A long, long overdue Canada Basketball post

It's all onward-and-upward with all things Canada basketball. Hearing that Canada's junior national team, skipped by Alberta Golden Bears coach Greg Francis, reached the quarter-finals of the FIBA U19 championship in Auckland, N.Z., after beating Argentina should bring forth some pride.

Canada got 20 points from combo guard Cory Joseph (who might end up playing for Rick Pitino at Louisville, although the Kansas Jayhawks come up a lot too) and 18 from Mangisto Arop, who's off to Gonzaga in a few weeks. The kicker is they will face Team USA in the quarter-final on Friday; if they had won by three more points, they would have come out ahead on point differential with Argentina and Spain and avoided the Americans.

That's not here nor there. People should be positive about Canadian hoops and the way Francis' charges have pulled it together down under after a 1-2 start is pretty encouraging. Like the coach himself said:

"Now we get to play in the quarter finals of a FIBA World Championship, and that’s a good thing for Canada."

Learned hoops chroniclers such as the Toronto Star's Doug Smith (who noted a while back, incidentally, that the Raptors are going to have training camp in Ottawa again) have said there are great things starting to happen with Canada Basketball, notwithstanding the loss of the National Elite Development Agency. It's a several years process, not an overnight success story.

Smith said several weeks back, "the junior team that could very well make some noise in New Zealand" is among some "hugely significant steps in the right direction" for Canadian hoops. Along with beating Argentina, Canada went down to the wire with Spain (which won by seven after Canada took the lead midway through the fourth quarter), Australia and Croatia, all respected basketball nations. In other words, some results are starting to bubble to the surface.

The fact that Joseph and big man Tristan Thompson, who have each been down in the U.S. for a couple years, are playing instead of spending their summers with a travel team sponsored by a shoe company is also a good sign. Seeing that Canada is assured of finishing in the top half of the draw (no worse than eighth out of 16 teams) is a good sign. It's not lead-off-Sportscentre sexy. Chances are, it barely rates a mention outside of the players' hometowns (Kamloops Daily News sports ed. Gregg Drinnan at Taking Note has been having regular e-mail exchanges with Canada forward Kelly Olynyk, by the way).

It is never going to be cupcakes and sprinkles for Canada Basketball. It is egg-on-the-face for this country (or it would be, if anyone had noticed) that as the Toronto Star reported, Cuba and China are helping foot the bill for the national women's team to make an exhibition tour this summer. Smith has also made some pointed remarks about the traditional media's unwillingness to deviate from the Hockey Reflex and maybe offering more balanced fare.

"... they are missing out on a great opportunity because they are myopic followers rather than media leaders. I always thought part of the responsibility we have is to lead and to educate, rather than simply regurgitate what's already been on highlight shows and the internet.

"I would think the pucks-centric men – and they are almost all middle-aged men – who run the broadcast outlets here would realize the hockey people are still going to watch and listen but if you want to expand your listener base or viewership, giving something to people they can’t get anywhere else might be a good idea."

Complaining about the lack of media attention for basketball is kind of passe. Footy fanatics have proved (here one thinks of The 24th Minute), you can do it on your own. The Raptors' radio voice, Paul Jones, popped off a while back about how knowing your game is rarely on the front burner builds character.

"I guess that's what makes us tough and has us persevere as basketball people. And please, don’t tell me about the antiquated ratings system because I’m not buying it.

"That discussion is for another time as I have never met anyone that has a "box" in the their house and there was no way they would bring a box into my old 'hood back in the day when you had at least 10-15 guys around a TV watching a game.

Anyway, getting back to the point, it is good to see a Canadian team stick with it and knock off Argentina. Granted, it probably would have been better to not be playing the U.S., but hey, you never know what might happen in a game between two teams of teenagers. Beating Argentina, having been in every game, those are triumphs nonetheless. Don't be cynical about this. That would be kind of Canadian.

Related:
Composed Canada move through (FIBA.com)

Hoops: Mini-March Madness for Canadians

It sounds like a made-for-TV event, but Toronto-area ballers Cory Joseph and Tristan Thompson are part of a national championship U.S. high school basketball team.

