Team Canada Basketball Thread V2.0

[mojo13]

Brazil NT Roster for games against Dominican Republic and Canada in FIBA World Cup Qualifiers::
Guards: Rafa Luz, Arthur Pecos, Scott Machado
Wings: Didi Louzada, Vitor Benite, Leandrinho, Leo Meindl, Marquinhos
Bigs: Varejão, Augusto Lima, Lucas Nogueira

Looks the same as the summer with some improvement with Nogueira in there.

[Hair Canada]

Has Brandon Clarke ever played for Canada in the past? How long did he live in Canada before moving to the US? I think he was born in Vancouver, but I find it odd that he doesn't get love from CanBball on Twitter or North Pole Hoops, etc. Does he consider himself Canadian? No mention of him on TSN during the Duke/Gonzaga highlights either.

No - Clarke is new to all of us. He does seem to consider himself Canadian dropping a few references on social media - like having Canadian flags and "from Vancouver/Phoenix" in his handle. He was born in Vancouver but moved to PHX before he was 5 yrs old (from what I know). He was raised in PHX and was not that good of a highschool player. An athletic but raw 6'3 or so player. He grew 5-6 inches in his senior (or junior year) and not til then was he noticed as an NCAA prospect, but still real raw. He was late to the recruiting game and that's why he ended up at SJSU. He continued to blossom into his new size and athleticism at SJSU and really took off.

To this point I don't think anyone knew he was Canadian (Canada Basketball, Canadian media or fans). I'm a big Gonzaga fan and once he announced his transfer I started looking closely at his time at SJSU and was amazed by his athleticism and really excited to see what a year in the Olynyk Klynyic could do for him. That's when I saw a little blurb in the transfer announcement that he was born in Vancouver. Some posters on the GUBoards noticed it as well. This was when I started yipping about him here and on Twitter. For all I know that's how this all started (or at least amplified it) . Still we have fairly tiny voices and it may have taken a while for other Canadian media and Canada Basketball to notice - but we are starting to see it happen. Especially now that he sure seems a NBA prospect. Hopefully it is enough to drag him into the Canada Basketball world - especially when we can use some new front line depth.

I'm a little like everyone's annoying friend who won't stop talking about their new favorite indie band because they think they "discovered" them, but it might be a really good band here...so I'll keep blabbing away.

"The Olynyk Klynyic". I like that! You should write a patent. And write one for an early Clarke discovery while you're at it. You sure deserve the credit for that one.

[mojo13]

The Olynyk Klynyk has been in use ever since Kelly made that major transformation in his redshirt third year. Much was written about what he went through to change his body and game to dramatic effect. Since Wiltjer and Williams Goss (and now Clarke) went through the process as well the name has been cemented over the years.

Kelly now even holds an Olynyk Klynyk in Kamloops every year.

[bozothepope]

Has Brandon Clarke ever played for Canada in the past? How long did he live in Canada before moving to the US? I think he was born in Vancouver, but I find it odd that he doesn't get love from CanBball on Twitter or North Pole Hoops, etc. Does he consider himself Canadian? No mention of him on TSN during the Duke/Gonzaga highlights either.

No - Clarke is new to all of us. He does seem to consider himself Canadian dropping a few references on social media - like having Canadian flags and "from Vancouver/Phoenix" in his handle. He was born in Vancouver but moved to PHX before he was 5 yrs old (from what I know). He was raised in PHX and was not that good of a highschool player. An athletic but raw 6'3 or so player. He grew 5-6 inches in his senior (or junior year) and not til then was he noticed as an NCAA prospect, but still real raw. He was late to the recruiting game and that's why he ended up at SJSU. He continued to blossom into his new size and athleticism at SJSU and really took off.

