Team Canada Basketball Thread V3.0

[mojo13]

Canada's main Pool C rival, the Dominican Republic has announced its player pool going into Window 1 at the end of November. Canada doesn't play DR until February (and again in the summer) but this gives insight into who'll they will be running with.




Towns, Horford, Duarte are potential reinforcements for the summer clash versus Canada, although none played in the 2019 Qualification process (or 2019 World Cup).


Also note during this DR press conference on the upcoming FIBA World Cup Qualification - note that the Dominican Republic federation president is staking a hard claim in Chris Duarte and stated that Duarte has "expressed interest" in playing . His path seems all but settled.

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[mojo13]

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[BilboBanginz]

Updated 2022 ESPN Mock Draft:
https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/32598350/2022-nba-mock-draft-where-do-paolo-banchero-duke-stars-land-champions-classic

#6: Caleb Houstan
#17: Ben Mathurin
#43: Zach Edey
#55: Andrew Nembhard

[mojo13]

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TBH came down with COVID yesterday, has entered protocls and now seems doubtful for a Team Canada call up.

I believe Kaza Keane is still hurt and Tyler Ennis just started playing after a year off. So we are really going to need Phil Scrubb to show up this time (even though he is more of a SG). Who else is out there that can competently man the point?

Kadre Grey seems kind of meh - not really doing much in Spain's 2nd division. Kenny Chery would be a really nice grab, but he has never played for Canada before (seems unlikely to play now and doesn't know the system). With these short windows, they really need plug and play guys. Dylan Ennis and Olivier Hanlan have the same issues and are not really PGs either. B

Luckily this is two games versus the Bahamas, so Scrubb/Gray should be fine (if they can get them).

[mojo13]

Updated 2022 ESPN Mock Draft:
https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/32598350/2022-nba-mock-draft-where-do-paolo-banchero-duke-stars-land-champions-classic

#6: Caleb Houstan
#17: Ben Mathurin
#43: Zach Edey
#55: Andrew Nembhard

Strange that Sam Vecenie doesnt even have Edey in the Top 100 on his Big Board (yet?)

[Hair Canada]

Primo looking ahead of schedule in the G so far.

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[Kenter16]

Solid roster for the first qualifier.

https://www.basketball.ca/team-canada-en/senior-mens-national-team-wcq-window-1

This team should have no problems with Bahamas. Nice to see Kyle Alexander and Kenny Chery come into the fold.

[frumble]

Solid roster for the first qualifier.

https://www.basketball.ca/team-canada-en/senior-mens-national-team-wcq-window-1

This team should have no problems with Bahamas. Nice to see Kyle Alexander and Kenny Chery come into the fold.

Yes, not bad considering the timing and the TBH Covid situation.

Good to see some new faces.

I thought the Cadougan days were behind us, but good of him to keep coming come out when needed.

Anyone know if rosters are expanded for Covid contingencies or if these 15 will be cut to 12 before the trip?

[mojo13]

Solid roster for the first qualifier.

https://www.basketball.ca/team-canada-en/senior-mens-national-team-wcq-window-1

This team should have no problems with Bahamas. Nice to see Kyle Alexander and Kenny Chery come into the fold.

Yeah - I'm quite pleased as well. Good mix of returning vets and some new faces. And as you point out Kenny Chery and Kyle Alexander are the two important new faces.

Notable returning vets include:
Thomas (SF) and Phil Scrubb (PG/SG), Kyle Wiltjer (PF), Anthony Bennett (PF), Owen Klassen (C) & Kassius Robertson (SG) who together should form the core of the team and soak up a good amount of minutes.

As far as Newbies go....Kyle Alexander is a very important piece as Canada is extremely thin at C. An fatal flaw this summer that permeates into these teams. Especially considering the last cycle featured Kyle Landry & Joel Anthony who've since retired. Alexander's playing great in the ACB and is likely the best Canadian true big outside the NBA.

Kenny Chery - A possible starting PG who is making his late debut at 29. Chery's has been a EuroCup level vet and his call up is long overdue. I suspect his Avtodor backcourt teammate, Phil Scrubb, had a big part in this and we'll see the benefit of their familiarity - perhaps as a starting backcourt.

Some notable missing names include vet PGs - Trae Bell-Haynes (COVID) & Kaza Kajami-Keane (IR). Melvin Ejim, who at 30, may be slowing his NT appearances. Isiaha Mike who's had a great start to the BBL and plays another Canadian weak spot at Small Forward. Dyshawn Pierre & Marial Shayok as the EuroLeague is resistant to releasing players. And also missing are the Ennis brothers. Tyler just returned from a year long injury as was not expected to play. Dylan has yet to play for Canada and every roster I see without him is a surprise and disappointment. He'd be one of the top players on this roster.

