Men get started, junior women roll and some different football

And so it begins for semi-real for Canada’s senior men’s team.

A six-game tour of Europe starts today with one of two games in France – then they get Italy and Czech Republic – and as you can see from this Canada Basketball release, the roster is as we thought it would be:

It’s very rough and rudimentary and not really the team that’ll end up in Argentina in late August to try and qualify for the 2012 Olympics.

But here’s the thing:

The one big thing the regime at Canada Basketball has done over the last half decade or so is keep most of core groups together so there is already a level of familiarity and the integration of a few new faces isn’t as troubling or difficult as it’s been in the past.

Leo Rautins, junior coach Greg Francis and cadet coach Roy Rana have done an excellent job teaching the same basic philosophies and systems from the time kids are in their mid-teens, which also helps when they have such relatively little time to prepare for their biggest competition.

I don’t think anyone should be entirely too worried about whether the men win or lose on this tour – they are getting teams far ahead in their preparation since EuroBasket comes up before the FIBA Americas qualifier – but it is an okay first step.

The interesting thing is going to be seeing who’s on the team that heads to South America in late August.

There was an indication that Cory Joseph had his insurance issues taken care of and for a team that’s been starved for a point guard – no disrespect to Jermaine Anderson but it has been a spot that could use some improvement and depth – Joseph will be huge.

Now, there is also no indication that Tristan Thompson is going to play and that’s a shame, there’s a kid who could probably use some high-level competition before his first NBA camp and it’s a shame that it looks now like he won’t be playing.

But, again, I’ll say this: This roster is fluid and there’s no sense getting too worked up until we see who doesn’t get on the plane to Argentina in a month or so.

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For all of you who were super excited by the news that the NFL settled, I have two words:

Pre-season football.

Of all the exhibition junk fans are subjected to in all the sports – never-ending spring training, a billion pucks games, eight yawners in the basketball – nothing glazes over the eyes than pre-season football.

Can’t wait.

Of course, if it’s football like this …

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it’s four in a row for the Canadian junior women, who spanked Russia 66-50 to open the second round at the world championships down in Chile yesterday.

Guard Nirra Fields, who might be playing as well as anyone in the tournament, had 22 for Canada, who gets Japan today in the second, second-round game.

It’s one of those rather convoluted competitions – three first-round games, three second-round games, record from the first round carries over but only from games against the two other teams that advanced – so it’s impossible right now to say where they’ll finish.

But it’s been my experience that three wins (two that carried over from the unbeaten first round and the one yesterday) should be enough to guarantee a quarter-final berth and going 4-0 with a win over Japan today would clinch it.

I’m not 100 per cent sure on this, but I can pretty much assure you this is the first time any Canadian team at any age group championship has won its first four games.

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Ball yard tonight.

IGBT if you’d care to join in, let’s say 7ish?

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You know we’ve had a list a couple of times about sports events that had lost their luster, at least to me?

Toss the Skins Game onto that pile, for sure.

I can remember back in the day when you’d make sure to be near a TV to see guys like Fred Couples or even Jack Nicklaus or maybe John Daly take part.

Now?

Now I noticed on the TV after Mighty Rockies practice last night that the Canadian game was on and it had five guys and was on a beautiful course and I did nothing but yawn and not pay attention.

Or course, if those guys were ever playing for their own money – or hadn’t already been guaranteed ‘X’ dollars just for showing up I might be a tad more interested. But that’s asking way too much.

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Comments

[prizby]

when are some of the young talent going to get called?

Wasn't Wiggins invited to camp?

Why are guys like Kabongo, Wiltjer, Birch not getting a shot over some of the lesser name college kids?

Blogger's note: Because they have commitments to their colleges in early September when the tournament is on, for the most part. And right now, mid-teenagers need to be playing internationally against mid-teenagers, not men

[Josh]

Hmmm is that asking way too much? Would make for an interesting round of golf. If anything they could adjust the stakes (not sure what they're at now) to make it so no one goes broke, but enough to keep it interesting.

