Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the Canadian Basketball show, your go to spot for the latest news, stories and analysis on Canadian basketball. I'm your host Lee Ban Osmond. I'm coming to you early this week with some special coverage on Canada's BW16America team that is competing in Mexico from June 2 to June 8. Canada Basketball spent this past week at Humber College preparing for the tournament and cutting down the roster to 12 players.
And I got the chance to sit down with Canada's FIBA U16 head coach Chris Chang and chat with him about what we can expect from this team and the hype, the hype around this roster. A lot, a lot of hype. I also chat with one of the top players on the team, Isaiah Hamilton, who has gone viral for dunking on everybody. Really fun to sit down with Isaiah, get to know him on a personal level and talk about his excitement representing Canada for the first time. I want to shout out Canada Basketball for setting up these interviews. This is the type of stuff that I want to be able to do and give you all in depth coverage of every national team. But let me break down how this episode is going to go. I have Wes Brown of the Monday Morning Scout Report joining me on the second segment. We talk in depth about Canada's training camp rosters, players you should know and what he's going to be looking for watching this tournament. A really good chat with west. Somebody's opinion that I value in terms of following these players. He's in the gym constantly watching these guys.
So a side note, me and Wes did this interview before Canada cut down the roster to 12 players. So just keep that in mind while we're chatting. Then after the interview with Wes, I'll bring you the interviews with head coach Chris Chang and Isaiah Hamilton back to back. So get some chicken parm. Enjoy the FIBA U16 breakdown. I'm planning to do the same thing for the women's team. Just need to coordinate timing with Canada Basketball and right now I'm not planning to do an episode recap after this tournament, but who knows? Let me know what you guys think. Reach out to me, let me know if you guys are really dying for that type of coverage.
But I have a lot of good episodes coming up in the future, so I'm not too sure about timing but we can figure it out. But yeah, like I said, a lot of hype, A lot of hype around this team and we'll see over the next week how special this group really is.
Let me name you the 12 players that made this FIBA U16 roster for Canada. I might butcher some names, so don't blame me. Mostly the last names. Some of these names I'm hearing for the first time. Some of these names I do know. But let me go through the 12 players that made the roster. Grady Kapuna, Ranco Rascanin, Liam Medicaro, Jacob Walker, Isaiah Clark, Praise Bedejo, Malik Idbehi, Noah Daker, Kenyon St. Louis, Jordan Fisher, Isaiah Hamilton and Jeremy Go here. That's Canada's FIBA U16 roster.
A lot of names that I'm familiar with and I'm really excited to see how they compete. I think a lot of people are just eager to see how they face against the US if that happens. But Canada is in group B and that group includes Venezuela, Brazil and Puerto Rico. The first game is against Venezuela. The game is at 2:30 Eastern Time. If you're listening to this later, there's games all week, so don't worry. The last time Canada competed in this event they won silver two years ago.
So a lot of hype. A lot of hype. The tournament serves as a qualifier for the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup. So the main goal is just to qualify, just qualify for the World Cup. Just keep that in mind. All right, so if they end up getting destroyed by the US in the finals, man, don't say, don't get too, too, too riled up because it's the World Cup. That's what matters. That's what matters here. But I won't keep you guys long. Enjoy the coverage of Canada's FIBA U16 team.
Welcome back to the Canadian Basketball Show. We're previewing and breaking down Canada's FIBA U16America roster. And I got my guy Wes Brown in the Monday morning scouting report. My guy Wes, how you doing?
[00:04:05] Speaker B: Good, man.
[00:04:06] Speaker C: Good to be here again.
[00:04:07] Speaker A: Again. First time repeated guess.
You know, I value your expertise, your knowledge on players coming up in Canada.
[00:04:14] Speaker B: Appreciate it.
[00:04:16] Speaker A: And the roster training cap roster was just announced recently. Yeah, I think it was 16, 17 guys. Yeah, we're recording this a few days before the actual tournament and I want to get your thoughts on the 17 players and your level of excitement.
