U19 World Cup Preview: Team Canada featuring Elijah Fisher, Caleb Houstan, Ben Mathurin, and more

[NotMyKawhi]

I love fisher's game. He plays w that KG intensity.

Would you say he's on the RJ, Wiggins level?

[NotMyKawhi]

Marlon Lestin should have been on this team

He's very underrated. NBA body, nba game.

[Hair Canada]

Boy, that was tough! For much of the game, it looked like another one of these QF games where we trail behind and end up losing to a less talented but more cohesive team. The 3 Spanish Zs, Dominguez (what a revelation he’s been this tournament! A legit NBA prospect), Rodriguez, and Nunez, controlled the pace of the game, made great plays, and Canada seemed to have no answer and also lacked a bit of luck on offense with balls just rolling out of the rim. But this time around, we have a secret weapon. A 7’5 wonder kid who kept us in the game till the talent of the Montverde duo, Houstan and Nembhard, finally kicked in and secured the game in the final minutes.

THE GOOD

Edey. How often have we been burnt by bruising bigs who just killed us in the paint? And how great does it feel to finally be on the flip side of it? Edey was huge today and just singlehandedly kept us in the game when nothing else seemed to work. 24 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 blocks. He has great hands, good strength, and balance, and uses his length extremely well. Incredibly efficient as long as he gets the ball close enough to the rim. Because he was so good, we made the mistake of giving him the ball a bit further from the basket and expecting him to work, which is just not his game. But again, what joy he has been to have in this tournament?

Houstan. His shot is just not falling in this event. But he doesn’t let this drag him down. 25 points today, pretty much carrying the offense in the 4th when Edey got tired. Great composure and patience, taking it to the paint, making the mid-range. And what a great defensive player! 5 steals today (leads the competition with nearly 3 a game), excellent positioning and effort, and a very good defensive rebounder. Today, with Nembhard in foul trouble in the first, he even showed he can be trusted with the ball (more so than Mathurin), making plays and not coughing it up.

Owusu-Anane. The silent hero of this game. Great hustle and defensive effort, huge chase-downs, and 2 big blocks in critical moments, and he topped it with important efficient scoring. Not as talented as O-Max, but somehow manages to give more to the team. Brown has got a good one for next year.

Nembhard. Another game where Ryan is pretty terrible in the first three quarters but then comes up big in the deciding moments. In the last 5 minutes he made the right plays, created for others, but also finally got some shots to fall, drew fouls, and was accurate from the line. Like Houstan, the unwavering confidence and stepping up in the big moments are a pleasure to watch. Clutch!

Resilience. For the second time in this tournament, we were able to come back from a deficit in the final moments of the game, turn it around and get the W. Certainly not something that Canadian teams have been very good with in the past. Just a pleasure to watch a team that doesn't give up, is able to tighten up the defense in the crucial moments, and has some cold-blooded players who step up. Part of the maturation process of Canadian basketball, which hopefully will eventually trickle down to the SMNT.


THE BAD

The shooting. 1 of 16 from deep Almost cost us the game and it was the main reason why it was so close, despite Edey’s brilliance and Houstan’s and Owusu-Anane’s heroics. If we want to have a prayer against the US, we have to start making the open 3s.

Mathurin. And that starts with Mathurin, who had another very anemic game. On the one hand, the team doesn’t really work for him to get him good looks from deep. On the other hand, he doesn’t manage to get his own and really blended into the background today. If he wants to be a first-round selection next year (not to mention the lottery), he cannot afford to play like this and has to show up in the big moments.

Playmaking. I’ve mentioned Nembhard in the good, but it’s only fair to also mention him here with 35 really bad minutes. Got into foul trouble early, which luckily we were able to withstand somehow with Houstan as the primary ballhandler. But Ryan needs to step up from the start and make good decisions. Again, against the US applying much more pressure on the ball, we’re going to be killed if Nembhard doesn’t who us big.


Okay, I’ve already started to talk about the matchup against the US, but we’re not yet there as the Americans still need to win their game against Senegal (which they surely will). So let’s wait a bit more and we'll talk about some of the keys for this game later on.

[Mattd97]

Big win!

[ItsDanger]

Zach Edey showing what he can do without cheap fouls in NCAA.

[mojo13]

Big win!

Oi....that felt like a typical game Canada loses. Really nice to see them grit it out.

How much longer do we wait for Houstan's shot to fall? Perhaps he is used to the wide open looks as well and isnt getting them here and it is just not going to happen at this level - and as Hair said that seems Mathurin's issue too. Part of the issues of pulling a team together quickly - not much time to create a nuanced offense. At least Houstan has a much better all-around game than Mathurin.

No shows from both Fisher and Mathurin, 3 quarters of no-show from Nembhard, ice cold shooting all around and they still pull out a win.

Hard to see the USA not planning a focused attack on Nembhard and going after the absolute lack of PG depth.

[Hair Canada]

Zach Edey showing what he can do without cheap fouls in NCAA.

