Team Canada Basketball Thread V2.0

[mojo13]

Anyone watch Gonzaga tonight?
Brandon Clarke’s game showed why I think he is a NBA prospect. 19 points (9-13), 13 rbds, 6 blocks, 2 steals. Super bouncy and quick. One of the better leapers I’ve watched in a while. His 2nd bounce is insane.


Brazdeikis and Brissett with great games tonight as well.

SGA killed it once again too. Man is is going to be good. Looking like a potential all star at some point.

[Hair Canada]

Anyone watch Gonzaga tonight?
Brandon Clarke’s game showed why I think he is a NBA prospect. 19 points (9-13), 13 rbds, 6 blocks, 2 steals. Super bouncy and quick. One of the better leapers I’ve watched in a while. His 2nd bounce is insane.


Brazdeikis and Brissett with great games tonight as well.

Yes, Clarke looks great. Like a new version of Dwight Powell, but with better blocking. If he can further develop his outside game (showed some signs yesterday), he'll certainly be an NBA player. Need to be a bit careful though, as Gonzaga has not met a worthy opponent yet and playing without the injured Tillie.

Iggy with good stats, but interestingly, he scored 15 of his 19 points in the first 5 minutes of the second half, where he really went on a tear. For some reason, Michigan went away from him after that. Still, an encouraging game for him after a bit of a slow start.

Brissett looked amazing in the first half. But then in the second half, he missed about 10 shots in a raw, most of them layups. That was his big issue last year (finishing around the rim), so a bit concerning. Still finished the game with 17 and 13.

Two other Canadians in college had a career night yesterday. Jaylen Poyser with 23 for St. Bonaventure (former career high was 22). And junior guard Devonte Bandoo, who went under the radar before the season (at least mine) with 25 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals for Baylor. Someone to keep an eye on.

[TheFutureMM]

Anyone watch Gonzaga tonight?
Brandon Clarke’s game showed why I think he is a NBA prospect. 19 points (9-13), 13 rbds, 6 blocks, 2 steals. Super bouncy and quick. One of the better leapers I’ve watched in a while. His 2nd bounce is insane.


Brazdeikis and Brissett with great games tonight as well.

SGA killed it once again too. Man is is going to be good. Looking like a potential all star at some point.

Anyone who doesn't think this is the deepest pool of talent we have ever had in the NCAA has lost their mind. We've had at least 2-3 guys pop off for double digit games in the six nights since the NCAA season kicked-off. Tons of potential pros for both the NBA and Europe starting for high-major programs. Mojo, Hair, we need to have you guys start providing a ranking for these guys (not just NBA draft boards).

As for the NBA, SGA has looked good, Murray went for 48 the other night, Thompson is putting up some gaudy numbers with Love out, etc. It's getting silly with the amount of talent we have on the scene at all levels.

[Hair Canada]

SGA killed it once again too. Man is is going to be good. Looking like a potential all star at some point.

Shai sure looks great. Really fun to watch him develop. I haven't quite seen all-star potential yet, but certainly a starting point and I think once he has the ball in his hands more (the Clippers are often playing him off the ball, especially when Lou Williams is on the court), he'll be able to make even more of an impact and have more assists.

[Hair Canada]

Anyone watch Gonzaga tonight?
Brandon Clarke’s game showed why I think he is a NBA prospect. 19 points (9-13), 13 rbds, 6 blocks, 2 steals. Super bouncy and quick. One of the better leapers I’ve watched in a while. His 2nd bounce is insane.


Brazdeikis and Brissett with great games tonight as well.

Yes, Clarke looks great. Like a new version of Dwight Powell, but with better blocking. If he can further develop his outside game (showed some signs yesterday), he'll certainly be an NBA player. Need to be a bit careful though, as Gonzaga has not met a worthy opponent yet and playing without the injured Tillie.

Iggy with good stats, but interestingly, he scored 15 of his 19 points in the first 5 minutes of the second half, where he really went on a tear. For some reason, Michigan went away from him after that. Still, an encouraging game for him after a bit of a slow start.

Brissett looked amazing in the first half. But then in the second half, he missed about 10 shots in a raw, most of them layups. That was his big issue last year (finishing around the rim), so a bit concerning. Still finished the game with 17 and 13.

Two other Canadians in college had a career night yesterday. Jaylen Poyser with 23 for St. Bonaventure (former career high was 22). And junior guard Devonte Bandoo, who went under the radar before the season (at least mine) with 25 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals for Baylor. Someone to keep an eye on.

Bandoo, by the way, previously played in JUCO, where he had good stats (16.6 points and 5.8 rebounds a game, shooting 44% from 3). So these are actually his first game in the NCAA and he's starting for Baylor and managed to really show something special. Always fun to discover new guys.

