Grassroots Players CJ & TT; 2K Sports All American Team

Cory Joseph and Tristan (Trey) Thompson continue to hold it down for the Canadian Ballers as they've travelled to Douai, France to compete as part of the 2K Sports All American Team. Accompanied by their AAU Coach, Ro Russell, these GRC(Grassroots Canada) players are playing with other Top 50 nationally ranked players and are definitely holding their own, as they train and play, preparing for this years FIBA U19 World Championships later this summer.

http://www.highschoolhoop.com/the-2k-sports-all-american-team/2009/06/the-2k-sports-preseason-all-american-team-heads-to-france/

Good luck out there guys

where is corey josph ranked i dont see him what number is he?

I can only conclude that it is an oversight he is #6 in the Rivals list (#2 PG) but not shown in the Top 50 by the 2K Sports website.

Clearly he is a Top Ten player in his class.

The USA all-star team is certainly struggling so far in the tournament. They have loses to PRico, Lithuania, and Australia, they play Canada today. Canada has victories over France and PR, and a lose to Australia. TThompson's only started the first game against PR: 18:25 min, 0 pts, 4 rbs, 0 bl; Lith: 15:01 min, 14 pts, 3 rbs, o bl; Australia: 27:40 mins, 16 pts, 5 rbs, 1 bl. CJoseph has no starts, PR 22:02 min, 5 pts, 6 rbs, 4 as; Lith: 20:35 mins, 10 pts, 4 rbs, 4 as; Aust: 20:41 mins, 2 pts, 5 rbs, 5 as.

But who is the Canadian team?

No Cory, No Tristan, no Mo

Looks like a re-united NEDA team - Arop, Olynyk, Gagliardi these are all ex-NEDA.

They are good but is this our best? Is this Greg Francis' doing?

Canada sends a team to the biggest tournament in the World for Juniors and there is nothing in Basketball Canada website about who is on this Junior Men's team or even that we are competing.

This is a major tune-up for the Junior World's in New Zealand!

The 2K Sports team beat Team Canada 92-83 yesterday with Cory Joseph and Tristan Thompsom leading the way. Click on the link below for the full stats.

http://www.tournoi-douai.com/sites/admin/UserFiles/File/CAN_USA_130609.pdf

Everyone should relax, the team listed as "Canada" is not the junior national team, it is in fact NEDA, with a couple of extra invited guys. If you look on the canada basketball website, although they shamefully have very little coverage of this tournament, it is listed on the calendar as a tourny NEDA is participating in. The Junior Men's National team roster has not yet been announced. When it is announced, if it looks suspiciously similar to the NEDA team, we should discuss it then. One does have to wonder if any 'outsider' kids would want to play and try to fit in with the jr. national team if it is basically the already established NEDA team.

It is shameful that the canadian media reported that Tristan and Cory would be playing in this tournament while completely neglecting to mention that NEDA would be there (and they are doing quite well in the tournament). As to Tristan and Cory, they committed to playing with the american all-star team before NEDA asked them if they wanted to play with them as per this article:

[url=http://www.highschoolhoop.com/the-2k-sports-all-american-team/2009/06/the-best-of-both-worlds/#more-1187]http://www.highschoolhoop.com/the-2k-sports-all-american-team/2009/06/the-best-of-both-worlds/#more-1187[/url]

[url]http://www.highschoolhoop.com/the-2k-sports-all-american-team/2009/06/the-best-of-both-worlds/#more-1187[/url][url]http://www.highschoolhoop.com/the-2k-sports-all-american-team/2009/06/the-best-of-both-worlds/#more-1187[/url]

With the 2K Sports Preseason All-American Team playing Canada tomorrow, you may wonder why Toronto natives Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph are playing with the Americans as opposed to their fellow countrymen. With that in mind, I got up with Tristan and Cory to find out.

“This team is the squad from adidas Nations,” says Thompson, speaking about the adidas program that funds AAU teams across the country such as his club Grassroots Canada. “So why not go to France and get exposure from NBA scouts? It’s better than eating cookies and watching Oprah back home.”

“We weren’t approached by the Canadian team until after we had already committed to play with the adidas Nations team,” added Joseph.