That's a great point. I'm kind of amazed at how disciplined he's been in this tournament. Didn't get in foul trouble even once, despite playing big minutes, whereas at Purdue he couldn't play three minutes without picking up a foul, half of them on the offensive end of the floor.

Is that just officiating? It kind of looks to me like it's part of his maturing -- knowing how to keep his elbows down, cover without over committing, etc. At least that's what I hope. Though it did seem at various times that the NCAA referees were kind of out to get him.

[ItsDanger]

Zach Edey showing what he can do without cheap fouls in NCAA.

That's a great point. I'm kind of amazed at how disciplined he's been in this tournament. Didn't get in foul trouble even once, despite playing big minutes, whereas at Purdue he couldn't play three minutes without picking up a foul, half of them on the offensive end of the floor.

Is that just officiating? It kind of looks to me like it's part of his maturing -- knowing how to keep his elbows down, cover without over committing, etc. At least that's what I hope. Though it did seem at various times that the NCAA referees were kind of out to get him.

Officials allow for more pushing/shoving in the paint in FIBA for sure. Its easy to forget how little Edey has actually played legit competition. So it could be him improving as well. Before Purdue, you're not going to get valuable experience playing as a 7'3 C, you need bigger opponents. Big 10 is ideal conference for him to work on his game.

[Hair Canada]

The schedule is finally set for tomorrow's game against the US:

11:00am ET.


Keys for the game:

Weather the pressure. If I'm the American coaching team, I'm putting full-court pressure on the Canadian backcourt right from the start and do not let go until they prove they can break it efficiently. The US has enough speed, athleticism, length, and most importantly fresh feet from the bench to sustain this for lengthy periods. Japan did quite a bit of this and was able to make life a bit uncomfortable for Canada, though they don't have nearly the same tools for it. So we'll need to come ready for this game plan. Houstan will be key in alleviating the pressure from Nembhard (can sometimes have a hard time with length) with his solid handle and length that allows him to see over opponents and cross the half-court line with a dribble or a pass. But Mathurin and O-Max (or Fisher from the bench) will need to also be very mindful, space the court well, and be vigilant with the ball. The US love to run and do it well and turnovers are going to kill us.

Keep it close. The US has yet to have a really close game this tournament (except for the first half against the Aussies). We, on the other hand, have already shown twice that we have players who can make winning plays in the final minutes of tight games. So if we get there when things are fairly close, we might have a bit of a psychological advantage.

Stay out of foul trouble. While the US can afford to pressure and go deep into their bench without a significant fall in intensity or level of play, we cannot. We have, at best, 8 legit players, and only 4 manning the 3 backcourt positions (PG, SG, and SF). That's a lot of pressure on these guys, who already played big minutes today and will have to do it again tomorrow. Nembhard in particular will have to be disciplined and stay out of foul trouble, as we simply have no backup PG, but the other 3 (Mathurin, Houstan, and Fisher) will also have to avoid getting into foul trouble. Being forced to dip into our rotation (Duke and Kalambay) might prove costly.

Shooting. Our two best shooters, Houstan and Mathurin, have been either bad or inconsistent. together, they shoot 25%, and that's including Mathurin's explosion against Japan. Nembhard has been better, but also inconsistent. as a team, we're at 26%. Naturally, if we want to keep it close, we'll have to shoot it better. One could only hope that Houstan and Mathurin, or at least one of them, finally heats up and the stats start to regress to the average.

Edey The US is deep and athletic, but not particularly big. Their leading big guy scoring-wise is the wide 6'7 Lofton Jr. (a bit strange to see a player with such a physical profile on a US roster, but he's been very efficient). They have two 7-footers, but one does not play a lot (Kalkbrenner) and the other, Chet, is a fantastic defender but more of a PF and on the lighter side. So once again, using Zach well in the paint can be an advantage. He needs to be patient, not take on more than he can right now (trying to create more than 3 feet from the basket), and the others need to find him in advantageous positions like they did against Spain.


Prediction?

Winning this seems like a tall task and I'll have to go with the US as the clear favorites. If we had Primo and Sharpe for extra guard depth, this might have been a pretty even match. But I'm quite worried that we'll have a hard time against the US speed, pressure, and fresh legs. The US is also a very balanced team, without one or two players that you know you need to slow down to win it. Gonna be tough. But it's not a lost cause. This is a talented, tough, and resilient Canadian team. If the 3-ball goes in at a reasonable clip, we can be in it till late in the game and have a shot at stealing the game. The big advantage for us? For the first time in the tournament, we are not the favorites and the pressure will be on the other team. Maybe that will help guys like Mathurin play more freely and have a good game.

[TrueNorth31]

The schedule is finally set for tomorrow's game against the US:

11:00am ET.


Keys for the game:

Weather the pressure. If I'm the American coaching team, I'm putting full-court pressure on the Canadian backcourt right from the start and do not let go until they prove they can break it efficiently. The US has enough speed, athleticism, length, and most importantly fresh feet from the bench to sustain this for lengthy periods. Japan did quite a bit of this and was able to make life a bit uncomfortable for Canada, though they don't have nearly the same tools for it. So we'll need to come ready for this game plan. Houstan will be key in alleviating the pressure from Nembhard (can sometimes have a hard time with length) with his solid handle and length that allows him to see over opponents and cross the half-court line with a dribble or a pass. But Mathurin and O-Max (or Fisher from the bench) will need to also be very mindful, space the court well, and be vigilant with the ball. The US love to run and do it well and turnovers are going to kill us.

