Team Canada Basketball Thread V2.0

TrueNorth31 · Post #3681 » by **TrueNorth31** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 5:28 pm

Jonathan Chen at Raptor Republic has an in -depth story about our Canadian NBA lads for the upcoming season.

https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2020/12/23/canadian-roundup-2020-2021-season-primer-core-players/

TrueNorth31 · Post #3682 » by **TrueNorth31** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 6:05 pm

Carlan Gay at NBA Canada has a story up about Fiba and the NBA.

https://ca.nba.com/news/deputy-commissioner-mark-tatum-shows-optimism-in-international-nba-players-playing-at-olympics/11n6yd2dt3ams1gq6lmk3a11lm

I note they seem to be aware of the fact that covid could lead to some game cancellations , but they've built flexibility into the second half of the schedule to stay on course to prevent an overlap of the NBA finals and the Olympics which would be quite damaging to their broadcasting ratings.

The Deputy Commissioner maintained that the league's plan is built to be completed by the planned dates and that they'll remain flexible throughout to stay on schedule.

"Our plan is to, as you mentioned, is to finish up our season before the Olympics," Tatum stated.

"We have built flexibility into our schedule to allow us to - if games need to be postponed or rescheduled, that we can do that in the second half of our season. So that is certainly our plan. We will remain flexible with that plan. But again right now our plan is to complete the season by July 22."

frumble · Post #3683 » by **frumble** » Thu Dec 24, 2020 12:57 pm

Did Darling get in for a few seconds for Charlotte last night? The boxscore lists him at 0 minutes rather than DNP.

Barrett with a solid game for the Knicks 26 points (11/15 inc 3/3 from 3), 8 boards and 5 assists.

Hair Canada · Post #3684 » by **Hair Canada** » Thu Dec 24, 2020 4:21 pm

frumble wrote:Did Darling get in for a few seconds for Charlotte last night? The boxscore lists him at 0 minutes rather than DNP.

Barrett with a solid game for the Knicks 26 points (11/15 inc 3/3 from 3), 8 boards and 5 assists.

Barrett had a fantastic first half with 20 points, shooting 9/9 (3/3 from 3). It was the best I've seen him play. Really played within himself and attacked the right side multiple times, also finishing with his right hand. Seems to have really improved this part of his game. Was aggressive but didn't take any wild shots. Plus the threes were falling for him after he shot 2/12 in the pre-season. In the second half he was less efficient and the lack of a PG for the Knicks really hurts him. When he needs to create all by himself it still leads to some ugly moves, and the Pacers defense closed hard on his penetration.

Overall though, this game gave a glimpse of the player he can be on a better team when he plays within himself and doesn't jack up wild shots.

ItsDanger · Post #3685 » by **ItsDanger** » Thu Dec 24, 2020 4:42 pm

Hair Canada wrote:
frumble wrote:Did Darling get in for a few seconds for Charlotte last night? The boxscore lists him at 0 minutes rather than DNP.

Barrett with a solid game for the Knicks 26 points (11/15 inc 3/3 from 3), 8 boards and 5 assists.

Barrett had a fantastic first half with 20 points, shooting 9/9 (3/3 from 3). It was the best I've seen him play. Really played within himself and attacked the right side multiple times, also finishing with his right hand. Seems to have really improved this part of his game. Was aggressive but didn't take any wild shots. Plus the threes were falling for him after he shot 2/12 in the pre-season. In the second half he was less efficient and the lack of a PG for the Knicks really hurts him. When he needs to create all by himself it still leads to some ugly moves, and the Pacers defense closed hard on his penetration.

Overall though, this game gave a glimpse of the player he can be on a better team when he plays within himself and doesn't jack up wild shots.

