Team Canada Basketball Thread V2.0

[mojo13]

Naz Mitrou Long signs back with the Pacers on a camp deal. Dude keeps pushing off playing in Greece....which would probably be better for him at this point. His is 27 and should be chasing the money by now.

Kyle Alexander signs with Fuenlabrada of the Spanish ACB. I like this move for Kyle. Way better pay and will help his development. Also good news for the SMNT. We've been thin up front, especially when we've had to rely on Euro pros. Kyle Landry is near retirement...Owen Klassen has really been the only true 5 of late. Good to have another true big developing in a FIBA environment,

Some rumblings of Ignas Brazdeikis getting cut since the MKG signing in a roster crunch. 2nd round pick from the old regime. If cut I'd expect he would get picked up elsewhere on some sort of low end deal, camp invite or something. Also heard he is close to getting his Lithuanian passport, but I'd expect he wants to try a little longer for the NBA before heading to Europe.

Seems Mychal Mulder is safer with Klay going down. there were some rumblings that his roster spot was in danger before that.

Brissett back with the Raptors...

Nothing out there that I can see on Shayok after he was cut loose by the Sixers (anyone see anything?).

Justin Jackson was supposedly working out with Dillon Brooks and other NBA players in PHX a week or two ago. I believe he is unsigned anywhere but the Magic still hold his rights keeping him in limbo (the down side of getting drafted in the 2nd).

Anything else out there on the low-end borderline guys? Anyone I miss?

[Kenter16]

Simi Shittu is back with the bulls. Not sure what the details are yet. He may get a shot with the bulls this season. The g league sounds like if it goes it will only be a month long. So, he may be hanging around the big club all year.

Dark horse candidate for a spot in Victoria. He put up some ridiculous numbers at the end of the g league season. He's not a shooter, but he contributes to the game in many ways. He's somewhat of a Khem Birch Clone.

https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/bulls-simi-shittu-reaches-deal-with-bulls/

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[Hair Canada]

Simi Shittu is back with the bulls. Not sure what the details are yet. He may get a shot with the bulls this season. The g league sounds like if it goes it will only be a month long. So, he may be hanging around the big club all year.

Dark horse candidate for a spot in Victoria. He put up some ridiculous numbers at the end of the g league season. He's not a shooter, but he contributes to the game in many ways. He's somewhat of a Khem Birch Clone.

https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/bulls-simi-shittu-reaches-deal-with-bulls/

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Can't really see the Kem Birch comparison. I actually think he's more talented offensively than Birch. But he was pretty terrible defensively in college. Haven't seen him much last year (only a game or two), but it's rare for guys who are bad defender to become excellent ones, which is what Birch is. The jump is just too big. The one resemblance in their game is that they both can't really shoot. And while I do think, as I said, that Simi has more offensive upside (better handle), the defense right now really sets them apart (that is, one is a legit NBA backup center and the other may never get a real shot at the league).

Still, I agree it might be interesting to follow him this year. It's kind of a crazy year in many ways and guys who otherwise would not see the light of day might actually get a chance with an NBA team.

[frumble]

538 article on Dort's playoff performance.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-an-undrafted-rookie-stopped-james-harden-in-the-playoffs/

[BilboBanginz]

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[mojo13]

So Kevin Pangos is now sitting at 2nd in the EuroLeague for assists per game. (had a beautiful 12 assist game this week with some beautiful passing displays).
https://www.euroleague.net/main/statistics?mode=Leaders&entity=Players&seasonmode=Single&seasoncode=E2020&cat=Assistances&agg=Accumulated

He was also #7 on EuroHoop's MVP ladder last week and is looking like a top 3-5 guard in Europe.
https://www.eurohoops.net/en/euroleague/1138734/euroleague-mvp-ladder-by-eurohoops-vol-2/

He is having such a great bounce back year leading Zenit to a surprising 7-4 record (they were picked as a bottom feeder pre-season). He has such good command and control over that team.

