On the world juniors and some old comedy stuff

So, what about this Canadian junior men’s team that starts the world championships in Latvia on Friday?

Not a bad group at all, some excellent young talent, some kids missing, of course, but a Top Eight finish in the world isn’t out of the realm of possibility and it’s another step on the revitalization of Canada in the global game.

Coach Greg Francis was e-mailing yesterday from Latvia and while he wouldn’t load up on expectations – he’s as much about process leading to results – there was a sense of optimism.

He says he’s got some good shooting with Julian Clarke (whose dad Norm was a national-team staple back in the 80s) and Phil Schrubb, coming off a CIS championship last spring and point guard Kevin Pangos may be one of the best at his age anywhere. Kid by the name of Dyshawn Pierre is a “dynamic” player, the coach said, but the most important thing:

“We try to focus on one game at a time but our team has some international experience and success. We are a tough match up for most teams here so our goal is to advance to each round as it comes. If we can get to the quarter-finals than I think we can make a run at the World Championships.”

That’s the big thing. What Canada Basketball has done in the last six or seven years really is remarkable. They put programs in place that got the youngest kids outstanding exposure to the international game and, sure, they may have taken their lumps at times but the benefits they’ve reaped have been huge.

Sure, they’d love to have the likes of Khem Birch or Kyle Wiltjer or Myck Kabongo but there are other commitments – school mainly – that make that impossible and it’s forever thus here in Canada.

But all those times these kids have gone to world events makes it a bit easier to handle, Francis said.

“We have some athletes that had school commitments but we have a bigger talent base to choose from than we did even 6 years ago. I would love to have every player in the age group available for this competition but I also know that our team is deep enough to compete for a gold medal.”

I don’t expect the country to challenge for a gold medal at every significant competition it enters but the progression has been steady and we’re no longer a global afterthought.

The juniors are in a first-round group with Korea, Croatia and Lithuania and the top three move on to a second-round and from there the quarter-finalists are determined.

We’ll track ‘em as well as we can here through the process.

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Speaking of the world juniors …

Jonas Valanciunas goes for 23 and 11 and Lithuania drills the USA in an Under-19 exhibition and I’m thinking, ‘well, what if this kid can play?’

If that’s the case, I absolutely cannot wait until 16 months or so from now when I can sit here and post all kinds of comments like:

“Yeah, sorry, Doug. It was truly a rush to judgement way back on draft night. Should have listened to those who said picks are a crapshoot and no one knows for sure how they’ll turn out but that Jones was really highly regarded.”

“Oops. Maybe the guy with the multiple Executive of the Year awards knew what he was talking about. I apologize.”

“Hey, Idiot. You’re still a Pollyanna-ish homer and I hate you with every fibre of my being. But thanks for the blog, I read it every day.”

Yeah, can’t wait.

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So, me and TOD at Fenway on Monday afternoon and Tuesday and Wednesday nights?

Lucky, lucky readers.

Yeah, a scheduling snafu somehow has no one who, you know, writes about the game actually able to write about the game so they’re bringing in the aged lefty from the ‘pen.

I’ll fool ‘em with my giro ball or something like that.

And fool the regular seamheads into thinking I know how to write game.

Now, if someone’s got a primer on the difference between a four-seamer and a cutter, I’m all ears.

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You know, I have no idea how Super Son is going to ultimately turn out; you do your best and hope to instill things like respect, tolerance, fairness and self-confidence into their personalities and hope it works.

But, I tell ya, when a fella of a certain age wanders into the home after a long day and hears the young guy and Super Wife doing this schtick, I’m thinking we’re on the right path:

Who’s there?

Candygram.

Who?

Plumber.

Who?

Pizza man.

You’re that tricky land shark, aren’t you?

No, ma’am. I’m just a friendly dolphin.

Oh, then that’s okay. I like dolphins.

(Man, I think google ought to cut me a cheque for all the hits I get for ‘em from young ‘uns here who are totally confused by some items)

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The Raptors?

Nothing of even marginal interest, actually.

Maybe today or tomorrow.

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Know one thing I like about the junior men’s team?

The coaching staff.

You’ve got Greg Francis and Peter Guarasci and Shawn Swords, three guys who’ve played and starred for the country at times and are able to give some context to the kids.

There’s been all kinds of coaching continuity of late, which is a big boon in keeping players connected to the programs with some familiar faces in charge and those three guys needs to be commended for giving back to the program. All three of ‘em were around when times weren’t nearly as good as they are now and could have bailed, or not come back. They didn’t.

This is how Greg put it yesterday when we were e-mailing from Latvia:

“We have experience playing the game at a high level but more importantly we have been coached by Canada's best coaches over the years. We try to give our team the best chance to win while showing them what it takes to have international success at the senior team level.”

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It’s getting to be that time of the week.

Mail, please.

But we need to cut down the number of questions about free agency this summer. Until we know the system they’ll operate under and what they might be able to afford, it’s really tough, and a bit silly, to talk about specific players.

But click, write and send and we’ll see what we can do.

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Comments

[Jacques]

Anyone need a Yuengling?

[The J]

Hopefully JV works out, because the JV complaints on top of the already existing Bargnani complaints will be endless. The hard part is that he is already in the hole, since he not only has to be good enough to justify picking him over guys like Kemba or Knight, but also justify picking a player you had to wait a year for. It's always a dangerous position when you draft relatively high, because it doesn't matter what the 4 players picked a head of him do, it's the next 30 or so that can create the "they should have picked player x instead" affect. So if someone like Vesely, or Leanord or Biyombo are the real deal, a whole line of I told you so's will be coming your way. If JV is the reall deal, my guess the "sorry, you were right" contingent will be relatively quiet.

