Basketball in Canada - Page 115

JHikka · #**2281** Posted **Aug 27, 2022, 12:30 AM**

Canada are one step closer to qualifying for another FIBA World Cup after defeating Argentina last night in Victoria. Canada remains undefeated in their qualifying round and will be heading to Panama this weekend.

thebasketballgeek · #**2282** Posted **Aug 27, 2022, 12:37 AM**

Shai sitting out this game btw. Thunder don’t want their franchise player injured before the season especially after what happened too Holmgren in the Pro-Am. Even though their best player is out it shouldn’t be much of a concern for Canada though they are still a far more talented team and should win by a considerable margin.

elly63 · #**2283** Posted **Sep 1, 2022, 4:48 AM**

Canada dominates Panama to remain undefeated in World Cup qualifying
Canadians all but lock up spot in 2023 FIBA World Cup
The Canadian Press August 29, 2022

Canada's men's basketball team remains undefeated in World Cup qualifying with a 106-50 rout of Panama on Monday.

Detroit Pistons forward Kelly Olynyk scored 18 points in just 17 minutes of action, while Kevin Pangos added 17 and the Canadians, the only unbeaten team in the Americas zone, improved to 8-0 and all but locked down their spot in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Melvin Ejim added 15 points, Zach Edey chipped in with 15 points and seven rebounds, and Kassius Robertson finished with 11.

...

Coach Nick Nurse was able to go deep into his bench for much of the second half, as young players such as 20-year-old Edey, a seven-foot-four forward for Purdue, were given important playing time.

The Canadians dominated across the board, forcing 20 Panama turnovers. They out-rebounded the home team 50-34, shot 56.7 per cent from the field to Panama's 34.1 per cent.

No more NBA talent

Canada was without three NBA players on Monday: Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was Canada's best player in the three games he played this summer, Utah Jazz guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Detroit Pistons guard Cory Joseph. Trae Bell-Haynes, Abu Kigab and Jean-Victory Mukama replaced them.
Monday's game was the final time Nurse had NBA players at his disposal, as the final two qualifying windows are in the middle of the NBA season, Nov. 7-15, 2022, and Feb. 20-28, 2023. Nurse likely won't coach in those windows either, as he'll be busy with the Toronto Raptors.

The top three in each of Group E and F, and the top fourth-place finisher, will advance to the 32-team 2023 FIBA World Cup from Aug. 25 to Sept. 10, 2023, in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.

The World Cup is a direct qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Four final Olympic spots will also be decided in last-chance qualifiers, something Canada wants to avoid after the team's heartbreaking elimination by the Czech Republic in a last-chance qualifier in 2021 in Victoria.

elly63 · #**2284** Posted **Sep 1, 2022, 5:07 AM**

Nice to see some CEBL guys on the Canada roster

Odyssey · #**2285** Posted **Sep 3, 2022, 11:17 PM**

I think the CEBL gained so much recognition from J. Cole playing a few games lol. They have him on the promo for NBA2K23 which might even mean the CEBL will be in that game.

With Calgary getting a new team and replacing Guelph next year, I'm wondering what other changes might happen. For one I'd really like to see the NBLC just merge with it gaining teams in Windsor, London, Kitchener, Sudbury and PEI. Moncton and Halifax are still actually teams but left the NBLC so I think it'd be cool for the CEBL to grab them up too, then I think it'd be really cool if Winnipeg got a team.

The CEBL is really interesting to me because unlike the NBLC which only had teams in Ontario and the Atlantic region it's actually becoming a nationwide league. The CEBL could totally become Canada's answer to the NBA (except Toronto ofc but even in the CEBL it's covered by Scarborough.)

Coldrsx · #**2286** Posted **Sep 3, 2022, 11:28 PM**

Edmonton has seen very good recent success with the team and has had multiple sellouts.

craner · #**2287** Posted **Sep 3, 2022, 11:44 PM**

Where does the Edmonton team play out of ?
Where will the Calgary team play out of ?
Is it a winter schedule ?

