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  1. #1
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    Default Are We About to Embark on a Golden Era for Canadian Players?

    There is a group of players spanning three years right now that may be as good as any country can produce.

    Yesterday's ESPN insider ranked the top 25 freshman players in the NCAA, and Canadians Anthony Bennett and Nick Staukas ranked 1st and 3rd.

    http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-coll...ege-basketball

    Andrew Wiggins is the top rated 'senior' coming out of HS and the sophomore ranks include top players like Myck Kabongo, Kyle Wiltjer, Kevin Pangos etc.

    Add this with some of the other talented pieces in the below list (including several 7 footers) http://www.basketball.ca/files/Canad..._2012_13_1.pdf
    along with all the Canadians drafted to the NBA the last two years and we can finally see a time in the near future where our national team will play up to its potential and challenge for a spot on the podium.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Are We About to Embark on a Golden Era for Canadian Players?

    Olivier Hanlan, ACC freshman of the year.

    Kelly Olynyk, National Player of the Year candidate.

  3. #3
    NBA Legend Jailblazers7's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are We About to Embark on a Golden Era for Canadian Players?

    It will be interesting to see the Team Canada team in the 2016 and 2020 summer Olympics. They might have a real shot at gold.

  4. #4
    College superstar kNicKz's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are We About to Embark on a Golden Era for Canadian Players?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jailblazers7
    They might have a real shot at gold.
    chill

  5. #5
    NBA Legend Jailblazers7's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are We About to Embark on a Golden Era for Canadian Players?

    Quote Originally Posted by kNicKz
    chill
    Gotta see how these guys develop but they should have enough talent to compete with team USA in the future.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Are We About to Embark on a Golden Era for Canadian Players?

    Quote Originally Posted by kNicKz
    chill

    If Andrew Wiggins lives up to his potential he may be the best player in the world in 2020. Anthony Bennett could be a multiple NBA All Star and Tristan Thompson could play center.

    That is your frontline from 2014 onwards. They can in all likelihood matchup against anyone on the planet.

    Add them with a bunch of bigs off the bench (including 7 footers and versatile players like Andrew Nicholson, Trey Lyles and Kelly Olynyk) and the guards in the pipeline (Cory Joseph, Myck Kabongo, Olivier Hanlan, Kevin Pangos, Xavier Rathan Mayes) and the team will likely be cutting a lot of NBA talent.

    Few if any other countries outside of the US will have such a luxury.

  7. #7
    Very good NBA starter chips93's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are We About to Embark on a Golden Era for Canadian Players?

    thompson cant play the 5, and the odds of wiggins and bennet both basically maxing out thier respective potentials is pretty low.

    they could be a solid international team 5 years down the road, but they wont be able to compete with team usa.

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    Good college starter Burgz V2's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are We About to Embark on a Golden Era for Canadian Players?

    Quote Originally Posted by kNicKz
    chill
    Why not? This is the first generation of highly talented Canadian players, what makes you think the next generation won't be much better? These guys have been playing together since they were really young (I know because I've played with Kelly before, also Devoe and Cory) and if you look at an example like Spain, they don't have any NBA calibre players aside from 3 or 4 guys, so I think much has to be said about how team chemistry figures into competitions like this.

  9. #9
    College superstar kNicKz's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are We About to Embark on a Golden Era for Canadian Players?

    because every espn #1 has went on to dominate basketball

    They will be loads better than they are now, but won't touch team USA.

    Saying they will improve a ton is a good prediction, hyping up gold is comical

  10. #10
    NBA Legend Jailblazers7's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are We About to Embark on a Golden Era for Canadian Players?

    Quote Originally Posted by kNicKz
    because every espn #1 has went on to dominate basketball

    They will be loads better than they are now, but won't touch team USA.

    Saying they will improve a ton is a good prediction, hyping up gold is comical
    I said they might have a shot at gold. Not likely in 2016 but 2020 maybe. They've got some legitimate talent beyond Wiggins. 3 ESPN top 50 in this recruiting class, maybe 3 lotto picks this season, some NBA guys, and likely more talent on the way.

    USA has a deeper pool of talent to choose from but Canda (like other countries) will have experience and team chemistry as a national team. Definite potential to be competitive with the US imo.

  11. #11
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    Default Re: Are We About to Embark on a Golden Era for Canadian Players?

    Quote Originally Posted by chips93
    thompson cant play the 5, and the odds of wiggins and bennet both basically maxing out thier respective potentials is pretty low.

    they could be a solid international team 5 years down the road, but they wont be able to compete with team usa.
    First of all he can, Lamar Odom played 5 for long stretches for team USA for crisesake, the international game is not the NBA game. Secondly, the team will be sick with length anyways so your argument is moot.

