General Discussion on CMNT

[EJsens1]

27 minutes ago, narduch said:

Nations League info:

 

Wasn’t the plan to have games in September initially? I wonder if there is still a window then for us to schedule friendlies against others 

[Bison44]

Cavallini with 28min, OUCH!!!  I sure hope he gets things on track this season in MLS.  

[theaub]

8 minutes ago, EJsens1 said:

Wasn’t the plan to have games in September initially? I wonder if there is still a window then for us to schedule friendlies against others 

Yes, the original plan was to have the finals in the March window.

This is good news for us and should allow us to have a European camp in September.  I would also not be surprised if CONCACAF sets it up so the 'Pot A' teams only play twice in the June window, so we can have a couple more friendlies in that window as well.

[Obinna]

36 minutes ago, narduch said:

Nations League info:

 

Looking forward to seeing Suriname and Curacao in League A, as both are on the rise and have the potential to strengthen with Dutch recruits.

Jamaica, for all their struggles, are still a competitive team that were not in League A last edition. Will be interesting to see who from their diaspora continue to show up.

I hope Martinique go down, as well as Grenada. With Haiti and Guatemala getting promoted. Those are probably the two strongest teams in League B.

[Vancouver Fan]

9 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

Cavallini with 28min, OUCH!!!  I sure hope he gets things on track this season in MLS.  

Yeah, he seems to have gotten himself in good physical shape. I think he'll rebound back in MLS this season. He hasn't had a lot go his way recently. He has to stop trying to force things. He seems tightly wound up at times.  A lot of it is between the ears. 

[Free kick]

1 hour ago, Stryker911 said:

Updated stats for our players so far in the Ocho.

Player	Team	Age	Starts	Sub Appearance	Unused Sub	Minutes	Goals	Assits
Alistair Johnston	Montreal	23	9	2		837
								2

if a time machine existed and I could go back in time 1-2 years and post here that: "I predict Canada will qualify for the WC by finishing first in the hex/ocho and that Alistair Johnston will play the most minute for Canada",  I wonder what kind of reaction that would get.  🙂

Edited February 3, 2022 by Free kick

[RS]

1 hour ago, Stryker911 said:

Tajon Buchanan New England

Should say Club Brugge now.

[Cblake]

 

[CanadaFan123]

2 hours ago, Bison44 said:

Cavallini with 28min, OUCH!!!  I sure hope he gets things on track this season in MLS.  

He caught Covid and couldn’t play the last two matches. For all we know Herdman intended to start him. 

Edited February 3, 2022 by CanadaFan123

[El Diego]

Nick Nurse, coach of the Toronto Raptors (and Canadian men's national basketball team) musing on what he can learn from the Canadian men's national soccer team

 

[VinceA]

Vancouver doing what Vancouver does best by trading for an American player who will take potential minutes away from a Canadian.

 

[EJsens1]

2 hours ago, El Diego said:

Nick Nurse, coach of the Toronto Raptors (and Canadian men's national basketball team) musing on what he can learn from the Canadian men's national soccer team

 

We should be the second best basketball nation in the world, no question.  Guys just don’t buy in.  Hopefully Nurse can get a core to commit leading to the ‘24 games in Paris 

[PiedPilko]

3 hours ago, VinceA said:

Vancouver doing what Vancouver does best by trading for an American player who will take potential minutes away from a Canadian.

 

At least he'll get to play with Jay Herdman!

[Unnamed Trialist]

9 hours ago, EJsens1 said:

We should be the second best basketball nation in the world, no question.  Guys just don’t buy in.  Hopefully Nurse can get a core to commit leading to the ‘24 games in Paris 

Okay, way off topic, but you started it: why should Canada be the 2nd best basketball nation in the world?

Saying that just ignores decades of basketball reality entirely. Canada has never been amongst even the top 8, never been a regular quarter finalist in any Olympics or World Championship. It is not even clear we've had top players, or at least not clearly better than other nations. You are just assuming the NBA stream is the only stream and that Canadians should benefit from it, when in fact the former Soviet Union, now fragmented with Lithuania leading, the former Yugoslavia, with Serbs and Croats, Spain, Italy, Argentina, all develop players without relying on NCAA or proximity to the States.

