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Canada defeats USA in FIBA U21 Championships...why? because of LEVON KENDALL

Discussion in 'NBA Draft' started by 3814, Aug 12, 2005.

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  1. 3814

    3814 Member

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    Levon Kendall is the next big-time Canadian b-ball player - if you can say that there has been a big time Canadian before him (i'd say Steve Nash, Jamaal Magloire, and arguably Rick Fox can be called big time, at least in Canadian circles).

    Making their first-ever appearance at the U21 World Championship, Canada defeated the United States 93-90 in overtime. The win marked the first time a Canadian men’s team has beaten the United States in a major FIBA competition.

    Canada got out to an early lead on strong shooting in the first quarter, taking a 27-23 advantage after one period of play. Canada continued their strong play in the second quarter, taking away the perimeter game of the United States and outscoring the Americans 19-18 to take a 46-41 halftime lead.

    The United States rallied to begin the third stanza, running the ball and scoring transitional baskets to outscore Canada 23-17 in the period and take a 64-63 lead after three quarters.

    After being down by seven points in the final quarter with three minutes remaining in the game, Canada went on a scoring run capped by Levon Kendall’s game-tying basket with 25 seconds remaining in the match as Canada made up the one-point deficit, outscoring the United States 19-18.

    With the game tied at 82 after regulation time, Canada forced the United States into a frontcourt game in overtime. Canada never trailed in the extra period, outscoring their opponents 11-8.

    “We felt we had to play a hard 40 minutes of perfect basketball to beat the United States,” said Canadian Head Coach Dave Crook. “But in the end, we had to play 45 minutes to earn this tremendous victory. This is a huge win for Canada Basketball and shows the growing commitment of the athletes and personnel to this program. Now we have two games left to see how far we can go!”

    Canada was led by a game-high 40 points from Vancouver native Levon Kendall, who also added a team-high 12 rebounds for the double-double. Vlad Kuljanin (Toronto) added 12 points and Aaron Doornekamp (Odessa, ON) and Majak Kou (Toronto) contributed 10 points apiece to round out Canada’s double figure scorers.

    “This was a great first step to Canadian greatness,” added Kendall.

    The United States was undefeated (5-0) previous to today’s game, and had won the previous FIBA U21 World Championship in 2001. The Americans were led by 16 points from Villanova’s Allan Ray and 14 points from Duke’s J.J. Reddick.

    Canada outrebounded the United States 47 to 35 and out-shot them .472 (35-74) to .378 (31-82).

    http://www.basketball.ca/en/hm/inside.php?sid=1&id=677

    this guy scored more than Allan Ray and JJ Reddick combined! He scored more than Canada's second, third, and fourth top scorers combined...basically - he single handedly carried a sub-par Canadian team over the previously undefeated (in this tournament) American squad.
     
    #1 3814, Aug 12, 2005
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2005
  2. Kam

    Kam Member

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    ...why?


    cause USA SUCKS at intl basketball.

    Us Americans are one on one street ballers. We aren't team oriented people. We don't play for the name on the front of the Jersey, we play for the name on the back of the jersey.

    Those three letters on the front of the jersey don't mean squat. What matters is on the 1st and the 15th of every month.


    man, wtf!. we can't be losing to freaking canada at basketball. I can understand maybe some yugoslavian country. Maybe some team like that, but canada? Canada produces one good ball player, maybe ever, and now they are beating us at freaking basketball? god damn we suck.
     
    #2 Kam, Aug 12, 2005
  3. HOOP-T

    HOOP-T Member

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    Here we go......ugh.
     
    #3 HOOP-T, Aug 13, 2005
  4. Mordo

    Mordo Member

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    #4 Mordo, Aug 14, 2005
  5. jopatmc

    jopatmc Member

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    Right on man. Too much selfishness, not enough selflessness.
     
    #5 jopatmc, Aug 14, 2005
  6. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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    Ahh the whoooosh of irony.
     