Joseph and Thompson, each made some key baskets today to help the Findlay College Prep Pilots beat Oak Hill (Va.) Academy 74-66 to win the inaugural ESPN RISE National High School Invitational. It sounds weird and scary that there actually is a semi-recognized national tournament for high school basketball and that ESPN broadcasts the championship game on the off-day during the Final Four, but what the hey, that's America.

Thompson, as you know, is a 6-foot-9 lefty power forward who is destined for the Texas Longhorns. Joseph is one of the best point guards in his year (he still has another year of high school), but has not signed. The Las Vegas Sun reported last week that it was down to Louisville, Ohio State (meaning he would play against his brother Devoe, who's at Big Ten rival Minnesota), Texas Tech and Texas A & M.

Related:
Pilots beat Oak Hill, 74-66, for ESPN Inv’l title (Las Vegas Sun)

Hoops: Thompson takes game to Vegas

It's an ongoing commitment to keep up to speed with the teenage Canuck ballers who will lead us back to the Olympics one day. (Maybe so, maybe not, but let's at least perish the thought the hoops talent is lacking in Canada.)

Small forward Tristan Thompson is joining a top Las Vegas high school team that currently includes Toronto's Cory Joseph. Ours is not to question how Thompson could go from leaving a school in New Jersey to playing for Findlay Prep in Nevada; when you're on his strata as a player, this is pretty commonplace. His new team might not be done adding Canadian content, according to the Las Vegas Sun:

"Rumors now are also swirling regarding the future addition of sophomore guard Myck Kabongo, who currently plays at St. Benedict's and committed to Texas last month. He's also a childhood pal of Thompson and Joseph."

Again, it is something to be mindful of if you care about Canada's contributions to a game one of our own invented.

(Glove tap for the link to Ryan Wolstat at Courtside.)

Related:
Highly touted junior Thompson headed to Findlay Prep (Las Vegas Sun)

Snark break ...

Roberto Alomar has a girlfriend, named Maripily Rivera. You can all relax now, shame on you for being uncomfortable. How about that Bears game last week? Helluva game, helluva game. Bears got a good team this year.

Don't worry. If you're looking out the window and a falling figure goes shooting past, it's probably just the Montreal Canadiens.

Aussie basketball legend Shane Heal is playing his final pro game Saturday. It means nothing, other than a chance to recall Zander Hollander's summation of Heal's one full season in the NBA, where he shot 26.8%: "Maybe the ball rotates differently in his hemisphere."

You are not alone in thinking the Globe & Mail and TSN are word-flogging the Olympics so badly that everyone will have five-ring fatigue before they even light the flame. Two columns in the same day from Stephen Brunt is more obvious than a three-dollar bill. (Granted, two Brunt columns are better than 200 from a lot of writers.)

Mike Wilner, Sun Media's Steve Simmons, in a brawl to settle it all. It has happen. Wilner noted last night that Simmons' suggession "that a distinction has to be made between (Alex) Rodriguez and (Barry) Bonds because Bonds 'abused' steroids, but Rodriguez only 'used' steroids ... might just be the most ridiculous thing that I have ever read."

And they say newspapers don't know their readers anymore. The Hamilton Spectator notes the Hammer's $94-million contribution to a stadium for the 2015 Pan-Am Games could buy "195 Tim Hortons franchises or 43,300,000 medium coffee and donut combinations."

It is ridiculous when college basketball coaches don't trust a player to stay on the court despite foul trouble.

More great moments in fantasy sports: Manu Ginobili scored 32 points against the Raptors, but missed the game-winning shot with 10 seconds left. The beauty of being a Canadian playing fantasy hoops is you can blame your team's record, if need be, on the TSN2 controversy. Granted, it hasn't hurt the other 11 owners in the Rockhard Fantasy League.

Last but not least: Try to get, "How was your time with the Unabomber?" into conversation at some point today.



