Hoops: Everyone pulling on the same rope

It's probably good to make a note of this now that the national team has been named and it doesn't have a CIS player on it, save for Carleton's Aaron Doornekamp as a reserve.

"One thought under consideration is developing a working relationship between Canada Basketball, NBA Canada (the NBA's Canadian marketing arm, which is operated for the league by the Raptors), Canadian Interuniversity Sport and the likes of equipment makers Nike and adidas to replicate the kind of co-ordinated approach to youth basketball development the NBA, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Association of Atlantic Universities and the shoe companies announced for the United States at the men's college Final Four in March.

" 'This is just a basketball guy talking about a concept,' (Raptors GM Bryan)Colangelo said. "It needs to be worked on, our board and the provinces have to be on the same page, but with the combined resources of the organizations we should be able to make it work and work fabulously.' "

"There are still all sorts of hurdles."
-- Michael Grange, June 20

Collaboration is an overused buzzword, but getting everyone working together rather than protecting their little bailiwicks (as so often happens in soccer) is what it will take to restore Canadian to the modicum of roundball glory it enjoyed under Jack Donohue in the '70s and '80s. One aspect of that era that should be appreciated more is that many of the national team players did stay home to play for their regular teams; that might have helped contribute to their success. It's hard to imagine a day when a hotshot recruit would choose a CIS school over NCAA D-1 with an eye toward playing for Canada at the Olympics, but wouldn't it be nice.
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1 comment:

  1. Jesse Young has been dropped off the roster for the qualifying tournament due to an injury. Aaron Doornkamp will take his place on the roster. So now there is a CIS player on the roster.

    OttawaFan

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