Basketball in Canada

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by Bishop2047

I like this team's identity more this year than last however.

So do I! The bitterness of this summer is totally a distant memory for me. This year's team feels so organic in how the players now stepping are coming from within the system. Last year we threw the dice, got some mercenaries, and it worked out. But the team this year feels so much more satisfying in how it has come together.

Originally Posted by Bishop2047

KL moving on was in many ways a win win.

More for us, I think. Okay, call me a homer. Still, I think he'll regret it down the road, just like Vince and Tracy have both said that in retrospect they should have stayed in Toronto. If there's any justice, karma will bite Kawhi in the butt.

And I don't miss him at all. At all. I grimace now when I hear his barking when he drives to the hoop.

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Star players usually beat team efforts however, I think the Raptors are as strong as they were last year.

This is definitely the received wisdom about the NBA playoffs. But I agree that they look as good now as they did last year, and who knows, maybe the Raptors can break the mould by bringing a team game to the finals?

Either way, I'm absolutely loving watching Pascal's development. It's astonishing and wondrous. And it's gratifying that the talking heads are finally taking notice.

Originally Posted by suburbanite

I have total faith in Nurse based on what we've already seen in his short time as HC, but I'm very intrigued to see how it plays out in the playoffs this year.

I think half the fun of this year is in anticipating how far the Raps can go without a marquee player.

Originally Posted by suburbanite

Kawhi's calming offensive presence is what will be missed most. Siakam has made unbelievable progress, making step-back and pull-up threes with apparent ease. He still has a ways to go before he's on that Harden, Kawhi, Giannis level where you hand him the ball and ask him to make "The Shot"

And the other half is watching Pascal develop. Seems like the sky's the limit.

[megadude]

Hmmm... even one of the two or three NBAers that showed up just admitted that he wouldn't eff around with his career and livelihood on the line like some of the other guys. I guess he's also not patriotic like the guys that skipped the FIBA.

Free agency could throw a wrench into Olynyk's plans to play for Canada

TORONTO - Kelly Olynyk was wearing the Canadian red and white when he slipped on the Mattamy Athletic Centre floor in August and fell. He landed on his knee so hard that people seated in the arena's first couple of rows heard the thud during the exhibition game against Nigeria.

The 28-year-old has always been eager and willing to play for Canada's men's basketball team.

But free agency - particularly knowing first-hand the risk of injury - could throw a wrench into Olynyk's plans to play for Canada this summer.

“Often the reason why guys can't play is because they don't have a contract,” the Miami Heat centre said Tuesday. “It's a lot to risk, especially with me playing (in August) and getting hurt and missing the training camp and pre-season, basically, and just trying to get back to 100 per cent, still.

“It's not easy to walk into one of those things and to put your career on the line. And as much as you want to, and as much as you know you'd love to do it, it's tough. It's really tough to do.”

The 28-year-old from Kamloops, B.C., could opt out of his contract and become a free agent on July 1, just days after Canada's last-chance Olympic qualifying tournament in Victoria. The Canadian men must win the six-country tournament June 23-28 to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Games, what would be the team's first appearance in 20 years.

“(If) I'm able to and my contract and stuff has settled out and I'm feeling healthy, then there's no reason why I won't be there,” Olynyk said after Miami's morning shootaround at Scotiabank Arena.

Olynyk is averaging 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds this season, only now finally rounding into form after his summer injury. Much like fractures, bone bruises heal slowly. It was six weeks before Olynyk was even allowed to do any work in the pool.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

I'm just saying we tolerate players like Sid saying no because we don't care about that tournament. I thought I was agreeing with you. Even when NHL players became eligible for the IIHF tournament, Canadians didn't really take to it because of the timing. Basketball doesn't have an equivalent annual tournament. Who knows, if the NHL continues to avoid the Olympics and doesn't get the World Cup going on some type of regular schedule (now they are talking Feb 2021??), the annual World Championships might become more important to Canadians wanting their international hockey. But it's not likely as long as it goes against the Stanley Cup, no matter who the players are. The Olympics replaced the Canada Cup from a prestige among Canadian hockey fans perspective, but the World Cup was meant to replace the Canada Cup, with both being pre-season tournaments.