[00:04:34] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I'm pretty excited. I think this is your first chance as a scout to see top level competition, to see how they do when they're kind of punched. You know, they have under 15 nationals right here. And for example, a guy like Liam Mitticaro goes and plays last summer, well, he's beating up on guys that probably aren't that ready for the most Part, Right. If you're looking at guys across the country, you know, maybe Ontario, there's more polished guys, but they're still pretty young. So you get a chance to see these top young Canadian prospects against, you know, primarily the Americans, other teams. It's important to see too, but it's a first real chance for all of us to kind of gauge, okay, yeah, they can beat up on the little guy, but can they compete with the top level prospects? So I'm pretty excited to see, you know, there's some really intriguing prospects on the team.
It's always interesting to kind of see who's ready and when, to what degree and who's not, because they're all long term prospects. Right. And they're really young. So, um, But I'm pretty excited to see how they do.
[00:05:35] Speaker A: Yeah, we'll get into some of the names in a bit. Some guys you're excited about.
A lot of hype on social media around this group of talent, this specific roster. Do you believe in it?
[00:05:48] Speaker C: Well, you have to qualify that a little. I mean, do you want to know if I think they can beat the Americans? Probably not.
[00:05:55] Speaker A: Okay. But I don't think, Honestly, I didn't think so either.
[00:05:58] Speaker C: So, yeah, I mean, it would take a special group, I think, to be able to compete. What you notice when you've been doing this long enough, which I have, is the Canadian prospects tend to develop at a later stage. And the American guys come in at U16 and they're physically developed like the boozers when they were playing U16, they were developed, you know, they had like coaped and all these other guys. They're like essentially men already and they just have so many. For every one, you know, long switchable athlete that we have, they have 20 of them.
So it's a process. You have to understand that when you're watching it. And you know, I remember we got killed last time in the final.
You have to take it with a grain of salt. And yeah, it sucks to some degree, but when you're me evaluating players, does it really mean anything? Like, not much really, to be honest.
[00:06:47] Speaker A: Obviously, I'm guessing you chat with scouts, college coaches. How far focused are they in watching this tournament?
[00:06:55] Speaker C: I mean, I think they put stock in it more than you would probably think. But let's be honest, these days it's a transfer game and they're chasing guys. A U16 kid, for the most part, is years away from impacting or being meaningful to an NCAA team, you know, and other than those top few guys, like the top 50 ranked guys and stuff like that.
There's not that many guys that are immediate impact and so they, they are going to watch. I know I have a few teams I deal with that have said that they're going to watch, but those kids are a long ways away. And that's why even for me, I've had to adapt the way I do it where I, I, I used to love going to see grade 9 and grade 10 kids over and over to try to find those hidden gem young players. But do, do they really care about those guys anymore? I mean they're four years out from college and even then they might not be interested. So they're pretty early in the development process.
[00:07:53] Speaker A: That's a good point. Yeah.
I honestly think it'll be closer. Like can I count?
[00:07:58] Speaker C: I hope so.
[00:07:59] Speaker A: What was the score last time? I don't remember.
[00:08:00] Speaker C: It was ugly.
[00:08:01] Speaker A: It was ugly. We can't repeat it.
[00:08:03] Speaker C: I hope, I hope, I hope.
I think that team was particularly good on their end as well.
[00:08:08] Speaker A: I think that was probably the greatest U16 USA has probably ever had. Yeah, maybe so that's why I don't think people should look at it as like, damn, they got like lost by 60 plus.
[00:08:16] Speaker C: Were Peterson and Debance on that team?
[00:08:19] Speaker A: I think that might have been Peterson's last time playing for USA at the age group level. But yeah, you mentioned AJ like that. All those guys are projected top 10 picks next draft.
[00:08:28] Speaker C: Crazy.
[00:08:28] Speaker A: Crazy. Right? And do we have a guy that's projected.
[00:08:32] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:08:32] Speaker A: From playing U16s years ago that's the top 10 pick from coming into next year. No.
[00:08:38] Speaker D: Right.
[00:08:38] Speaker C: I mean Paul Arsu can be that guy down the line, but he's a year younger too.
So actually than those guys, he's two years younger.
[00:08:45] Speaker A: Yeah. So I'm excited for him.
[00:08:48] Speaker C: There's.
