Team Canada did right keeping Leo!

Should Leo Rautins continue to be the Canadian Men's Basketball team coach?

Leo has not had a very successful record as the National Teams head coach. I think the thing that irked me about his hiring the most was the fact that he had no previous coaching experience and did not have any of the Coaching courses or levels that are required by the Canadian Coaches association and Basketball Canada.

That being said Leo has coached a very young team that has developed and improved during his tenure.

The situation with Samuel Dalembert was certainly unusual and embarrassing, but Rautins has handled it with some level of class.

I think that at this point in time there is little sense in a coaching change as the organization as a whole seems to lack direction. Rautins is certainly an intelligent basketball mind and has been working with Basketball Canada's shoestring budget to try and lift this team.

Basketball Canada does seem to be heading in the right direction by bringing together this new committee to lend advice and possibly raise some funds for the struggling organization. Whether it is anything more than window dressing or a real attempt to push the organization forward remains to be seen, but if Leo is not the best coach for the future then it gives him an opportunity to gracefully leave and be added to that committee. At the very least he knows all the weaknesses of the organization as well as anyone.

College playoffs

I think that in Canadian college and university should have all of their teams qualify for the post season conference tournaments!

Currently only the top six or eight teams in each Canadian conference or league make it to the championship tournaments. I don't think that this format promotes what college basketball is about. Student athletes should be allowed to get the most out their season and represent their school and sport in a positive way while having the opportunity to participate in league championships.

Embarrassing for Canadian basketball that NCAA conferences such as the ACC and Big East include all of their teams in the conference tournaments. If the big NCAA feels that it can allow all it's players to enjoy being part of a school team in the post season then why can't Canadian schools?

The CIS and CCAA should put the student/athlete experience first and allow all league/conference teams to participate in the post season championship tournaments!

Triano is the Raptors Head Coach

Suddenly Jay Triano is the first Canadian Head Coach in the NBA. This is a proud moment for Canadian basketball. Triano came up through the Canadian system as both a player and a coach. He played and coached at Simon Fraser University and then went on to play for and then coach the Canadian national team.

It seems crazy that although he never came through any part of the USA basketball system he was named an assistant coach on the Raptors, then an assitant coach of USA basketball, and now the first Canadian NBA head coach.

I think I'm proudest about this because he achieved this dream coaching job while coming through the Canadian system that I am currently working my way through. It opens some young coaches to the dream that they might coach at his high level one day.

Congratulations Coach Triano!

Basketball in the great white north

So here I am a basketball guy in Canada.
Our national basketball program is a complete joke up here now. After a respectable showing in the 2000 Olympics, which I think was the Steve Nash breakthrough, our teams have shown very poorly since.

What do I think needs to be done?

I think Basketball Canada should choose a new leader to get our program on the right track. Under the recent leadership we have gotten nowhere and I think regressed. Meanwhile USA Basketball brought in Jerry Colangelo and under his leadership have returned their program to best in the world with what looks like a bright future.

Is there someone available? I don't know who they can get, but we need someone with a plan and the means to make it happen.

Canuckhoops Basketball Begins!

So what is this? Well Canuckhoops is my blog on Canadian basketball. I'm gonna lay out my opinion on basketball and see if anyone is interested in sharing theirs.

I have done this as a website before and may eventually move back to that, but this is the start.

Almost ready

Hopefully have something ready for this blog soon.