I'm getting to the point that I don't care what NBA players show up for Canada, Pangos needs to be on any iteration of the SMNT. He certainly has his limitations, but his experience would be so, so valuable to some of the NBA guards that know so little about FIBA.

[UcanUwill]

So Kevin Pangos is now sitting at 2nd in the EuroLeague for assists per game. (had a beautiful 12 assist game this week with some beautiful passing displays).
https://www.euroleague.net/main/statistics?mode=Leaders&entity=Players&seasonmode=Single&seasoncode=E2020&cat=Assistances&agg=Accumulated

He was also #7 on EuroHoop's MVP ladder last week and is looking like a top 3-5 guard in Europe.
https://www.eurohoops.net/en/euroleague/1138734/euroleague-mvp-ladder-by-eurohoops-vol-2/

He is having such a great bounce back year leading Zenit to a surprising 7-4 record (they were picked as a bottom feeder pre-season). He has such good command and control over that team.

I'm getting to the point that I don't care what NBA players show up for Canada, Pangos needs to be on any iteration of the SMNT. He certainly has his limitations, but his experience would be so, so valuable to some of the NBA guards that know so little about FIBA.

Pangos is back to his Zalgiris form. I have seen few of his games, him and Ponitka are really good, NBA good.

[aminiaturebuddha]

One thing that works in Pangos' favour in terms of finding a spot on the SMNT is that we can now surround him with better defenders to make up for some of his limitations in that area. A few years ago it seemed like one of the biggest weaknesses of the national program was that we didn't have many long, rangy defenders, so it made it difficult to pack the team with too many guys who could be taken advantage of on that end of the court.

Fast forward a few years, and the program has a number of good defenders to choose from - players like Dort, Birch, Brissett, SGA (still learning, but I'm confident he'll become good). I think this will really help for roster construction (as always, depending on player availability) to be able to balance out offence and defence.

[mojo13]

Some camp/preseason blurbs - more looking at the borderline guys:

See lots of positive stuff about Mychal Mulder making the Warriors final roster. Good comments from Kerr and the local media.

Ignas Bradzeikis with 2 DNP-CDs in pre season so far. He has to be a prime candidate to be cut in NY. 2nd rounder from the old regime. Lots of bodies at his position.

Naz Mitrou Long (Exh 10) has a DNP-CD the other night. Is he really going to stick to the G League again this year? With the inevitable lost players to Covid this season, maybe this is a decent season to stick around for call ups?

Mfiondu Kabengele looking improved, getting solid minutes and looks like he is going to carve out a bench role for the Clips. He could learn allot from Ibaka.

Simi Shittu actually played 4 minutes for the Bulls. 2/2 FTs and a steal. Maybe they actually see something in him.

Nothing out there on Marial Shayok. Anyone see anything? He was really good in the G least year, I'm suprised so far no one has given him a chance. Maybe his age?

Nothing on Justin Jackson.

[aminiaturebuddha]

I watched the two Raptors games against the Hornets, where Darling got some minutes. Sad to say, he doesn't look like he's even close to belonging on an NBA court at this point. He needs to try to find a home in Europe pretty quickly.

[Hair Canada]

Read on Twitter

As usual, the TSN people manage to come up with just about the worst social media you can imagine. In a short tweet, they manage to overhype a very talented but still raw and flawed young prospect, ignore other young talented high school guys who are older, and of course, insult any previous or current Canadian player, including Steve Nash, Jamal Murray, SGA, and Kia Nurse, none of them, we are told, is (or was, or will be) a "true" superstar.

We deserve better basketball mainstream writers and promoters!

[Kenter16]

With Giannis signing today, that should make Boucher's contract for next year almost a sure thing. So, this should be good news for team Canada.