[Lorie]

Hello Doug!
At the risk of sounding extremely fossilized, this was a first for me: watching The Three Stooges in technicolour! Seriously, was this "colourized"? Don't you, too, only remember watching them in B&W? (Or maybe it's because my parents considered colour TV a fad...and refused to buy one until the mid-70's...) Cheers! And Go Canada in your game against Japan today!

Blogger's note: The colour caught me by surprise, too

[ed]

When Rautins was drafted, there was some talk about him playing some point guard in the nba. Will he have the opportunity to do this on Team Canada? Also, if an NBA player plays in a tourny like this and gets injured, would he be risking $ due to the lockout as he would not have his team's permission?

Blogger's note: Most contracts would be insured or they wouldn't play

[coachd]

Hi Doug,
It would be nice to see guys like Thompson, Magliore and Nash be part of the National team, but I'll cheer for whomever is representing us. I totally agree that Canada Basketball is on the right track and things are beginning to look good. I think that in the next 5 to 10 years you'll see significant progress with the progam.

[john]

Out of curiosity, Can somebody tell me what qualifications Leo has to coach this team? Has he ever coached anywhere before? Even a high school team? How about a rec league team? Is he the only one who would do it for free? Its not like he played for a lot of years in the NBA and has tons of experience. He played in 30 games and was pretty much considered a bust. It would be a shame to let this group of young talent die on the vine because of poor coaching. It seems that they had one NBA player and Leo didn't get along with him, so if we are wondering why the NBA guys aren't coming, maybe its not such a mystery? Just wondering...

[prizby]

i understand the committments, but why not invite Wiggins...didn't Leo invite Kevin Pangos for a couple of games a year or 2 ago?

[Dean]

Doug,

If the NBA and NBPA have had almost a decade to hammer out a deal, and did not, then what are the chances they get it done in the next few months?

There are no talks scheduled, no meetings happening, and its seems to me that neither side cares if the CBA gets done or not.

How can these two factions spit in the face of fans by not even agreeing to talk or meet? What do they get paid for?? Why have a Union leader like Hunter who is unwilling to meet or discuss any type of resolution going forward?

It is ludicrous to me that these two sides have decided to take the summer off ( 10th one in a row) and not get a CBA done. Hunter needs to be fired, and do the players have the power to do that if he continues to be such a completely ineffective head of the NBPA?

Blogger's note: I have no clue what you're talking about when you refer to a "decade" and how in the world you can let loose a diatribe like that without once mentioning David Stern is utterly ridiculous. Other than that, good point

[doug]

you know why there has been no dialogue nor should there be in the immediate future..it's because the owners have presented a offer or rather a bargaining position that wants the players to sacrifice everything whereas the owners sacrifice little...where is the revenue sharing in the NBA?, I am not a proponent of revenue-sharing as it is no panacea but it's a start....the Celtics just last week signed a tv deal that tripled their present one and gives them partial ownership of the rights and network....so if the league wants to get serious then get serious, and this strike is just ludicrous, don't forget the NHL was locked out for a year, returned to great fanfare with the owners getting a cap and all was well.....well who has that salary cap helped??, it's allowed the stronger teams to get richer (Leafs,Flyers,Canadiens), and with the ridiculous floor cap that Bettman agreed to, you have the weakest teams struggling (Panthers,Predators, Coyotes) having to spend money they don't have), and in fact the league is in much worse economic shape now then it was then....it was a bogus deal and in all the years I have watched these lockouts never have I seen one that benefits a whole league, never,ever...baseball, the strong teams just get richer (Red Sox,Yanks,Phillies), hockey the same, and now b-ball they are trying to do the same...so if I were the players why return to negotiate??..what is there to negotiate??...hear the same old sorry offer and walk out of the room...Stern is blowing it, b-ball had one of it's best years, but the power brokers in the league who are the most powerful group of owners call the shots, and they want a hard cap...why?, not because of competitive balance or for the fans sake no it's all about uneven distribution of the pie...well owners time to get off the snide and do your part, such as revenue sharing to start..until then the players should just sit and do nothing so to me the players and the union are playing it right...so kudos to them...

