Team Canada Basketball Thread V2.0

[TrueNorth31]

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I also think ( despite what our resident Euro-Crank believes) that Wiltjer may be in contention for a roster spot especially if Trey Lyles doesn't play.

Yes he's not much of a defender, but he can really score . In FIBA ball shooting and spacing is so important and he certainly brings that to the table in spades.

[mojo13]

Really solid read from The Stepian on Brandon Clarke’s NBA potential.
https://www.thestepien.com/2018/12/03/analyzing-brandon-clarkes-nba-potential/

[DaFroMan]

One of my favorite threads ...appreciate the regulars for always keeping it going. What a great win for canada!! I know there's been alot of hate on the new qualifying format but it's been neat to see all the different Canadian talent step up at different times. Pumped for the world Cup! "Oh Ca-na-da ..."

[frumble]

Assuming a participation rate of at least 50%, we shouldn't go any deeper than the following 25 in forming our team for the worlds:

Guards:
Ennis
Gilgeous-Alexander
Heslip
Joseph
Long
Murray
Pangos
Rathan-Mayes
Scrubb, P
Stauskas

SFs:
Barrett
Brooks
Jackson
Scrubb, T
Wiggins

Bigs:
Bennett
Boucher
Birch
Ejim
Lyles
Nicholson
Olynyk
Powell
Thompson
Wiltjer

Even factoring in the unlikeliness of Wiggins and Lyles (for personal reasons), Ennis (for injury recovery reasons), or Barrett (strongly pressured by the team that drafts him not to play?), I doubt we will need to go deeper than the 25 I listed.

We are deep enough that it should be a very strong team even if a few key guys are absent.

Even if we do need to go deeper than those 25, and end up taking Hanlan, Keane, Pierre or Sacre (or Rautins or Doornekamp, if they return to the program), as the 11th or 12th guys, not the end of the world.

[Samurai_Raps]

At this point, I'm not even sure Wiggins should be selected to go to Beijing.
He has been playing atrocious. And given the way some of these other guys sacrificed to be on the team, I think a case can be made that he be left off the team, even though he may have more talent then another candidate..

I think from a chemistry perspective he could affect things negatively..

[PoundTown]

At this point, I'm not even sure Wiggins should be selected to go to Beijing.
He has been playing atrocious. And given the way some of these other guys sacrificed to be on the team, I think a case can be made that he be left off the team, even though he may have more talent then another candidate..

I think from a chemistry perspective he could affect things negatively..

I want players that want to play for Canada, want to win, want to lay it all out there, and that just isn't Wiggins. I am not trying to hate on Wiggins, I just think he was given phenomenal genetic traits, but lacks the love for the game, which is okay. I mean how many of us have a lack of love for our jobs but perform our jobs because it brings in the best paycheck? I just don't think an attitude of indifference would help this team. I want guys like Cojo and Kelly O, and the type of passion they bring.

[aminiaturebuddha]

Assuming a participation rate of at least 50%, we shouldn't go any deeper than the following 25 in forming our team for the worlds:

Guards:
Ennis
Gilgeous-Alexander
Heslip
Joseph
Long
Murray
Pangos
Rathan-Mayes
Scrubb, P
Stauskas

SFs:
Barrett
Brooks
Jackson
Scrubb, T
Wiggins

Bigs:
Bennett
Boucher
Birch
Ejim
Lyles
Nicholson
Olynyk
Powell
Thompson
Wiltjer

Even factoring in the unlikeliness of Wiggins and Lyles (for personal reasons), Ennis (for injury recovery reasons), or Barrett (strongly pressured by the team that drafts him not to play?), I doubt we will need to go deeper than the 25 I listed.

We are deep enough that it should be a very strong team even if a few key guys are absent.

Even if we do need to go deeper than those 25, and end up taking Hanlan, Keane, Pierre or Sacre (or Rautins or Doornekamp, if they return to the program), as the 11th or 12th guys, not the end of the world.