For those of you unfamiliar with the adidas Nations program, it is run by Darren “Mats” Matsubara, and works with some of the elite AAU programs in the country. They’ll have workouts in Portland, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New Jersey, etc. with international teams in attendance. With a global approach, adidas Nations is setup on each continent, allowing them to bring players from say, North America, to interact with other players around the world.

In August, everything culminates in Dallas, Texas when Thompson and Joseph will playing with their Canadian team coached by Ro Russell. Coach Russell is in charge of Grassroots Canada, which is an elite AAU program based out of Toronto. Last year, they successfully won the adidas 64 Tournament in Las Vegas to become the first non-American team to do so. For good measure, Thompson was the MVP.

“I fully support what Canada’s national team is doing, and so do our players,” says Russell. “But in terms of getting the best of all worlds - from high school to AAU to international play - these guys are here with other players from the adidas Nations program, not representing the USA.”

While the 2K Sports Preseason All-American Team is simply an all-star team competing against other countries and their national squad, Thompson and Joseph are looking to join the Canadian National Team when they play in New Zealand in the FIBA U19 World Championships a few weeks from now.

Last year, Thompson played with the Canadian National Team in Argentina, helping his country qualify for the Worlds; and two years ago, Joseph played with them in the World Championships in Serbia.

“Those guys are such good kids,” says Greg Francis, head coach of the Canadian National Team. “They’re so good, they make you look like a good coach. Lots of top players have options, and at the end of the day, they end up playing for their country in the key moments. And that moment for us is the World Championships.”

So while Thompson and Joseph aren’t playing with Team Canada just yet, they’re definitely excited to match up against them tomorrow.

The Truth has spoken and I'm just keeping it real....there will be many changes to the official Junior National Team...unfortunately this is our only National program that has a glimmer of hope thx to Greg Francis.

Another detail is that Corey Joseph also won the 3 point contest for the tournament.

oh yes...yet another major accomplishment

[quote="keepingitreal"]The Truth has spoken and I'm just keeping it real....there will be many changes to the official Junior National Team...unfortunately this is our only National program that has a glimmer of hope thx to Greg Francis.[/quote]

I like the Cadet teams chances.

June 10
Australia 83 Lithuania 73

Canada (Junior Men's National Team) 79 France 71
- Rob Gagliardi (Whitby, Ont.), 24 points (7-of-18 field goals, 7-of-10 free throws), 5 steals
- Kelly Olynyk (Kamloops, B.C.), 21 points (8-of-16 field goals, 5-of-9 threes)
- Ty Nurse (Vancouver), 13 points, 6 assists

Puerto Rico 105 U.S. 90

June 11
Australia 82 Canada 77
- Kelly Olynyk, 16 points (7-of-12 field goals)
- Rob Gagliardi, 16 points (7-of-14 field goals)

Lithuania 113 U.S. 110
France 85 Puerto Rico 84

June 12
Canada 77 Puerto Rico 76
- Kelly Olynyk, 15 points (6-of-10 field goals), 12 rebounds
- Rob Gagliardi, 13 points
- Rob Dewar (Guelph, Ont.), 13 points (7-of-7 free throws)

France 91 Lithuania 80
Australia 79 U.S. 77

June 13
Puerto Rico 58 Lithuania 56

U.S. 92 Canada 83
- Simon Bibeau (St-Bruno, Que.), 14 points (4-of-8 field goals, 3-of-6 threes)
- Rob Gagliardi, 13 points (6-of-15 field goals)

France 68 Australia 65

I agree with Coach Clement...the Cadet team looks promising.....

Canada... specifically NEDA... won the tournament... with the help of US beating France in the final game of the tourney.

Congrats to the boys... nice boost of confidence going into the World's in New Zealand.

I am happy for this group of players. I hope everyone realizes we will need our best players in uniform to compete in New Zealand.

If we put our best players on the floor for the Worlds without equivocation then I am happy with what has been done here. It definitely broadens the base. Well done!

The NEDA kids provide the core and we add some additional firepower! I do not question the validity of that approach.

I am a fan of Canadian Basketball but the jury is still out on Canada Basketball!

With the addition of Tristan, Cory and a few others the Junior national team stands a very good chance to medal in new Zealand....They will be facing a different USA team led by Kemba Walker and company....The 2K allstar team was basically a collection of juniors(1991) players all using the tourney as an oppurtunity to shine and not playing team ball...Canada is fortunate to have Greg Francis otherwise that program would be in total chaos like the rest of them...