Yes, I misunderstood.

[Apey]

Can't wait to see how the Rap's do going into the playoff's this year!

[rousseau]

That was one of the most exciting games I've ever seen. I was all ready to turn it off near the end of the third quarter when they were down by 30.

Glad I didn't!

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by rousseau

That was one of the most exciting games I've ever seen. I was all ready to turn it off near the end of the third quarter when they were down by 30.

Glad I didn't!

I got home, flipped the game on, they were down 78-50, so I put on Man in the High Castle instead. Then I read the comeback on Facebook and kicked myself lol

[Maldive]

Big News: injured Raptors cannot be stopped.

Guess we're learning about unsung depth. And Kyle's finger is healed ;-)

[suburbanite]

One of the most fun 4th quarters I've ever watched. That game is why I was okay with Lowry tossing up some questionable, high-volume shots during his early games back from injury. Let him get going again and he'll still remind you why he is a 5 time all-star and one of the best 3 point shooters during his prime.

Also showed how much the Mavs rely on Luka. Not that it's a bad thing, he's arguably a top ~7 player in the league already, but without his presence to control the flow of the game when things started slipping, they collapsed and fell into the trap of playing at the Raptors pace.

[JHikka]

via Canada Basketball on Twitter.

I like the location of the game but they should update the date on the graphic.

Also, Canada's never hosted this tournament before. I wouldn't mind seeing a Canadian bid for 2025, although the tournament isn't used as qualifying for the World Cup or Olympics anymore.

[isaidso]

Dwight Powell just went down with an achilles' tear. Canada will not have his services at the Olympic qualifying tournament or Tokyo if we get there. I might attend that game in Oshawa although the appeal of the AmeriCup has diminished.

[isaidso]

The Raptors beat the Spurs today to move into 2nd spot in the Eastern Conference behind the Bucks. That's 7 wins in a row. Overall, they're tied for the 4th best record in the NBA!

[Darkoshvilli]

RIP Kobe.

[suburbanite]

It was a weird game yesterday with the news. No one really seemed into it and a lot of half-hearted threes.

It was cool to see the raps start the trend of a 24-second shot clock violation that the rest of the league followed with. After the game, watched the highlights of Kobe's 81 point game against the Raps.

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

It was a weird game yesterday with the news. No one really seemed into it and a lot of half-hearted threes.

It was cool to see the raps start the trend of a 24-second shot clock violation that the rest of the league followed with. After the game, watched the highlights of Kobe's 81 point game against the Raps.

• Video Link

[isaidso]

Despite having arguably the best 3x3 team in the world, Canada can't send the Ploufffe sisters to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Olympics bars any nation from sending both a men's and a women's team. Since Canada is already sending a men's 3x3 team, the women aren't allowed to go.

Who's the best FIBA 3x3 Women's Series player? A statistical answer

MIES (Switzerland) - We looked at a new stat called Player Value to try to understand who’s statistically the best player on the Series. The Player Value is a new metric – not too dissimilar to the Player Efficiency concept in basketball – to determine the impact of a player on the court. We add up all the positive contributions (shooting efficiency [points scored x (points scored/number of shots attempted] + blocks + key assists + buzzer beaters + rebounds (divided by 2) minus the main negative contribution (turnovers [missed shots are already taken into account in the shooting efficiency).

For all the maths nerds:
P-VAL = S-VAL + BS + KAS + BZR - TO + (REB/2)


Here’s the Top 10:

1. Michelle Plouffe (Canada) 7.4
2. Cyesha Goree (Hungary) 7
3. Mai Yamamoto (Japan U23) 7
4. Krystyna Filevych (Ukraine) 6.5
5. Katherine Plouffe (Canada) 6.4
6. Michaela Onyenwere (USA) 6.3
7. Bec Cole (Australia) 6.2
8. Ana Maria Filip (France) 6.1
9. Elisabeth Pavel (Romania) 6.1
10. Alice Kunek (Australia) 6.1

http://www.fiba.basketball/news/who-...istical-answer

[rousseau]

What an exciting win that was.