RJ has clearly taken the next step. Knicks management need to remove Payton AND Randle who ignored a red hot RJ to get theirs at the team's expense.

mojo13 · Post #3686 » by **mojo13** » Thu Dec 24, 2020 5:17 pm

UcanUwill wrote:
BilboBanginz wrote:
Kenter16 wrote:Somebody set me straight here. Everyone is saying there are 17 Canadians on opening rosters. I count 18. Does Boucher not count because he was born in St Lucia?

Yes the NBA released an official list of international players which is based on place of birth, therefore they only noted Canada as having 17 players. They also aren't including two-way contract players, which would bring the total to 20 (Darling, Mane + Boucher).

https://www.nba.com/news/nba-rosters-feature-107-international-players-from-41-countries

Boucher is most definitely Canadian, as he moved here as a 5 year old and became a citizen. This isn't a Sam Dalembert like situation where he only became a Canadian citizen as an adult.

But they have Brazdeikis, so I think they just forgot Boucher all together.

Id guess Iggy was the possible mistake if anything as they list Ibaka, Kyrie and others as their places of birth.

Iggy did lose Lithuanian citizenship completely when he moved to Canada so perhaps that is a factor as well. The NBA may have no record of him being Lithuanian.

Kenter16 · Post #3687 » by **Kenter16** » Thu Dec 24, 2020 5:34 pm

Good sign!!

Read on Twitter

?s=19

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Mirotic12 · Post #3688 » by **Mirotic12** » Fri Dec 25, 2020 4:11 pm

The NBA is so ridiculous with this your nationality is just the country you were born in nonsense. Or like how any player that played in NCAA is "American", regardless of where they are born and raised, including all draft picks, no matter if they spent 18 out of 19 years of their life outside the USA. I remember Lithuanian fans asking why did the NBA keep referring to Linas Kleiza as an "American" player........

Except that then they get changed back from "American" to "Spanish", or "Brazilian", etc., when they start talking about "internationals players". But again, only by what country they were born in..........so yeah, Kyrie Irving is "Australian", despite living in USA from age 2. Irving is "American" at the draft, and when he plays for Team USA, but he's "Australian" when NBA names "internationals". The whole thing is ridiculous.

I'm surprised something so out of touch and outdated hasn't been called out yet. That whole way of thinking is absurd.

Kenter16 · Post #3689 » by **Kenter16** » Mon Dec 28, 2020 3:29 am

https://www.nba.com/amp/thunder/news/options-201227

For you guys that are in tune with the insurance for international tournaments, does this help to get Shai to Victoria? Or is it the same as before as we were assuming the picked up this option.

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mojo13 · Post #3690 » by **mojo13** » Tue Dec 29, 2020 4:47 pm

Kenter16 wrote:https://www.nba.com/amp/thunder/news/options-201227

For you guys that are in tune with the insurance for international tournaments, does this help to get Shai to Victoria? Or is it the same as before as we were assuming the picked up this option.

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Same as before.

This was always expected. The concern is the cost of insurance that he (his agent) would require to protect potential future earnings. He is looking at a likely max deal, that at this point is just an expectation and not guaranteed. If he gets hurt catastrophically that money could be at risk. Once he signs that max deal, that is no longer a fear as most of the money is guaranteed - catastrophic injury or not. We will always have an issue attracting good young guys who are underpaid (rookie contacts) looking at a huge pay increase a year or two down the line because of the cost of insurance (and general risk to their career).

The talk of FIBA providing insurance is a little over blown as it only pays out the time missed (max a year I think) at the contracted salary of a player (which I assume would just go to the club of NBA guys if they were on guaranteed contracts) Or if you are a free agent it will cover the salary level of your last year on contract. Someone correct me if I have this wrong.

It makes me think that one of the reasons the Euro FAs are more open to join because they are usually on short term and non-guaranteed contracts.

