With the increasing number of international competitions in soccer, rugby, basketball and cricket, no national team can be successful without depth.
Duke rookie sensation R.J. Barrett and NBA players Kelly Olynyk, Cory Joseph, Dwight Powell and Dillon Brooks have staked sa国际传媒 to a 7-1 record in the second round of Americas qualifying for the 2019 FIBA men鈥檚 basketball World Cup in China.
They, however, will not be available for the next qualifying games when sa国际传媒 plays Venezuela in Caracas on Friday and Brazil in Sao Paulo on Dec. 3.
Among those named to the Canadian roster in their stead is Conor Morgan of Victoria. The six-foot-nine former Mount Douglas Secondary Rams star is as handy in the key as he is on the perimeter and helped lead sa国际传媒 to the silver medal in April at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. The two-time sa国际传媒 West MVP plays pro for Divina Seguros Joventut of the Spanish Premiership, considered the best league in the world outside the NBA.
鈥淚鈥檝e put on the Maple Leaf a couple of times now and you don鈥檛 do that for money, you do that for pride in playing for your country,鈥� said Morgan, before departing for Spain in August.
Also named to the Canadian roster from the Spanish league is six-foot-10 Kyle Wiltjer, an NCAA champion with the Kentucky Wildcats and later a Gonzaga star, and the son of Olympian and former Parkland Secondary and University of Victoria hoops great Greg Wiltjer.
European pros and former Carleton Ravens stars Phil and Thomas Scrubb are also named. Players selected from other European Premiership pro leagues include Brady Heslip of Burlington, Ont., and Aaron Best of Scarborough, Ont., both from Germany鈥檚 league, Dyshawn Pierre of Whitby, Ont., from the Italian league and Xavier Rathan-Mayes of Markham, Ont., from the Greek league. Also on the roster is former NBA player Joel Anthony of Montreal, who now plays pro in Argentina.
With Jay Triano the lead assistant coach of the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA, Roy Rana steps in as Canadian head coach for the two qualifiers.
鈥淎s we continue to advance towards our goal of qualifying for the FIBA World Cup in 2019, we are enormously proud that so many athletes have stepped up and are committed to serving the cause and our country,鈥� said Rana, in a statement.
鈥淲e are developing a culture of sacrifice and this group embodies the spirit of giving unconditionally to something that is greater than themselves,鈥� said Rana.
All national teams will be without their NBA players until next spring.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a lot of good players in this country,鈥� Triano said. sa国际传媒, led by its NBA players and Barrett, played two exhibition games in June against China at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria and Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
鈥淭here are four [World Cup] qualifying windows. Some players are available for some and some guys are unavailable for others. Our depth is why we are strong and a contender. The depth in our country is our advantage.鈥�
sa国际传媒 and Venezuela co-lead their second-round Americas pool at 7-1 with Brazil at 6-2, Dominican Republic 5-3, U.S. Virgin Islands 2-6 and Chile 1-7. There are two Americas pools in this second round with the three-top teams from each pool, and the best fourth place team between the two pools, being the seven Americas teams which will qualify for the 32-nation 2019 FIBA World Cup from Aug. 31 to Sept. 15 in China.
The top-seven finishers in the World Cup will be the first wave of qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