Denscity · #**2288** Posted **Sep 4, 2022, 12:46 AM**

Delete. This discussion moved from a new thread.
Thank you for that.

ssiguy · #**2289** Posted **Sep 4, 2022, 5:01 AM**

I don't even know what CEBL is???

blacktrojan3921 · #**2290** Posted **Sep 4, 2022, 6:34 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssiguy

I don't even know what CEBL is???

Canadian Elite Basketball League. Think of it as a competitor to the National Basketball League of Canada.

As for the future of the league, I think it's safe to say that, as of now, CEBL is coming out on top, as the NBL Canada has two inactive teams, leaving them with only four for the 2022 season. I wouldn't be surprised if down the line, we'd see a situation where the CEBL absorbs NBL Canada, much like how the NBA absorbed the ABA back in 1976.

MonctonRad · #**2291** Posted **Sep 4, 2022, 1:53 PM**

There is room for only one such basketball league in Canada, and the CEBL appears like it will be the winner.

Will they absorb the NBL? Possibly, but I think the CEBL wants larger market cities, and not smaller Maritime centres like Moncton and PEI. The CEBL might just let the NBL die.

Odyssey · #**2292** Posted **Sep 4, 2022, 2:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

There is room for only one such basketball league in Canada, and the CEBL appears like it will be the winner.

Will they absorb the NBL? Possibly, but I think the CEBL wants larger market cities, and not smaller Maritime centres like Moncton and PEI. The CEBL might just let the NBL die.

I mean they did had a team in Guelph for a while. Moncton is basically a Guelph that's a lot more important to the area lol.

esquire · #**2293** Posted **Sep 4, 2022, 3:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Odyssey

With Calgary getting a new team and replacing Guelph next year, I'm wondering what other changes might happen. For one I'd really like to see the NBLC just merge with it gaining teams in Windsor, London, Kitchener, Sudbury and PEI. Moncton and Halifax are still actually teams but left the NBLC so I think it'd be cool for the CEBL to grab them up too, then I think it'd be really cool if Winnipeg got a team.

There have been rumours about Winnipeg getting a team, apparently there are a couple of ownership groups kicking the tires.

Winnipeg is a bit of a desert when it comes to basketball, there are two USports programs that have a good record of success but for whatever reason they have never really been able to develop much of a following. We had minor pro basketball in the 90s with mixed success.

The tricky thing with basketball is that Winnipeg has a packed sports market, as compared to places like Saskatoon or Halifax which are underserved relative to population. I don't think there are many cities of under a million people with as much going on with regard to pro sports as Winnipeg does. So marketing the team could be a challenge with hockey and football in particular taking up so much of the air in the room.

The other challenge is finding a place to play. Unless True North gets a franchise, the CEBL probably won't be using the main arena in town, Canada Life Centre. So once that's out the window all you're left with is the university fieldhouses or a makeshift arena at Winnipeg Convention Centre like in the 90s. Neither of those latter options are going to be that appealing. So that will be a tricky issue to navigate. It will be interesting to see what happens.

thebasketballgeek · #**2294** Posted **Sep 4, 2022, 3:58 PM**

^When Winnipeg gets a CEBL team (it’s an inevitability) they would probably play at U of W or U of M. I mean the attendance numbers across the league does not justify Canada Life Centre even if Winnipeg was a basketball crazed market.

I get your point about pro sports, but I think the popularity of basketball in this city is very underrated. I mean I wouldn’t have made this username if not for my love of the sport and I wasn’t playing basketball in Toronto lol. The Filipino, Chinese, Indian, Black, and Indigenous communities predominantly prefer basketball to Hockey and Football and these groups represent a significant population in the city now.

I can’t speak for the rest of the city but people in Southwest (south of bishop) and Northwest Winnipeg live and breath basketball. Rule #7 of Canadian sports leagues is that it’s not complete without Winnipeg having a team.