This post is worth nothing, but this is worth noting:

• Toronto-area hoops hotshot Cory Joseph (Devoe's brother), who's playing high school ball down in Nevada, scored 20 points last night. He had a better night than fellow Canadian up-and-comer Tristan Thompson, who's been thrown off his New Jersey high school team.
  
• The Score has cancelled The Score In The Morning, the show that was co-hosted by good Kingston lad Adnan Virk and Nikki Reyes.
• Down Goes Brown has some random early 1990s Leafs playoff memories. Guy Hebert would be the goalie for the Pierre Garcon All-Stars (pro athletes with French names who aren't French-Canadian).

Hoops: Canada's Kabongo and Thompson are Superbad

One hope is basketball coverage in Canada will become more cohesive in time.

The Raptors are covered well. Canadian university basketball coverage is getting better, but the media really needs to do a better job highlighting Canuck ballers who have relocated to the U.S. for better competition. Players such as point guard Myck Kabongo and forward Tristan Thompson, whose Newark, N.J., high school team is ranked No. 3 in the U.S. by Maxpreps, get sparse media attention in their home country. The same goes for point guard Cory Joseph (Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Devoe Joseph's brother), whose stock has shot up recently among the experts. They should get more attention, beyond clips on The Score once they get to college. It will come in time.

Kabongo and Thompson, who helped their St. Benedict's Gray Bees beat Lincoln High from Coney Island last week (yes, the school Jesus Shuttlesworth/Ray Allen attended in He Got Game) probably will be on Canadians' radar screens. It might be like how people didn't know that Michael Cera was Canadian when he was on Arrested Development, but after Superbad became a hit, everyone knew Michael Cera was from Brampton, Ontario.

Kabongo, who just turned 16, and Thompson, probably need time. In keeping with their aim of "trying to be the best one-two punch in the world," (Rivals.com), they're both committed to play college basketball at Texas. (Thompson finishes high school in 2010, Kabongo in '11).

Kabongo, as his high school coach, Danny Hurley (brother of Bobby Hurley, the Duke point guard from the early '90s), noted, is very media-friendly.

"You've got to have this extra quality of just being able to get it done and he's got that. He's just a very well-rounded kid. He's a highly intelligent guy. His personality is kind of an infectious thing ... He's the type of college basketball player that you can sell to the public because he actually has some thoughts and expresses himself positively without any of the negative stereotypes."

As a player, Kabongo "needs work on his outside shooting and defense (but) has already drawn comparisons to Steve Nash, the most famous Canadian ballplayer of all time." (Nash plays defence?)

The point is you will be hearing about Kabongo, Thompson and Cory Joseph. It would not necessarily be a shame if they go down to the States and never come back to play for their country, but it's necessary that people become aware of the opportunity they represent for our national hoops profile.

Related:
St. Benedict's has a special pair of players (Rivals High)

Campus corner: Checking in...

A couple hoops links about some Toronto ballers whom you should be getting to know about, because you'll hear from them:

• SLAM Online on Friday had some rave raviews for big man Tristan Thompson, who is slated to begin his college career at Texas in 2010:

  "...it feels pretty good to see him dominate elite talent with his combination of length (despite his slender frame, the class of 2010 prospect hits the boards hard, battles on the inside, finishes with power and blocks shots), quickness (the Texas commit runs the floor like guard and can guard all five positions on the court) and skill (a role player for St. Benedict’s in Jersey last season and the go-to guy on his Grassroots Canada AAU squad, he can handle the rock in perimeter and in transition, see the floor, hit the mid-range J and has a wide array of post moves)."

• Here's a look at the rigamarole that Toronto baller Devoe Joseph has faced getting his credits approved by the NCAA so he could play at the University of Minnesota. It seems bogus that Joseph was subject to such scrutiny when there are players with no desire of an education, who are waved right into college.
• The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has posted a Q&A with point guard Junior Cadougan, who's planning to go to Marquette.

That's three good building blocks for the senior national team, if not for when London 2012 qualifying begins in three years' time, but somewhere down the line. It would be great to not have to type that with your fingers crossed.

