FIBA Americas 2015 (Mexico)

[Terrorizer]

Excuse me but the reason Team Canada lost yesterday was not due to a lack of NBA hotshots. It was due to not being able to play FIBA ball when the chips were down.

I rarely agree with you but here you've nailed it. In FIBA basketball it doesn't work like a team with bigger percentage of legit NBAers (or big time NBA prospects) would win against a team which severely lacks those players. Even on a different level it's quite obvious. Many teams from Western Africa (Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon and so on) have enough of players with solid NCAA pedigrees and top-level European (or even NBA) experience yet Angola always finds its way into AfroBasket finals due to supreme organization, solid coaching and better team chemistry on- and off-court.

By the way, Scrubb is definitely a good fit for international style and in this very tournament he was really some sort of unsung hero for Canada.

Well, at least, Canada was able to win one thriller out of three in this tournament. Not that Cory Joseph's buzzer-beater really mattered but still, as they say, bronze medal is better than no medal.

[Steadysoul]

I rarely agree with you but here you've nailed it. In FIBA basketball it doesn't work like a team with bigger percentage of legit NBAers (or big time NBA prospects) would win against a team which severely lacks those players. Even on a different level it's quite obvious. Many teams from Western Africa (Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon and so on) have enough of players with solid NCAA pedigrees and top-level European (or even NBA) experience yet Angola always finds its way into AfroBasket finals due to supreme organization, solid coaching and better team chemistry on- and off-court.

By the way, Scrubb is definitely a good fit for international style and in this very tournament he was really some sort of unsung hero for Canada.

Well, at least, Canada was able to win one thriller out of three in this tournament. Not that Cory Joseph's buzzer-beater really mattered but still, as they say, bronze medal is better than no medal.

Too be fair Nigeria use to have mostly players direct form there. 2012 they scrapped the entire team save two or three players and went after players with NCAA experience.

[MZT Skopje]

Venezuela won the americas. But this is a big suprise to me. Venezuela did not look good against Macedonia 3 weeks ago, as they lost against us.

[Hepcat]

My full congratulations to Team Venezuela! Among nobody's favourites heading into the Tournament, they didn't show their full stuff until the playoffs when it really counted. Both Canada and Argentina were then very much surprised by the additional elements the Venezuelans had introduced to their game plans since the group stage. Very well done indeed!

[JGX]

Venezuela won the americas. But this is a big suprise to me. Venezuela did not look good against Macedonia 3 weeks ago, as they lost against us.

They didn't look good all summer, until the last few games--but those were the games that mattered. I wouldn't expect much from them at the Olympics though.

I don't know what to expect from Canada in the future. They are deep in pretty good players, but no real top-level players and quite likely no one who will become one. They might just end up as a poor man's France. On the other hand, they are fortunate to have their players entering their prime at a time when most of the top non-US teams are in decline. The new qualifying system is going to be difficult for them.

[Steadysoul]

They didn't look good all summer, until the last few games--but those were the games that mattered. I wouldn't expect much from them at the Olympics though.

I don't know what to expect from Canada in the future. They are deep in pretty good players, but no real top-level players and quite likely no one who will become one. They might just end up as a poor man's France. On the other hand, they are fortunate to have their players entering their prime at a time when most of the top non-US teams are in decline. The new qualifying system is going to be difficult for them.

Outside of Wiggins its mostly role players. Canada was severely overhyped the last few years and it's not all their fault. A variety of people were ready to crown them the next big thing in FIBA without any real evidence to support it. Will they play in more big events? probably. Will they manage to medal in them? not likely.
But I think again this proves a point that I've been making for years, going all out in every game is a waste. You play close games but you don't go all out for a game in group play that you don't need to advance.

[mojo13]

Outside of Wiggins its mostly role players. Canada was severely overhyped the last few years and it's not all their fault. A variety of people were ready to crown them the next big thing in FIBA without any real evidence to support it. Will they play in more big events? probably. Will they manage to medal in them? not likely.
But I think again this proves a point that I've been making for years, going all out in every game is a waste. You play close games but you don't go all out for a game in group play that you don't need to advance.

Canada went 16-3 for the summer and routinely beat their opponents by 20plus points. The average age of this team is 23. As we see, with youth and inexperience comes the good and the bad.