MonctonRad · #**2295** Posted **Sep 4, 2022, 4:27 PM**

I would like to think that the Moncton Magic could get reactivated and could join the CEBL at some point.

The quality of the basketball was actually quite good and the Magic (or the Miracles in their previous iteration) provided a good game day experience. For a couple of years, the attendance wasn't bad (about average for the NBL), but, ownership uncertainty and the pandemic scuppered attendance, and the franchise became inactive.

As I've previously mentioned, I think the CEBL is looking for cities of at least 400,000-500,000 to host franchises. In the end, I think the only Atlantic city with a franchise will be Halifax. I think they want the CEBL to be similar to the CFL in terms of status and style.

thebasketballgeek · #**2296** Posted **Sep 4, 2022, 6:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

As I've previously mentioned, I think the CEBL is looking for cities of at least 400,000-500,000 to host franchises. In the end, I think the only Atlantic city with a franchise will be Halifax. I think they want the CEBL to be similar to the CFL in terms of status and style.

I mean St Johns has a team and if that’s the bar I don’t see why Moncton couldn’t make a good run for it.

Personally I hope it’s a larger league then the CFL and CPL in terms of # of teams. There’s already 10 and then add Winnipeg, Halifax, Moncton, Regina, QC, KWC, Kelowna, Victoria, London, and Windsor then imo we get a really interesting 20 team league. I understand the concern that it would dilute the talent, but Canada has a surplus in talent that ends up going to the Euroleague or of course the NBA.

Obviously we’re never competing with the folks south of the border, but I truly believe if this league is successful it can compete with the Euroleague or G-league in terms of talent, player development, and nationwide presence.

Denscity · #**2297** Posted **Sep 4, 2022, 7:01 PM**

A 20 team coast to coast leave would be awesome.

Coldrsx · #**2298** Posted **Sep 5, 2022, 9:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by craner

Where does the Edmonton team play out of ?
Where will the Calgary team play out of ?
Is it a winter schedule ?

EXPO Centre

https://www.thestingers.ca

Late May through late July
https://irp.cdn-website.com/a0839893...20Schedule.pdf

JHikka · #**2299** Posted **Sep 12, 2022, 9:05 PM**

WNBA planning to hold exhibition game in Canada ahead of 2023 season
September 11, 2022

The WNBA will be holding a pre-season game in Canada next season, commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced.

This would be the first game played outside of the United States since 2011 when the Atlanta Dream played the Standard Life Great Britain Women's basketball team in Manchester. It was just the second time the league held a game outside of the USA.

Engelbert told Chantel Jennings and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic back in June that the league hopes to identify one or two cities for an expansion franchise that would start playing as early as 2024. The Dream were the last expansion team in the WNBA back in 2008.

The Athletic lists Toronto as one of six cities likely on a short list -- the others are Nashville, Oakland, Philadelphia, Portland and San Francisco.

The Toronto portion of the Athletic's reporting focuses on New Media Sports & Entertainment Group, a Toronto group that pursued a franchise in 2019, while also mentioning that MLSE has done due diligence on an expansion possibility.

The story says one issue for Toronto could be transportation because teams can only fly commercially under the current CBA -- and travel delays already are popping up without crossing the border.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/wnba/articl...f-2023-season/

Odyssey · #**2300** Posted **Sep 13, 2022, 11:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I would like to think that the Moncton Magic could get reactivated and could join the CEBL at some point.

The quality of the basketball was actually quite good and the Magic (or the Miracles in their previous iteration) provided a good game day experience. For a couple of years, the attendance wasn't bad (about average for the NBL), but, ownership uncertainty and the pandemic scuppered attendance, and the franchise became inactive.

As I've previously mentioned, I think the CEBL is looking for cities of at least 400,000-500,000 to host franchises. In the end, I think the only Atlantic city with a franchise will be Halifax. I think they want the CEBL to be similar to the CFL in terms of status and style.

The Fraser Valley Bandits just changed their name to the Vancouver Bandits so I think you're right they're going for higher status cities/areas.