Team Canada Basketball Thread V4.0

[frumble]

what a difference wiggins and murray would've made even sharpe. relying on brooks and barrett bricks isn't going to work.

Sure, but every team is missing key people and our turnout is as good as reasonably could have been expected.

Pangos or Wiltjer might have helped, and would have been more realistic than Murray or Wiggins.

[Los_29]

what a difference wiggins and murray would've made even sharpe. relying on brooks and barrett bricks isn't going to work.

Sharpe wouldn’t have played much, if at all. He’s not ready.

[lexxus]

Brazil and Puerto Rico lost. Dominican currently losing.

[And1Skip]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

[WaltFrazier]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

It's settled. You bring him to Paris

[WaltFrazier]

what a difference wiggins and murray would've made even sharpe. relying on brooks and barrett bricks isn't going to work.

Sharpe wouldn’t have played much, if at all. He’s not ready.

Maybe. But I'd say him being there would get him more ready, for Paris, than not being there. Same for Nembhard and Mathurin. Still better than TBH

[bozothepope]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

Social media manager or him?

[maternal85]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

Social media manager or him?

Does it matter ? He's better than Phil Scurbb

[ItsDanger]

Wiggins has 4 tweets this year that I see. The worst social media manager or its probably him.

[Kingsway_fan]

Wiggins has 4 tweets this year that I see. The worst social media manager or its probably him.

Lol....

[TheFutureMM]

Going to sound weird considering the tournament is far from over, and we have just as much of a chance as Germany & Serbia but I really feel like we're playing with house money now.

No matter what happens from here on out, Canada Basketball did what they needed to do. A Top 4 finish with multiple wins against against the biggest programs, and an Olympic birth. We've finally arrived.

[Stromile12]

mojo must be having the time of his life, can't wait to read his experience

[PoundTown]

Going to sound weird considering the tournament is far from over, and we have just as much of a chance as Germany & Serbia but I really feel like we're playing with house money now.

No matter what happens from here on out, Canada Basketball did what they needed to do. A Top 4 finish with multiple wins against against the biggest programs, and an Olympic birth. We've finally arrived.

Agreed. Although, it would be really nice for these guys to come home with a medal. I think if Jordi comes home with a medal, he gets a head coaching job next year. Hopefully, he plays out the olympics before moving on if he wants to move on. I still think, cumulatively we are the second most talented roster in this tournament, and a 1 game elimination against US, you never know what can happen.

Saying that, realistically, there is a much better chance with Murray in A Canada uniform and hopefully that shapes up next year. To beat US someone needs to get hot and Murray is that guy, along with Shai's normal output, there is enough fire power there to pull an upset against anyone in one game, but if we suit up that firepower we are probably only underdogs against the States.

Also, down the line we definitely look to have a lot more firepower with Mathurin and Sharpe both looking like guys that'll be able to really get hot from downtown.

[redeye514]

Sorry if this has been asked in previous threads, but where is the best place to buy Canada jerseys / gear from?

[Chalky_White]

Read on Twitter

State of media in Canada currently. If it ain't about hockey then it barely gets covered. Even during the soccer World Cup it was said that the Canadian media contingent was one of the smallest groups there.

Hopefully this is a turning point in how Canadian media treats basketball going forward but I'm not holding my breath. The TSN radio guys after the Spain win(and Olympic spot secured) pretty much said that no one cares how well the team does now and that they might as well pack it up and go home.

One positive is that there will be a s***-ton of coverage leading up to the Olympics since that seems to be one of the few international sporting events left these media conglomerates send their journalists to cover.

[frumble]

Hopefully this is a turning point in how Canadian media treats basketball going forward but I'm not holding my breath. The TSN radio guys after the Spain win(and Olympic spot secured) pretty much said that no one cares how well the team does now and that they might as well pack it up and go home.

This complete over emphasis on the Olympics relative to the Worlds is disappointing.

The Worlds is far more than just a qualifying event for the Olympics. It is a very prestigious tournament in its own right and in many ways is better than the Olympics - more quality teams, more games (so outcome is less random), carries more weight in the FIBA rankings, etc.

Discounting this tournament has cost Canada dearly in the past (due to not taking this tournament seriously, we have performed very poorly at it, costing us rankings points and making it more difficult to qualify for the Olympics).

I know that in many ways the media attitude reflects rather than causes the attitude among players and fans, but I think there is some causation there too.

[aminiaturebuddha]

In terms of addressing the program's relative weakness at the big man spots, it seems the best coming prospects for the future are:
Michael Nwoko - Class of 2023 (starting at University of Miami this fall)
Marial Akuentok - Class of 2025
Paul Osaruyi - Class of 2027 (may end up as more of a PF)

Anyone else I'm missing that we should be keeping track of? Hair Canada, or anyone else who follows the younger prospects - any thoughts?

[Hair Canada]

In terms of addressing the program's relative weakness at the big man spots, it seems the best coming prospects for the future are:
Michael Nwoko - Class of 2023 (starting at University of Miami this fall)
Marial Akuentok - Class of 2025
Paul Osaruyi - Class of 2027 (may end up as more of a PF)

Anyone else I'm missing that we should be keeping track of? Hair Canada, or anyone else who follows the younger prospects - any thoughts?

These are definitely the top-3 guys from the younger classes for me. Maybe also Spencer Ahrens (2025), but he's 6'9 and a bit of a twinner forward.

One other guy who's a bit older (one year older than Nwoko) and may be interesting is Jeremy Foumena (6'11), who'll play at Rhode Island next year after a Red Shirt year. Never played for a Canadian junior team but I quite liked his skill and touch around the rim in high school so I'm curious to see how he's developed.

[aminiaturebuddha]

In terms of addressing the program's relative weakness at the big man spots, it seems the best coming prospects for the future are:
Michael Nwoko - Class of 2023 (starting at University of Miami this fall)
Marial Akuentok - Class of 2025
Paul Osaruyi - Class of 2027 (may end up as more of a PF)

Anyone else I'm missing that we should be keeping track of? Hair Canada, or anyone else who follows the younger prospects - any thoughts?

These are definitely the top-3 guys from the younger classes for me. Maybe also Spencer Ahrens (2025), but he's 6'9 and a bit of a twinner forward.

One other guy who's a bit older (one year older than Nwoko) and may be interesting is Jeremy Foumena (6'11), who'll play at Rhode Island next year after a Red Shirt year. Never played for a Canadian junior team but I quite liked his skill and touch around the rim in high school so I'm curious to see how he's developed.

Thanks. Don't really know anything about Foumena. I'll have to look into him.

*edit: just realized I would have seen him in the 2022 Biosteel game, but that's probably the only time I've seen him.

Ahrens is big, but I think he's going to end up being more of a SF at the top levels. He looks to have the skill for it. Whether or not he'll be able to hold up against athletic 3s from a defensive perspective is maybe another question. So yeah, tweener I guess, because maybe he'll be better as a skilled PF.

[UcanUwill]