Team Canada Basketball Thread V2.0

[ItsDanger]

New York vibe already getting to RJ.

[LoveMyRaps]

Ah f***. No RJ.

[mojo13]

New York vibe already getting to RJ.

Heh. That will happen. But I'm not too worried about RJs comittment to Team Canada.
Look...hardly any rooks play FIBA ever. There is just too much to do to get ready for the NBA season.
I can think of one or two examples in the last decade of rookies playing a major FIBA event. Sabonis did his rookie year, I think one of the young Turkish guys did (Osman maybe) and so far it looks like Hachimura is playing for Japan. Maybe there are other late round or 2nd round picks that have but we havn't noticed, but with any lottery pick it is a rare, rare thing.

[duppyy]

Don’t think there is ever any fear of RJ not suiting you for Canada. His dad is the head honcho so I’m pretty sure RJ won’t let his dad down.

[WellYouKnow]

It hurts but the other options are much better shooters than RJ right now so i think they should be fine.


With Olynyk and Murray I'm not sure we need someone else going iso very much. Stauskas, Brooks and others can probably do a much better job playing off of Murray and Olynyk while providing spacing than RJ probably can at this point

[The Nutz]

Very disappointing about RJ but my son is more excited about seeing Tacko Fall!

[bozothepope]

Barrett’s out damn

Honestly we could be better off as it is very questionable if he is a net positive at this high a level.

Wasn't he arguably our best player last summer?

[mojo13]

Barrett’s out damn

Honestly we could be better off as it is very questionable if he is a net positive at this high a level.

Wasn't he arguably our best player last summer?

No way.

He ran the open floor well, getting paint buckets in transition. He also did defer somewhat to the older guys like Olynyk, CoJo and Thompson. But we were playing very low level competition relative to what we will face in the WC where he was strong enough to still be effective. The WC will have way better teams, with a much more packed paint, real professional level bigs and much stouter defense. Those transition opportunities will be far less available and much harder to convert - and distance shooting will be far more important. He shot really poorly (small sample). ) 0 for 6 from three across two games - looked pretty ugly from what I recall and was very successfully targeted on defense (by not very good teams - only Nembhard looked worse on D, these are men they are playing against). My take away from RJ last summer is that he was better than expected and as a 18 year old could get points against crap teams (USVI and an undermanned DR) but was going to struggle as the competition ramped up. This is how I view Brady Heslip by the way. A nice Qualifier level guy who can get points against weak competition, but is ineffective as the talent ramps up. RJ obviously has a tremendous window become an elite player, but I don't think he is that good today.

I honestly think a healthy Dillon Brooks and maybe even Stauskas are better options here than RJ. Guys who can shoot, pass, (Brooks can play D) and better understand their role. We don't really need the iso ball RJ brings to the table with Murray, Olynyk out there. It could actually hurt.

Don't get me wrong - RJ is talented and has a bright future, but very flawed at this point. He could have helped with depth on the wing (an obvious sore spot) but he could honestly hurt us if he had a prominent (starter) role. I had RJ on the edge of making the team as a depth wing. Canada likes to take a teenager as a 11th/12th man to get some experience. Now if Brooks isn't really healthy or in poor form then RJ's absence will be missed.

[mojo13]

So here is more on the AmeriCup Qualifiers we talked about last week.

http://www.fiba.basketball/americup/2021/qualifiers/news/fiba-americup-2021-qualifiers-schedule-confirmed

Look's like it is in-season home and away games - and why they grouped the teams geographically. I assume we roster these with G-League guys (at best) and domestic CIS and semi-pro players (Carl and Murphy baby!).
At least we can sell guys on free trips to the DR, Cuba and USVI in the winter...

[mojo13]

Unfortunately there are some whispers coming out of OVO of some more NBA player drop outs. Sounds like the agent pressure is getting to at least a couple more guys.

Sucks.

[frumble]

Unfortunately there are some whispers coming out of OVO of some more NBA player drop outs. Sounds like the agent pressure is getting to at least a couple more guys.

Sucks.

Yes, that is not unsurprising, but still sucks.

Any speculation re which player(s)?

We can afford to lose one more NBA big (e.g., Lyles) (I am pretty confident Olynyk and Powell will remain committed).

IMHO its more of a concern at guard/wing. E.g., if we lose Brooks, the drop off is probably down to T. Scrubb. If we lose Murray/SGA or even Stauskas it would also be a blow (the only NBA guard I am pretty confident about is Joseph).

Do you think we will see that "finalized" list of invitees today?

[mojo13]

Unfortunately there are some whispers coming out of OVO of some more NBA player drop outs. Sounds like the agent pressure is getting to at least a couple more guys.

Sucks.

Yes, that is not unsurprising, but still sucks.

Any speculation re which player(s)?

We can afford to lose one more NBA big (e.g., Lyles) (I am pretty confident Olynyk and Powell will remain committed).

IMHO its more of a concern at guard/wing. E.g., if we lose Brooks, the drop off is probably down to T. Scrubb. If we lose Murray/SGA or even Stauskas it would also be a blow (the only NBA guard I am pretty confident about is Joseph).

Do you think we will see that "finalized" list of invitees today?

I don’t know when we see something. The whispers I heard via a long grapevine is that SGA and NAW wont be at camp.
Fingers crossed they are wrong about SGA - he is an xfactor for me.

[RaptorsLife]

Dwight Powell withdrawed

[WellYouKnow]

That really sucks. I thought Dwight and Kelly complimented each other real well last summer.

The depth is there for this to not be earth shattering but it's defenitely a big blow.

He's always been so committed that it makes me worry that we could see more big names pull out like mojo was suggesting.

Training camp is supposed to start in 2 days no?
I would hope that he let them know well ahead of this announcement. Would suck to see them have to scramble to find bodies for camp if several more guys pull out in the next few days

[TrueNorth31]

Here's the link to the Powell withdraw. It's pretty apparent ( Shamet withdrew today from the American team) that most NBA clubs , players and agents don't value the World Cup. Surprised by this - Powell seemed like one of the more committed guys.

Read on Twitter

[Wo1verine]

Should just fold the team nobody wants to play for Canada these days


I am sure Murray will be next at some point.

[Bank Shot]

****. No Powell is a big hit.

[raptor jesus]

Now this is a big loss, much more so than Wiggins or Barrett.

[mojo13]

Should just fold the team nobody wants to play for Canada these days


I am sure Murray will be next at some point.

Unsubstantiated rumor is SGA will be next. Murray is the key - lose him and we are not getting out of group 1 stage.


North Americans just don't respect this World Cup and the agents are very against players playing (along with the clubs and the NBA in general). I'm just surprised there has not been a mass exodus of NBA players across all countries and it is hitting the USA and Canada so much more. You;d think France, Australia, Germany, Spain would have a few drop outs at least.


So what are we looking at best case scenario now?
CoJo
Murray
Brooks
Olynyk
Birch

Pangos
Stuaskas
P Scrubb
T. Scrubb
Lyles
Ejim
Boucher

Still pretty good if the team gels.
Does this open the door for maybe a Doornekamp? Wiltjer? How about some fo the rookies? I have said no to all the rookies, but
I heard NAW is probably out as well - but could Shayok or Clarke help here? Older, more mature guys.
I am still skeptical about Trey Lyles and think he is a drop out candidate (although I have heard nothing about it) - but he becomes a key guy now.

[frumble]

Ugh. No Powell hurts a lot. And is probably a harbinger of more to come (given that he has been so committed in the past).