Canada Basketball

[planetmars]

Edey is big but he was God awful and his size hurt more than helped. Pretty much unplayable the entire tournament except some garbage time against Lebanon. Way too slow. I don't see that changing. He will get abused by every other teams big men.

Assuming Tristan and Boucher aren't playing.. then who's the 5 when Powell is in foul trouble or needs rest? Even if we go small, in Fiba its so hard to not have a big body taking on the opposing big man. I mean its a tournament where we could face guys like Embiid, Gobert, Jokic, Porzingis, JV. Even a guy like Theis would be a handful.

Edey is super slow but is a big body that can absorb a few fouls. Before you pick and roll him to death.. put a strong POA attacker like Dort or Brooks on the ball handler so that they can't get around them easily.

I'd be fine with Khem getting that last big spot, but I'm not sure he's healthy or even playing right now. Canadians need to start breeding large 7' kids. Or hope we can naturalize someone. Give Jak a passport and call it a day.

[Primer]

I'm not sure I would want Mathurin a guaranteed spot either. But I'd like him to get invited to a camp first and then see how it goes from there.

Right now I take the top 7 guys from the WCUP:

SGA, RJ, Brooks, Dort, Olynyk, Powell, and NAW

And we need 5 more..

- Jamal of course.
- Edey due to size.
- Lyles for the stretch shooting from the PF position
- Nembhard to have a 3rd PG in case Jamal or SGA get hurt or are in foul trouble.
- Tristan for his rebounding and size.

If Tristan won't play then I'd take Boucher for that last spot. If he won't either, then I guess I will go with Wiggins even though he's having a horrendous season. It's a short tournament and at worse he gives you defense at the wing spot.

I could see us taking CoJo over Nembhard, and that would be the wrong call. I don't think Boucher or Tristan will even get invited to camp.

I would be fine if Ejim gets a spot too. I don't really want Scrubbs on the team either. Make him an assistant coach.

But I doubt either Mathurin or Sharpe make the team. We don't really need them. Unless of course a few decide not to show up again.

Edey is big but he was God awful and his size hurt more than helped. Pretty much unplayable the entire tournament except some garbage time against Lebanon. Way too slow. I don't see that changing. He will get abused by every other teams big men.

[planetmars]

I'm not sure I would want Mathurin a guaranteed spot either. But I'd like him to get invited to a camp first and then see how it goes from there.

Right now I take the top 7 guys from the WCUP:

SGA, RJ, Brooks, Dort, Olynyk, Powell, and NAW

And we need 5 more..

- Jamal of course.
- Edey due to size.
- Lyles for the stretch shooting from the PF position
- Nembhard to have a 3rd PG in case Jamal or SGA get hurt or are in foul trouble.
- Tristan for his rebounding and size.

If Tristan won't play then I'd take Boucher for that last spot. If he won't either, then I guess I will go with Wiggins even though he's having a horrendous season. It's a short tournament and at worse he gives you defense at the wing spot.

I could see us taking CoJo over Nembhard, and that would be the wrong call. I don't think Boucher or Tristan will even get invited to camp.

I would be fine if Ejim gets a spot too. I don't really want Scrubbs on the team either. Make him an assistant coach.

But I doubt either Mathurin or Sharpe make the team. We don't really need them. Unless of course a few decide not to show up again.

[Primer]

It's not always the 12 best players that make the best team. Just think of the old dude at the Y making the young buck look foolish.

Phil Scrubb is a very good pro basketball player who understands the FIBA game better than anyone on the roster. I am more than fine if he's selected for Olympic team. He'll ride the pine and be a defacto coach. If he does get some burn, he'll make the right play and run the sytem no worries.

Scrubb couldn't even get minutes at the world cup, there is no reason for him to be there. Injuries happen and we need the bench stacked with NBA talent that can step in and produce, not cheerleaders.

Not to mention Mathurin, Sharpe, and everyone else also have FIBA experience playing for team Canada. We do a good job of getting any talented Canadian player into the national team system at an early age. Let's take advantage of that and use the best players at the Olympic level.

[Shredder]

It's not always the 12 best players that make the best team. Just think of the old dude at the Y making the young buck look foolish.

Phil Scrubb is a very good pro basketball player who understands the FIBA game better than anyone on the roster. I am more than fine if he's selected for Olympic team. He'll ride the pine and be a defacto coach. If he does get some burn, he'll make the right play and run the sytem no worries.

Then make him a coach. I'm cool with that.

[WJF]

You further highlighted that we need to have all NBA players because Canada has more than can even fit on the team.

I'm fine with Edey getting a tryout but he was really bad, don't think we need him on the team.

I'm fine with Mathurin losing out to an NBA player, just not keeping him off the team so Scrubb can be there.

It's not always the 12 best players that make the best team. Just think of the old dude at the Y making the young buck look foolish.

Phil Scrubb is a very good pro basketball player who understands the FIBA game better than anyone on the roster. I am more than fine if he's selected for Olympic team. He'll ride the pine and be a defacto coach. If he does get some burn, he'll make the right play and run the sytem no worries.