Keep it close. The US has yet to have a really close game this tournament (except for the first half against the Aussies). We, on the other hand, have already shown twice that we have players who can make winning plays in the final minutes of tight games. So if we get there when things are fairly close, we might have a bit of a psychological advantage.

Stay out of foul trouble. While the US can afford to pressure and go deep into their bench without a significant fall in intensity or level of play, we cannot. We have, at best, 8 legit players, and only 4 manning the 3 backcourt positions (PG, SG, and SF). That's a lot of pressure on these guys, who already played big minutes today and will have to do it again tomorrow. Nembhard in particular will have to be disciplined and stay out of foul trouble, as we simply have no backup PG, but the other 3 (Mathurin, Houstan, and Fisher) will also have to avoid getting into foul trouble. Being forced to dip into our rotation (Duke and Kalambay) might prove costly.

Shooting. Our two best shooters, Houstan and Mathurin, have been either bad or inconsistent. together, they shoot 25%, and that's including Mathurin's explosion against Japan. Nembhard has been better, but also inconsistent. as a team, we're at 26%. Naturally, if we want to keep it close, we'll have to shoot it better. One could only hope that Houstan and Mathurin, or at least one of them, finally heats up and the stats start to regress to the average.

Edey The US is deep and athletic, but not particularly big. Their leading big guy scoring-wise is the wide 6'7 Lofton Jr. (a bit strange to see a player with such a physical profile on a US roster, but he's been very efficient). They have two 7-footers, but one does not play a lot (Kalkbrenner) and the other, Chet, is a fantastic defender but more of a PF and on the lighter side. So once again, using Zach well in the paint can be an advantage. He needs to be patient, not take on more than he can right now (trying to create more than 3 feet from the basket), and the others need to find him in advantageous positions like they did against Spain.


Prediction?

Winning this seems like a tall task and I'll have to go with the US as the clear favorites. If we had Primo and Sharpe for extra guard depth, this might have been a pretty even match. But I'm quite worried that we'll have a hard time against the US speed, pressure, and fresh legs. The US is also a very balanced team, without one or two players that you know you need to slow down to win it. Gonna be tough. But it's not a lost cause. This is a talented, tough, and resilient Canadian team. If the 3-ball goes in at a reasonable clip, we can be in it till late in the game and have a shot at stealing the game. The big advantage for us? For the first time in the tournament, we are not the favorites and the pressure will be on the other team. Maybe that will help guys like Mathurin play more freely and have a good game.

Good analysis. I'd consider playing a fair bit of zone , that's always been the go to strategy against American teams internationally ( the Americans have been shooting it relatively well - 34% , but that's against inferior opponents ).

When we won in 2017 Rana played almost 75 % zone and it was a crucial aspect of our victory . I remember Payton Pritchard shooting it well, but then he'd be rotated out by Calipari , sometimes having too many good players can hurt you. Also we may need to protect Edey, Spain did a good job of hunting him in the P/R as the game went on ( Weir made a real mistake near the end of the game when Spain went 5 small and Zach had to guard a wing that drained a 3 on his head ). With Bediako we can certainly try some man. Tough we are on the Yanks side , but it's due to bad luck in the seeding pot. We are number 2 in the World, but only for the age group not this particular team.

Also Nembhard needs to pass to somebody other than Houstan. He's not a good passer to begin with, but we need to run the offence better and get Mathurin, who actually can shoot ( 41% at Arizona on treys ) some looks and mix it up better. We'll see how Edey does against their bigs, Lofton junior is really thick , but relatively short and no he is not the baseball players son.

[NotMyKawhi]

hanging in there after the 1st quarter.

considering we've shot really bad, that could be a good sign. If we heat up, might be able to keep this close

[yt_boi]

Is there a link to watch?
I thought cbc.ca was streaming all the games but can't find it

[S ID]

awful shooting performance

[DreamTeam09]

Yeah where do I watch this gam3?

[casoldi]

The game is on DAZN

Sent from my SM-G955W using Tapatalk

[S ID]

Is there a link to watch?
I thought cbc.ca was streaming all the games but can't find it

Yeah where do I watch this gam3?

DAZN Canada and ESPN+

I had to sign up for a DAZN free trial

[DreamTeam09]

Is there a link to watch?
I thought cbc.ca was streaming all the games but can't find it

Yeah where do I watch this gam3?

DAZN Canada and ESPN+

I had to sign up for a DAZN free trial

That's dumb, I'm not gonna do all of that, thx tho.

Highly frustrated

[UcanUwill]

Canada giving USA fits. 6 point game now

[UcanUwill]

God damn #11 on team USA is overweight, keep attacking him in the pick and roll, dude is smaller Sofoklis but just as fat.

[Bruin]

6 point game heading to the 4th