[Damian]

Hey Doug,

Nice post on nbaplaybook.com on how Valanciunas and Bargnani would work well defensively (essentially, Bargs is a good individual defender, Valanciunas is a good help defender, so just put Bargs on the biggest post threat since most teams don't have two decent post threats). Hopefully we can get more informed discussions on this draft pick beyond the usual, "Oh no, another Euro..."

[JM]

Hey Doug, Any word on whether Maurizio Gherardini is going to stay with the Raptors? I believe his contract expires in a few days and front office news has been limited to the coaching change. Thanks

Blogger's note: Last I heard was "we're working on it."

[J]

@Richard:

I don't think you can include Araujo as "international", unless you really are trying to say birth place matters. If what you really mean is that NCAA players are easier to gauge, fine, whatever, but do remember Araujo played 3 years of NCAA ball.

I'd also add that combining all the picks from every single Raptor GM is kinda silly. This is obviously subjective, but let's see who turned out decent:

Thomas: 3 for 3 NCAA, 0 for 0 International
Grunwald: 3 for 5 NCAA (Bradley, Jefferies), 0 for 1 International (Radojevic)
Babcock: 1 for 3 NCAA (Graham, Araujo), 0 for 0 International
Colangelo: 2 for 2 NCAA, 1 for 1 International

Now, if I wanted to make a point about the dangers of drafting International, I'd certainly say something like, 70% of NCAA picks have turned out decent or good, while only 50% of International picks have managed the same. Except I'd also realize I was being silly because 1) 50% with a sample size of 2 (hell, even with a sample size of 3) is a ridiculous thing to compare to, and 2) none of the previous GMs are making the pick, so it's a moot point.

You're usually pretty reasonable, Richard, but I think you need to re-assess your bias here.

[Jerry]

@Richard
" So 75% of American players the Raptors draft actually turn into somewhat of a good player or even very good. And only 33% for International players. Am I being biased against non-American players when these facts are in plain sight?

Biased I don't know about but when you are basing your 'facts' on 3 international players that is a very weak argument as the sample is much to small to be meaningful.

[ikonn]

Re: a question in the weekend mailbag about Steve Nash not being mentioned, during the draft show, on the list of Canadian players: I remember that the graphic said "born in Canada" and since Steve was born in South Africa I guess it was technically correct. Still as Doug pointed out, it was misleading and perhaps yet another American slight on Canada.

****
@Afshin (also from the weekend mailbag), I live in New Jersey and it seems that the tickets have only been available at the MSG box office on the day of the event beginning around 11am that day. Good luck.

***
Doug, like you, I am quite ok with the drafting of JV. If it pans out then we'll applaud, it not, then we'll be critical. But you had him going 8th in your mock draft which seems to contradict your more recent statements that the Raps thought JV would go higher and gladly picked him because he was the best available when their turn came around. Other than the risk that he had contractual issues, why else did you have him going so low?

Blogger's note: It was the contract; I was wrong. And hadn't heard his name. My bad, I guess.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Hi Doug,
Whither Boogie?
Cheers.

Blogger's note: Nothing's done on the coaches officially but Boogie's a Henchman and not going anywhere

[drew]

On the coaching front, If you have the opportunity can you ask Mr Davis how his elbow is? I remember watching him play back in the day and he suffered a horrible elbow injury that was featured in a SI article...man it looked horrible!! The guy was an amazing player!!

Blogger's note: If it happens -- and I fully expect it to -- I most certainly will

[joe]

Hi Doug,

Thanks for the update on Jonas. I believe, in time, this kid is gong to be real good. Couple of questions:

1. Presuming the Raptors sign JV in the summer of 2012 to a contract, would his salary be based on the current CBA or the new one?

2. Do you feel that the owners of NBA teams who are losing money would actually not mind having a lockout since it would be, financially, more profitable for them?

Blogger's note: Current and I think they'd be fine with a few months off

[Johnn19]

Re the CBA, unless the players move from where they are the Owners will be saving approx $300 million dollars collectively, and JV will come in 2012/13 with the rest of the NBA players who may be a little easier to convince after losing a years pay.

[GM]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe you mean Phil Scrubb, as opposed to Schrubb. His dad, Lloyd, played the point for UVic and UBC back in the day.

[DH]

"Just to clarify, that was Patric Young, a 6-9 245 pound University of Florida freshman whose style of play draws Dwight Howard and Kendrick Perkins comparisons"

Talk about a contrast in comparisons. Dwight Howard a supreme athletic specimen. Probably one of the top 5 athletes for a big man and Kendrick Perkins an unathletic slow plodder. If Perkins were any slower he could be considered a statue.

[billsmith]

Live ticker for Canada vs. Korea
http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/13883/03/67/72/26A04PnoZSN6/

[The other Richard]

@ J

"Now, if I wanted to make a point about the dangers of drafting International, I'd certainly say something like, 70% of NCAA picks have turned out decent or good, while only 50% of International picks have managed the same. Except I'd also realize I was being silly because 1) 50% with a sample size of 2 (hell, even with a sample size of 3) is a ridiculous thing to compare to, and 2) none of the previous GMs are making the pick, so it's a moot point."

Why would we not include previous GM's drafts? Can we not learn anything from their mistakes?

@Jerry

"Biased I don't know about but when you are basing your 'facts' on 3 international players that is a very weak argument as the sample is much to small to be meaningful."

Those are the numbers we have to deal with. We'll all be dead before the numbers are meaningfull enough for you.

Both of you have criticized me but offered no other way of measuring. Where are you counterpoints?