Also makes me think we could have a limited shot a veteran FA (say Kelly Olynyk) who may have been viewed as over paid and looking at a lower salary going forward, as he'd have nice downside protection. But I'm probably reading too far into it and he'd be more concerned about longevity and length or term at his age.

mojo13 · Post #3691 » by **mojo13** » Tue Dec 29, 2020 4:59 pm

The President of Lithuania has granted a special exemption for Ignas Brazdeikis to carry dual citizenship paving the way for him to gain back his Lithuania citizenship without giving up his Canadian. He still intends to play for Lithuania. The only questions now is if FIBA will allow this and grant him the right to change over to Lithuania (probably) and if he is even good enough to play for Lithuania. Both TBD.

I'm pretty "meh" about this . I surely don't like losing any young talent especially with our poor history of getting guys to show up - but it is questionable if he is a NBA caliber player or even how good of a Euro pro he will become. I don't think I'd put him in the Top 25 of Canadian bball players right now. Maybe not top 30.

More importantly, we as Canadians would be hypocritical to complain too loudly when Kyle Wiltjer, Brandon Clarke and Trey Lyles are all generally in the same situation. Although I understand because it is the US it is a totally different situation.

And finally if the dude, wants to play for Lithuania....he wants to play for Lithuania.

Ucanwill - where are you on this? Is this a boon for Lithuania? Or more a nice potential add, but need to wait and see?

mojo13 · Post #3692 » by **mojo13** » Tue Dec 29, 2020 5:17 pm

And great games last night by some of the young Canadians. Dort(!!), SGA and Brooks in particular.

Brooks looks different to me so far - is anyone else noticing it? He seems a much more engaged and interested play maker this season. It is only three games, but he was doing it in preseason too - in his first three seasons he averaged 1.8 assists per game and is at 4.0 so far this early season. But you can see it in his game, he is looking for his team mates much more and his tunnel vision to scoring had backed off a bit. He is taking more efficient shots as a result while still keeping his scoring up. His 2nd game against ATL was a little stinky, but the other two and preseason he looked to be taking much better shots. It still too early, but something to keep an eye on. He's been a volatile wildcard for me so far in his career - a bit of a love/hate. Some days last season I wanted him nowhere near the national team. But this could be a very different player if it keeps up.

Kenter16 · Post #3693 » by **Kenter16** » Tue Dec 29, 2020 8:10 pm

mojo13 wrote:And great games last night by some of the young Canadians. Dort(!!), SGA and Brooks in particular.

Brooks looks different to me so far - is anyone else noticing it? He seems a much more engaged and interested play maker this season. It is only three games, but he was doing it in preseason too - in his first three seasons he averaged 1.8 assists per game and is at 4.0 so far this early season. But you can see it in his game, he is looking for his team mates much more and his tunnel vision to scoring had backed off a bit. He is taking more efficient shots as a result while still keeping his scoring up. His 2nd game against ATL was a little stinky, but the other two and preseason he looked to be taking much better shots. It still too early, but something to keep an eye on. He's been a volatile wildcard for me so far in his career - a bit of a love/hate. Some days last season I wanted him nowhere near the national team. But this could be a very different player if it keeps up.

I watched most of the OKC game last night and I friggen love Dort. He is just pure energy. He was getting all kinds of love from his teammates and his coaches after the game. He's a guy that will get all the opportunity in the world to grow offensively. They are going to play him 30-35 minutes every game this season. If he can find some consistency with his shot, watch out.

SGA was great too. He was fouled (IMO) on the final shot of the game and should have had a chance to win it at the free throw line. For the second game in a row.

Brooks does look like he is more willing to include his teammates. It makes him so much better. We will see how this Morant injury effects him. Without Ja on the floor he may revert to his old ways. Hopefully not.

Murray has been excellent in his last game and a half. He was brutal his first game and a half.

