Their Canadian is better than our Canadian.
In his biggest chance yet in the NBA, that type of flash has not exactly been at the core of what he has provided the Raptors.
“They don’t want me to clear everyone out and call iso,” Brissett said after playing a career-high 18 minutes in a 98-97 loss to Oklahoma City on Thursday. A night earlier, he played 15 minutes in a brief cameo that became a key fourth-quarter role in a big win in Boston. “I have just got to do whatever I can and help the guys get to where they want to be, dive for the ball, get rebounds, defend, those little things.”
On the other end of the spectrum: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder. Both are 21-year-old guards from the Golden Horseshoe, but that is where the comparisons stop. Gilgeous-Alexander was a Clippers lottery pick, the centrepiece of a trade that landed Paul George in Los Angeles and, now, someone who might grow into the face of the Thunder. Brissett was undrafted, signed a non-guaranteed deal with the Raptors in late July and won a training camp battle to earn a two-way contract that limits his NBA time to 45 games this year.
As notably, Gilgeous-Alexander declined an opportunity to play for Canada this past summer at the World Cup, one of the few players open enough to say that he needed to use the time for his professional development and to get ready for a change in scenery, not to mention a change in role. Brissett chose to play for Canada, getting him some more time in front of his professional coach, Nick Nurse, ultimately leaving the team before the tournament with a knee injury.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLiRojD4PJI
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander makes rare return to play his hometown team
“At the end of the day, this is my job and the most important thing,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “So, I’ve got to take care of this first. And I felt like I needed to get camaraderie and get used to my teammates, get used to the coaching staff, and things like that. It (the World Cup commitment) being a whole month, I think would have taken a big chunk out of that.”
Gilgeous-Alexander began the NBA season with career highs in the Thunder’s first two games. Then he upped his high-water mark to 29 points on Dec. 9, and 32 last week.
“I give him a lot of credit,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “I think sometimes when guys do get traded, it can take some time to move past that. He was great right away. I think he maturity-wise handled himself great.”
Gilgeous-Alexander said he thinks he made the right choice.
“I just can’t wait for the future,” he added.
This coming summer will be different than the last. Canada, which was short on NBA star power due to injuries and declined invitations, did not qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the FIBA World Cup this September. An Olympic Qualifying Tournament in June will be its last opportunity to do so.
In late November, Gilgeous-Alexander announced his commitment to Canada Basketball on Twitter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4CVf1NSXrA
Canadian Gilgeous-Alexander leads Thunder to narrow win over Raptors – The Globe and Mail
The Raptors and Thunder jockeyed for the lead all night, and both teams were playing with some key players sidelined due to injuries. Gilgeous-Alexander was the star of the first half in his lone regular-season visit to Toronto this year. The 6-foot-6, 181-pound Canadian put up 20 first-half points on an efficient 8-of-11 shooting in his first 19 minutes of playing time. Oklahoma City’s starting shooting guard – the 11th overall NBA draft pick in 2018 – showed off his silky moves to the basket and playmaking ability and confidently bombed long three balls.
“I plan on making a leap like this every year,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who started 73 games for the L.A. Clippers last year and averaged 10.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists. “And then hopefully all the accolades follow after that.”
He previously stated that he hopes to be a part of the Nurse-coached Canadian men’s team that tries to qualify for this summer’s Tokyo Olympic Games.
“I’m not sure who has a quicker first-step, blow-by move in the league right now than this guy,” Nurse said of the 21-year-old University of Kentucky product. “He’s been awesome, really awesome, and late in games, crunch time, overtime, all kinds of stuff.”
Gilgeous-Alexander has scored more than 20 points in nine of his 14 games this month, including back-to-back 32-point games against the Clippers and Phoenix Suns.
The Raps slipped into an eight-point hole in the third quarter. Seven of their 15 three-pointers on the night came in that quarter, and they battled back. Davis had a pair of those, and VanVleet did, too, as part of his eight-point quarter.
Paul got hot for OKC and dumped in 11 points in the third. The two teams kept jockeying for the lead.
Gilgeous-Alexander hit the go-ahead bank shot with 36 seconds left. VanVleet missed a wild three-point shot and the Canadian opponent snagged the rebound. Davis had a rookie moment and failed to foul when he should have. The Thunder got to inbound the ball in the dying seconds. Gilgeous-Alexander dribbled the final seconds off the clock.
“It feels good. But all of it, honestly, wouldn’t have meant anything if we didn’t win,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “That was the best feeling, knowing that we came out of here with a win, being short-handed.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48WWr8FEN7U
At Betway, Siakam is paying x29 to win MVP. In comparison, Giannis is at 1.85 and Luca Doncic is at 5.50.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6rWbTxHCIL/
Paul, Shai star for Thunder as Raptors drop close one | Toronto Sun
Gilgeous-Alexander was far from the only Canadian on the floor on Sunday. There were four in all who played, two from each team (Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort for Oklahoma City, Chris Boucher and Oshae Brissett for Toronto) and it was the first time four Canucks have scored in an NBA game.
Dort, an undrafted rookie from Montreal, has worked himself into a role with the Thunder recently after some great play in the G League. Brissett has taken advantage of Toronto’s run of injuries to get a chance, while Boucher has been doing the same for a while now.
Head coach Nick Nurse was impressed with Brissett, an undrafted rookie like Dort and Terence Davis, in training camp, but hasn’t had a chance to play him until now.