Remember the name ... Junior Cadougan

It's a good idea to have a mental list of who would form the core group of that mythical future Canadian hoops squad that will qualify for some future Olympics, and maybe even contend for a medal. It's either that or hold out hope that 38-year-old Steve Nash will give 'er in 2012.

You're probably going to hear more in the years ahead about Point guard Junior Cadougan (pictured), a Toronto lad who's committed to play in the Big East in 2009 at Marquette, Dwyane Wade's old school.

"Last week, he helped lead his team, Grassroots Canada, to the U-17 championship at the prestigious adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas by averaging roughly 23.0 points, 6.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals in eight games.

"Cadougan came up big when it mattered most as well, scoring 22 points to lead Grassroots to an 88-79, double-overtime victory over the Compton Magic on Saturday night." -- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Cadougan's coach with Grassroots Canada, Ro Russell, told the J-S that, "Junior outplayed every point guard that he faced at the tournament, and maybe changed the minds of a lot of scouts who before were kind of saying, 'Well, he's good, but he's not one of the elite point guards in the country.' One guy in his last report specifically mentioned that he messed up in his ranking of Junior -- or his lack of ranking Junior -- and now Junior's separating himself from his peers and really raised his stock dramatically."

With Canada Basketball, typically it isn't a slam dunk that the best players eligible to play for Canada actually want to play for their country. A point guard with Cadougan's potential, well, that's one hell of a catalyst to make those days history.

(The junior women's national team, including Ottawa native Steph MacDonald, won silver at the FIBA Americas championship winning by 20 over Venezuela on Sunday. It's the same result as two years ago -- second to you-know-who -- but try not to be so cynical.

Update: Here's how it's different in the U.S. Tristan Thompson is one of the best basketball players in the Class of 2010 and he's virtually unknown in his own country, but in the States, recruiters are already making projections for 14-year-old Sydney Moss, Randy Moss' daughter. How crazy is that? How crazy is it that Randy Moss -- he's a month younger than me -- has a daughter who's starting high school?)

Related:
Catching up on Cadougan (Todd Rosiak, Golden Eagles Blog, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
Canadians' huge win raises profile for hoops program (USA Today)

Hoserdome: Throwing the book at CIS schools

It's about time someone called out collegiate sports for its excesses.

Not, not the NCAA -- Canadian university sports. Our excesses are those of restraint, modesty, derring-don't and something-for-everyone syndrome.

Since many Canadians keep a handy-dandy mental list of all the horror stories associated with major-college basketball and football in the States that is to be used whenever someone suggests we could or should be more like the NCAA, it's only fair that we should come under the kind of scrutiny, which has come courtesy of B.C. writer Alan Watson.

"The exodus of Canadian athletes south of the border has long annoyed B.C. writer Alan Watson. In his new book, A-Plus in Disconnect: How Canadian Universities Dropped the Ball, Watson tackles some tough questions:

"Why do Canadian athletes often fail to perform at a high level on the world stage? Why is university sport in Canada so little regarded by spectators? Why do our best young athletes head to the U.S.?

" 'The biggest thing we are lacking is scholarships throughout our university system,' Watson said in an interview. 'There is no depth in the system.' "

Watson's self-published tome about "this freak of Canadian nature" (which you can buy here), presuming it's isn't a book-length diatribe, attempts to force some long-standing issues about the CIS on to the frontburner. (Please don't take that as a dig at self-publishing. If Watson failed to find a publisher, even a university press, perhaps that goes to show how little the ivory-tower folk value having a sophisticated dialogue about sports, a topic something people actually care about.)

The article about Watson's book alone draws out a number of our prejudices. You've been there. Someone will argue, or express a wish that Canadian university sports should be more like the NCAA down in the U.S. -- more professional in outlook, more intense rivalries, more media coverage.

