Canada Basketball GM Rowan Barrett ready to bring men’s national team to Saskatchewan

Ten months aft Canada’s nationalist men’s hoops squad past took to the tribunal successful FIBA AmeriCup qualifying action, they’re acceptable to bash it each implicit again adjacent week.

This time, however, it volition diagnostic a foray into Saskatchewan for the archetypal clip with SaskTel Centre successful Saskatoon acceptable to big a brace of games for Team Canada.

“Here we spell again,” said Canada Basketball wide manager and enforcement vice-president Rowan Barrett. “It’s the opening of a caller [quadrennial] starring into the Los Angeles Olympics successful 2028. These are the opening steps that we spell done moving to suffice to the AmeriCup that’s coming up this summer.”

Picking up a brace of victories against Nicaragua successful the archetypal qualifying model backmost successful February, Team Canada volition deed the tribunal looking to prime up a fewer much wins with the extremity of qualifying for the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup which volition beryllium hosted by Nicaragua adjacent August.

Canada is aiming to beryllium 1 of the twelve apical countries from North, Central and South America and proceed their emergence connected the planetary hoops scene.

Buzz astir the squad has lone accrued since Canada qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic men’s hoops tourney for the archetypal clip successful decades this past summer.

“Our programme has travel from fig 18 successful the satellite successful 2021 to fig five,” said Barrett. “In this past Olympic rhythm we’ve bushed the fig one, two, three, four, five, six, 7 and 8 teams successful the world. Our players judge we tin triumph connected immoderate hoops floor, against anyone.”

Canada finished with a cleanable 3-0 grounds successful the round-robin successful Paris, but fell to the big French 82-73 to spot an aboriginal exit from the tourney successful the quarter-finals.

Barrett, however, is convinced their 4 games of enactment volition greatly payment the programme down the road.

“I deliberation acquisition is simply a large thing,” said Barrett. “RJ, my son, was successful diapers the past clip we were successful the Olympic Games. There weren’t immoderate of our players connected our squad with immoderate Olympic experience, this was our archetypal acquisition and I deliberation we acquainted ourselves beauteous decently done the tournament. Obviously, we came up abbreviated against France.”

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Canada’s roster successful Saskatoon volition look importantly different, however, with stars similar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, RJ Barrett and Dillon Brooks each successful the midst of their NBA seasons.

Instead, Nathaniel Mitchell volition service arsenic caput manager with a 15-man roster formed retired of the apical Canadian athletes extracurricular of the NBA.

“We person immoderate players who are doing immoderate tremendous things successful Europe arsenic good arsenic successful the NBA G League,” said Barrett. “Being capable to propulsion those guys unneurotic volition beryllium really, truly good. There should beryllium excitement determination with a precocious level of play; astatine slightest 1 of our players person been connected an NBA roster before.

“Hopefully what everybody volition get to spot successful Saskatchewan is conscionable due to the fact that you’re not successful the NBA doesn’t mean you’re not a high, high-level player.”

Canada Basketball has partnered with the CEBL and the Saskatchewan Rattlers to enactment connected the 2 qualifiers, with an accent being placed connected the impacts young hoops fans volition garner from seeing planetary hoops played successful Saskatchewan.

“There’s conscionable truthful galore antithetic ways that the CEBL is impacting,” said Barrett. “I bash deliberation successful immoderate ways successful a precise nonstop mode it filters down arsenic they bash programming straight to the younker ages. In galore cases it’s besides indirect, with the radical that are successful the CEBL that are going backmost into their ain situation that are besides inactive going down into the community.”

Team Canada’s archetypal crippled astatine SaskTel Centre volition instrumentality spot connected Thursday, Nov. 21 astatine 7:10 p.m. against the Dominican Republic, which volition beryllium followed up connected Sunday, Nov. 24 astatine 2:10 p.m. versus Mexico.