To this point I don't think anyone knew he was Canadian (Canada Basketball, Canadian media or fans). I'm a big Gonzaga fan and once he announced his transfer I started looking closely at his time at SJSU and was amazed by his athleticism and really excited to see what a year in the Olynyk Klynyic could do for him. That's when I saw a little blurb in the transfer announcement that he was born in Vancouver. Some posters on the GUBoards noticed it as well. This was when I started yipping about him here and on Twitter. For all I know that's how this all started (or at least amplified it) . Still we have fairly tiny voices and it may have taken a while for other Canadian media and Canada Basketball to notice - but we are starting to see it happen. Especially now that he sure seems a NBA prospect. Hopefully it is enough to drag him into the Canada Basketball world - especially when we can use some new front line depth.

I'm a little like everyone's annoying friend who won't stop talking about their new favorite indie band because they think they "discovered" them, but it might be a really good band here...so I'll keep blabbing away.

Hopefully Rowan Barrett Sr approached Brandon after the game. Dude is super bouncy.

[aminiaturebuddha]

Don't know, I didn't think it was embarrassing. Obviously, he needs to learn when to let go and especially how to pass the ball out after he penetrates (I think once this is better developed, he'll be much more efficient). But I can't fault the mentality. Without this mentality, he's just another player, not the strongest or the most athletic, and without good outside shooting. So yes, yesterday it didn't go well. But I do like that he didn't shy away from the ball in the big moments (ahmmm... Redish) and at least the last shot that he got was a good one, just didn't go in. He'll learn and get better. Go back to Kobe's first seasons in the NBA and look at his decision making and shot selection in a team that included Shaque. Not that Barrett is Kobe, but I'm talking about the mentality.

I'm glad you mentioned Kobe, because that's a comparison I often use as well when talking about young scorers needing to learn and develop. Kobe's shot selection and decision-making early on in his career was awful, and he basically helped shoot the Lakers out of playoffs series in his first couple of years against experienced teams like the Stockton-Malone Utah Jazz. But that time and experience was invaluable, and his work ethic allowed him to learn from those experiences and figure out what worked and what didn't at the NBA level. He never would have learned that stuff if he didn't try.

Now obviously, Barrett doesn't have the athleticism of a young Kobe (and so he won't have the same ceiling), but he seems to also have a very strong work ethic and will learn from these experiences. And for people to say he isn't skilled is just ridiculous and ignores everything he does in terms of moving without the ball, or the little things he does to get to the basket and body control he demonstrates to get his shots. Just because Barrett has had a rough couple of games in terms of efficiency and defensive decision making, I think it's a massive over-reaction to believe that he's no longer on track to being a top 3 draft pick, and while he likely won't become a generational Kobe-Lebron-Durant type scorer, I don't see any reason not to think that he still won't eventually become one of the top wings in the NBA.

[tout court]

With Barrett it's not just a few bad games vis-a-vis being inefficient, his shooting splits for the season thus far are 41/32/62.

His godfather needs to intervene asap because that shooting form has some serious funk to it.

At least with Wiggins as a freshman you could see that his shooting mechanics were fairly solid and with time and reps you could project him becoming a good shooter--something that is yet to happen.

But Barrett has some serious flaws that need correcting. And one can see now that he lacks the ball-handling skills and athleticism to be able to catch the ball on the wing, a la Kobe, and use a jab sequence or a rip through to get to the rim or into his pull-up game.

He is fine in transition and Coach K tried to run some Grade 7 offence where the wings exchanged a few times hoping to get Barrett on a curl where he could use his momentum to go downhill. But he is being exposed on both sides of the ball--playing Jamal Murray type defence both on and off the ball vis-a-vis Norvell yesterday. At least he got in the stance late in the game.

And did I mention his 1.6-1 assist-to-turnover ratio?

[Mirotic12]

Despite Team USA needing to completely overhaul their roster once again for the FIBA WC Qualifiers they can still field a team w/ almost a 1,000 combined NBA games experience. A great advantage despite FIBAs terrible new process

http://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2019/americas-qualifiers/news/hearn-returns-to-lead-usa-on-the-road-against-argentina-and-uruguay

USA is extremely lucky that EuroLeague decided to block players. Darrun Hilliard was pretty much one of their two best players so far, maybe the best........he's playing in EuroLeague in Baskonia this season and he's barely an average player in a bad team. Against those awful B or C FIBA Americas teams he looked great.