The rebuttal almost always evoke those Big-Time College Sports Horror Stories. Someone will launch into the whole litany of American excesses -- the basketball team with the 0% graduation rate, the "the corrupt grassroots basketball system that typically dices up far more players than it benefits" (Yahoo! Sports, Dec. 6, 2007), the head football coach who makes $2 million a year while his players can't accept someone paying for their meal at Applebee's, schools covering up criminal behaviour, current NFL quarterback Matt Leinart having a course schedule consisting entirely of ballroom dancing during his final semester at USC, and so on and so on. (Then there's all those Dec. 27 bowl games between teams with 6-6 and 7-5 records. That's the worst.)

At the same time, Our excesses go unchecked. Offering little for the best and brightest -- unless they're a male hockey player, then they only have to move 500 miles from home at age 16 -- should not be seen as perfectly normal in this country. It's unacceptable that anyone of a rational mind doesn't even raise an eyebrow when a basketball prodigy such as Toronto's Tristan Thompson has to attend high school in the U.S. to use his gifts, while his peers in hockey such as John Tavares and John McFarland get to stay much closer to home and become household names at age 16.The mere likelihood that only a degenerate hoops nut living in Southern Ontario has even heard of Tristan Thompson, even though he stands to be a future NBA multi-millionaire, kind of makes the argument.

The response is to Watson is fraught with an all-too-Canadian anxiety about abandoning the middle ground. We want the big shiny things but, but, but while keeping it in perspective. Of course, if you agree with Watson, you're also ignoring the fact that almost everywhere outside of the U.S. and Canada, professional sports teams pay to raise their future stars instead of co-opting the education system.

(Update: You'd also be ignoring that in many parts of the U.S., educators are having enough trouble keeping high school sports alive.)

One response is to try and have a few Canadian schools join the NCAA for select program. Let UBC and Simon Fraser be in the Pac-10 for baseball, softball and swimming. A women's hockey team playing out of Calgary (where the national team is based) would probably win the NCAA title inside of five years. There's enough top-end basketball talent in the GTA that a team based at a Toronto university could be competitive in the Big East or Big Ten. (Of course, there's the whole issue of whether athletes getting federal funding would be considered pros by the NCAA. This is the same regal body which lets a baseball bonus baby play football, but considers a kid getting a $60 weekly stipend in the OHL a professional.)

A better tomorrow, for this CIS nut, would mean that a basketball team which is used to playing in front of 500 fans on a Saturday night would play in front of 2,000. A football team could count on getting the same crowd each week that it only gets at Homecoming (and in Queen's case, students wouldn't leave at halftime). The CIS website wouldn't be down for an entire weekend, as is the case at this writing. There would be more fans keeping blogs about their teams and more year-round media coverage like the kind Greg Layson in Guelph and Howard Tsumura in Vancouver, among others, offer their readers.

It's moving like molasses in January, but there are stories here and there about a promising high school student-athlete who's getting her/his education paid for in Canada instead of farther away at a NCAA Division 1 school. The day when someone such as Devoe Joseph chooses to go to the University of Toronto instead of the University of Minnesota is not happening, not in my lifetime.

There are other reasons for our sucktacular Olympic performances beyond Canadian schools having been slow to offer scholarships. Douglas Coupland's line about how, "Aliens assessing the national diet would note that, from a biological standpoint, it is imperative that citizens live on concentrated forms of sugar, carbohydrate, fat and salt," might have something to do with why Canada was shut out in the pool four years ago at the Athens Summer Olympics, for instance.

Watson should get credit for attacking our Canadian mindset, this whole belief that sports is foreign to our culture, head-on. His remedy, ironically enough, is to "have Canadians pay a small tax that would go towards providing full athletic scholarships." It's not likely to happen. In Ontario, spending on university education has remained flat for more than 25 years, even though enrolment has doubled. (Even the author admits the hope of that happening is slim and none, and slim has stepped out for a smoke.)

No one should be closed-minded to thinking we could change. Our university sports are light-years removed from the bizarro world of the NCAA, for good or ill. The CIS has its charms, but it's ignorant to lose sight of what this might be doing to our best and brightest.

(Cross-posted to The CIS Blog.)

Related:
Canadian universities stuck with old beliefs, says author (The Canadian Press)