Team Canada Basketball Thread V2.0

[TrueNorth31]

Birch got injured right after entering the game, fouling Huertas' elbow with his eye... which brings me to the referees. Really bad officiating and anything but home-inclined. ALL of the 50-50 calls went to the Brazilian side. Otherwise, it would have ended with a 15-20 margin.

Still, a fun evening and a nice win, which I think all but seals the deal for us.

I always forget how bad the FIBA Americas refs are until I watch another game. My favourite (read: the one that had me jumping up and down in my living room screaming at the TV) was the one where the refs just decided not to count a Canadian basket in a single-digit lead game with less than two minutes remaining because they didn't understand how TT scored and just assumed it must have been offensive goaltending. Good times.

I hear you - I was quite frustrated with the officiating. Part of the problem is that the Brazilians have turned flopping into an art form. It's a cultural thing, witness their soccer team. It makes it tough on the officials to mediate the game.

Also I'm no big fan of the American referee Steve Anderson. He was part of the crew that mismanaged the Canada/ Venezuela fiasco in 2015, as well he made a very poor call in the Olympics to give Spain a bronze medal over Australia in 2016.

The problem is hardly any of the top NBA or D1 American officials have Fiba refereeing cards - thereby they can't do international matches. So were stuck with this guy whose arrogance and reputation exceeds his talent level.

[Bobby Plump]

So realistically, we only get NBA guys for 3 games within this entire 12 game qualifier? They need to do away with this system post-2020. The Qualifying tournaments weren't perfect, but they were better than this garbage.

When FIBA announced the new qualifier format 3 years ago I was in complete agreement but now that Canada is on the cusp of qualifying for the 2019 World Cup I am thinking otherwise. Canada is 6-1 with 5 qualifiers remaining, two against Chile and two games next June that will have some NBA talent available.

FIBA Americas tournaments were physically brutal and mostly a disaster in which Canada rarely qualified for the World Championships or the Olympics.

[mojo13]

So realistically, we only get NBA guys for 3 games within this entire 12 game qualifier? They need to do away with this system post-2020. The Qualifying tournaments weren't perfect, but they were better than this garbage.

When FIBA announced the new qualifier format 3 years ago I was in complete agreement but now that Canada is on the cusp of qualifying for the 2019 World Cup I am thinking otherwise. Canada is 6-1 with 5 qualifiers remaining, two against Chile and two games next June that will have some NBA talent available.

FIBA Americas tournaments were physically brutal and mostly a disaster in which Canada rarely qualified for the World Championships or the Olympics.

Not quite. We are 6-1 with 5 Qualifiers remaining. One game in a couple days (@CHL w/ no NBA players), two games in Nov (@VEN, @BRA) with no NBA players and two games in Feb (home vs VEN and CHL) with no NBA players. There are no games next June thus no NBA players for any more games. This is not a slam dunk yet. We are not bothering to guarantee a win vs Chile by leaving all the NBA players behind (playing with fire if you ask me). We should still win, but who the heck knows? I'd expect us to be underdogs @VEN and @BRA without NBA players but will be favored at home vs CHI in Feb. Not sure about our chances at home vs VEN w/o NBA players (somewhat favored?). Depends on what roster we can pull together.

One more win should get us pretty close - I think two will for sure. But it is not totally inconceivable if we lose all 4 of the remaining 5 games ending at 7-5 - that may not get us in....

We are in good position -but this ain't over yet.

[frumble]

When FIBA announced the new qualifier format 3 years ago I was in complete agreement but now that Canada is on the cusp of qualifying for the 2019 World Cup I am thinking otherwise. Canada is 6-1 with 5 qualifiers remaining, two against Chile and two games next June that will have some NBA talent available.

FIBA Americas tournaments were physically brutal and mostly a disaster in which Canada rarely qualified for the World Championships or the Olympics.

Canada has made the Worlds 13 of the 17 times it has been held, and 8 of the past 10.

Until we missed in 06, we had made nine straight.

Yes, we missed two of the past three (06 and 14), but in those years there were only five spots for the Americas (in 06, six teams from Americas made it, only four directly through the qualifying tournament. Brazil made it as a wild card, and the US as defending Olympic Champ) (I believe US getting automatic spot may have taken a spot away from Americas, so it would have been five spots).

Would we make it this year if there were only five spots instead of seven? Like Mojo said, we are by no means guaranteed to make it as it is, with seven spots, and with five it would be very tough.

I think we would have made it in 14 if there had been seven spots available.

Long story short, we have a good chance of making it now not because of new format, but because of there being 7 spots available instead of 5.

[Pooh_Jeter]

It's so tough to say anything definitive. I think it would certainly be better for us to have all these windows when we had NBA players available, but we have seen that participation even during those times is fickle. I don't blame any of our top guys for not wanting to go down to Chile so close to training camp opening up for them. Realistically the depth of talent in the program has never been better and will only continue to get better. It is cool to see these guys emerge in qualifiers for us.