Yep, I think you've basically nailed down the pool they'll be choosing from. Although I wouldn't be surprised to see them invite some of the young guys to camp to give them that extra experience of being around the program, depending on their availability - guys like Nembhard, Simi, Dort. I wouldn't expect any of them to get serious consideration for the final roster though.

I also think it would be nice if they could find room in the organization for Joel Anthony as a thank you for answering the bell so many times and helping get us to this point. Don't know how many assistant coaching positions they're allowed (or can afford), but maybe they can squeeze him in.

[Pooh_Jeter]

I expected the Venezuela loss and was expecting a similar outcome against Brazil, but I was pleasantly surprised to see not only a win, but a blowout one at that.

I know it wasn't necessarily a must win game, but considering the circumstances this has to be one of the more impressive wins in National Team history, no?

We sent our C (maybe even D) team into hostile territory against one of the better teams in the region who has always historically played us close and we dominated them. I believe that Brazil team was largely playing at full strength as well? I'd be curious what was our largest margin of victory over Brazil over the last say 15-20 years.

It really is a testament to the depth of the program that this could even happen. I've always been impressed by Roy Rana at the youth ranks and his work with the Senior Team thus far has been pretty damn solid.

[TheFutureMM]

I expected the Venezuela loss and was expecting a similar outcome against Brazil, but I was pleasantly surprised to see not only a win, but a blowout one at that.

I know it wasn't necessarily a must win game, but considering the circumstances this has to be one of the more impressive wins in National Team history, no?

We sent our C (maybe even D) team into hostile territory against one of the better teams in the region who has always historically played us close and we dominated them. I believe that Brazil team was largely playing at full strength as well? I'd be curious what was our largest margin of victory over Brazil over the last say 15-20 years.

It really is a testament to the depth of the program that this could even happen. I've always been impressed by Roy Rana at the youth ranks and his work with the Senior Team thus far has been pretty damn solid.

Couldn't have written this better. We haven't had a feel good story in a while for the Senior Men's team so this win was definitely a welcomed surprise. In my opinion, this will be looked at as one of our program's many turning points to relevance.

[WellYouKnow]

On the Canada basketball website in the write up about the Brazil game, Conor Morgan kinda confirmed he's gonna be playing in the February games.

I know the games dont matter at this point but it'll still be interesting to maybe see some new names.

I figured they were going to very young and pretty much all domestic guys but who knows.

I'd also bet that Carl English is on the team for that Window given that it's in St Johns

[Hair Canada]

Really solid read from The Stepian on Brandon Clarke’s NBA potential.
https://www.thestepien.com/2018/12/03/analyzing-brandon-clarkes-nba-potential/

A great analysis. Puts into words what we've been seeing. I especially loved the part where he showed the change in Clarke's shot over the last two years. Can't remember such a huge difference in shooting form, and at this age. Maybe Lonzo Ball still has hope... Again, got to give it to you, mojo, you called it all along (although I don't know if even you suspected how good he might be).

[GoRaptors]

On the Canada basketball website in the write up about the Brazil game, Conor Morgan kinda confirmed he's gonna be playing in the February games.

I know the games dont matter at this point but it'll still be interesting to maybe see some new names.

I figured they were going to very young and pretty much all domestic guys but who knows.

I'd also bet that Carl English is on the team for that Window given that it's in St Johns

The games in the next window do matter as placement in the the qualification tournament will affect seeding for the World Cup.

[edwara19]

So much MAPLE!

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[aminiaturebuddha]

RJ Barrett with another dominant night tonight - 26-15-4 on 10-14 shooting. But of course the write-ups are all about how Zion missed two dunks. There's no question that Williamson looks like a more impressive prospect, but let's not lose sight of the fact that what Barrett is doing as a freshman is spectacular by any measure.

Since that loss against Gonzaga when Barrett was, rightly, criticized for his hero ball near the end, he's averaged 25 ppg, 10.3 ppg, and 4 apg on .674% shooting. And his defence has been quite good in the parts of the games that I've seen (admittedly against weaker opponents than Gonzaga). He's going to be just fine.