[00:08:48] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:08:48] Speaker C: I mean he's a, he's a, you know. And I don't know if there's a guy on this team that's as high of a level prospect as him, but there's a few guys. We'll, we'll talk about them.
[00:08:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
Expectations. Before we get into guys you're very excited about expectations for this team. Is silver just what we should be expecting?
[00:09:04] Speaker C: I mean, look, you go in hopeful, I think you want gold. You think gold until it's taken from you.
I think realistically silver is what you not strive for, but is what you can get and you want to go get that. But it also depends on the American team. But we'll see until we see them play it's so hard. I'm not part of training camp. Right. So until I see them all play and mesh together and stuff like that, it's hard to know.
[00:09:34] Speaker A: Would it be a letdown if they don't at least get silver? I know. Like, what are your thoughts on that? Like, yes. Yeah.
[00:09:39] Speaker C: Any. America's. Canada should win at least silver no matter what.
[00:09:43] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:09:43] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:09:43] Speaker A: Let's get into some names.
Some of the guys that I think a lot of people, I've seen clips on social media. I've seen guys dunking through the roof. I see Elijah Fisher's younger brother. I see some good point guards coming up. Who are some of the names people should know about on this FE16 roster for Canada?
[00:10:02] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, probably the starting guard, Liam Maro, kid from Edmonton actually.
I saw him last year at the under 50 nationals, which was actually in Toronto. He was incredible.
Just has the it factor. Super quick, great with the ball, great footwork. You know, he has like advanced moves that you, you aren't used to seeing. Knows how to protect his finishes and create separation. And he's still this skinny little pipsqueak. I mean, he's. He's probably now like 63 or so, but he's still very skinny and has a lot of ways to go physically.
But his skill set is incredible. He just got offered by Yukon and he's getting a lot of high major interest.
[00:10:46] Speaker A: Oregon too, I saw.
[00:10:47] Speaker C: Yeah, he, he's a guy that like. And I don't try to put this on kids like, because I don't want to overhype it. But there's no limit to like, what I'm looking for is guys with no limit to their upside hear his work ethic is good. So there's no limit to how good he can be.
Few other guys, I mean, Isaiah Hamilton, who's kind of blown up on social media, crazy athlete, above the rim guy, like seems to dunk everything. And you know, with him, I mean, again, I remember at that nationals tournament, like a lot of times there's athletes, but how much can their athleticism impact a game, right. If they're not overly skilled or whatever. And he just makes above the rim plays. Plus he's got a pretty clean looking shot.
[00:11:29] Speaker B: So.
[00:11:29] Speaker C: Yeah, so there's guys like that, yeah, Jordan Fisher, you know, big, strong, tough kind of power forward that can break you down and has a good jumper and that's probably more advanced than most guys at this age. So he can probably impact it. And there's a lot of guys, I mean, that go through the whole roster.
[00:11:46] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:47] Speaker A: What would be your starting lineup? I'm kind of putting you on the spot here.
[00:11:50] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:11:51] Speaker A: And do you think obviously your evaluations are probably different from a lot of other people. Right. Do you feel like the way you see things is like how people are seeing things?
[00:12:02] Speaker C: Not necessarily.
I think it's tough, especially at this age.
Like if it was the under 19 team, I feel a lot more comfortable with my evaluation. But with under 16, you're trying to balance what I always say, player and prospect, player who can help you win today and prospect who has long term upside. Right. They put a guy like Glendon Miller on the under 16 team years ago. He was not ready and I don't think he played at all. But look what he developed into. Right. So you just have to know what those prototypes are and kind of, you know, maybe keep those guys on the roster.
So I, I think I look at it where I'm trying to balance.
I can't leave off a kid that is really, really high upside. But we also need guys who can win today. And I think one of the most important things, at least for these teams, is to have strong guard play. Guys who can break like you're going to deal with some pressure and size against the Americans, guys who can break pressure, guys who are strong with the ball, guys who can make plays under duress. And we probably need two guys like that at all times.
So you asked about my starting five.
Liam would be my starting one, I think.
I think Hamilton would probably be a starter.
