Olympic Qualifying Tournament - CANADA

[okanial]

Something that I wanted to be avoided happened. Cedi Osman was the saver and this never goes well for a long period of time.

I was sure this was going to be a Cedi game. He excels when the competition is lower. I expect an Ersan game against Czechs. He should have the match up and hopefully be in better shape.

[fasoulaki]

Pitino destroyed Greek defense. Playing fast helps the athletic team more than the nonathletic.

[ncjazz]

And it was expected that Ilyasova will need some time to get in rhythm.

Was he injured towards the end of the season with Utah? I know he was not playing, but he was still practicing and shooting I hope. Admittedly, you need to play in real games to be in true bball form though.

[Toruko]

Was he injured towards the end of the season with Utah? I know he was not playing, but he was still practicing and shooting I hope. Admittedly, you need to play in real games to be in true bball form though.

He wasnt injured, just hasnt played for a long time.

[Victorious]

Pitino destroyed Greek defense. Playing fast helps the athletic team more than the nonathletic.

This style of play would make Greece with a deep/full rooster a medal candidate team. You can have good defensive play, but nowadays teams usually shoot their way out of it.

[Toruko]

This style of play would make Greece with a deep/full rooster a medal candidate team. You can have good defensive play, but nowadays teams usually shoot their way out of it.

Even if this is true (I highly doubt it) it doesnt make still sense to run into a jump and run game under these conditions. Greece needed to slow down and played pesky defense as always. With a smarter game the chances for a win werent low.

[mojo13]

Solid write up on the Canada / Greece game from a Canadian writer:

https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2021/06/30/canada-solves-greece-by-changing-their-defensive-scheme/

The shifting to switch defense in the 2nd half solved Canada's defensive issues and I expect we see that more going forward. Also meaning we will see more line ups with 4 guards/wings and Powell.
The question will be if Turkey or Czech (or Greece again) can take advantage of the mismatches in the post. That will likely come down to Andrew Wiggins and Lu Dort defending some giants. I believe in Dort. The Warriors seemed to believe in Wiggins this year - as highlighted by him tasked to guard Lebron in during their play-in game.

[Hepcat]

Solid write up on the Canada / Greece game from a Canadian writer:

https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2021...ensive-scheme/

A good start for Canada. But!!! I still see the problems that have proved fatal for Team Canada in previous tournaments, that being the lack of adequate preparation time as the team waits (and waits) for its NBA stars to commit to that year's effort. Where this lack of preparation becomes evident is not in the offence where the highly skilled players still have their scoring touch, but in team defence. Allowing an opponent to score 91 points in a FIBA game is not good. I would have been much more comfortable with a 67-61 victory. Canada will be in real trouble if it finds itself playing a really strong defensive team that frustrates its scorers.

Coach Nurse has however one more game to instill some concept of team defence among his charges.

I also doubt that Team Greece showed all their cards. If the two teams meet again, I'm sure the Greeks will pull some additional tricks out of their sleeves.

[Victorious]

Even if this is true (I highly doubt it) it doesnt make still sense to run into a jump and run game under these conditions. Greece needed to slow down and played pesky defense as always. With a smarter game the chances for a win werent low.

I don't know buddy. But just by having Giannis hands in the paint would limit Canada from scoring at least 15 points. Not to mention some other bodies we are missing. I don't want to be a drag and focus on the absentees however. I am proud of this team. This whole tournament is a win win for Greece. Kudos for Kavadas, Kaselakis, Katsivelis, Gianopoulos and Co. They are playing well.

As for the game. I didn't want Greece to win the game against Canada. If we beat them nothing would change for Greece. We could still be eliminated by Turkey or the Czechs. And if not, then we would still probably need to beat Canada again. Don't see many chances in beating Canada twice.

[Toruko]

But just by having Giannis hands in the paint would limit Canada from scoring at least 15 points.

This is absolutely correct. My objection was not about beating this bunch of unorganized baller from Canada (I am sorry but calling them a team would insult the others) but your claim to be a medal candidate with a full roster. There is also no objection that Greece would be a solid transition team with Giannis Sloukas and Calathes. Even Papagiannis is a good lob target but Greeks are still Greeks. This is not your basketball identity.

As for the game. I didn't want Greece to win the game against Canada. If we beat them nothing would change for Greece.

