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  • MangoKid wrote: View Post
    And now, Rautins steps down as coach

    LINK

    ...could this mean a return for the men's NT for Triano?
    I had no problem with Leo being head coach, and I have no problem with him stepping down either. I think that while he did not achieve the success we wanted on the floor he did give the program a voice and was very accessible. It was that accessibility that that has grown the popularity of Canada Basketball and has put down a foundation of growth. If you don't think Leo played a big role in helping to get a bigger budget and put together a legit set of exhibition games and training camps you have not been following.

    Good luck to our new coach, I hope our young guys continue to develop sop we can make some noise in the near future.
    Twitter @WJ_FINDLAY

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    • WJF wrote: View Post
      If you don't think Leo played a big role in helping to get a bigger budget and put together a legit set of exhibition games and training camps you have not been following.
      Amen. I don't think people realize that Canada is a Top-25 (#23) team right now in the FIBA rankings.
      That may sound like no big deal, but if you look at where we were Post-Steve Nash, it's Night and Day.

      It is because of Leo (largely anyway), Canada has any amount of credibility left on the World Stage.

      Comment


      • VILNIUS (EuroBasket 2011) - Lithuania connected their fans to the past, present and future on Wednesday night in the remarkable, heart-stopping atmosphere of the Siemens Arena in Vilnius.

        In the team's 100-90 win over Serbia at EuroBasket 2011, 35-year-old point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius came off the bench and rolled back the years with a gutsy display that made people remember his heroics of EuroBasket 2003 when he was the MVP, and the 2004 Olympics when he led Lithuania to an upset of the United States in the Preliminary Round.

        On Wednesday, Jasikevicius opened the door for Jonas Valanciunas, the MVP of the FIBA U19 World Championship, to big-time hoops.

        Any doubts at all about the readiness of 19-year-old Valanciunas to compete at the highest level of international basketball were removed.

        Jasikevicius was on the court for many of the 20 minutes that Valanciunas played and repeatedly penetrated and dished the ball to the 2.10m center for lay-ups and dunks.

        By the end of the game, Valanciunas had 18 points.

        He had to earn them all, too.

        Valanciunas went head-to-head with Serbia's centers Nenad Krstic and Kosta Perovic.

        While defending Krstic late in the first half, Valanciunas got an inadvertent smack in the mouth by the left shoulder of Krstic as the Serbian went up for a dunk.

        But he didn't back down, and neither did any of his teammates for the entire 40 minutes.

        "We played hard for all four quarters," Valanciunas said.

        "I thank the fans because they put on a great atmosphere."

        In no way was Lithuania's victory down to just two players, Jasikevicius and Valanciunas.

        It takes a complete team effort to beat Serbia and Mantas Kalnietis, Martynas Pocius and Paulius Jankunas were awesome for the winners.

        Lithuania killed Serbia with their long-range shooting, making 11 of 20 (55%) by game's end.

        But Valanciunas announced that he is not just going along for the ride.

        This young man is at times, dare we say, the driver.

        Surely this is the most exciting development of all at the EuroBasket.

        FIBA
        Nice read. Sometimes I remind myself JV is only 19 - sweet.

        Comment


        • Eurobasket wrote: View Post
          For a comparison, our starting point guard Calderon is shooting 33% in the tournament (11/33), with 2 assists per game, scoring 4.7 ppg, not impressive for someone who makes almost 10 mil. per year. Bo plays in Italy, and we have the Italian connections, so maybe something can be done, although I doubt it, he just signed a new contract with Siena.
          That's not really a good comparison as the roles on their respective teams are completely different. Spain is a very competent team on all positions and they run their offense for the most part through the Gasol's, Navarro and Fernandez. Rubio and Calderon (18 min/game) either dump the ball in the post or get it to a cutter who makes the play. Spain doesn't feel at all they have to depend on Calderon for scoring or making plays. For the most part he just has to spread the floor (attempting about 6 three per 36) after bringing up the ball and making sure it gets in the right hand at the right time. Yes, he's shooting 5/19 from 3 point range, but it's only 6 games. It helps that Spain isn't paying 10 million a year which they need to justify.

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          • Matt52 wrote: View Post
            Nice read. Sometimes I remind myself JV is only 19 - sweet.
            Indeed. Nice find Matt.

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            • WJF wrote: View Post
              Just a typo, but I am with you. The ones that get me the most st the use of THEIR, THERE and THEY'RE.
              Sorry about that. It usually is either the (apparently) younger posters or people whose first language isn't English. As far as I know, you don't fall into either of those categories. Their just seam to be a lot of people who make that mistake.






              Yes, that was a joke.
              Read my blog, The Picket Fence. Guaranteed to make you think or your money back!
              Follow me on Twitter.

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              • once Tristan thompson and Kobongo join team Canada we'll be STACKED!

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                • Canada has more NBA prospects in the pipe (Kabongo, Birch, Wiggins, Bennett, Bhullar) but it's a bit of a pipe dream to think that they will join or stick with the national team program when it needs them. Only Bhullar and Wiggins played this summer for Basketball Canada. Hats off to those pros that volunteer their time each summer to play that gruelling tournament schedule which is like a bus man's holiday for them, risking injury and ridicule for being unsuccessful.

                  Comment


                  • joey_hesketh wrote: View Post
                    Why don't people like Leo as a Colour Commentator?

                    I think he is extremely knowledgable and makes ALOT of good points throughout the broadcast.
                    He's also the ONLY Raptors Commentator who has the balls enough to criticize our own players.