I think Fisher would probably be a starter. I think Jeremy Gohier. I'm not sure if it's turns. Gohier, gohier, he's about 7 3, I think.
[00:13:31] Speaker A: Yeah, let's talk about him. Yeah, 7 3. At 14 years old.
[00:13:36] Speaker C: He's really advanced for his age.
I always use Zach Eady as the example because I saw Zach when he was really young and he wasn't very good.
And what made him great was the chip that he had on his shoulder and the work ethic and all that.
But Jeremy is, is pretty coordinated for his age. And I would say for his size, Elite already has touch, already moves pretty well.
You know, he's, he's not nimble in the half court, let's say, but he's fluid, He's a fluid athlete. You know, all of his movements are fluid in his touch.
And I think the upside is through the roof with him.
So for where he's at compared to the past few guys around his size, definitely Ryu and even Zach, Edie, he's ahead of them at this age. Wow.
[00:14:29] Speaker A: Excited, man. When I hear that, I'm like, wow, we got another one, man.
[00:14:34] Speaker C: Hopefully.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:34] Speaker C: I mean, hopefully he's got a real shot, you know, and he's. And he's clued in, like, sometimes, you know, with bigs at this age especially your. Your role is. Is to be a help defender and to protect the rim. And he's engaged, at least from what I've seen. So he's got really, really high upside. Even though if you watch him today, he's far away.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: Yeah, I think you named four. It was Liam, Isaiah, Jordan, Jeremy.
[00:15:00] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, there's a few guys that I think would be up for that last spot.
[00:15:04] Speaker A: How about Kenyon St. Louis? I heard him. I heard about him a lot.
[00:15:07] Speaker C: Kenyon's. Kenyon's a great player. Um, Kenyon, I think here's a bit of the issue.
If you, if you start Liam and Kenyon together, you probably have your two best playmakers on and ball handlers. But what happens when we bring in the bench? And that depends who they're going to. Who they're going to put on the roster. Right? And there's a few guys I like, Craze Bodejo, like a stupid athlete.
Donovan Mitchell, you know, type crazy quick twitch.
[00:15:38] Speaker A: I've seen a baby Ola Depot computer.
[00:15:41] Speaker C: Yeah, Yeah. I mean, you know, he needs some refinement and stuff, but crazy athlete, they just don't find guys like that, you know, and kind of a contrast. Goran Davidovich, who's pretty, like, pretty refined in his skill set, he could be another guy that could come in and help. But if you, if you bring one of those guys off the bench, you might struggle without having a secondary ball handler. So it's really going to be really interesting to see how they balance that. Kenyon, is he one of the top five talents and kind of guys ready, like probably today.
But you also have to have some roster management and figure out how many ball handlers you know, how you can have a secondary guy with also having a primary ball handler coming off the bench.
[00:16:22] Speaker A: Not our issue, though. Chris Chang, you got to figure it out.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: Good luck.
[00:16:27] Speaker A: That's the thing, though, when you mentioned the pressure, man, I'm praying that's all they worked on this entry this entire training camp, because I've watched those U16, U17 games and all USA does full court press, steal the ball, lay up every single time. I think that's how Canada got blown out the last time. So I'm Just praying that they can at least handle the pressure and they have the talent.
[00:16:54] Speaker C: It's. It's about the actual impact. Like, it's not really about talent. Right. It's about. Yeah, okay. Isaiah Hamilton has crazy upside, but when he gets punched against these American guys, is he going to be able to respond?
[00:17:05] Speaker A: Yeah. Do you feel like it's enough time just from like this training camp to do you always feel like it's.
We need more time in terms of like you mentioned, like gang guys kind of take slower to develop. Right. Longer to develop.
Do you feel like the short window doesn't really help them?
[00:17:20] Speaker C: For sure, but I assume the Americans have the same issue.
Their guys are just more physically ready.
But yeah, it would help to get those guys a little bit of chemistry more often. But I assume they're doing what they can given the time constraints and throughout the year, you know, I know they always have their Easter camp. I don't know what else they do really, but it's tough.
[00:17:42] Speaker A: Yeah. Any underrated guys, X factors that you could potentially see making an impact on this Canada roster?