If USA was playing against some of those same teams with 3 or 4 EuroLeague players added, that G League all star team would have been wrecked. USA Basketball should send EuroLeague's CEO a gift basket, because he's the only reason they can qualify.

Unfortunately, because EuroLeague did that, now USA should qualify anyway. Which means the NBA and USA Basketball won't retaliate against this absurd new FIBA schedule. The best thing that could have happened was USA getting knocked out with that G- League all stars selection. That would have caused a backlash from US sports media and public and then NBA and USA Basketball would tell FIBA to stop and they would (they almost always do whatever NBA says).

But since the EuroLeague players got banned too, now all these teams are awful and USA can make it anyway, even with some joke G League selection, which means that this ridiculous FIBA setup will continue.

[mojo13]

Mirotic - if EL players were allowed to play who has the most EL players? Aren’t half to a third of all EL players American?
Don’t tell me they are all trash and the US couldnt pull from half of the top 30 players in the EL.

[WellYouKnow]

The Venezuela game is a week away and still not a peep about the roster.

Kind of disappointing but could be intentional. Who knows

[mojo13]

The Venezuela game is a week away and still not a peep about the roster.

Kind of disappointing but could be intentional. Who knows

We have historically only gotten the roster a few days before the game so no suprizes here. They have said before that it is intentional and strategic but I think that is BS.

[GoRaptors]

A bit more information for the team for this upcoming window

Blake Murphy
‏Verified account @BlakeMurphyODC
Replying to @WitterSR

Can confirm Notice & Best, at least. I think we're pretty close with some of the names we've kicked around but I know those two are playing.

[WellYouKnow]

The Venezuela game is a week away and still not a peep about the roster.

Kind of disappointing but could be intentional. Who knows

We have historically only gotten the roster a few days before the game so no suprizes here. They have said before that it is intentional and strategic but I think that is BS.

From what I recall they usually announced a mini camp a week out and then the team that would play a few days before.

Maybe an announcement is coming tomorrow though.

Would be realky disappointing if these guys dont get atleast a couple days together to practice ahead of these games

[mojo13]

I recall the last inseason window (feb 18) they just announced the 12 man roster a couple days prior.
Non EuroLeague games in Europe wrap up starting tomorrow trough the 25th then they have about 10 days off. Guy will start releasing after tomorrow and start trickling into Canada for a mini camp. The last may not get there until the 26th and have maybe a day until they need to leave to Venezuela.

First guys home may be Heslip and Bell Haynes as their last game is tomorrow.

We should soon see more stuff on Twitter about guys leaving to join Canada as we have in the past.

[NotMyKawhi]

With Barrett it's not just a few bad games vis-a-vis being inefficient, his shooting splits for the season thus far are 41/32/62.

His godfather needs to intervene asap because that shooting form has some serious funk to it.

At least with Wiggins as a freshman you could see that his shooting mechanics were fairly solid and with time and reps you could project him becoming a good shooter--something that is yet to happen.

But Barrett has some serious flaws that need correcting. And one can see now that he lacks the ball-handling skills and athleticism to be able to catch the ball on the wing, a la Kobe, and use a jab sequence or a rip through to get to the rim or into his pull-up game.

He is fine in transition and Coach K tried to run some Grade 7 offence where the wings exchanged a few times hoping to get Barrett on a curl where he could use his momentum to go downhill. But he is being exposed on both sides of the ball--playing Jamal Murray type defence both on and off the ball vis-a-vis Norvell yesterday. At least he got in the stance late in the game.

And did I mention his 1.6-1 assist-to-turnover ratio?

Wiggins was the better prospect/talent imo

RJ just has more hunger...he loves the game more. He has that Kobe mentally that you need to be a superstar in this league. Wiggins doesn't have alpha in him

[frumble]

I recall the last inseason window (feb 18) they just announced the 12 man roster a couple days prior.
Non EuroLeague games in Europe wrap up starting tomorrow trough the 25th then they have about 10 days off. Guy will start releasing after tomorrow and start trickling into Canada for a mini camp. The last may not get there until the 26th and have maybe a day until they need to leave to Venezuela.