And what about Boucher!?! Hopefully he continues to see 25+ minutes a game.

mojo13 · Post #3694 » by **mojo13** » Thu Dec 31, 2020 1:01 am

Some updates from the ACB:
Check out the leaderboards to see how well Dylan Ennis and Kassius Robertson are playing. Both top 5 in scoring....Kassius crushing the the three ball shooting with volume and efficiency. Leading the league in attempts and made threes (at 41%.3)

Ennis also top 10 in minutes, FG%, FTs made and attempted. Top 3 total steals.

Kyle Alexander off to a great start as well. Only 4 games in but would be top three for FG%, rebounds per games and blocks per game if he was included here (hasn't hit the minimums). He has already taken over the starting role for his club. He could be a needed guy for the Qualifier team since we are so short on true centres. Great to see he is adjusting quickly and learning the FIBA game.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/international/spain-liga-acb/2021.html#all_leaders

Hair Canada · Post #3695 » by **Hair Canada** » Thu Dec 31, 2020 2:31 am

I think it's time to talk about what happened to Brandon Clarke.

Don't know about the rest of you, but for me, it, unfortunately, looks like a classic case of the yips. The hitch and hesistation in the shot, from all ranges (but particularly from behind the arc and from the line, when he usually has more time to think about it) is unmistakable. He had such a flowing effortless shooting motion (even if it was never perfect), and now he looks like Markelle Fultz during his dark days. And his whole game suffers. As I'm writing this, he's at 42% from the field, 16% from 3, and (brace yourself) 36% from the line. It's still a really small sample that is likely to improve(particularly the field goals, as he hasn't lost his athleticism), but ouch! These are horrific numbers for someone who put up one of the best shooting numbers in the league just a year ago. What a shame!

halifax · Post #3696 » by **halifax** » Thu Dec 31, 2020 4:05 am

Canada has 50 NBA players including barrett, neil alexander, boucher, brooks, shai, joseph, lyles, murray, olynyk, dwight powell, wiggins, tristan,
better not get embarassed by 'superior' teams like Australia.

mojo13 · Post #3697 » by **mojo13** » Thu Dec 31, 2020 6:44 pm

halifax wrote:Canada has 50 NBA players including barrett, neil alexander, boucher, brooks, shai, joseph, lyles, murray, olynyk, dwight powell, wiggins, tristan,
better not get embarassed by 'superior' teams like Australia.

50 eh?
Solid intro post to this thread.

TrueNorth31 · Post #3698 » by **TrueNorth31** » Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:01 pm

Hair Canada wrote:I think it's time to talk about what happened to Brandon Clarke.

Don't know about the rest of you, but for me, it, unfortunately, looks like a classic case of the yips. The hitch and hesistation in the shot, from all ranges (but particularly from behind the arc and from the line, when he usually has more time to think about it) is unmistakable. He had such a flowing effortless shooting motion (even if it was never perfect), and now he looks like Markelle Fultz during his dark days. And his whole game suffers. As I'm writing this, he's at 42% from the field, 16% from 3, and (brace yourself) 36% from the line. It's still a really small sample that is likely to improve(particularly the field goals, as he hasn't lost his athleticism), but ouch! These are horrific numbers for someone who put up one of the best shooting numbers in the league just a year ago. What a shame!

Yes it's very painful to watch, almost like a Charles Barkley golf swing . Hopefully he can work himself out of it.

Also a problem for him has been his usage. Last year he primarily played besides Jaren Jackson , a very comfortable stretch 3 point shooter who can play off the ball ( last year 39.4 % ) who is also big enough , 6' 11" 242 lbs. to guard large bulky fives . Unfortunately Jackson is hurt this season and Clarke has to play with J.V. and Dieng both of whom who struggle offensively if not used on the ball as primary screeners. This is also the strength of Clarke who scores primarily as a roller in P/R and is great at finishing with dunks or soft floaters in the lane. Sadly as a 4 playing off the ball it really doesn't match his skill set as he's not a great shooter or dribbler and can't create his own shot.