I'm honestly pretty worried about the game in Chile though. Hostile territory and the building is sold out and while Chile is no powerhouse I imagine their team must have quite a bit of cohesion. The group of guys we are sending down there still features some good players, but you don't have an alpha who can necessarily impose their will. It's going to have to be an old school grit fest to win that game it seems.

It would be outstanding if guys on the G League radar would go down there like Jackson, Boucher, XRM, Bennett, etc. but it doesn't seem likely. I wonder where Nicholson is as well.

[mojo13]

XRM is in Greece with AEK Athens. He is not magically appearing. Same with Nicholson in China.
The others are feasible I suppose, but I doubt anyone who wasn’t at camp will all of a sudden show up. It might not even be technically possible. When these Qualifiers started FIBA was demanding a roster a month ahead from which players could be pulled from. Not sure if they are still insisting on that.

[aminiaturebuddha]

I'm not too happy about the fact that we're seemingly sending a very weak team to Chile. Still, we're in very good shape right now to qualify.

If we assume that all of the other 6-1 and 5-2 teams will qualify (USA, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Brazil, DR), that would basically mean that we'd have to beat out Uruguay for the 7th spot. They currently sit at 4-3 and would have to make up two games on Canada just to have a tie-breaker. Of their remaining 5 games, none of them are pushovers - 2 against Mexico, 2 against Puerto Rico, and 1 against the US.

So we're in good shape, but winning this game against Chile will allow everyone to breathe a little easier.

[Dtown84]

I'm not too happy about the fact that we're seemingly sending a very weak team to Chile. Still, we're in very good shape right now to qualify.

If we assume that all of the other 6-1 and 5-2 teams will qualify (USA, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Brazil, DR), that would basically mean that we'd have to beat out Uruguay for the 7th spot. They currently sit at 4-3 and would have to make up two games on Canada just to have a tie-breaker. Of their remaining 5 games, none of them are pushovers - 2 against Mexico, 2 against Puerto Rico, and 1 against the US.

So we're in good shape, but winning this game against Chile will allow everyone to breathe a little easier.

Another thing in Canada's favor over Uruguay is that if it does come down to a tie breaker, that would be Point Differential. Thanks to the US game Uruguay is currently -67, to Canada's +161

[mojo13]

I think Mexico is the threat not Uruguay based on who they still play. Mexico and easy win 4 games and maybe all 5. A team like ARG could pack it in once they are sure they qualify.

[frumble]

Any more info on who will be playing in Chile?

Thanks.

[GoRaptors]

Any more info on who will be playing in Chile?

Thanks.

Duane Notice tweeted that he will be in Chile

[Samurai_Raps]

anyone know where to watch a full replay of the game against brazil?

[aminiaturebuddha]

I think Mexico is the threat not Uruguay based on who they still play. Mexico and easy win 4 games and maybe all 5. A team like ARG could pack it in once they are sure they qualify.

True, Mexico has a much easier run for the rest of qualifying, needing to face Uruguay twice, Panama twice and Argentina. But the Argentina game is in the next round in December, so I don't think they'll be quite ready to phone it in yet.

Mexico also already has 4 losses, so they'd need to make up 3 games, and then still deal with the massive point differential.

Still, you're right, I should have mentioned Mexico, because they're probably equally the threat that Uruguay is. It would be great if they could split those games against each other.

[GoRaptors]

Peter Yannopoulos
‏ @PeteYannopoulos

Not all players were thrilled after Team CA win over BR in Montréal. Playing Time is naturally important to all players at any level. Managing those expectations of the players is the most difficult part for coaches and management. #RDS #TSN
8:48 PM - 14 Sep 2018

[frumble]

Peter Yannopoulos
‏ @PeteYannopoulos

Not all players were thrilled after Team CA win over BR in Montréal. Playing Time is naturally important to all players at any level. Managing those expectations of the players is the most difficult part for coaches and management. #RDS #TSN
8:48 PM - 14 Sep 2018

Given that several guys were DNPs or received <4 minutes, I guess there are a lot of candidates. And now we need all those guys (and more) to make the trip to Chile. And I am sure they know they are highly unlikely to make the World Cup if Canada makes it.

The whole system is so stupid.

[TheFutureMM]

Peter Yannopoulos
‏ @PeteYannopoulos

Not all players were thrilled after Team CA win over BR in Montréal. Playing Time is naturally important to all players at any level. Managing those expectations of the players is the most difficult part for coaches and management. #RDS #TSN
8:48 PM - 14 Sep 2018

Given that several guys were DNPs or received <4 minutes, I guess there are a lot of candidates. And now we need all those guys (and more) to make the trip to Chile. And I am sure they know they are highly unlikely to make the World Cup if Canada makes it.

