screens coming long before they're ever set, allowing him to switch before the ballhandler can turn the corner.

The only guy who I really thought had a tough game, of the ones that got significant minutes, was Brooks. It seemed like he was forcing the issue a bit at times. And even then it wasn't a horrible game, I've just seen him play better.

And as for the young guys: Barrett is simply an outstanding player. For someone his age, he almost always seems to be playing under control. A lot of young guys in his position would try to do too much and get themselves into trouble - not Barrett. He just tried to fit in with the veterans and make plays whenever it was necessary. If I didn't know anything about him before the game, I would have said he was a 28-year-old team leader. He's as impressive in person as the hype would suggest.

I was surprised that Nembhard got so many minutes, especially in the first half. And I absolutely mean it as a compliment when I say he wasn't a liability out there. He generally made the right plays on offence, and tried hard and wasn't exposed on defence. Not sure we could have expected much more out of him.

Finally, the reffing was atrocious throughout, but especially in the 3rd quarter, which definitely helped the DR get back into it (and really got the DR fans, which were probably about a quarter of the arena, hyped up and involved in the game). Some of the calls were absolutely inexplicable, especially as we were the home team. In particular, number 8 for the DR, Edward Santana (never heard of him before tonight) was getting away with borderline dangerous plays all night. FIBA refs are always a little suspect, but that was really something else. It's a good thing that the great talent of Canada won out, because you could see the Canadian players and bench just becoming exasperated with each passing minute.

Overall, great win! Go Canada Go!!! On to the next one.

Anticon · Post #4831 » by **Anticon** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 11:22 am

What impressed me most about Barrettt was his demeanour on the court. I still have questions about his finishing, but he is very professional in his effort and attaking.

About the attendance, they need to do a better job promoting these events. I only heard this week and I should have been targeted long before.

It was also at ricoh which was really hard to get to with the Honda Indy and there wasn’t even a proper sign outside saying where to go.

Prices were also nuts - I paid 95 with fees on ticket master for the two cheapest tickets. They need to be half that to fill that place.

Last, Raptors game ops style presentations continue to kill the buzz. There was no effort to lead any chants, just the bongo and dance cams. This was the case in the playoffs as well - someome really needs to rework that whole thing.

And I will say there was a guy in front of me with his own drum, heckling the Dominican fans in Spanish. So the hard cores are there. They just need more of them.

frumble · Post #4832 » by **frumble** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 2:02 pm

aminiaturebuddha wrote:
For me, the player of the game was Dwight Powell. His energy and enthusiasm at the beginning of the 4th quarter really broke it wide open for Canada after the DR got it close in the 3rd. Maybe it's recency bias, because he didn't do as much in the first half, but he was the difference maker for Canada when it counted.

I think Powell sat most of the first half. Picked up his second foul 3:22 into the first Q, and then sat rest of the half.

He also sat for much of the third Q after he picked up his 3rd foul. Ejim also did well, but, yeah, from following online it seemed Powell was a difference maker when he was in the game.

UcanUwill · Post #4833 » by **UcanUwill** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 2:24 pm

Barrett will be so good. USA G league scrubs lost to Mexico :lol:

mojo13 · Post #4834 » by **mojo13** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 5:47 pm

For people who were curious about the "B" teams game vs China Blue. That occured on thursday.

Read on Twitter

TheFutureMM · Post #4835 » by **TheFutureMM** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 6:41 pm

Damn Addison Patterson just about dropped the hammer on some young buck 2 seconds ago in the U17 opener. This kid is on another level athletically.

Mattd97 · Post #4836 » by **Mattd97** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 7:58 pm

Mullings dort and pierre should have opportunitie with the A club qualifying

TooBad · Post #4837 » by **TooBad** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 10:23 pm

Yeah I am convinced that it is actually Team Canada that is keeping guys like Thompson/Wiggins out of these games. I don't think they are putting up the money for these guys insurance as they don't think they are needed at this stage. My friend told be that Tristan Thompson was at the game during half time yet he wasn't in the lineup. Tristan Thompson is basically an expensive Khem birch with better offensive rebounding. Obviously if you're tight for cash and you believe that you'll wipe the floor with the opponent you're facing you're are going to insure the cheapest options not an overpaid Thompson. Currently, there is not a guy on Team Canada making more than 12 million or something like that. Wiggins is making nearly 30, Thompson is close to 20. Jamal murray probably actually had something to do.

mojo13 · Post #4838 » by **mojo13** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 11:00 pm

TooBad wrote:Yeah I am convinced that it is actually Team Canada that is keeping guys like Thompson/Wiggins out of these games. I don't think they are putting up the money for these guys insurance as they don't think they are needed at this stage. My friend told be that Tristan Thompson was at the game during half time yet he wasn't in the lineup. Tristan Thompson is basically an expensive Khem birch with better offensive rebounding. Obviously if you're tight for cash and you believe that you'll wipe the floor with the opponent you're facing you're are going to insure the cheapest options not an overpaid Thompson. Currently, there is not a guy on Team Canada making more than 12 million or something like that. Wiggins is making nearly 30, Thompson is close to 20. Jamal murray probably actually had something to do.

That is an interesting view and warrants some added research. It’s possible, but I’m not sure that’s the reason for Wiggins absence but is a valid theory for TT.

I thought I read somewhere that FIBA was involved in covering insurance, or there’s some sort of deal in place with federations to help. I’ll try to dig around more.

You’d think if this was a legit reason people would talk about it. Why woundnt Wiggins or Canada Basketball mention it rather than take the full heat that neither can get their heads out of their asses? Canadian media has been pretty rough on Wiggins with this.

I wouldn’t mind seeing some support for this theory. I’m skeptical.

mojo13 · Post #4839 » by **mojo13** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 11:04 pm

Mattd97 wrote:Mullings dort and pierre should have opportunitie with the A club qualifying

I’m a huge fan of Dyshawn Pierre. But what with the love for Mullings? A 6’2 SG who can’t shoot a lick? There is a reason that 3-4 seasons in he is still playing in Finland. I think he led the Finnish domestic league in rebounding one season, coupled with not hitting one three. He might have been playing as a PF (possible hyperbole here, but I’m not far off).

Pierre is very underrated IMO though. Really similar player to Melvin Ejim.

Mattd97 · Post #4840 » by **Mattd97** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 11:38 pm

mojo13 wrote:
Mattd97 wrote:Mullings dort and pierre should have opportunitie with the A club qualifying

I’m a huge fan of Dyshawn Pierre. But what with the love for Mullings? A 6’2 SG who can’t shoot a lick? There is a reason that 3-4 seasons in he is still playing in Finland. I think he led the Finnish domestic league in rebounding one season, coupled with not hitting one three. He might have been playing as a PF (possible hyperbole here, but I’m not far off).

Pierre is very underrated IMO though. Really similar player to Melvin Ejim.

Could easily just be anecdotal positive memories of him at new Mexico state and playing well on the Toronto pan am team