First guys home may be Heslip and Bell Haynes as their last game is tomorrow.

We should soon see more stuff on Twitter about guys leaving to join Canada as we have in the past.

Yeah, in Feb there were only three days b/w roster announcement (Feb 19) and first game (Feb 22).

Last November the information was out much earlier. Preliminary 24-man list was announced Nov 14 and final roster Nov 17 - a full week before the first game on Nov 24.

[WellYouKnow]

They announced the roster

http://www.basketball.ca/en/news-article/roster-announced-for-fifth-window-of-fiba-basketball-world-cup-2

Joel Anthony

Centre

6'10"

Montreal, QC

San Lorenzo Basket (Argentina)

Aaron Best

Guard

6'4"

Scarborough, ON

Riesen Ludwigsburg (Germany)

Brady Heslip

Guard

6'2"

Burlington, ON

Fraport Skyliners (Germany)

Kaza Kajami-Keane

Guard

6'2"

Ajax, ON

Landstede Zwolle (Netherlands)

Kyle Landry

Centre

6'10"

Calgary, AB

Buducnost (Montenegro)

Conor Morgan

Forward

6’9”

Victoria, BC

Divina Seguros Joventut (Spain)

Duane Notice

Guard

6’2”

Woodbridge, ON

BM Slam Stal (Poland)

Dyshawn Pierre

Forward

6’6”

Whitby, ON

Raptors 905 (G League)

Xavier Rathan-Mayes

Guard

6’4”

Markham, ON

AEK Athens (Greece)

Phil Scrubb

Guard

6’4”

Richmond, BC

Zenit Saint Petersburg (Russia)

Thomas Scrubb

Forward

6’7”

Richmond, BC

Pallacanestro Varese (Italy)

Kyle Wiltjer




Not bad. Wish Ejim could play but pleasantly surprised to see Morgan, XRM and Wiltjer.

[BilboBanginz]

All things considered I think thats a pretty good lineup

[WellYouKnow]

Pretty crazy to think how far CIS ball has come in the past 10 years or so

Almost half this team is CIS guys (Scrubb x2, Best, Keane, Morgan ) and I dont think we'll see too many complaints about it. That would have been unthinkable not that long ago.

Obviously we have better players that will probably push most of those guys out later on but still pretty impressive.

[aminiaturebuddha]

It's not a horrible team, given the circumstances, but I certainly won't be expecting a win versus Venezuela.

For pure margin of error excitement, if they ever have Heslip and Wiltjer on the floor at the same time together, Team Canada could either go up 20 or down 20 in a matter of minutes!

[mojo13]

I am pleasantly surprised with this team.
Continuity and experience with FIBA and each other. Plus adding a couple pieces that address weaknesses. Wiltjer and XRM give some great offensive punch which a decent defensive team was lacking. Wiltjer is a really nice fit next to a hopefully in shape Joel Anthony. Wiltjer could easily drop 25-30 on teams like this.
This should also keep Phil Scrubb and XRM more as combo guards when on the floor together. Hopefully XRM is healthy - I thought he was injured. And Heslip coming off the bench which is a huge win for me. We have some great defensive wings in Best, Tommy Scrubb and Notice. Keane is a capable back up PG who knows the system. I thought missing Bennett and Jackson would hurt but neither are playing well in the G yet and both seem to have had recent injuries. I don’t think they will be a big miss. I’m worried about Landry being in shape (a free agent) and Joel Anthony’s fitness is still a concern. Connor Morgan is an interesting add as he is playing quite well in the ACB - he could be better than Landry (who I like).

Honestly this is a nice blend of talent and I think wins of both Venezuela and Brasil are gettable. Though I think we are still underdogs in both as they are away games. Venezuela’s talent level is just not that good - but their chemistry and experience is great.