Team Canada Basketball Thread V2.0

[TrueNorth31]

Grange has a good story just up on the teams current situation.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/short-handed-canada-needs-adjust-wc-hopes-tokyo-not-reach/

[TrueNorth31]

For those really into it here's a tracker of team scores for exhibition games leading up to the World Cup.

http://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2019/news/tracker-preparation-games-for-the-fiba-basketball-world-cup-2019

[SkillzFromThe6]

Idk if this has been discussed in this thread or another but what would your guys ideal dream team be for Team Canada? Mine would be this:

PG - Jamal Murray, Andrew Nembhard, Lindell Wigginton
SG - Andrew Wiggins, Nickeil Alexander-Walker
SF - R.J. Barrett, Melvin Ejim
PF - Kelly Olynyk, Ignas Brazedeikis, Mfiondu Kabengele
C - Brandon Clarke, Chris Boucher,

[mojo13]

Idk if this has been discussed in this thread or another but what would your guys ideal dream team be for Team Canada? Mine would be this:

PG - Jamal Murray, Andrew Nembhard, Lindell Wigginton
SG - Andrew Wiggins, Nickeil Alexander-Walker
SF - R.J. Barrett, Melvin Ejim
PF - Kelly Olynyk, Ignas Brazedeikis, Mfiondu Kabengele
C - Brandon Clarke, Chris Boucher,

A) why torment everyone with a topic like this?
B) what's with the incessant over-valuating of of unproven rookies (especially undrafted or 2nd rounders who are likely trash) over proven NBA and EuroLeague veterans? It is comical at this point to see guys like Powell, Birch, Pangos, Joseph, and SGA missing from a list like this over guys like Wigginton, Brazdeikis, Kabengele or even Boucher. I mean Wigginton or Nembhard and no SGA? Brazdeikis? I am honestly surprised you dont have Elijah Fisher on this list.

FFS.

[ChimRichalds]

I’m the guy who wants Lindell Wiggington over Cory Joseph

[mojo13]

I’m the guy who wants Lindell Wiggington over Cory Joseph

The biggest embarrassments in USA Basketball history were due to believing that 20-23 year old future superstars could win at FIBA basketball.
But hey - go ahead an advocate for 20-23 years olds who are barely borderline NBA players to play for Canada ahead of proven FIBA vets. Incredible.

Perhaps some of you were born after 2006 and don't even remember.

[super_balls]

I’m the guy who wants Lindell Wiggington over Cory Joseph

The biggest embarrassments in USA Basketball history were due to believing that 20-23 year old future superstars could win at FIBA basketball.
But hey - go ahead an advocate for 20-23 years olds who are barely borderline NBA players to play for Canada ahead of proven FIBA vets. Incredible.

Perhaps some of you were born after 2006 and don't even remember.

Oh man, what could go wrong with an Iverson and Marbury lead team? Shoutout Odom, Timmy D with baby versions of Bron, Melo and Wade.

SHOUT CARLOS ARROYOOOOO

[Jstock12]

I’m the guy who wants Lindell Wiggington over Cory Joseph

The biggest embarrassments in USA Basketball history were due to believing that 20-23 year old future superstars could win at FIBA basketball.
But hey - go ahead an advocate for 20-23 years olds who are barely borderline NBA players to play for Canada ahead of proven FIBA vets. Incredible.

Perhaps some of you were born after 2006 and don't even remember.

Oh man, what could go wrong with an Iverson and Marbury lead team? Shoutout Odom, Timmy D with baby versions of Bron, Melo and Wade.

SHOUT CARLOS ARROYOOOOO

Shout SARAAAAS

Watch on YouTube

[frumble]

Grange has a good story just up on the teams current situation.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/short-handed-canada-needs-adjust-wc-hopes-tokyo-not-reach/

Grange is right with his obvious point that we need to re-calibrate expectations, and that finishing in the next best 16 (after the automatic qualifiers) is critical.

Re his point that we could field three starting units of NBA guys who won't be there, I think a point that is being missed is that in addition to missing our NBAers (which is really only a surprise with respect to Olynyk, Powell, and Joseph), we are missing at least half of our top tier non-NBAers.

