Canada Basketball

[Primer]

Losing Ejim hurt too, he can play big and would have been better than Lyles.

Let's just bring the whole squad for FIBA Americas in 2 years and place top 2, then we auto qualify for the Olympics and don't have to worry about it. I also think we have a great shot at winning the World Cup in 2 years (the FIBA Ameircas is the qualifier for the Cup).

Looks like we have a few bigs coming up now too who might be ready to contribute by then.

Fardaws Aimaq was the best rebounder in NCAA basketball, even if he doesn't make the NBA he seems like a nice fit for International ball.

[golden]

Losing Ejim hurt too, he can play big and would have been better than Lyles.

Let's just bring the whole squad for FIBA Americas in 2 years and place top 2, then we auto qualify for the Olympics and don't have to worry about it. I also think we have a great shot at winning the World Cup in 2 years (the FIBA Ameircas is the qualifier for the Cup).

Looks like we have a few bigs coming up now too who might be ready to contribute by then.

Fardaws Aimaq was the best rebounder in NCAA basketball, even if he doesn't make the NBA he seems like a nice fit for International ball.

The ex-Clippers guy, Mfiondu Kabengele, is another big who could have helped. He was most recently on a 10-day contract with the Cavs, so I'm guessing he didn't want to risk injury until he got another contract.

[planetmars]

Despite that failure over the Czech.. anyone give a shout out to Wiggins yet? He single handily came back and tied that game for us.. while we were down 9 in closing seconds. That was Reggie Miller-esque man. Wish we could get him that win.

Did he even take a shot in O/T? And I guess that was always the book on him. He just doesn't assert himself enough all the time. If he had that mentality he'd be a top 10 player in the league.

[GOLDBLUM]

Despite that failure over the Czech.. anyone give a shout out to Wiggins yet? He single handily came back and tied that game for us.. while we were down 9 in closing seconds. That was Reggie Miller-esque man. Wish we could get him that win.

Did he even take a shot in O/T? And I guess that was always the book on him. He just doesn't assert himself enough all the time. If he had that mentality he'd be a top 10 player in the league.

He was absolutely incredible in that last minute and yes, Reggie Miller-esque was my thought exactly. Astonishing showing to bring us back from the dead. There was even a play where he shut down their 7-footer in the post that I thought was pretty unbelievable stopping what looked like an inevitable 2 points.

Sadly, that superhero urgency just wasn’t on display in OT and the most that I remember of him from the extra frame was a really non-shallant entrance into the o-zone in which he was dribbling pretty carelessly and the ball was easily poked away, which one could see coming a mile away, and that was pretty much around the time when the inevitability of the loss felt real. If we hadn’t wasted even that one possession, the outcome might’ve been different.

I don’t wanna dump on AW. I’m super glad he showed up to play for his country. It was really fun to watch how he’s grown in this tourney. Wish we could’ve seen more of it. Gotta find a way to bottle that intensity he displayed in the last minute.

[Hotshot]

Not sure how this result plays out in the wider context. Will Canada Basketball lose support and credibility for the 20 years of disappointment? Do the better players decide what's the point of putting their health and reputations on the line if they aren't going to show up well? Or do the new crop of young and talented players get embarrassed with Canada's constant poor showing and engage with r=each other and decide it's time to get it done?

There is no doubt it takes years of commitment to the program to be able to field a quality team. This was only a preliminary, and had more NBA players in it than any other country can field in the Olympics outside of the USA. But no continuity of players, no experience playing together. This country needs at least 10 players to commit to continually show up for 4 years. I hope that happens.

If you want loyalty into the program, you may have to start to pay the players money to attend tournaments outside of the Olympics cause patriotism & playing for free ain't getting it done anymore in Canada.

[Primer]

If you want loyalty into the program, you may have to start to pay the players money to attend tournaments outside of the Olympics cause patriotism & playing for free ain't getting it done anymore in Canada.

Did it ever get it done? We just had more NBA players play for us than ever before in history, so I don't think it's time to jump to we gotta pay them.

[Hotshot]

Did it ever get it done? We just had more NBA players play for us than ever before in history, so I don't think it's time to jump to we gotta pay them.

