FIBA Americas Championship - Bonner and Magloire Onboard!

[quote="observer"]Good game today against Uruguay. It could have gone either way. Young and Anthony were all over the boards. A couple of bonehead plays by Rautins down the stretch. Still a nice performance by the guys.[/quote]

Poor game IMO,too much standing around and poor shot selection,Canada did not move the ball around as they did in the other games.When Canada moves the ball they are an impressive group to watch BUT aren't talented enough individually to break their man down without the ball movement and screens etc.

Young and Anthony need to get some more touches,both shot well,the guards need to stop forcing shots,too many time they dribbled with no purpose and let the shot clock wind down and allowed defenders to challenge shots because they knew time was running late.Move the ball and move players and you will get a quality shot.

Zone was weak,the defence needs to be changed often to keep teams adjusting,a new look leads to confusion.

Canada will be better next game!!

Father time - agree with your summary... Jermaine in most cases couldn't break the defence... bad shot selection... they should've won this... Uruguay now back in the mix. With the cross over soming, there's tough game ahead... all in all though, this is team of grit - let's ee if they character... I think they do

Bernie

Fols, just correcting the spelling from the previous post:

Father time - agree with your summary... Jermaine in most cases couldn't break the defence... bad shot selection... they should've won this... Uruguay now back in the mix. With the cross over coming, there's tough games ahead... all in all though, this is team of grit - let's see if they character... I think they do

Bernie.

Tough loss but now we are in some trouble.

First the home team who will be rested and primed up to clinch first and an undefeated record. Then the crossover games against the tougher pool.

Disappointing finish, I thought we had them when we were up 5 with a couple minutes left.

Jesse Young was really impressive, Uruguay couldnt handle him inside. A very strong game. He should have got a few more touches in the 4th.

Joel Anthony also looked good, very nice shot-blocker, rebounder, tough guy on the defensive end. He played his role well today.

I would have liked to see more of Olu. His scoring would have helped when we went thru a few cold spots, I thought he was on the bench alot.

I agree with FatherTime, too much 2-3 zone for my liking. Most of those 3s they were knocking down was against our zone. More of the man-to-man, less zone probably would have helped.

And is it me or does Carl English try to force the issue nearly every time he touches the ball? Either a forced shot or a turnover most of the time.

Tough loss.

We were confronted with a very physical opponent... a team that poked, pushed and prodded... and POOF... our immaturity and inexperience came flashing right back.

We didn't stay calm in the midst of chaos.

Boy that was frustrating.

Very frustrating watching Carl dribble aimlessly on many occasions. Very frustrating watching Rautins force/shoot with no conscience of the shot clock or the whereabouts of his teamtes. Very frustrating that they didn't show the patience to get it back inside to Jesse or Joel. Very frustrating that we got suckered on those pump fakes from behind the line. Very frustrating that guys sucked out of taking a charge on at least 5 occasions.

We got sucked into the void... Uruguay dictated the style (not the pace) of the game... and we dropped our drawers.

Clearly we have more talent and skill... but not the mental edge... at least not yet... and hopefully we learn from this loss and that we can gain that mental toughness magically quick.

The good thing is that Puerto Rico's style of play is more similar to ours. Hopefully our guys will be more comfortable playing against PR... cuz clearly we were tight and out of sorts against Uruguay.

That game was pivotal we could not have had a more favourable draw to build momentum. Now we must regain that momentum or this whole thing could go south on us.

There definitely has to be some soul-searching (read English and Rautins)and we need a better plan down the stretch. Otherwise we are in big trouble. A win over PR is a must!

Guard play is going to be key. I think Rautins and English need to let the game come to them. Shot selection has been poor by them throughout the tourney but when your hot, like they were in the first to games...your hot. I also think those two tend to over dribble putting themselves in bad positions to score at times. Oh well...decent game overall but a crucial loss. They need to bet PR...what time is that game by chance fellas?

9 pm on The Score

Should be a lively one with probably a full capacity crowd. Compared to the last few games... there were only scouts and media in the stands.

Ugly...Disappointing...Embarassing!!! 90-70. PR just came with it...they were hot...we were...well...the 3 words I started this off with!

Disgraceful showing we did not belong on the same court as their guys. It was a total humiliation with the crowd calling for their third and fourth stringers to join in the fun.

We will need three wins in the next four games to have a shot, two would not be enough. It is a long-shot at best Dominican, Argentina and Brazil are all tough teams!

Clearly we're just not good enough.

And I'm not referring to skill or ability... it's about playing smart... it's about knowing how to win... it's about mental toughness... it's about maturity (c'mon Jesse Young - flippin the bird - c'mon dude???)

I thought PR played undisciplined and too loosey goosey... if there was more savvy from the coach and players we could've taken advantage of that.

Is it over... not yet... but after yesterday and today... I don't see us getting 2 out of 3 against Brazil, or DR or Arg... heck even Panama is a tough out.

Anyway... I'm off to Erie Pa, for a few days... I'll follow the tourney if I can but will probably read what you guys write to get the scoop.

What a brutal game. The problems identified in the last game with feeding the post and finding the open man recurred. The perimeter defense was awful. Anderson has played so many minutes at the point that he appeared worn down. It was a struggle for them to get into their offense all night. The offensive sets they ran appeared to be few in number and predictable. The referees didn't do them any favours, either. But that wasn't the real issue.

Enjoy your trip Petro.

From what I've seen, it seems that we need to bring in some hunger. We need guys like Famutimi to be more agressive with and without the ball, offensively and defensively. Relying on guys like English and Rautins(streaky shooters)isn't going to cut it. At the point guard position we are to stagnet, trying to run plays to far away from attack zone. We need our point guard to be able to break down defense and create(to either score or pass). The paint...that's a big...well...problem is an understatement. Don't get me wrong, Joel Anthony is solid, but is still maturing and offensively he is not a polished go to guy in the block. The fact that he actually did at least show no fear was a big step but he's shot selection needs work(a lot). Overall, we all knew this could have been the outcome, especially with the group that was chosen to represent us. It will be difficult to win the next 3, but I'm praying for a miracle. With the grassroot of talent we have coming up the pipe, these guys should want to be motivated to at least open some doors for generation next!

Canada did qualify for the Quarter Finals. The two pools merged and the results against the teams that didn't qualify were dropped. Canada is in some trouble (the loss vs. Uruguay hurt) because he need to make the top four to qualify. It will take 3 wins out of 4 games, including games vs. Brazil and Argentina. Maybe the shooting can catch fire and take out an Argentina team that isn't at the top of their game.

It's fair enough to say that the point play is a little stagnant and there isn't a go to guy on the wings? What's the answer? Hopefully, the team is more skilled for FIBA Americas in 2011 so they can qualify for the Olympics.

You know, Canada used to have a coach that ran innovative, fluid sets and understands the FIBA game. He's an assistant for the U.S. team now and from what I've read is a big help in getting them ready for their international opponents. Oh well, maybe we can pick him up again if he ever has a son who can play on the team.