Canada Basketball

[Joey]

smh. Masai was a damn prophet on Bruno's 2+2 years away.

That was SAS, no? But ya, basically the only 1st Round "Blemish" for Masai is slowly becoming not so embarrassing for him.

[Deathswap]

I mean, I guess I see what you're saying, but what's the point in developing the youth of the nation in a sport if you're not going to have a National Team for them to represent?

I'd agree except that BBCanada doesn't have the same kind of resources as say USA BasketBall. We don't have millions of dollars to throw at teams to get blown out by 20 points in every game.

Besides, we've spent 20 years developing elite "youth" and none of them want to show up and represent now? So what's to say the next generation will be any different from the previous generations.

[DanH]

That was SAS, no? But ya, basically the only 1st Round "Blemish" for Masai is slowly becoming not so embarrassing for him.

It was Fran Fraschilla, but he was quoting Masai (there is an Open Gym clip of the draft room when Fran is making those comments and Masai says "hey, he used my line").

[golden]

It was Fran Fraschilla, but he was quoting Masai (there is an Open Gym clip of the draft room when Fran is making those comments and Masai says "hey, he used my line").

Yeah, ESPN most likely called the Raptors draft room scrambling to get any sort of info on the mystery pick and Masai gave them an off-the-cuff remark to downplay Bruno that became "the quote" of the entire draft night.

[007]

The biggest thing stopping us from becoming a top-tier national team is apathy. And that fucking sucks

[Joey]

I'd agree except that BBCanada doesn't have the same kind of resources as say USA BasketBall. We don't have millions of dollars to throw at teams to get blown out by 20 points in every game.

We likely have similar/more resources than any of the other countries not named USA.

Besides, we've spent 20 years developing elite "youth" and none of them want to show up and represent now? So what's to say the next generation will be any different from the previous generations.

If you eliminate it then you'll never know! Lol Instill in the young guys the importance and pride of representing your team, and they'll be all in. Remember when the US just phoned these in until they "only" won Bronze, and then it started the reboot of the program and everyone treated it seriously and everyone reported ... only takes one thing to turn things around in our boys minds. Getting eliminated in the round robin rounds could be just that to get guys showing up for next years last chance qual.

[golden]

The biggest thing stopping us from becoming a top-tier national team is apathy. And that fucking sucks

Nobody cares about national team apathy.

[S.R.]

The biggest thing stopping us from becoming a top-tier national team is apathy. And that fucking sucks

This is why I have such a hard time getting hyped for the national team. We always suck relative to the exoectations/how good the program should be. There's always some excuses, but in the end Canada's FIBA ranking is an ongoing embarrassment.

Keep giving kudos to the solid character guys who show up to play, plus the NBA die hards over the years like Joel Anthony, but in the end it's still an embarrassment. There are no bonus points for moral victories or feel good stories.

Wake me up when our best players start to take this seriously.

[planetmars]

There really is no national pride in Canada.. most of the Canadian born kids go play in the US the first chance they can get. The dream is the NBA, and it goes through NCAA ball. They basically become Americanized, and don't feel a connection to Canada anymore.

Euro born players are different.. they get scouted in Europe and drafted in the NBA. Most guys are professionals and need buy outs before they can play. Like JV was.

Hockey is different because the guys go to school here for the most part. They feel Canadian even when they are in the NHL.

The day a player gets scouted from a Canadian University and gets drafted from there is the day to really celebrate.

[golden]

This is why I have such a hard time getting hyped for the national team. We always suck relative to the exoectations/how good the program should be. There's always some excuses, but in the end Canada's FIBA ranking is an ongoing embarrassment.

Keep giving kudos to the solid character guys who show up to play, plus the NBA die hards over the years like Joel Anthony, but in the end it's still an embarrassment. There are no bonus points for moral victories or feel good stories.

Wake me up when our best players start to take this seriously.

Nail on the head, right there. I guess we're going to have to wait for RJ Barrett to get really good. If he ends up dissing his own dad, then pull the plug on the whole program.

Nash is somehow revered, but his whole tenure as a player and exec is a mixed bag. He added as much to the reputation of dysfunction as he helped the program. Hard to blame Rowan Barrett, who just took over the program this year and made a terrific coaching hire as his first major move.

Somehow have to "sell" the program in a way that NBA players feel like it helps them in their careers as much as (or more) than off-season training. In theory, it could be sold as a way for some players to showcase & develop skills in roles they don't normally have in the NBA, as well as leadership capabilities. A guy like Wiggins could do a lot for his reputation by going out there and just winning........ something....... anything. That's what Lebron did.

Perhaps they need to recruit some high-end skills development coaches, as a perk, to train with the players during the downtimes when they're with the team.

[guyroch]

It took a bunch of Americans to capture the hearts of Canadian basketball fans in Canada and in a blink of eye a bunch of Canadians ( the ones that said no ) flushed it down the toilet .

[guyroch]

Canada has to win their next 3 games cause if they don't they might be even be knocked out of next years Olympics .

[bertarapsfan]

Anyone see Bruno with the game winning "goaltend" legal in Fiba. But still a pretty crazy rule that you can just knock a FT off the rim like that. Guess you just gotta swish it.

[guyroch]

Anyone see Bruno with the game winning "goaltend" legal in Fiba. But still a pretty crazy rule that you can just knock a FT off the rim like that. Guess you just gotta swish it.

Stupid rule .. Tacko Fall can have a field day swamping away baskets over the rim

[The Great One]

Anyone see Bruno with the game winning "goaltend" legal in Fiba. But still a pretty crazy rule that you can just knock a FT off the rim like that. Guess you just gotta swish it.

It's a dumb rule. The Kawhi Leonard shot/moment vs the Sixers would've never happened if the NBA had a rule like that.