Dillon Brooks<\/a>, who scored 20 points on 12 shots in 18 minutes. He had three of Canada\u2019s 15 steals as it pressured a still developing Jamaican program at every turn.<\/p>\n\u201cGetting turnovers and being in transition is one of the highest percentage possessions you can get,\u201d said Brooks.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s not that we stress (getting steals), it\u2019s just being up there pressuring full court, regardless of who you are and trying to make plays on the defensive end, I think that\u2019s what\u2019s stressed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilgeous-Alexander is far from Canada\u2019s only elite NBA talent. There\u2019s an argument that if Canada has a challenge as they build towards the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, it is that they have too much NBA talent, or at least too much concentrated at the guard and wing positions. The Canadians’ guard depth might be as good as any country in the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard was the breakout star of the two-game qualifying window, starting at point guard while Gilgeous-Alexander takes reps off the ball. The Pacers guard scored 40 points across the two games on 17-of-23 shooting while adding eight assists. Nembhard starting at point guard is an arrangement that could become a long-term thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe’s grabbed this opportunity and run with it,\u201d said newly hired senior team head coach Gord Herbert. \u201cAnd he has a great chance to be our starting point guard going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s cousin, will be a fixture as an elite two-way wing. Toronto Raptors wing RJ Barrett didn\u2019t play in either of the two games in Hamilton, but was effective as a small forward for Canada at the World Cup and the Olympics in 2024, while Brooks will likely see extended minutes toggling between both forward positions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But if there is a gap in the Canadian lineup, it\u2019s at centre. While Canada finished a respectable fifth at the Olympics, its tournament finished short of the medal round in part because it couldn\u2019t handle France on the offensive glass in the quarterfinal loss.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The hope is Memphis Grizzlies giant Zach Edey will be a solution to that challenge in 2027 and 2028. The vision of the seven-foot-four, 300-pound big man controlling the paint while various combinations of Canada\u2019s wings and guards spread the floor on the perimeter is fun to contemplate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Edey isn\u2019t available this summer as he recovers from ankle surgery, and even when healthy, it\u2019s unlikely he plays in all situations or more than 20 or so minutes per game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Which means Canada needs to find at least one more quality big, and perhaps two, given Dwight Powell, Kelly Olynyk and Khem Birch \u2014 veterans from the 2024 Olympic team \u2014 will be 37, 37 and 35, respectively, when the Los Angeles Olympics roll around in 2028.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In that context, one of the most interesting players to watch could be Mfiondu Kabengele, the wide-bodied 6-foot-10 centre who will play in the Euro League for Dubai next season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s not one to fill the box score, as the 2019 first-round pick by the Brooklyn Nets made his national team debut in Hamilton and accumulated just eight points and nine rebounds while starting both games. But the Canadians don\u2019t need scoring from their bigs. They need bigs willing and able to do the things that make life easier for the perimeter talent that will do the bulk of the scoring for them and the global level.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sign Kabengele up for that:<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel my presence inside is valuable,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I enjoy the contact. It is a physical game.\u201d<\/p>\n
In both games, the 28-year-old showed his abilities as a solid screen setter with good hands on the catch, quick feet on the roll and a nice feel to make kick out passes to the perimeter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes it a little easier playing with guys like me, Shai, Nickeil, Andrew,\u201d said Brooks. \u201cI feel like (the bigs) played well, they held their own and those guys are professionals too, they put on their hard hats and they\u2019re ready to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
In both games, Kabengele played in lineups where he was the only big man in lineups with four guards or guards and smaller wings, and he enjoyed it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of room out there,\u201d he said. \u201cThese guys are so mobile and they can create a lot of space. So when I\u2019m setting these screens and I\u2019m rolling, there are big gaps and the guys are making great passes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe FIBA game is a little bit different than the NBA game, less spread out, so you got to take advantage of when guys are in the paint and have good position,\u201d said Gilgeous-Alexander. \u201cThen we have guys that are really good around the rim, so it’s only right that we use them to their advantage. It also opens the floor for the rest of the guys when other teams have to worry about us inside, and also like the more you’re around the basket, the more fouls you draw \u2026 it has a domino effect on multiple things, and we try to try to get to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Canadian men\u2019s national team will always go roughly as far as Gilgeous-Alexander and the collection of elite perimeter players it can roll out will take it. And as the Canadians build toward the World Cup and the Olympics, there are jobs available for bigs willing to help them finish what the team\u2019s loaded backout will always be starting.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Oklahoma City Thunder star is an NBA champion and sitting on consecutive MVP awards but still reps…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":785238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44],"class_list":["post-785322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=785322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}