    #6 SamFisher, Aug 15, 2005
  7. francis 4 prez

    francis 4 prez Member

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    what? is there anything more selfless than scoring more than like your next 4 teammates combined? i think not.
     
    #7 francis 4 prez, Aug 16, 2005
  8. sydmill

    sydmill Member

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    while I agree that too many players (as in 90 percent) are selfish, the problem with USA basketball is the team itself. it is hard for guys, especially youngsters, to go from being the guy on their team to being a cog in the team. for instance, stephon marbury has been the focal point of every team that he has been on since he was 12 and I can imagine it takes a little more than 2 weeks to go from being the man to being the 6th man. i think that USA basketball should either nut up like they have talked about and get guys to play together for extended periods or just do what they used to do with the mcdonalds championships (send the nba champs).
     
    #8 sydmill, Aug 17, 2005
  9. orbb

    orbb Member

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    is it possible that they are just a better team?
     
    #9 orbb, Aug 21, 2005
  10. MartianMan

    MartianMan Member

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    No .
     
    #10 MartianMan, Aug 21, 2005
  11. orbb

    orbb Member

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    true...what was i thinking :)
     
    #11 orbb, Aug 21, 2005
  12. sime0n

    sime0n Member

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    i don't see how you can possibly send the NBA champs to compete in a foreign basketball competition. if we sent the spurs, they would be missing their starting backcourt, backup pg, back up center. i don't think that team wins anything
     
    #12 sime0n, Aug 22, 2005
  13. Franchise2001

    Franchise2001 Contributing Member

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    They could let the coaching staff choose replacements.

    Subtract Tony Parker
    Add Lebron James

    Subtract Manu Ginobili
    Add Tracy McGrady

    Subtract Rasho Nesterovic
    Add Shaquille O'neal or Amare Stoudamire

    Subtract Beno Udrih
    Add Jason Kidd

    Keep the coaching and keep the system. They don't have to chose all-stars, but essentially they have every American NBA to "draft" from. They also keep a winning mentality and won't need to gel as much as the previous US squads have.
     
    #13 Franchise2001, Aug 22, 2005
  14. JumpMan

    JumpMan Member
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    How many more beat downs does the US have to take before people start accepting that: ONE the US is not as good as they used to be, and TWO the rest of the world is A LOT better than they used to be. No more of this crap that we aren't team oriented and that we should beat EVERYONE by 20 points or more. The rest of the world has caught up, even exceeded the US in some basketball skills with the lone exception of athleticism, and no, that does not win basketball games especially not an international basketball game.

    I also believe that out of every player in the NBA there is probably two or three individual AMERICANS that would dominate an international game, Shaq and Lebron and maybe T-Mac. The first two guys are the only two that can't be contained athletically, while T-Mac has the most complete game in the NBA, the only reason I doubt he would dominate is because KG is the next most complete game and he was on a team that almost lost to Lithuania. We already saw what Tim Duncan could do in international competition and it wasn't pretty, the best player in the NBA couldn't dominate in International Competition.

    It's not all about talent, in talent the US beats the heck out of everyone, but in international competition talent is always beaten by skills and execution down the stretch. Does anyone remember how well Italy was passing and shooting against the US in last Summer's Olympics? That pure skill and execution. Unless the US sends Shaq and Lebron plays more I won't ever consider them the favorites anymore, they're going to have to earn it.

    And the Spurs winning a gold medal? HAHAHA!! Again, what Tim Duncan did at the Olympics was UGLY, and that was with All Stars surrounding him. What's he supposed to do with no skills Bruce Bowen and Nazr Muhomehd? And don't forget, Greg Popovich was sitting on the bench too, congradulating MANU GINOBILI and ARGENTINA.
     
    #14 JumpMan, Aug 22, 2005
  15. Dreamshake

    Dreamshake Member

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    Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.


    Further explaination available to those who require learning in another post IF necessary.
     
    #15 Dreamshake, Aug 24, 2005
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