Well also was the case in 2015 & look how long it took that program to recover & slightly surpass it.

This loss is certainly another setback.

I agree that we don't need to jump right away on paying them but other incentives have to be explored.

[Puffer]

Well also was the case in 2015 & look how long it took that program to recover & slightly surpass it.

This loss is certainly another setback.

I agree that we don't need to jump right away on paying them but other incentives have to be explored.

Does Canada pick up the tab for salary insurance for players without contracts? If they had some assurance as to income, more would show I'm thinking. I am certain I read someplace recently that a lot of countries pick up that insurance for their players.

[Hotshot]

Does Canada pick up the tab for salary insurance for players without contracts? If they had some assurance as to income, more would show I'm thinking. I am certain I read someplace recently that a lot of countries pick up that insurance for their players.

Last time I heard was no but they were working on something.

That would be a good start.

Maybe get some percentage from the merch' or tv deals might be another.

[guyroch]

At one time Bigs weren't the issue with Team Canada . We had one of the best National teams players ever Levon Kendall ( who is 37 ) Robert Sacré , Samuel Dalembert , Joel Anthony . They were there everytime Canada called .

[guyroch]

Despite that failure over the Czech.. anyone give a shout out to Wiggins yet? He single handily came back and tied that game for us.. while we were down 9 in closing seconds. That was Reggie Miller-esque man. Wish we could get him that win.

Did he even take a shot in O/T? And I guess that was always the book on him. He just doesn't assert himself enough all the time. If he had that mentality he'd be a top 10 player in the league.

Oh I was so impressed with Wiggins . He has so much talent that we see in glimpses . He was in foul trouble early and so that might have effected his play .. Assert himself .. I think the coach could have yelled at the players during time out and said give Wiggins the ball or draw some plays for him . It seem Barret wanted to be the alpha man on the team but problem is his shooting .

When we talk about incentive . Winning is an incentive not money .. Why do we always field a great under 19 cause the sucess of the program . If we tasted a big victory and made a big run at a major tournament then it would give players a taste of something more . IF we won that game against Venezuela and had some sucess in the Olympics ... that an amazing experience for those players would have given them the thirst to play more for Canada .

[Puffer]

...Maybe get some percentage from the merch' or tv deals might be another.

You would think ti would be to the sponsors benefit if the team does better. I'd rather my company be associated with a medal winner as opposed to a team that misses for over 20 years. I wonder if there is some tangible way to demonstrate it helps a player to be an Olympic medal winner. No idea how much insurance would cost...the fee goes up as the projected salary goes up of course. If the players were sure there was a benefit to being a medal winner, maybe they eat some portion of the cost. Not sure what the answer is, but it is very frustrating to have the talent to at least grab a silver
and instead lose the opportunity to even participate by missing out in a last chance tourney.

[guyroch]

You would think ti would be to the sponsors benefit if the team does better. I'd rather my company be associated with a medal winner as opposed to a team that misses for over 20 years. I wonder if there is some tangible way to demonstrate it helps a player to be an Olympic medal winner. No idea how much insurance would cost...the fee goes up as the projected salary goes up of course. If the players were sure there was a benefit to being a medal winner, maybe they eat some portion of the cost. Not sure what the answer is, but it is very frustrating to have the talent to at least grab a silver
and instead lose the opportunity to even participate by missing out in a last chance tourney.

Well Canada basketball gets a lot of their funds from MLSE so we are lucky about that .

[Puffer]

Well Canada basketball gets a lot of their funds from MLSE so we are lucky about that .

The Raptors organization has been very supportive of Canada Basketball from day one. The immediately saw it as a corporate responsibility to grow the game from the ground up. The fact that it reflects well on them through public perception doesn't take away from the credit they should receive.

[guyroch]

The Raptors organization has been very supportive of Canada Basketball from day one. The immediately saw it as a corporate responsibility to grow the game from the ground up. The fact that it reflects well on them through public perception doesn't take away from the credit they should receive.

I wonder what's up with Nik Stalkus ? He had an opportunity to play for Nurse .. He plays for the 905 team but don't know if he was asked or he has just told him to not bother .