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[mtr15]

Read on Twitter

As usual, the TSN people manage to come up with just about the worst social media you can imagine. In a short tweet, they manage to overhype a very talented but still raw and flawed young prospect, ignore other young talented high school guys who are older, and of course, insult any previous or current Canadian player, including Steve Nash, Jamal Murray, SGA, and Kia Nurse, none of them, we are told, is (or was, or will be) a "true" superstar.

We deserve better basketball mainstream writers and promoters!

It looks like TSN deleted the original tweet, but here's the link to the trailer, which will air tomorrow evening on SportsCentre:

https://www.tsn.ca/tsn-originals/video/tsn-original-prince-of-the-north-trailer~2100857

I think TSN should hone in the fact that Fisher is a much better prospect than Bronny James, who's also in the class of 2023. There have been rumors of LeBron playing a few more seasons in the hopes of playing with his son. There might be casual fans in Canada thinking that Bronny is the best player in the 2023 class but in fact Elijah is ranked way higher than him. (#3 vs #30 for Bronny in the 247 Sports rankings).

I'm rooting for Fisher to succeed. He's a work in progress, but he has the makeup, motor and drive to maximize his talents. I saw him play a few times last season at Crestwood Prep and he's willing to dive on the floor for loose balls.

[mojo13]

Read on Twitter

As usual, the TSN people manage to come up with just about the worst social media you can imagine. In a short tweet, they manage to overhype a very talented but still raw and flawed young prospect, ignore other young talented high school guys who are older, and of course, insult any previous or current Canadian player, including Steve Nash, Jamal Murray, SGA, and Kia Nurse, none of them, we are told, is (or was, or will be) a "true" superstar.

We deserve better basketball mainstream writers and promoters!

It looks like TSN deleted the original tweet, but here's the link to the trailer, which will air tomorrow evening on SportsCentre:

https://www.tsn.ca/tsn-originals/video/tsn-original-prince-of-the-north-trailer~2100857

I think TSN should hone in the fact that Fisher is a much better prospect than Bronny James, who's also in the class of 2023. There have been rumors of LeBron playing a few more seasons in the hopes of playing with his son. There might be casual fans in Canada thinking that Bronny is the best player in the 2023 class but in fact Elijah is ranked way higher than him. (#3 vs #30 for Bronny in the 247 Sports rankings).

I'm rooting for Fisher to succeed. He's a work in progress, but he has the makeup, motor and drive to maximize his talents. I saw him play a few times last season at Crestwood Prep and he's willing to dive on the floor for loose balls.

I don't know about the rest of you but I consider Caleb Houstan a better prospect at this point. Enoch Boakye is right there as well and Shaedon Sharpe is rising with a bullet. The Canadian mainstream sports media only focuses on one kid (Wiggins, Barrett) and completely overlooks equivalent or better prospects. They overhype one guy, creating unrealistic expectations never to be fulfilled and then completely ignore the rest.

I challenged a sports writer on this once and (off the record) he said it was directed from above. The belief that to focus on too many players dilutes the message and focusing on one prospect in particular is better business model because as it builds name recognition with the public you are generating more attention (click$) to any media on the player going forward (snowball effect).The fear is that if they spread the love then no one in particular resonates with the masses and there are less cumulative click$.

[Hair Canada]

That's an interesting insight mojo. To be honest, I get it. Guess that's the way most people's attention works. But it yields such a superficial and misleading account, where every time they build up another player without even noticing their shortcomings (Wiggins, Barrett, now Fisher), and then people are disappointed when they don't become NBA superstars. And then, because of all this build-up, the media is still talking about Wiggins as the face of Canadian basketball when guys like Murray and SGA have long surpassed him...

[mojo13]

That's an interesting insight mojo. To be honest, I get it. Guess that's the way most people's attention works. But it yields such a superficial and misleading account, where every time they build up another player without even noticing their shortcomings (Wiggins, Barrett, now Fisher), and then people are disappointed when they don't become NBA superstars. And then, because of all this build-up, the media is still talking about Wiggins as the face of Canadian basketball when guys like Murray and SGA have long surpassed him...

Everyone has their bias and motivations when money is involved.