I watched every single game they played this summer and the game against Venezuela was horrific to watch. Everyone to the man played about as bad as I saw all summer. It all came together at once. Yet they still had many opportunities to blow the game open. However their self inflicted incompetence, dodgy reffing and tremendous luck by their opponent kept the game close to the final shot. That allowed them to be victimized by the ever present Latin American corruption that permeates these third world countries in every aspect, and most sadly sports. If it is close enough, we all know a call like that it's likely to happen. Regardless it was Canada's implosion that put them in that position - poor coaching by Canada and one of their best players hospitalized by food poisoning didn't help. As I said, everything that could go wrong went wrong. As can happen in a single elimination game.

This is still a very, very good team that I think right now can beat anyone outside of the World's three or so elite countries. And they will get better and better.

European teams should be wary in the the pre Olympic qualifiers. I wouldn't want to be in Canada's pool if I was you.

[Hepcat]

...Canada and one of their best players hospitalized by food poisoning didn't help.

Who was actually hospitalized, when and for how long?

[mojo13]

Who was actually hospitalized, when and for how long?

Nik Stauskas was hospitalized for food poisoning the entire day before.
Thus he played very few minutes in that game. We couldn't figure out why the heck Triano was not playing him.
Still don't understand why Wiggins sat for a big portion of the second half.

[mojo13]

Nik Stauskas was hospitalized for food poisoning the entire day before.
Thus he played very few minutes in that game. We couldn't figure out why the heck Triano was not playing him.
Still don't understand why Wiggins sat for a big portion of the second half.

Supposedly Anthony Bennett had food poisoning as well. What the hell? I thought it was an unwritten fiba Americas rules that you don't eat the local food the final week of competition!

[Federoy]

Congrats to Venezuela. I don't think anyone predicted they'd be standing at the top of the podium when it was all said and done. To their credit, they managed to shake off some early training camp issues and peak at the right time. It's no secret that over the last several years Venezuela has poured money into their national program's training budget, sending the team across the globe to train against top flight competition. It looks like all of those preparations finally paid off with a title.

[Federoy]

Canada went 16-3 for the summer and routinely beat their opponents by 20plus points. The average age of this team is 23. As we see, with youth and inexperience comes the good and the bad.

I watched every single game they played this summer and the game against Venezuela was horrific to watch. Everyone to the man played about as bad as I saw all summer. It all came together at once. Yet they still had many opportunities to blow the game open. However their self inflicted incompetence, dodgy reffing and tremendous luck by their opponent kept the game close to the final shot. That allowed them to be victimized by the ever present Latin American corruption that permeates these third world countries in every aspect, and most sadly sports. If it is close enough, we all know a call like that it's likely to happen. Regardless it was Canada's implosion that put them in that position - poor coaching by Canada and one of their best players hospitalized by food poisoning didn't help. As I said, everything that could go wrong went wrong. As can happen in a single elimination game.

This is still a very, very good team that I think right now can beat anyone outside of the World's three or so elite countries. And they will get better and better.

European teams should be wary in the the pre Olympic qualifiers. I wouldn't want to be in Canada's pool if I was you.

I agree with most of what you said. I don't think it's hyperbole to suggest that Canada has more talent now then they've ever had, and with proper cultivation and maturity, this team can easily vault itself into the Top 10 best NTs in the world. Certainly the refereeing can be scrutinized, but that ultimately didn't cost them the game. They just didn't perform well enough to beat a very game Venezuela team that was allowed to play at their pace. There's much to look forward to with this team, and they have as good a shot as anybody to win a qualifying birth next year.

[Arsonist]

I'm all for upsets and cinderella stories but let's be honest here.Canada got robbed big time .You just dont call such a soft foul off the ball at this occasion.If it was a eurobasket game with qualification to Rio on stakes there would be blood.Canadians were very stoic on their reactions all things considered.And yes Canada choked big time and have only themselves to blame for turning what should have been an easy win into a close game but still they didnt deserve to lose on such a call.

I think you're okay here have the wrong picture of the lack they did to Vargas and lack Gregory was called at the right time, very good arbitral decision, deserved victory in Venezuela

Gregory Vargas foul.JPG

[wwwacek]

I loved the 2015 tournament! Very happy for Venezuela!