[Jovan]

Doug, can you please talk about the elephant in the room on one of your blog posts (Leo Rautins)

Blogger's note: That'd be the elephant that got them to the worlds for the first time since '02? That elephant?

[Mike D.]

As a dedicated Irregular, I can't believe that you didn't lead off today's blog with the story about Olympiacos pursuing Joey Dorsey:

http://hoopshype.com/rumors/tag/olympiacos
http://www.gavros.gr/article/6876/koitazei-ntorsi-o-thrylos/

Seems to me this blog o' yours is gettin' a mite too caught up in them other sports and Stooges and all, and a mite too far from keepin' tabs on the HOTH past and present.

[doug]

this is pure gold and to hard to ignore or pass up...Doug Ford calling out Margaret Atwood is well just to amusing...these 2 brothers should be called "dumb and dumber"..if this was a SNL skit it would be amusing but these 2 run the biggest city in canada and well it's just sad and scary...

[Steph]

@ Dean. Because the two sides aren't meeting together there are still lots of meetings happening. Each side is making a list and checking it twice. They each have a wish list, a want list, a need list and a must have list. A lot of the smaller things each side wants are then negotiated before hitting the elephant in the room. The elephant is usually the last thing negotiated with the smaller items dictating who might win the elephant portion. So before you meet with the opposition you need to know what your side wants first. They have general ideas of what the other guy wants so it's the smaller things that need to be worked out first. And remember that within each faction there is dissention. Some teams and players have different needs then others. While some teams want a hard cap, others want a soft cap. Some players want better long term benefits while other just want more cash now. So each side needs to work out what each side wants, and the negotiating committees from each side try and do what is best for the group.
@ Doug. The most powerful teams are those resisting a hard cap. They have the money and want to be able to spend it, to the detriment of the rest of the teams. I don't like your comparison of the NBA to the NHL. Betman should never ever be spoken about in the same sentence as Stern. You’re absolutely right that the contract signed by the NHL was ill-conceived, and the league is suffering as a result.
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Nothing of consequence has been lost yet. And neither side wins if regular season games are cancelled. Both sides are aware that the fans may well revolt for a short time period and the lost income will hurt them both.
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There are serious issues to deal with, but I wouldn’t say the viability of the league is at risk. There is a tremendous amount of money at risk with a faltering US economy and the owners will all likely loose a lot of money in the near future. And the players have relatively short careers so I expect the owners to come out on top. But as I say that I think that if the US economy falters contraction possibilities are real. There are teams that are struggling, and some teams are highly leveraged that rely on the leagues income to survive. The Smart people who sit down across from each other all have a clear picture and understand the issues. It will get resolved without loosing a single game, in my opinion.

[doug]

@Steph...good points and argument but you are wrong in one respect, leagues in the past and owners specifically paint this picture of a unified front and what they want is"competitive balance" it's no different then politicians jumping on a crime bill as they know it's a no-lose situation no matter how ill-conceived it is....fans fall for this argument continuously, as they fail to see the ones pushing Bettmann's buttons, Stern's buttons are the owners with the most income....people laugh at the Knicks and how they spend all this money, blah,blah,blah do people realize that their television contract more or less pays for their salaries ..and the Lakers,Celtics etc know they will always make money, do you think they are interested in competitive balance, no they would love to have fixed costs...do you honestly think MLSE was opposed to a hard cap??...come on their profits rose significantly as all the successful big market teams did and will in the NBA if their is a hard or "flex" cap, in all the "propaganda" in every negotiation is this time worn story from the owners "we want competitive balance", it has never occurred or never will...as markets make teams successful not systems, hence profits are deprived from that...the only way a hard cap will have the desired results is to have a hard cap with no minimum cap, it has to be up to teams to make their teams competitive not mandated to spend a minimum amount....and that is what the NBA wants, the same system as the NHL, which is a mess....the union needs to fight a hard cap and to agree to that has a domino effect, from guaranteed contracts, to free agency and on and on...so these talks will not progress unless and not until a hard cap is off the table..plain and simple as the players know its a bargaining tactic...and for that reason i see a longer strike unless the owners acquiesce with the hard cap and have flexibility in the flex cap....