                    I'd get rid of Matt before Leo. Devlin is a joke.
                    I'm with you on this one. You can question Leo's coaching capabilities, but as a commentator he is quite knowledgeable and he sees small details in the game. If he was able to openly speak his mind, I'm sure he would criticize our "stars" every single game, but he has to be careful. I have nothing personal against Devlin, but he is boring as a commentator. Even Swirsky was much more fun to listen...

                    Comment


                    • Soft Euro wrote: View Post
                      That's not really a good comparison as the roles on their respective teams are completely different. Spain is a very competent team on all positions and they run their offense for the most part through the Gasol's, Navarro and Fernandez. Rubio and Calderon (18 min/game) either dump the ball in the post or get it to a cutter who makes the play. Spain doesn't feel at all they have to depend on Calderon for scoring or making plays. For the most part he just has to spread the floor (attempting about 6 three per 36) after bringing up the ball and making sure it gets in the right hand at the right time. Yes, he's shooting 5/19 from 3 point range, but it's only 6 games. It helps that Spain isn't paying 10 million a year which they need to justify.
                      It's always difficult to compare two players on two different teams, and most of your points are valid. However, do you think it's easier to play with Gasol's, Fernandez etc on your team and shoot wide open shots because the defense is focused on these guys (making 33% of them), or when you are the only go-to guy and always double or even triple teamed by your opponents, receiving one hard foul after another, and still able to shoot 10/16? Do you think Calderon is capable of doing what McCalebb is doing for the Macedonian team - single handedly winning games against tough competition?

                      My point is, if Calderon can play in NBA for so many seasons, Bo can certainly play better, because many people are still questioning his capability to play in NBA. Usually people think about the Raptors as "Euro specialists", I thought we had the "godfather of Euro basketball" as our vice president, but we missed the boat on this great player.

                      Comment


                      • joey_hesketh wrote: View Post
                        Again, I never meant to offend you, or slight Bo with my comments. I'm not sure why you feel the need to continue to try to 'prove' to me how good he is. I've watched him. I know.
                        I never ONCE said he isn't good.

                        All I said is that if he came over to the NBA he would NOT be putting up 27 points in 31 minutes. He would NOT be shooting 63% from the floor on a consistent basis and he DEFINITELY will not average 4 spg. With his size and skill level, he could very well excel in a JJ Barea type role off the bench, but he would exposed far too often as a Starter. In my opinion. You may disagree, and that is quite fine.

                        And Calderon has not been the main focus of his team as Bo has. Bo has been given complete Freedom to dribble and possess the ball as much as he'd like. Calderon is certainly not granted the same luxury.
                        Of course he wouldn't put 27 points in 31 minutes in NBA, the point is that I would love to have players like him wearing the Raptors uniform, hard working and fearless on both ends of the floor, guys with a character. Not ballet dancers who are "injured" every other game. Bo also took the average team of Partizan Belgrade to the Final Four of the Euro league which is very difficult to accomplish, so this is not his breakthrough year. Jose is also a bit of a disappointment. I really liked him in his first few seasons, but I'm not sure what happened to him in the last couple of years, he seems to play like he's injured all the time.

                        I like this kid Jonas, he could be a good player if he's guided properly, the Raptors made a really good choice with him. I just hope he doesn't follow Andrea's footsteps after his first contract.

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                        • Eurobasket wrote: View Post
                          My point is, if Calderon can play in NBA for so many seasons, Bo can certainly play better, because many people are still questioning his capability to play in NBA. Usually people think about the Raptors as "Euro specialists", I thought we had the "godfather of Euro basketball" as our vice president, but we missed the boat on this great player.
                          You think Bo would have a better Career at PG in the NBA than Calderon has been?

                          I disagree with that. Alot. I think you forget that for a while there, Calderon was considered one of the Top PGs in the East.

                          Again, this isn't meant as a slight toward Bo. I think he's great, and I think he would fit in in the NBA.
                          Whether or not he'd be a starter in the NBA is another discussion and certainly up for debate. If he could come in and be a sure fire Starting PG, don't you think SOMEONE would have signed him by now?

                          Comment


                          • And I actually just found this article talking about Russia and Macedonias wins. Great Article.

                            http://espn.go.com/olympics/basketba...-championships

                            It mentions something I found REALLY interesting ..
                            McCalebb, who was born and raised in New Orleans, never played club basketball in Macedonia but led Partizan Belgrade from neighboring Serbia to the Euroleague Final Four. He is now with Montepaschi Siena and also guided the Italian team to the Final Four.

                            Macedonia, looking for a playmaker after injuries to two players, offered him citizenship last year.
                            That is RIDICULOUS. The guy had never played in Macedonia. Had ZERO ties to the country, but because they need a PG, they can just offer him Citizenship and he's allowed to play?

                            And Canada can't somehow let Bonner play? Who has Canadian Grandparents, a Canadian Wife and Canadian Kids? Unbelievable.

                            Comment


                            • Yes that is insane. On our national team (Bulgaria) almost every year we have new foreign ,mostly american new face on the national team. I have lost count on how many players we have given citizenship already.

                              Comment


                              • footarez wrote: View Post
                                Yes that is insane. On our national team (Bulgaria) almost every year we have new foreign ,mostly american new face on the national team. I have lost count on how many players we have given citizenship already.
                                Thats unreal. There should certainly be some sort of rule against this. Because eventually its not even the NATIONAL team, full of players with NATIONAL PRIDE. Its a team that just has that Countries name on the Jersey.

                                And I wouldn't support acquiring a player like this on the Canadian Team.
                                But with Bonner (and lesser extent, Dalembert), it's at least understandable and easy to find a connection.
                                And Bonner would take GREAT pride in representing Canada and what Canada stands for.

                                Some of these guys probably don't even know the countries National Anthem that they play for.

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