    Quote Originally Posted by kNicKz
    because every espn #1 has went on to dominate basketball

    They will be loads better than they are now, but won't touch team USA.

    Saying they will improve a ton is a good prediction, hyping up gold is comical
    No not all #1 prospects pan out, but there haven't been too many players with this much potential at this age who weren't American. Canada has arguably the best college freshman and the for sure best high school senior playing now (best prospect of the last decade) so dismissing them like the are the second coming of Kwame Brown is well off the mark.

    Also, the country will be in a position in the future where they are cutting contributing NBA talent in numbers from their national team. Has this ever happen before outside of the USA? I do realize that people like Darko have been cut from their respective national squads, and NBA players have been cut in the past (even Canada has cut both Rick Fox and Sam Dalembert previously) but has a country ever put 12 NBA regulars on the floor and left some at home? Only the US.

    These facts alone mean that Canada will be a contender, and the US has lost before, to a lot of different teams, and your 1992 concept of invincibility died after the 2000 Olympics.

    The depth and talent of the USA will always dwarf the rest of the world in basketball, but the beauty is you only need 5 guys, and if Canada gets the right five guys in the mix (and these guys have played together a lot more and a lot more familiar with each other than some of the last minute strung together all star squads the USA puts out), they will be contending, to think otherwise is to hate.

  12. #12
    College superstar kNicKz's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are We About to Embark on a Golden Era for Canadian Players?

    I stopped reading after you wrote that Wiggins is the best prospect of the last decade. Get off hoopmixtape, people like you said that Shabazz Muhammad would be the next MJ last year I have a concept of invincibility because I said that Canada won't win Gold?


  13. #13
    . Grinder's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are We About to Embark on a Golden Era for Canadian Players?

    I've posted similar thoughts multiple times. Canada has never had as much NBA level talent as it does running through the pipeline right now. Even guys that might not necessarily project well as NBA players have the game to be very good under FIBA rules (Stauskas, Pangos, Heslip,etc.). Obviously Wiggins is the crown jewel and if he turns out to be a superstar like most expect him to, then Canada could potentially be a top 5 team in the world by the Rio Olympics.

    PG - Joseph, Kabongo, Pangos
    SG - English (leading scorer in Spain), Rautins, Stauskas
    SF - Wiggins, K. Joseph, Pierre
    PF - Thompson, Bennett, Nicholson
    C - Olynyk, Anthony, Sacre

    There's also guys like Daniel Mullings, Sim Bhullar, Kyle Wiltjer, Dwight Powell, etc.

  14. #14
    College superstar kNicKz's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are We About to Embark on a Golden Era for Canadian Players?

    Quote Originally Posted by Grinder
    I've posted similar thoughts multiple times. Canada has never had as much NBA level talent as it does running through the pipeline right now. Even guys that might not necessarily project well as NBA players have the game to be very good under FIBA rules (Stauskas, Pangos, Heslip,etc.). Obviously Wiggins is the crown jewel and if he turns out to be a superstar like most expect him to, then Canada could potentially be a top 5 team in the world by the Rio Olympics.

    PG - Joseph, Kabongo, Pangos
    SG - English (leading scorer in Spain), Rautins, Stauskas
    SF - Wiggins, K. Joseph, Pierre
    PF - Thompson, Bennett, Nicholson
    C - Olynyk, Anthony, Sacre

    There's also guys like Daniel Mullings, Sim Bhullar, Kyle Wiltjer, Dwight Powell, etc.
    This is a well informed post



    Gold

  15. #15
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    Default Re: Are We About to Embark on a Golden Era for Canadian Players?

    Quote Originally Posted by kNicKz
    I stopped reading after you wrote that Wiggins is the best prospect of the last decade. Get off hoopmixtape, people like you said that Shabazz Muhammad would be the next MJ last year I have a concept of invincibility because I said that Canada won't win Gold?

    classic troll maneuver, if you read the last line of my OP, you will clearly see it says:

    Quote Originally Posted by Jtotheizzo
    we can finally see a time in the near future where our national team will play up to its potential and challenge for a spot on the podium.
    yet you keep harping on about gold, a construct you created in your mind and decided to throw back in an attempt to spoil the thread with idiocy and emoticons. perhaps you are a second language speaker who has misinterpreted 'golden era' to be a direct correlation to gold medal, rather than the true definition of the expression. But its hardly a stretch for someone of your acumen to be bold and belligerent, all the while being totally clueless.

    You are indeed special, we may look back on this as a golden era for your posting. wink wink

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