The whole system is so stupid.

It honestly, has shocked me how Canada Basketball continues to get guys out of the top 20 to show up to these qualifying events. It has to be some of the most selfless stuff I've ever seen in terms of international ball. I'm not talking about guys like Nicholson or Bennett who are one injury or contract year dispute from one of our top 10 guys from making the Olympics or World Cup. I'm talking about Dyshawn Pierre, Kyle Landry, Jevohn Shepherd, Kaza Keane, who are just not up on the depth chart enough to make these events.

[GoRaptors]

Peter Yannopoulos
‏ @PeteYannopoulos

Not all players were thrilled after Team CA win over BR in Montréal. Playing Time is naturally important to all players at any level. Managing those expectations of the players is the most difficult part for coaches and management. #RDS #TSN
8:48 PM - 14 Sep 2018

Given that several guys were DNPs or received <4 minutes, I guess there are a lot of candidates. And now we need all those guys (and more) to make the trip to Chile. And I am sure they know they are highly unlikely to make the World Cup if Canada makes it.

The whole system is so stupid.

It honestly, has shocked me how Canada Basketball continues to get guys out of the top 20 to show up to these qualifying events. It has to be some of the most selfless stuff I've ever seen in terms of international ball. I'm not talking about guys like Nicholson or Bennett who are one injury or contract year dispute from one of our top 10 guys from making the Olympics or World Cup. I'm talking about Dyshawn Pierre, Kyle Landry, Jevohn Shepherd, Kaza Keane, who are just not up on the depth chart enough to make these events.

On the plus side for those players, playing in the events does give them exposure and potential for (better) contracts in the future. However, if they end up playing very little or are DNPs that could lead to frustration.

[frumble]

It honestly, has shocked me how Canada Basketball continues to get guys out of the top 20 to show up to these qualifying events. It has to be some of the most selfless stuff I've ever seen in terms of international ball. I'm not talking about guys like Nicholson or Bennett who are one injury or contract year dispute from one of our top 10 guys from making the Olympics or World Cup. I'm talking about Dyshawn Pierre, Kyle Landry, Jevohn Shepherd, Kaza Keane, who are just not up on the depth chart enough to make these events.

Yes, and its not just guys out of the top 20. I think it is fair to say that some of the guys who have participated in our 7 games thus far are outside the top 40.

We have used 29 guys through the first 7 games (only Heslip has played all seven) (it will increase to 30 with Notice), and off the top of my head I can think of more than a dozen guys who have not played who are probably in our top 30:

SGA
Murray
Ennis
Rautins
Stauskas
Long
Wiggins
Doornekamp
Nicholson
Lyles
Sacre
Boucher
Wiltjer
Bachynski

So some of the guys we have used or are about to use are not even in our top 40.

[mojo13]

How definitive was Grange?

If NBA and top Euro guys includes Ejim and Jackson, then only 10 of the 17 guys in camp would be available, and seven would be guards. Would be great if Barrett could go. We also need some bigs. Anthony Bennett?

Keane
Heslip
Haynes
Friesen
Notice
Diressa
Best

Pierre

Landry
Anthony

I’ve now seen multiple non official reports saying Ejim is playing and all NBA players, including Jackson plus Pangos are not playing.

So it look like the roster is as listed above plus Ejim.
That makes 11 so I don’t know if that’s what we go with or if we snuck someone else in.
I think it is a winnable game. I like guys like Pierre and Landry more than most. And best really impressed me the last game.
Heslip can really be effective against these weaker teams. Way more room to get his shot off and far less exploitable on D.

A few people were poking at Canada basketball on Twitter and their response was that Roster is supposed to be announced today after their technical meeting with Chile. which seems a little weird (that they’d even responsd) and maybe reflective of Canada Basketball trying to add someone not previously listed?

[frumble]

I’ve now seen multiple non official reports saying Ejim is playing and all NBA players, including Jackson plus Pangos are not playing.

So it look like the roster is as listed above plus Ejim.
That makes 11 so I don’t know if that’s what we go with or if we snuck someone else in.
I think it is a winnable game. I like guys like Pierre and Landry more than most. And best really impressed me the last game.
Heslip can really be effective against these weaker teams. Way more room to get his shot off and far less exploitable on D.

A few people were poking at Canada basketball on Twitter and their response was that Roster is supposed to be announced today after their technical meeting with Chile. which seems a little weird (that they’d even responsd) and maybe reflective of Canada Basketball trying to add someone not previously listed?

Thanks for the updates. Having Ejim would be huge.
Curious to see who the 12th player is (if there is one).

But agree that it is a winnable game even with the 11 listed above.

Will be interesting to see how Haynes and Notice do in their SMNT debuts, and how guys like Pierre and Landry do with (presumably) increased playing time.