[Scott Hall]

Read on Twitter

[aminiaturebuddha]

Two other Canadians in college had a career night yesterday. Jaylen Poyser with 23 for St. Bonaventure (former career high was 22). And junior guard Devonte Bandoo, who went under the radar before the season (at least mine) with 25 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals for Baylor. Someone to keep an eye on.

That's where Poyser is! Thanks. I couldn't remember where he had ended up after transferring from UNLV. Good to see his season is starting off well.

[mojo13]

Rj looking a little shakey today. Poor shot selection, TOs and overall looking quite selfish like his main goal was to outscore Zion. Hope this is a one time thing.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Rj looking a little shakey today. Poor shot selection, TOs and overall looking quite selfish like his main goal was to outscore Zion. Hope this is a one time thing.

That's how he looked in the first game.

[mojo13]

But then again RJ Barrett goes 23 points, 6 boards shoots almost 50% from the field and it honestly was probably considered a bad game for him

[mojo13]

Rj looking a little shakey today. Poor shot selection, TOs and overall looking quite selfish like his main goal was to outscore Zion. Hope this is a one time thing.

That's how he looked in the first game.

I didn’t really see that vs UK. But definitely today.

[BilboBanginz]

Simi off to a to a good start so far.

Watch on YouTube

[Hair Canada]

Simi was great yesterday. Really dominated in the first half. Then got in foul trouble early in the second, but came back for the final minutes of the game and had a key role in the win. Love his energy. A bit like Brissett, he sometimes has a bit of an accuracy issue under the basket and doesn't finish his layups as well as one would hope. But he's a force and has an underrated handle and court vision. Great to see that the injury is completely behind him (I thought he would start the season slower). If he continues like this, he'll be back in lottery conversations.

Another high-major guy who seems to be breaking out this year is Junior Eugene Omoruyi at Rutgers. Started the season with a splash, putting up 19 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists per game (two double-doubles), as well as shooting 6/7 from 3. this last stat is pretty amazing given that in his two first years at Rutgers he was 0/16 from 3... Obviously, that's not going to last, but nice to see that he's now a leading player, after having a minor role in his rookie year. He showed signs of that when he was playing at Orangeville Prep three years ago (I believe with Justin Jackson), but the move to a high-major college is tough for most players. He has a bit of a Draymond Green quality to him -- a combo-forward who's not very tall, but does the little things, plays good defense, and is a good passer.

[Young_Buc]

Haven't seen him plAy but Dort seems dominant in his first 2 collegiate games.

[mojo13]

Bad news, with Dillon Brooks put for 6-8 weeks with a MCL injury.

https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-news-dillon-brooks-out-6-8-weeks-with-grade-2-mcl-sprain

On the flip side. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander versus Warriors:
18 points (8-11)
5 rebounds
3 Assists
2 steals and 1 block

We might be talking about him as the best Canadian player by the end of the year. What he does on defense is light years beyond Murray and Wiggins.
Murray in particular has been pretty rough since the 48 point game. In the 3 game losing streak by the Nugs he is showing his weakness as a PG. His struggles running the offense combined with his near inability to control the ball-handler and stop dribble penetration has been maddening so far this season. I’ve heard whispers he’s not right physically. Hopefully that’s all it is.

[Hair Canada]

I think you're jumping the gun on Shai. I love him and his game. But the game yesterday showed his strengths, but also his weaknesses. almost all of his points came from mid-range jumpers over shorter defenders. While that's an admirable skill (and yesterday all of them were falling), he still has a hard time scoring in other ways. His 18 points yesterday all came in the first three-quarters of the game. In the fourth and in overtime the Warriors tightened up their defense, but also put a big defender on Shai (Durant). I think it was mainly a function of Durant's foul trouble, but it basically shut him down. He's not quick enough to blow by someone like Durant, can't make enough separation to shoot over him, and also doesn't have a reliable pull-up jumper when they give him a step. So in his last 10 minutes in the game, Shai simply moved the ball past half court and then got rid of it and went to hide in the corner. Even when he got the ball again, he got rid of it in a hurry, and that's when Gallinari and Williams were not making their shots. But the difference is that they can at least create these shots. Eventually, Rivers had no choice but to take him out and the Clippers actually played better without him in the last 3 minutes of OT. Shai at this point, against a tall dynamic defender, gets completely shut down.

On defense, he's doing very well, but still habitually gets overpowered by bigger guys. Not a worry for me, as he'll get stronger and learn how to better defend in these situations. On that side of the court, he's already above league average for guards and certainly better than Murray or Wiggins.

All in all, I love where Shai is going, but I think it might take him a couple of years to get there. He's more advanced than Murray was in his rookie year, but has some areas that need work before he becomes a reliable offensive guard in this league who can be counted on to close games, not just open them.