So far having Nurse as our national coach has meant little to nothing, bad choice IMO.

Do we have a useless programme and poor management? Well not unlike the CSA with soccer until maybe last year....

Edited February 4, 2022 by Unnamed Trialist

[Sal333]

12 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Okay, way off topic, but you started it: why should Canada be the 2nd best basketball nation in the world?

Saying that just ignores decades of basketball reality entirely. Canada has never been amongst even the top 8, never been a regular quarter finalist in any Olympics or World Championship. It is not even clear we've had top players, or at least not clearly better than other nations. You are just assuming the NBA stream is the only stream and that Canadians should benefit from it, when in fact the former Soviet Union, now fragmented with Lithuania leading, the former Yugoslavia, with Serbs and Croats, Spain, Italy, Argentina, all develop players without relying on NCAA or proximity to the States.

So far having Nurse as our national coach has meant little to nothing, bad choice IMO.

Do we have a useless programme and poor management? Well not unlike the CSA with soccer until maybe last year....

Well, one indication is that Canada has the 2nd highest number of players in the NBA - the best league in the world.

[Unnamed Trialist]

16 minutes ago, Sal333 said:

Well, one indication is that Canada has the 2nd highest number of players in the NBA - the best league in the world.

But we are talking about national teams, right?

National teams from other nations have taken golds, silvers and bronzes for 80 years without having a majority of NBA players on their rosters. Way back, often with none at all, in the last 40 years since restrictions were lifted, maybe 3-4 of the 10 regular players. Argentina won the Olympics in 2004 with 3 NBAers, Ginóbili, Nocioni and Delfino, the rest played in Spain or Italy. 

Going on memory, Spain won the last world championship in 2019 with only 3 NBAers, Marc Gasol, Rubio and Hernangómez (or maybe both brothers were in the NBA?).

I could keep listing medal-winning teams and it'd repeat over and over again. You don't need all NBAers to medal. Argentina even had players in Argentine clubs back then, in what was something like the 12th best league in the world.

These are simplistic ways of understanding sports. Since Canada has never won an Olympics or World Championship medal (maybe way back when the Olympics?), there is no reason to think having NBA players is an automatic formula when it has never been for any other team other than the US.

Edited February 4, 2022 by Unnamed Trialist

[theaub]

Agreed UT, think there's a lot of blindness here to the fact that there are many NBA-calibre players in Europe, just that its a lot more sensical to play near home, in EuroLeague and be a starter on a good salary instead of scrapping for rotation minutes in the NBA.  Not to mention the differences in FIBA rules that would naturally benefit players who have played with them their entire lives.

That being said, with the amount of legitimate NBA talent in Canada now its a fair argument to say they're the second most talented team in the world.  Nothing short of an embarrassment that they didn't make the Olympics, but of course for numerous reasons its far more difficult to get full buy-in for basketball.

[TGAA_Star]

Just the thought, the idea of Atiba wearing that captain's armband and playing at a World Cup...it is just bringing tears to my eyes right now especially knowing it is about to happen. But also to be able to watch our guys at home on my TV set and watch our players in the tunnel walking out to that FIFA anthem and walking out on to that field and then our anthem of O Canada being played at a World Cup...like November can't come soon enough for me.

[narduch]

10 hours ago, EJsens1 said:

We should be the second best basketball nation in the world, no question.  Guys just don’t buy in.  Hopefully Nurse can get a core to commit leading to the ‘24 games in Paris 

This makes me think of the USMNT fan argument that they should be better than Canada because of all their players playing in top 5 leagues.

[Unnamed Trialist]

23 minutes ago, theaub said:

Agreed UT, think there's a lot of blindness here to the fact that there are many NBA-calibre players in Europe, just that its a lot more sensical to play near home, in EuroLeague and be a starter on a good salary instead of scrapping for rotation minutes in the NBA.  Not to mention the differences in FIBA rules that would naturally benefit players who have played with them their entire lives.