Which team would you rather have:

Team A (the team we will likely have at the Worlds)
Pangos
Scrubb
Scrubb
Ejim
Birch

Best/Keane/Notice
Heslip
Nembhard
Wiltjer
Brissett
Klassen

Team B (12 notable non-NBAers who took a pass or weren't invited)

XRM
Stauskas
Doornekamp
Bennett
Nicholson

Long
Hanlan
Rautins
Pierre
Anthony
Trasolini
Landry

Even if you give the edge to Team A, there is no doubt there a lot of guys in the other 12 who could help.

[mojo13]

Conor Morgan, Kenny Chery, Kassius Robertson and Dylan Ennis (who said he is free from Jamaica and available to Canada) are some other names that could have been in the mix - but point very much taken and clearly even more blame should be on Canada Basketball for not having these guys around. Clearly they did not have a good pulse on who's was likely in or not - leaving allot of these out guys out in the cold.

[mathgeek]

At this point i want Cory to drop out and just leave room for some of the former CIS guys and others looking to impress professional teams. Canada won't get the 2nd spot from Fiba Americas region. So their best shot now is to qualify from the wild card tournament which will be comprised of 16 other teams that haven't made it yet. Top 4 from that tournament will make the Olympics. The only issue is no dates have been set. If this tournament isn't during the summer offseason I really don't see how Canada makes the 2020 Olympics. What a total fail for the so called "golden generation".

This isn't quite accurate. The Olympic qualifying tournament is set from June 23 -28 2020.

https://www.fiba.basketball/calendar

As it was pointed out it's 4 separate tournaments of 6 teams each with the winner of each group going to the Olympics.

Here is the competition format.

https://www.fiba.basketball/qualification-og

If Canada does not qualify directly out of the World Cup they may have to have a team qualify for one of the two spots allocated for each Fiba region ( Oceania and Asia I believe are considered one region for purposes of this system) in the winter. Canada hired former German league head coach Gord Hebert for this eventuality.

Obviously this format makes each game quite important. Even if you don't make the top 16 group - the classification round games have lots of value. The realistic goal for this team is to make it into a qualifier.

In a perfect world we host one of these 4 qualifiers in Toronto. I think we'd have a much higher participation rate from our top players if we were based in the GTA . Unfortunately the corporate support for Canada Basketball is virtually nil. What it would take is the Raptors/Drake ( OVO ) to backstop such an event. I don't know if this is even being contemplated? As Matt 97 points out such a tournament would not be a cake walk - there's lots of good European teams that won't qualify and will send strong squads to such an event.

Thanks to you and Mattd97 for clarifying this. This post should be on page 1.
IMO I doubt Canada Basketball forks over the money to FIBA to host the tournament in Canada knowing their turbulent past.

I guess on the bright side this tournament is taking place over the summer right before the Olympics. If it really is 6 teams per tournament, then the commitment won't be too long for our NBA guys. If Canada manages to qualify they can just send the same team to the Olympics. This makes it easier in terms of logistics and not hurting anyone's ego. I guess we will wait and see to truly know if our top players really care about going to the Olympics. If no commitment occurs in 2020 then i am truly done with following Canada Basketball and this current generation of players.

[Mattd97]

At this point i want Cory to drop out and just leave room for some of the former CIS guys and others looking to impress professional teams. Canada won't get the 2nd spot from Fiba Americas region. So their best shot now is to qualify from the wild card tournament which will be comprised of 16 other teams that haven't made it yet. Top 4 from that tournament will make the Olympics. The only issue is no dates have been set. If this tournament isn't during the summer offseason I really don't see how Canada makes the 2020 Olympics. What a total fail for the so called "golden generation".

This isn't quite accurate. The Olympic qualifying tournament is set from June 23 -28 2020.

https://www.fiba.basketball/calendar

As it was pointed out it's 4 separate tournaments of 6 teams each with the winner of each group going to the Olympics.

Here is the competition format.

https://www.fiba.basketball/qualification-og

If Canada does not qualify directly out of the World Cup they may have to have a team qualify for one of the two spots allocated for each Fiba region ( Oceania and Asia I believe are considered one region for purposes of this system) in the winter. Canada hired former German league head coach Gord Hebert for this eventuality.

Obviously this format makes each game quite important. Even if you don't make the top 16 group - the classification round games have lots of value. The realistic goal for this team is to make it into a qualifier.

In a perfect world we host one of these 4 qualifiers in Toronto. I think we'd have a much higher participation rate from our top players if we were based in the GTA . Unfortunately the corporate support for Canada Basketball is virtually nil. What it would take is the Raptors/Drake ( OVO ) to backstop such an event. I don't know if this is even being contemplated? As Matt 97 points out such a tournament would not be a cake walk - there's lots of good European teams that won't qualify and will send strong squads to such an event.