I think you are too result oriented. It would have been a great victory for your young guys to start with a win. Even if they lose somewhere what will probably happen sooner or later. I dont expect Turkey to qualify either but a win is a win. This goes for Turks, Greeks and the others.

[Petran]

Just saw the game. Actually what choked us was that Calathes was not 100%. Also Papagiannis cant post a guy 0.5 feet shorter, they were switching him and was beaten several times by relative midgets. Lets see what will happen in the next games. I am really curious to see if Pitino's approach with such a fast tempo, can yield results with Canada if we play again. In the not so distant past, Canada's players would be bleeding if they tried to play this way against us. I believe we will have bigger problems playing against CZ or TR with this approach and honestly, I doubt if Canada can beat CZ as an example. It is an open tourney..

PS In an Aegean Island Vspan and Zisis listen to "Wish you were here"...

[Toruko]

Good offensive flow with so few days of preparation. I think the main change of 2019 is we have much better play making abilities mainly because of Alperen Sengüns court vision. He knows when to pass and when to play one on one. Furk is activated, shots are still falling and we dont have a big pressure on our play makers which is good.

The only thing is to use Yurtseven better who was good at rebounding in the first place and Ilyasova. Satos height hurt us the most so far but we got them in the paint.

[Toruko]

OK, convincing win. We were too deep and we had the better player. I think Vesely hurt them very much in the first half and then when Sato was too tired the game was over. On the negative side there are Osmans shots (man he bricked them worse than Calathes) and we make too easy turnovers. Tuncer is still a ticking time bomb and he cant stay in front of anyone.

On the other hand we could use many of our bigs as effective as possible. Sanlis shots from outside, Sengün in the low post, Yurtseven did a very good job boxing out and rebounding, Ilyasova made some tough shots. Furk as we expected created some good shots for him as well.

Decision making is still a problem though and we need rim protection in the future. Next season adding Bona and Akay we will have better defense and play making as well as elite rim protection. The team is quite young but i am really happy.

[okanial]

I didn't expect to win like this. Glad to see we don't have to make every game a thriller.

I don't understand why there is a negativity about Osman in the post above. He didn't play like he did against Uruguay but he definetely didn't play bad. He just took the backseat and let Furkan show his game. He went in strong, dished 6 assists and did the necessary things. He is taking some unnecessary 3 pointers but he can make those and he should take those as long as he over do it. 4 3pointers in a game is not much for him and I'd say he is still our best player as a complete package. I'd consider hating on him just for the sake of it any criticism in these 2 games.

Furkan came in strong, didn't force much and showed why he is a legit NBA threat now. Only problem with his game today was he don't create for the others much. But I would like to think he is trying to get a rhythm going so I'll give him a pass on this.

Alperen with 7-7-4 stat line with 2 steals and a block. Maybe the score wasn't there but his defensive energy was so important this game while bench was struggling. If his stock is not rising in drafts right now, I don't know what is wrong with the scouts. Yurtseven also played pretty good. Is Murat Kosova a FB fan? He was criticizing Yurtseven all game and talking how he is inferior to Alperen. He wasn't amaizing but he did a good job with offensive boards. Sertaç was also good with stretching the floor but we can use him more in P&R.

Ersan woke up in the 4th quarter. We can beat Czechs and even maybe Greece without him but he needs to be the Ersan we know against Canada. Glad to see he starts feeling it.

Our back up guards are the problem. Melih played good in both games but he is a shooter he doesn't help with playmaking. Buğrahan had 3 TO in 12 minutes. Doğuş only plays as the defensive guy and don't contribute much else. Weird to see we move away from Berk Uğurlu who I thought was solid last game. And Sehmus has a higher potential than any of these guys but Ene insists on not using him correctly. He will be our main guy when the NBA guys are not there, we should be able to include him to our game plan more often. He is our best guard to drive in and draw fouls or make plays. I don't understand the low amount of minutes for him.

I am scared that my hopes got higher after this game, lets hope we will at least get to the final without any problem.

[Toruko]

There is no hate on Osmans games, he did indeed pretty well but taking those kind of shots is a lack of play making. I would have no problems with Korkmaz or Ilyasova taking those shots (they can do it) instead of Osman. Osman is this what he was playing today, an overall contributor, not a scorer.

I dont think we will have any problems with the Greeks and there are chances to beat these unorganized Canadians too. Dont worry.

P.S. Ugurlu has an injury. Thats the reason why he didnt play.