Team Canada Basketball Thread V3.0

[Mattd97]

Did Oshae Brissett not commit to the team because of Nate B. acting as assistant coach? I just realized he was coaching with Nurse. Not sure why Dillon Brooks and Tristan Thompson didn't join but Oshae's reason would make perfect sense since Nate seemed pretty universally hated in Indiana

Nate gave him his break. More like him being fired means a new coach and no guarantees and so he skipped it to prep and stay healthy to try to make the pacers

[YelloC]

Latest ESPN Mock has Primo in the first round

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/31725639/2021-nba-mock-draft-movement-lottery-combine

26. Denver Nuggets
Joshua Primo
Alabama
SG
Age: 18.4

Adding depth on the wing will likely be a priority for the Nuggets, who are slated to be without Jamal Murray for all or most of next season and will see several rotation players enter free agency. Primo, the youngest player in the draft, might be a ways from becoming a consistent contributor, but he looked ahead of schedule at the NBA combine. Tim Connelly has never been afraid to take a high-upside prospect and be patient with his development, and Primo has everything NBA teams look for at his position long term

No other Canadians in the mock.

Chris Duarte was born in the Dominican but Montreal raised so I think he qualifies.
He’s someone I would target if we trade back.

[BilboBanginz]

Turkey did not look great vs. Uruguay. Cedi basically had to carry them over the finish line.

[frumble]

it was very interesting to see the change in lineup strategy for the second half - after almost no time in the first half without two bigs on the floor, in the second half Nurse went with only 1 big nearly half the time.

[aminiaturebuddha]

it was very interesting to see the change in lineup strategy for the second half - after almost no time in the first half without two bigs on the floor, in the second half Nurse went with only 1 big nearly half the time.

In the post-game press conference, Nurse talked about knowing going in how versatile the roster was, but even finding more ways to use that versatility as the game went on. Seems to me he was probably referring to those lineups in the second half where Dort or Wiggins were essentially playing the 4.

I think we'll see more of that as the tournament goes on. Closing lineups will probably be 4 of the starters, with Lyles being replaced by Dort on defence and NAW on offence (when there are opportunities for offence-defence substitutions). I think those two guys are going to turn out to be tremendously important - maybe even more so than I thought they would be.

[Hair Canada]

U19 WC preview, Part 1:

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=2098550

[Raptorfan2012]

When is RJ's contract up with the Knicks? He is definitely someone we can 'bring home' once he is fed up playing for the Knicks.

[iLLmatic860]

When is RJ's contract up with the Knicks? He is definitely someone we can 'bring home' once he is fed up playing for the Knicks.

Rj loves ny

[rickymaxx]

RJ is one, and maybe the only player from the GTA I don't see as a raptor, at least not until after his prime or through a trade. I don't see him leaving the Knicks anytime soon, at least not on his own Accord or if things are going well there. His mother and her family are from NY where she met his father while the older Barrett attended St. Johns. RJ talked about enjoying spending time there during the summer as a child, even playing on the local bball playgrounds. I get the feeling his family consider NY a 2nd home. Going into his draft he talked about his dream of playing for the Knicks, the influence his maternal grandfather had on him as a devoted Knick fan. Plus I think RJ cherishes the thought of someday being the star of the team in the biggest NBA market. I think he would be happy playing for the raptors but given that he's already in NY going to Toronto would be a consolation, albeit a very good one.

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[Kenter16]

What are we thinking we are going to see tonight? More small ball like the second half or traditional sets like the first? I loved seeing a Dort in the post. He doesn’t care who he defends he is going to give you 100%.

Does anybody think we will see the bench empty if we are up big? I don’t think you should, the starters need as much practice as you can get. Every minute they are on the court together matters.

[BilboBanginz]

ESPN has released their updated recruiting rankings including the 2024 class for the first time.

http://www.espn.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/playerrankings

Shaedon Sharpe coming in at #8 in 2022

I didn't see any other Canadians in 2023 or 2024. Obviously Fisher would be in 2023 somewhere but they don't rank players playing in Canada.

[aminiaturebuddha]

What are we thinking we are going to see tonight? More small ball like the second half or traditional sets like the first? I loved seeing a Dort in the post. He doesn’t care who he defends he is going to give you 100%.

Does anybody think we will see the bench empty if we are up big? I don’t think you should, the starters need as much practice as you can get. Every minute they are on the court together matters.

I'm not sure if Nurse will empty the bench if they're up big, exactly, but I do think we'd see him experiment with some interesting lineup combinations to be able to try some things out in a game setting and see what works. They've had so little time together that I'm sure they nailed down the presumptive starters and backups for their practice sessions and scrimmages pretty quickly, giving them less chance to see what else might work.

Nurse always likes to try new things, and without having that practice and playing time to do it, I'm sure he would make use of a big lead to throw out some odd things. A lineup with Powell, Nicholson, and Lyles for a few minutes? Sure! A lineup with Dort at center? Why not?

Normally in a tournament like this point differential matters, but if Canada has a comfortable lead in the 4th quarter, it won't matter because Canada would finish first in their group anyway and crossover to face the #2 team from the other group. Winning that first game makes things a lot easier on this coaching staff.

[Hair Canada]

Part 2 of my U19 WC preview -- Team Canada's roster:

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=2098550&p=92200307#p92200307

[Hair Canada]

Third and final part of the U19 WC preview. Starting tomorrow morning.

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=2098550&p=92225873#p92225873

[Kenter16]

We are a massive favourite today vs the Czechs, -15.5. While the Turks are only -2.5 favourites against Greece. Vegas loves this Canadian team.

Santoransky is the biggest threat we will face today. He will play 36 or maybe even 40 minutes. I think we can contain him. We will probably switch everything like we have done for the most part. We will have 5 guys on the court who can contain him. Lu Dort will be key again. The Czechs have been brutal when it comes to turnovers. Lu should be able to cause havoc.

This is such a huge weekend for the national program (obviously). I believe we are gonna win both and go to the Olympics. We have looked good and there seems to be a real belief in this team amongst themselves.

They have played some incredibly unselfish basketball. Moving the ball, finding open shots and rebounding as a team. The size disadvantage isn’t a problem for us because we force the other team to use athletic players who can defend beyond the 3 pt line. We have so many guys who can score it’s very difficult to stop. We can’t be matched skill wise.

Also, we have one of the best coaches in the world. His in game adjustments are genius. He just knows how to read what the opponent is doing and how to counter precisely.

[frumble]

In the other qualifying tournaments the finals are set:
Lithuania - Slovenia
Brazil -Germany
Italy - Serbia

[Pooper]

In the other qualifying tournaments the finals are set:
Lithuania - Slovenia
Brazil -Germany
Italy - Serbia

Is Bruno playing for Brazil?

[Kenter16]

Brutal half. Brutal half court offenders, so so defended and who the **** is Schilb

[SharoneWright]

Biggest concern for me is potential lack of 3-point shooting. Such a weapon in the international game with the closer arc. Unfortunately no Murray, no Olynyk, and no Stauskas/Heslip specialty-guys on this roster. If we're relying on guys like CoJo, RJ, Dort, and Andrew for the long bomb, we could have a few off nights.... We better be a running team.

[duppyy]

That ref has money on the game