Thanks to you and Mattd97 for clarifying this. This post should be on page 1.
IMO I doubt Canada Basketball forks over the money to FIBA to host the tournament in Canada knowing their turbulent past.

I guess on the bright side this tournament is taking place over the summer right before the Olympics. If it really is 6 teams per tournament, then the commitment won't be too long for our NBA guys. If Canada manages to qualify they can just send the same team to the Olympics. This makes it easier in terms of logistics and not hurting anyone's ego. I guess we will wait and see to truly know if our top players really care about going to the Olympics. If no commitment occurs in 2020 then i am truly done with following Canada Basketball and this current generation of players.

Not to burst your bubble but last time this happened most passed. Only got TT, and cojo came out. And Tyler Ennis might have been in the NBA at the time. Kelly was hurt I think

[mojo13]

There were a number of uncontracted FAs that summer - Powell and Nicholson were the two main ones IIRC. Bennett played too (started). So did Birch - he was pre NBA but still pretty darn good at the time but didn’t get allot of minutes unfortunately due to TT.
Stauskas was struggling and opted out and Wiggins was his regular aloof self. I think guys like Murray and Lyles were rooks and not expected to play. Brooks was still in school and had an injury but was at camp. But SGA as a high schooler played.
We just didn’t have the same depth in 2016 as we will in 2020. And Really it was Wiggins and and an injured Olynyk that were the main misses. Powell who wasn’t that good at the time and Nicholson were the others but not expected to play due to contract status. Maybe throw Stuaskas as a disappointing no show as well. We actually had good turn out in retrospect and I be happy next June if we can get half our NBA players to show.

[CoachD]

After watching the full US team loss in scrimmage... I REALLY wish Canada had all their dogs for this tournament. Fully healthy we'd beat the field

[frumble]

Conor Morgan, Kenny Chery, Kassius Robertson and Dylan Ennis (who said he is free from Jamaica and available to Canada) are some other names that could have been in the mix - but point very much taken and clearly even more blame should be on Canada Basketball for not having these guys around. Clearly they did not have a good pulse on who's was likely in or not - leaving allot of these out guys out in the cold.

Thanks. I had forgotten that D. Ennis had received his release from Jamaica.
He should definitely be included in the list of non-NBA players who could have helped, and whose absence is somewhat curious (given that he went through the trouble of asking for his release, one would think he was interested in representing).

[SkillzFromThe6]

Idk if this has been discussed in this thread or another but what would your guys ideal dream team be for Team Canada? Mine would be this:

PG - Jamal Murray, Andrew Nembhard, Lindell Wigginton
SG - Andrew Wiggins, Nickeil Alexander-Walker
SF - R.J. Barrett, Melvin Ejim
PF - Kelly Olynyk, Ignas Brazedeikis, Mfiondu Kabengele
C - Brandon Clarke, Chris Boucher,

A) why torment everyone with a topic like this?
B) what's with the incessant over-valuating of of unproven rookies (especially undrafted or 2nd rounders who are likely trash) over proven NBA and EuroLeague veterans? It is comical at this point to see guys like Powell, Birch, Pangos, Joseph, and SGA missing from a list like this over guys like Wigginton, Brazdeikis, Kabengele or even Boucher. I mean Wigginton or Nembhard and no SGA? Brazdeikis? I am honestly surprised you dont have Elijah Fisher on this list.

FFS.

Forgot about SGA. My bad, damn.

[And1Skip]

If anyone is awake, the game is starting now and you can watch it at cbcsports.ca or the CBC sports app.

Man it’s really disheartening watching all these legit NBA players (that are crucial to their own nba playoff teams) on the Australian team and then you look at Canada

[GoRaptors]

John Casey
@JohnCasey2880
BREAKING - NBA championship winning coach Nick Nurse reveals star guard Cory Joseph is a guaranteed @CanBball
starter at the World Cup. He will join the team in Sydney

[And1Skip]

Pangos appears to play way better as the primary ball handler (and also the best player on the team). Hope he’ll continue his aggressiveness when CoreyJoe comes back. And wow Nembhard needs to make this team. His shot creation has been impressive.

[DaFroMan]

Corey Joe...what else needs to be said about the guy...just always answers the call for this country.