Honestly you are the best “media” I have come across by far when it comes to prospect level (and beyond) analysis and evaluation.I think it is the depth and especially the clearly honest takes when everyone else is shallow in their analysis and/or clearly has a bias or an agenda to push. There are a couple professional media members who have reached out to me trying to connect with you. Good ones who are spread a little thin, want to cover these prospects but need a good resource on this stuff. I sent you a PM on it.

[mtr15]

Read on Twitter

As usual, the TSN people manage to come up with just about the worst social media you can imagine. In a short tweet, they manage to overhype a very talented but still raw and flawed young prospect, ignore other young talented high school guys who are older, and of course, insult any previous or current Canadian player, including Steve Nash, Jamal Murray, SGA, and Kia Nurse, none of them, we are told, is (or was, or will be) a "true" superstar.

We deserve better basketball mainstream writers and promoters!

It looks like TSN deleted the original tweet, but here's the link to the trailer, which will air tomorrow evening on SportsCentre:

https://www.tsn.ca/tsn-originals/video/tsn-original-prince-of-the-north-trailer~2100857

I think TSN should hone in the fact that Fisher is a much better prospect than Bronny James, who's also in the class of 2023. There have been rumors of LeBron playing a few more seasons in the hopes of playing with his son. There might be casual fans in Canada thinking that Bronny is the best player in the 2023 class but in fact Elijah is ranked way higher than him. (#3 vs #30 for Bronny in the 247 Sports rankings).

I'm rooting for Fisher to succeed. He's a work in progress, but he has the makeup, motor and drive to maximize his talents. I saw him play a few times last season at Crestwood Prep and he's willing to dive on the floor for loose balls.

I don't know about the rest of you but I consider Caleb Houstan a better prospect at this point. Enoch Boakye is right there as well and Shaedon Sharpe is rising with a bullet. The Canadian mainstream sports media only focuses on one kid (Wiggins, Barrett) and completely overlooks equivalent or better prospects. They overhype one guy, creating unrealistic expectations never to be fulfilled and then completely ignore the rest.

I challenged a sports writer on this once and (off the record) he said it was directed from above. The belief that to focus on too many players dilutes the message and focusing on one prospect in particular is better business model because as it builds name recognition with the public you are generating more attention (click$) to any media on the player going forward (snowball effect).The fear is that if they spread the love then no one in particular resonates with the masses and there are less cumulative click$.

With regards to the overhype of Fisher, some of the crowds at opposing schools (eg. Central Tech, Father Henry Carr) chanted "overrated" to Fisher when he played at their schools last season with Crestwood. It got intense at times but it seemed Fisher didn't mind it at all and in fact he used the chants to raise his game to higher heights.

Hopefully tonight's TSN feature on Fisher will force ESPN to start ranking Canadian boys high school players playing in Canada (Fisher, Enoch Boakye). They rank Canadian girls (eg. Latasha Lattimore from Crestwood/Royal Crown Academy) but for some reason they can't do it for the boys.

[Pooh_Jeter]

To be fair, it's mix tape culture. Fisher had a hyped video drop when he was what, 13? Even for prospects in the States that leads to a lot of coverage on specific players, let alone in Canada where the lens is already going to be magnified on fewer players.

[Kenter16]

Dillion Brooks has kicked off the pre season looking like good Dillion Brooks. He has 13 assists in 3 pre season games. That's pretty big improvement over the last couple years. Good to see. Hopefully this isn't a pre season anomaly.

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[Kenter16]

Kabengele also getting huge praise from his performance last night. He went up against Rudy Gobert for a lot of his minutes and didn't look out of place. Had a couple blocks and hit a couple 3's. Should see some solid minutes on a good team this season. Sounds like Ibaka has taken him under his wing. All good signs for his development.

https://www.clipsnation.com/2020/12/8/22160189/la-clippers-news-terance-mann-mfiondu-kabengele-young-players-growing-up

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