That being said, with the amount of legitimate NBA talent in Canada now its a fair argument to say they're the second most talented team in the world.  Nothing short of an embarrassment that they didn't make the Olympics, but of course for numerous reasons its far more difficult to get full buy-in for basketball.

Thing is, it has been going on for decades, with odd exceptions, so the whole NBA thing just pisses me off. It is not the point. The point is that in Canada we don't care about the national basketball team, we don't deserve to even talk about such nonsense since it has been consistently squandered.

In any case, even with the Gasols retired, put out Ibaka, Rubio, Mirotic plus the other players starring in Euroleague and Canada is still not better than Spain. 

What bugs me is this sitting in awe about our talent, when if you'd maybe ask some of the better Canadians playing Euroleague they'd maybe be more committed and give you just as good results (I watched Kevin Pangos for many years at Barça and of course no one in Canada thinks he's worth squat, but a Pangos could help you get you a medal if you had half an idea). 

Edited February 4, 2022 by Unnamed Trialist

[TGAA_Star]

But as soon as we qualify officially, everyone's focus is going to be on the Draw in April

[EJsens1]

1 hour ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Okay, way off topic, but you started it: why should Canada be the 2nd best basketball nation in the world?

Saying that just ignores decades of basketball reality entirely. Canada has never been amongst even the top 8, never been a regular quarter finalist in any Olympics or World Championship. It is not even clear we've had top players, or at least not clearly better than other nations. You are just assuming the NBA stream is the only stream and that Canadians should benefit from it, when in fact the former Soviet Union, now fragmented with Lithuania leading, the former Yugoslavia, with Serbs and Croats, Spain, Italy, Argentina, all develop players without relying on NCAA or proximity to the States.

So far having Nurse as our national coach has meant little to nothing, bad choice IMO.

Do we have a useless programme and poor management? Well not unlike the CSA with soccer until maybe last year....

I read all your comments on this and I agree with most of it. I understand the dynamic between international ball and the NBA is much different.  Many of the players over seas practice and train together on a regular basis, in fact many play on the same teams.  Canada just shows up a couple weeks before, throws everyone together and we all expect them to win.  Of course that’s not how it works. We don’t have the extreme talent of the Americans. I do think with the talent we have, we should be better, not are better.  I think we should be second best.  That’s just my opinion, doesn’t mean it’s the be all, end all.

As I said above, we need a buy in heading to Paris for 2024. Nick Nurse has already said the expectation is to train every off season with the same guys and if they don’t commit now, they won’t be included heading into Paris, which is the right call. I know you say you’re not impressed with the choice of Nurse, but let’s give him a shot in this upcoming Olympic cycle.  What would be happening now if we had gassed Herdman after the Haiti debacle? I think it’s a little soon to pass on Nurse after last June.  People can learn and adjust.

The part I really disagree with though is having the Kevin Pangos types being featured.  He was a fantastic player at Gonzaga and has carved out a great career in Europe until landing with the Cavs.  He’s barely seeing the floor.  I hope he puts the work in and becomes a really good player in the NBA.  We need the Murray’, SGA, Wiggins, Barrett, the list goes on leading, this program to reach its heights.  Not the Pangos, Melvin Ejim, Scrubb brothers.  It’s not meant to disrespect them and what they have brought to the program, as they’ve answered the bell many times knowing they’ll be discarded for the NBA players, but that’s my belief, but I appreciate your point of view.

[Approve My Account Pls]

On another note, thoughts? 😂

 

[Sal333]

7 minutes ago, Approve My Account Pls said:

On another note, thoughts? 😂

 

Let me preface what I'm gonna say with I'm an old white fart with an Italian heritage.

I don't agree with that choice of music. It's not representative of the players on that team. Let the players with their multicultural & multi-ethnic BG choose the song. Also, I'm not a big fan of Celine.

 

[theaub]

25 minutes ago, Approve My Account Pls said:

On another note, thoughts? 😂

 

Damn they have found the one thing to make me not want to go to the Jamaica match.