Overall a strong & balanced roster. Good deal of experience w/ 7 core veterans. Great shooting with Robertson, Wiltjer, Bennett. Both Scrubbs and Chery are decent too. The additions of Alexander (w/ Klassen) plugging a desperate size need & Kenny Chery plugging a potential hole at PG

Can Kenny Chery quickly learn the SMNT system? He has Phil Scrubb to lean on and Kadre Grey has some experience as well. I expect Cadougan is there for emergency purposes.
Aaron Best, who often balls out for Canada, hasn't had a pro-contract this season. What shape will he be in? Any SFs behind Tommy Scrubb? Maybe Best? Or AJ Lawson?

Newish names I'm less familiar with include::
Jean-Victor Mukama - 27, 6'8, (Ryerson) currently playing in Spain's LEB Gold (2nd div.)
Kalif Young - 24, 6'9, (Providence) playing in Poland with Czarni Slupsk.

Neither look anything special and both likely brought in to address some of Canada's size issues.



I'd expect a line-up something like:
Chery / Grey
P Scrubb / Robertson
T. Scrubb / Best?
Wiltjer / Bennett
Alexander / Klassen

Keys are whether Chery and Alexander can acclimated quick enough to start. Maybe Scrubb has to man point to start? But I'd think he and Chery as club team mates should be fine together.

[mojo13]

Interestingly Turkey named a 17 man roster with a boatload of EuroLeague players. It is a 2 game EuroLeague week as well.

So I'm not sure how the EuroLeague looks at releasing players (Mirotic - you out there?). I know Turkey is aggressive about it and puts a ton of pressure on clubs. I just assumed Canada was never going to get EuroLeague players (we didn't the last Qualification cycle) but perhaps guys like Pierre and Shayok might play at some point.

https://www.eurohoops.net/en/fibawc/1270800/sertac-sanli-named-into-turkeys-17-man-roster-for-world-cup-qualifiers/

[casoldi]

Keeshawn Barthelemy with a sneaky good start of the year at Colorado. Averaging over 20 points in his first 3 games on good shooting.

Might be one to watch.

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[mojo13]

Great overview of this window and the entire qualification process by Blake.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nba/article/fiba-world-cup-qualifying-primer-explaining-why-its-important-for-canada/

[mojo13]

Also seeing some signs that Tommy Scrubb isn’t with the team. Shouldn’t be that big a deal because of the competition but he is Avery important piece for this team. Only real SF of substance on the roster and a very strong defender who can contribute offensively.

Big blow defensively especially when we will be relying on Wiltjer/Bennett to play heavy minutes.

[mojo13]

Some notable upsets already over the last couple days:
Belarus 84: Turkey 74
Estonia 69: Germany 66
Great Britain 78: Greece 69
Cape Verde 79: Nigeria 71

[Hair Canada]

Great final roster:

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[mojo13]

Glad to see Tommy Scrubb there.

It really is a good roster all things considered.
Little thin at PG but Chery is a capable replacement
Kyle Alexander is a huge pickup up front.

[LoveMyRaps]

How has Nembhard looked this season? Only saw his highlights against UCLA.
Possible second round selection? I know Nurse is a big fan of his. Could see the Raptors picking him up in the second round if he performs well this season.

[aminiaturebuddha]

Glad to see these qualifying games will now be on Sportsnet (I'm one of the suckers who still pays for cable). It's about time a Canadian sports media outlet starts supporting the National Team.

Let's hope the guys come out strong and start off this new qualifying season with a win!

[aminiaturebuddha]

Great win by Canada taking care of business against the Bahamas with a 115-73 victory.

Kyle Wiltjer is just an offensive machine. And he's not just a great shooter (although he's definitely one of the best in the world at that), he's become a much better passer as well.

Also, a few of you guys were right that Kyle Alexander and Kenny Chery would be very important players for this team, and probably will be throughout the qualifying windows. Chery with a great 18-4-7 line, and Alexander with 12 points, 12 rebounds, and very good defence.

Alexander, in particular, really seems to have improved since college. When he was at Tennessee I often had concerns that he would disappear in games, and seem too passive at times. Here he played with energy the whole game. Great to see.

[TheFutureMM]

Glad to see these qualifying games will now be on Sportsnet (I'm one of the suckers who still pays for cable). It's about time a Canadian sports media outlet starts supporting the National Team.

Let's hope the guys come out strong and start off this new qualifying season with a win!

Honestly, this is one of those times where I wished I still had access to SportsNet Now as all of the streams I attempted to use were lagging every two seconds - couldn't sit through the lag so I had to turn off the volume and watch where I could.

Liked what I saw from Wiltjer and Alexander. Wiltjer was an offensive force this afternoon and Bahamas wasn't good enough to punish him on the defensive end to make up for the carnage he was causing with his shooting. Kind of love that our C team has a chance to shine in these games due to the drop in competition.