Defensively though, he's quite good as a 4 as he's athletic enough to switch onto wings and is a great help side defender due to his explosive jumping ability. Memphis seems to be worried that Brandon is too small and lacks the girth at 215 lbs to match up defensively against big guys so until Jackson comes back or if they can find a reasonable facsimile it looks like he's stuck playing in the corner.

aminiaturebuddha · Post #3699 » by **aminiaturebuddha** » Thu Dec 31, 2020 11:50 pm

TrueNorth31 wrote:
Hair Canada wrote:I think it's time to talk about what happened to Brandon Clarke.

Don't know about the rest of you, but for me, it, unfortunately, looks like a classic case of the yips. The hitch and hesistation in the shot, from all ranges (but particularly from behind the arc and from the line, when he usually has more time to think about it) is unmistakable. He had such a flowing effortless shooting motion (even if it was never perfect), and now he looks like Markelle Fultz during his dark days. And his whole game suffers. As I'm writing this, he's at 42% from the field, 16% from 3, and (brace yourself) 36% from the line. It's still a really small sample that is likely to improve(particularly the field goals, as he hasn't lost his athleticism), but ouch! These are horrific numbers for someone who put up one of the best shooting numbers in the league just a year ago. What a shame!

Yes it's very painful to watch, almost like a Charles Barkley golf swing . Hopefully he can work himself out of it.

Also a problem for him has been his usage. Last year he primarily played besides Jaren Jackson , a very comfortable stretch 3 point shooter who can play off the ball ( last year 39.4 % ) who is also big enough , 6' 11" 242 lbs. to guard large bulky fives . Unfortunately Jackson is hurt this season and Clarke has to play with J.V. and Dieng both of whom who struggle offensively if not used on the ball as primary screeners. This is also the strength of Clarke who scores primarily as a roller in P/R and is great at finishing with dunks or soft floaters in the lane. Sadly as a 4 playing off the ball it really doesn't match his skill set as he's not a great shooter or dribbler and can't create his own shot.

Defensively though, he's quite good as a 4 as he's athletic enough to switch onto wings and is a great help side defender due to his explosive jumping ability. Memphis seems to be worried that Brandon is too small and lacks the girth at 215 lbs to match up defensively against big guys so until Jackson comes back or if they can find a reasonable facsimile it looks like he's stuck playing in the corner.

Does anyone know if there is a story behind his weird shot form? Is it really just the yips, or did some shooting coach try to adjust his shot in the off-season and end up totally messing it up? Unfortunately, it looks like he's going to have to go back to basics with it and rebuild his shot from the ground up. It may mean a pretty bad scoring season for him until he gets some off time to put in the practice.

aminiaturebuddha · Post #3700 » by **aminiaturebuddha** » Thu Dec 31, 2020 11:54 pm

mojo13 wrote:And great games last night by some of the young Canadians. Dort(!!), SGA and Brooks in particular.

Brooks looks different to me so far - is anyone else noticing it? He seems a much more engaged and interested play maker this season. It is only three games, but he was doing it in preseason too - in his first three seasons he averaged 1.8 assists per game and is at 4.0 so far this early season. But you can see it in his game, he is looking for his team mates much more and his tunnel vision to scoring had backed off a bit. He is taking more efficient shots as a result while still keeping his scoring up. His 2nd game against ATL was a little stinky, but the other two and preseason he looked to be taking much better shots. It still too early, but something to keep an eye on. He's been a volatile wildcard for me so far in his career - a bit of a love/hate. Some days last season I wanted him nowhere near the national team. But this could be a very different player if it keeps up.

Brooks has always had passing talent, going back to his high school days, and then at Oregon. It's just that his ability in that area (which, combined with pretty good court vision, should make him an excellent passer) often ran into conflict with his frequently baffling shot selection. Hopefully this is just part of his overall maturation as a player, not only for the sake of his NBA career, but also for his future potential to fit in with Team Canada, where he will need to be more of a facilitator with (hopefully) players like Murray and SGA around him.