As for Murray, you are right that he's been bad as of late not only on offense but also on defense. But it's just a couple of games and he did show significant improvement on that end at the beginning of the season, so it seems like a matter of focus and motivation more than the ability to defend. I think when he loses confidence on offense (which he has), it also projects on his defense. Let's see how he bounces off this slump.

[aminiaturebuddha]

Another good game last night for Marial Shayok with Wigginton still not playing for Iowa State. He had 26 pts, 5 rbds, 2 asts, 2 blks.

So far this season he's averaging 20-5-2 through the first 3 games. I haven't seen him play yet, and it's hard to know what to read into these stats other than the fact that he transferred to a school that has a completely different offensive system and philosophy. He went from a school (Virginia) that is one of the slowest-paced teams, to a school that is consistently one of the highest-paced teams.

Has anyone seen any of Iowa States games this year to shed some light on how he's been playing? His defence was always pretty good, so if he really has improved his assertiveness and versatility on the offensive end, we could be looking at another fringe second round draft pick.

[mojo13]

Melvin Ejim hasn't played for UNICS since Oct 23rd vs Unicaja. Can't find anything on whether he is injured, but that seems a logical conclusion. Anyone know? With the next FIBA WC Qualifiers window in a little over two weeks - that would certainly put his participation in doubt.


EDIT: There was a mention of him being injured last month by UNICS president, but no details on severity or length of recovery time. Obviously a huge loss if he is out - but some other good PFs out there we might be able to get to show up (Nicholson? Wiltjer?). I still think Marc Trasolini is a little underrated and didnt get much chance to to show off last November. Perhaps Dyshan Pierre/Tommy Scrubb combo at the forwards will be what we get. I can deal with that - I cant deal with Grandy Glaze on the roster and getting minutes again. I suppose we could have Anthony Bennett and/or Justin Jackson in the mix as well. Jackson finally played for the Lakeland Magic this week (6 minutes) - but I'd consider him an injury absence risk right now. Bennett could be hurt for all I know too - only 5 played minutes on Sunday. He supposedly left the game early with the trainer. Sure wish Chris Boucher was available.

[Hair Canada]

Melvin Ejim hasn't played for UNICS since Oct 23rd vs Unicaja. Can't find anything on whether he is injured, but that seems a logical conclusion. Anyone know? With the next FIBA WC Qualifiers window in a little over two weeks - that would certainly put his participation in doubt.


EDIT: There was a mention of him being injured last month by UNICS president, but no details on severity or length of recovery time. Obviously, a huge loss if he is out - but some other good PFs out there we might be able to get to show up (Nicholson? Wiltjer?). I still think Marc Trasolini is a little underrated and didn't get much chance to show off last November. Perhaps Dyshan Pierre/Tommy Scrubb combo at the forwards will be what we get. I can deal with that - I can't deal with Grandy Glaze on the roster and getting minutes again. I suppose we could have Anthony Bennett and/or Justin Jackson in the mix as well. Jackson finally played for the Lakeland Magic this week (6 minutes) - but I'd consider him an injury absence risk right now. Bennett could be hurt for all I know too - only 5 played minutes on Sunday. He supposedly left the game early with the trainer. Sure wish Chris Boucher was available.

Doesn't sound very promising. Too bad we probably can't get Boucher. Only good thing is that we can afford to lose these games and still control our own destiny. Still, would be nice if we could win one of them, or at least lose to Brazil by less than 8.

[Hair Canada]

Another good game last night for Marial Shayok with Wigginton still not playing for Iowa State. He had 26 pts, 5 rbds, 2 asts, 2 blks.

So far this season he's averaging 20-5-2 through the first 3 games. I haven't seen him play yet, and it's hard to know what to read into these stats other than the fact that he transferred to a school that has a completely different offensive system and philosophy. He went from a school (Virginia) that is one of the slowest-paced teams, to a school that is consistently one of the highest-paced teams.

Has anyone seen any of Iowa States games this year to shed some light on how he's been playing? His defence was always pretty good, so if he really has improved his assertiveness and versatility on the offensive end, we could be looking at another fringe second round draft pick.

Yes, looking great so far. Haven't seen entire games (I chose to watch Lu Dort yesterday, who had a mediocre game). Looking at the footage, he doesn't seem overly explosive or shifty but still has a nice stop and pop and some good move. Looks like someone who can fit well in a good system. A key issue would be to keep knocking those threes, so he might be considered a 3 and D at the next level. I agree that if he continues this was (or even with a bit less production; 15 points a game in good percentage might be enough) he could enter second round conversations. Here are the highlights from yesterday's night:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=147&v=kiKory5KGiY