And what a great time it is to be a Raptors fan. I think I'm actually enjoying this year more than last. It's fun being the defending champs, and watching the team grow and improve organically is really satisfying.

A former Catholic priest trainee who never touched a basketball until he was 16 is turning into a superstar. One undrafted player is on the path to being an all-star, and another one is a criminally overlooked rookie making important contributions to a championship team who are legitimate contenders to repeat.

It just doesn't get any better than this. I'm savouring every moment and trying not to think about the good times ever coming to an end (up until about 2013 there were lots of games that I didn't even bother watching, but I haven't missed a single one since then).

[isaidso]

The Raptors have a chip on their shoulder, for sure. It's interesting to watch all the pre-season predictions on youtube. None of them had the Raptors as a contending team with some of them even omitting them from the playoff picture. This game it looked improbable that they'd get the 12 game win streak record. A hard fought win.... and without 2 starters. Now they get to do it all over again on Friday against this same Pacers team.


The women take on Belgium Thursday at 2pm in one of 3 Olympic qualifying tournaments. They play Sweden on Saturday and Japan on Sunday.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by rousseau

What an exciting win that was.

And what a great time it is to be a Raptors fan. I think I'm actually enjoying this year more than last. It's fun being the defending champs, and watching the team grow and improve organically is really satisfying.

A former Catholic priest trainee who never touched a basketball until he was 16 is turning into a superstar. One undrafted player is on the path to being an all-star, and another one is a criminally overlooked rookie making important contributions to a championship team who are legitimate contenders to repeat.

It just doesn't get any better than this. I'm savouring every moment and trying not to think about the good times ever coming to an end (up until about 2013 there were lots of games that I didn't even bother watching, but I haven't missed a single one since then).

Yes, very interesting times! During the preseason I found myself questioning how they would do without Kawhi, yet I always figured in the back of my mind that they were already a solid team without him (and many of their regular season wins happened while he was out on "load management"). This year, the team seems to have boosted their play overall, and appears to be playing with much more confidence (a championship will do that) - and they still appear to be hungry. I also love to see how they genuinely seem to enjoy playing basketball with one another - it's fun to watch.

Really enjoying this season, which includes watching some of the young players (like Davis for example) play much larger than you would have expected them to. Heck, I was amazed at how well they came through the period when most of the major players were out with injuries - just astounding how scrappy they can be, and a great demonstration of the depth of the team.

It's also with some satisfaction that I will note the Raptors currently having a better record than the Clippers...

[megadude]

You know you're having fun when guys are trying to one up the other with their scarves.


https://twitter.com/the_raptor/statu...03931946651654


Not just the Raps, but across MLSE. Saw Willy's purple and orange raincoat before the game yesterday and it reminded me of this.


https://www.barstoolsports.com/blog/...again-everyone


https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2019/07/26...s-summer-look/


https://twitter.com/i/events/1120790926362914816


https://www.narcity.com/sports/ca/on...your-jaws-drop


Fun times. Even though the Leafs are losing too many games right now.

[TSteph9]

Originally Posted by rousseau

What an exciting win that was.

And what a great time it is to be a Raptors fan. I think I'm actually enjoying this year more than last. It's fun being the defending champs, and watching the team grow and improve organically is really satisfying.

A former Catholic priest trainee who never touched a basketball until he was 16 is turning into a superstar. One undrafted player is on the path to being an all-star, and another one is a criminally overlooked rookie making important contributions to a championship team who are legitimate contenders to repeat.

It just doesn't get any better than this. I'm savouring every moment and trying not to think about the good times ever coming to an end (up until about 2013 there were lots of games that I didn't even bother watching, but I haven't missed a single one since then).

Yeah i'm loving it this year too. Winning last year reinvigorated me after 20 years of heartache. Even without Kawhi, I think they have a decent shot at coming out of the east this year and depending on the match up, they could take it all.