“A really solid defender and a very good rebounder for his position,” was how Nurse evaluated the Toronto native.
“He certainly showed that last night (against Boston, when Brissett provided a spark in the win). He was getting switched on some really, really good players and did an admirable job staying in front of them and challenging shots, and he sprung out of the paint a few times to go challenge some threes,” Nurse said.
“He really was active on the glass. I’m not sure what he had, six rebounds, but he was close to about another six … I mean, it was a little bit of a wildcard move, and you know how that goes with us: If we throw the wild card in there and they play pretty good for three or four minutes, they may never come out, and that’s what happened to him last night, so that was excellent.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDq_YZX__1Y
Gilgeous-Alexander ties career high of 32 points as Thunder beat Raptors – Sportsnet.ca
Gilgeous-Alexander, a 21-year-old from Toronto, was the best player on the floor for most of the night. His eight field goals in the first half alone matched the rest of his team’s combined.
“I work hard, so I have confidence. And the people around me don’t let my head get too big — especially my mom, she tells me I suck every day,” Gilgeous-Alexander said with a laugh before the game.
The most points previously scored by a Canadian versus the Raptors was 31 — by Rick Fox in 1998 and Andrew Wiggins in 2016. Gilgeous-Alexander also recently joined Steve Nash, Andrew Wiggins and Jamaal Magloire as the only Canadians to average 20-plus points over five games. Sunday’s win was his sixth straight game with more than 20 points.
The short-handed Raptors were playing for the fifth time in eight days, and 24 hours after an impressive 113-97 win in Boston. Neither team led by more than eight points through a see-saw first three quarters on Sunday.
Leading 80-76 to start the fourth, the Raptors saw their lead evaporate, and Paul’s basket with 1:01 to play in a nailbiting final frame gave the Thunder a one-point lead. VanVleet’s pair of free throws put Toronto back on top. But Gilgeous-Alexander scored with 36 seconds to play, then grabbed the defensive rebound on the Raptors’ next possession to clinch his team the victory.
Sunday’s game also marked the first time in history four Canadians — Toronto’s Chris Boucher and Oshae Brissett and OKC’s Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort — scored in an NBA game.
The Raptors’ win last month over the New York Knicks was the first time four Canadian players have been together on the floor in an NBA game, but Brissett didn’t score then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6inKrc2fZDo
What do the Raptors eat? Team chef takes us inside the kitchen | The Star
Ryan Gallagher is the man behind the meals for the defending NBA champions as the Toronto Raptors’ in-house chef, working closely with the team’s medical staff and nutritionist to turn food into fuel for a group of high-performance athletes and the staff around them.
He is also the father of a young daughter and, as it turns out, cooking for her isn’t so different from his day job.
“We do those sort of things here where we slide vegetables in without telling anyone,” Gallagher said during a rare down moment at the Raptors’ practice facility this month, while dicing squash so naturally he can look you in the eye without cutting off a finger.
“I have a seven-and-a-half year-old and I just don’t tell her what food’s made of,” Gallagher said. “I’m all about transparency but sometimes it’s easier not to do that.”
It’s an approach the former personal chef and “Top Chef Canada” contestant has taken since he took charge of the Raptors kitchen when the practice facility opened in 2016.
In his current gig, old tenets of restaurant life don’t hold as true. Nutrition was never Gallagher’s first priority in the first 15 years of his career — taste and appearance reigned supreme. His last four years have been spent learning to avoid reaching for the butter, swapping out unhealthy ingredients to improve nutrition while still making food that is recognizable to the 60-plus people he feeds breakfast, lunch and sometimes takeaway meals to.
“I don’t really have any rules, other than obviously nutrition,” said Gallagher, who has worked in some prominent Toronto restaurants such as Lynn Crawford’s Ruby Watchco. “First and foremost (is) quality of product, tasty and nutritious is the second hand. Everything’s always evolving.”
https://twitter.com/okcthunder/status/1211456252565508103?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1211456252565508103&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheathletic.com%2F1495499%2F2019%2F12%2F29%2Fshai-gilgeous-alexander-and-oshae-brissett-shine-in-very-different-roles-in-big-night-for-canadian-basketball%2F
10 things: Pat McCaw and Oshae Brissett help Raptors exact revenge on Tony Brothers' Celtics
Four — Perspective: Despite missing 11 games due to injury, Lowry should be considered a lock for his sixth consecutive All-Star appearance. And if he maintains these numbers throughout the season, and carries the Raptors through a few rounds of the playoffs, then there might need to be a serious discussion about Lowry’s candidacy for the Hall of Fame. He’s not as flashy as some of the best to ever do it, but his impact on winning is undeniable. Lowry’s competitiveness has come to personify this golden generation of Raptors basketball, and it should not go unrecognized.
Five — Unexpected: Pat McCaw played horribly, and became the sacrificial lamb for the Raptors’ loss on Christmas Day, so this turnaround was completely unforeseen. McCaw was nothing short of stellar, as he exploded for 18 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists while playing a team-high 43 minutes. McCaw was aggressive from the jump, as he collected two steals, blocked a shot, found Serge Ibaka for a layup, banked in a 12-foot jumper, and flashed to the rim for a layup. He sustained that aggression throughout the night, played lockdown defense on the Celtics’ perimeter scorers, and he was vital in running the offense. McCaw’s ability to handle and initiate plays allowed Lowry and Fred VanVleet to thrive as scorers.