My only concern right now is his free throw shooting, which continues to be sub-par. He's going to need to get that up above 70% at a minimum if he wants to become a high usage player at the next level, especially as he generates a lot of his offence off of drives to the bucket.

[Hair Canada]

RJ Barrett with another dominant night tonight - 26-15-4 on 10-14 shooting. But of course the write-ups are all about how Zion missed two dunks. There's no question that Williamson looks like a more impressive prospect, but let's not lose sight of the fact that what Barrett is doing as a freshman is spectacular by any measure.

Since that loss against Gonzaga when Barrett was, rightly, criticized for his hero ball near the end, he's averaged 25 ppg, 10.3 ppg, and 4 apg on .674% shooting. And his defence has been quite good in the parts of the games that I've seen (admittedly against weaker opponents than Gonzaga). He's going to be just fine.

My only concern right now is his free throw shooting, which continues to be sub-par. He's going to need to get that up above 70% at a minimum if he wants to become a high usage player at the next level, especially as he generates a lot of his offence off of drives to the bucket.

Agree with everything you've said. Should note that the defense also looked good when he guarded Romeo Langford of Indiana, who's arguably a top-5 prospect in the 2019 draft. He had a hard time against Gonzaga, partly because it's still hard for him to guard someone as strong and skilled as Hachimura (as it is for most players) and partly because he wasn't in full focus. The basics are there.

Offensively, one of the more encouraging things in the last 3-game stretch is his three-point shooting: 7 of 12 in these games. If he keeps knocking down the threes at 35% or higher, it will open up the lanes for him.

And beyond all that, he just played good basketball. Remained aggressive, but didn't force things, let the game come to him, and passed the ball really well (this last game he should have had 10 assists if his teammates were knocking down the very good shots he produced for them). Seems like he's changing gears and learning. Really enjoy watching him lately. It's the best I've seen him play (including his high school days).

[Hair Canada]

Beyond RJ, a great night for just about all our guys who played today in the NBA:

Murray with 31 and 8 assists (really made a jump in passing this year).
Wiggins with his best game this season: 26 (good shooting), 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.
TT with 14, 19, and 3.
SGA with 12, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals
Powell and Lyles with 12 points each (good for bench players).

[TrueNorth31]

A nice site to get highlights of how Canadians did the previous night can be found at NBA Canada.

Sometimes they get a little bit too Raptor-centric , but generally they do a good job of covering the Canucks in the NBA.

https://twitter.com/NBACanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

[TrueNorth31]

Wiggins is such an enigma.

He gets trashed in an article in the Ringer.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/12/4/18124724/andrew-wiggins-is-bad

Then he comes out and shows what he can actually do if fired up against the Hornets.

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[aminiaturebuddha]

Wiggins is such an enigma.

He gets trashed in an article in the Ringer.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/12/4/18124724/andrew-wiggins-is-bad

Then he comes out and shows what he can actually do if fired up against the Hornets.

Yeah, he's been objectively bad this season (and sub par the last couple), but I still think he could be useful to Team Canada if he's willing to play a role and buy into the team concept and be "one of the guys". His post offence, with those little spins and turnaround shots that he can do so well, is something that the team could really use to serious impact against some of the other national teams that have smaller wings (especially if we have guys like Olynyk and Lyles drawing the opposing team's bigs out of the paint).

I still think there's a role for him, if he's willing to play it. I'm not optimistic, but we'll see.

[Mirotic12]

I expected the Venezuela loss and was expecting a similar outcome against Brazil, but I was pleasantly surprised to see not only a win, but a blowout one at that.

I know it wasn't necessarily a must win game, but considering the circumstances this has to be one of the more impressive wins in National Team history, no?

We sent our C (maybe even D) team into hostile territory against one of the better teams in the region who has always historically played us close and we dominated them. I believe that Brazil team was largely playing at full strength as well? I'd be curious what was our largest margin of victory over Brazil over the last say 15-20 years.

It really is a testament to the depth of the program that this could even happen. I've always been impressed by Roy Rana at the youth ranks and his work with the Senior Team thus far has been pretty damn solid.

Nowhere near full strength. Just some of their players that play in Latin America.