[Shredder]

You further highlighted that we need to have all NBA players because Canada has more than can even fit on the team.

I'm fine with Edey getting a tryout but he was really bad, don't think we need him on the team.

I'm fine with Mathurin losing out to an NBA player, just not keeping him off the team so Scrubb can be there.

I'm fine with Edey just for Insurance if we play a big team that just punishes us in the paint. We are thin at the 4/5 I'm okay with a non-nba big.

But I agree, Mathurin or Sharpe shouldn't miss out because of a Scrubb bro. I appreciate what they've done, but this is the Olympics and you bring your best squad.

[Primer]

If everyone who played this summer is available to play, the guys who get replaced are Ejim, Bell-Haynes, Scrubb and Alexander. (Edey comes back)

Murray gets one of the 2 guard spots hands down. If Thomspon is available, he replaces one of the 2 forwards. That leaves potentially 2 spots open.

Here are a few guys that coould be considered:

Mathurin
Birch (NBA Free Agent?)
Nembhard
Wiggins
Brandon Clarke (Due back from Injury)
Trey Lyles
Cory Joseph
Sharpe

While I think Mathurin is a future lock for the squad, I'm not sold he moves the needle at all for Paris. If all the guard/wings in the rotation are back there's not fit.

You further highlighted that we need to have all NBA players because Canada has more than can even fit on the team.

I'm fine with Edey getting a tryout but he was really bad, don't think we need him on the team.

I'm fine with Mathurin losing out to an NBA player, just not keeping him off the team so Scrubb can be there.

[WJF]

Alexander was a DNP in our bronze medal game.

The only non nba guy who got any run was Ejim, but he at least is technically an NBA veteran, he was briefly on the Magic 9 years ago (dude is 33 years old).

Mathurin is same size as Ejim. Can you tell me with a straight face you'd rather have Ejim than Mathurin?

I think we would be way better off filling every roster spot with real nba players.

If everyone who played this summer is available to play, the guys who get replaced are Ejim, Bell-Haynes, Scrubb and Alexander. (Edey comes back)

Murray gets one of the 2 guard spots hands down. If Thomspon is available, he replaces one of the 2 forwards. That leaves potentially 2 spots open.

Here are a few guys that coould be considered:

Mathurin
Birch (NBA Free Agent?)
Nembhard
Wiggins
Brandon Clarke (Due back from Injury)
Trey Lyles
Cory Joseph
Sharpe

While I think Mathurin is a future lock for the squad, I'm not sold he moves the needle at all for Paris. If all the guard/wings in the rotation are back there's not fit.

[Primer]

I think that Kyle Alexander would be a better fit with the team than Mathurin as he plays the 4/5 and Mathurin is a wing, witch we have covered very well. An argument for Melvin Ejim could be made as well as he oftem plays as an undersized 4.

I would be good with Tristan Thompson taking one of the those forward spots.

Alexander was a DNP in our bronze medal game.

The only non nba guy who got any run was Ejim, but he at least is technically an NBA veteran, he was briefly on the Magic 9 years ago (dude is 33 years old).

Mathurin is same size as Ejim. Can you tell me with a straight face you'd rather have Ejim than Mathurin?

I think we would be way better off filling every roster spot with real nba players.

[guyroch]

I think that Kyle Alexander would be a better fit with the team than Mathurin as he plays the 4/5 and Mathurin is a wing, witch we have covered very well. An argument for Melvin Ejim could be made as well as he oftem plays as an undersized 4.

I would be good with Tristan Thompson taking one of the those forward spots.

I would like to see Kassius Robertson instead of TRAE BELL-HAYNES .. I am sorry but with the depth of Canada basketball
Trae Bell should not be on the A team ..

[WJF]

Which non NBA guys on team Canada do you think will provide more value than Mathurin in the Olympics?

I think that Kyle Alexander would be a better fit with the team than Mathurin as he plays the 4/5 and Mathurin is a wing, witch we have covered very well. An argument for Melvin Ejim could be made as well as he oftem plays as an undersized 4.

I would be good with Tristan Thompson taking one of the those forward spots.

[Primer]

The FIBA game is different than the NBA. A very good FIBA experienced non-NBA vet is more valuable than a 19-23 year old NBA newby.

Which non NBA guys on team Canada do you think will provide more value than Mathurin in the Olympics?

[WJF]

The FIBA game is different than the NBA. A very good FIBA experienced non-NBA vet is more valuable than a 19-23 year old NBA newby.

[Primer]

I think what it comes down too is we have 1 of the top 5 players in the World and in most to all games we can say we
have the best player on the floor .. His presents makes everyone on the team feel a bit better ...It's like when
the Raptors finally got Kawhi ..

Previous years .. okay we can brag about the NBA roster we are fielding in an international game but were any of
those all stars or superstars ?

What we need is a player that when SGA has to get some rest that the team just doesn't go into a big tailspin ..

All the more reason to fill out the bench with real NBA players like Mathurin and Sharpe.