Any guys you like that maybe not getting a lot of love?
[00:17:55] Speaker C: Yeah. You know, one guy that I didn't mention that actually has as high of upside as anyone, maybe even the highest upside on the team is Grady Capoenia, kid from Quebec, 6, 8. But he's kind of like a guard wing.
[00:18:11] Speaker A: That's the first time I've heard of that name.
[00:18:13] Speaker C: Oh, really?
Well, he's. He's out Fort Erie on one of their other teams, one of their younger teams.
And I mean, he's got all the tools, shot making, ball skills, like very comfortable, like has a perimeter mindset.
I think it's going to be tough for a guy like him to be impactful against a team like America where they're physical and more advanced and it can probably push him around. But in terms of his upside, how good he can be, I mean, he's the prototype. I mean, you don't find guys with that level of size, length, shot making and ball skills.
So we, again, we'll kind of see how tough he is, how much he's willing to bang and fight with the Americans. But he's a guy that will be really interesting because you kind of see what they're made of. And again, this is a first chance.
So he's a really high upside guy that can really show up.
[00:19:05] Speaker A: Yeah. I was also going to ask you about the 17 players that were named to this roster. Right. We're recording this obviously a few days before the official roster gets announced, the 12 man roster that they're sending to Mexico, any snubs you see on that 17 roster, that 17 name player roster that you're like, I'm shocked they weren't part of the.
[00:19:30] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:19:30] Speaker A: The roster heading to, to Mexico.
[00:19:33] Speaker C: I don't know if there's any blatant guy right now.
It's. It's hard to. It's hard to know because they're so young and because they haven't grown for the most part. A lot of the guys, right, like a lot of them haven't hit their growth spurt. So that will determine a lot.
But a few guys that come to the top of my mind and even though, well, Mateo Moyce is one of them. I've heard of Brown.
[00:19:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:58] Speaker C: Three level bucket getter. We'll talk talk shit right in your face and drain a bucket. And like on you.
[00:20:04] Speaker A: I love that.
[00:20:04] Speaker C: And you know, really, really skilled. He's small, but his skill set is advanced.
And he's skilled and smart enough to know how to create separation and get his shot off, even probably against the American level guys.
But he's a year younger than the rest, so I understand him not making it. You know, I think maybe his upside's not as high unless he grows as a praise bodejo because praise is such a freak athlete. But I think he's ready to impact a game. And again, it's hard to find those guys that are ready to impact a game today in the under 16s against the top level internationals.
Kingston, Montague, another guy.
[00:20:42] Speaker A: I got a text about that guy and someone hit me up saying, how is he not on this roster? And I was kind of like, yeah, because I'm watching him in the eybl. He's playing, I believe for the Oakland soldiers. Killing it.
And he's not on this roster like doing against top US guys.
[00:20:59] Speaker D: Right.
[00:20:59] Speaker A: What are your thoughts on Kingston?
[00:21:00] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean like he's small, but I mean that's not a, you know, excuse with some of the other guys. I mean, praise is pretty small too. And so is Mateo who I mentioned.
But I think his strength with the ball would really help a team like this.
He's pretty advanced in his kind of shot making and scoring ability. He's strong, he's balanced, he's tough and he's. And he's refined like in his ability to score and create and stuff like that. And I'm not sure that, you know, he's a true point guard, but what he does will translate into this and the more for me, even though you have to include some prospects who are long and athletic and have the tools and maybe aren't ready, you also need to balance that out with some guards who just have it and toughness and are ready to impact a game and fearless.
So it's tough taking all these small guards, but off the top of my head, those are two pretty advanced, talented guys that I think, you know, could have made it.
[00:21:59] Speaker A: Yeah. And if not this year. I've seen guys who did not make the U16 last time. Miles Allard, for instance, I feel like top guy probably in 2026, along with promise. And those guys were nowhere to be found on those rosters. Right.
[00:22:14] Speaker C: Yeah. Promise wasn't a citizen yet, but Miles for sure. And Miles was the best guy on what, the under 18s or something last year. He was fantastic.
[00:22:21] Speaker A: Right. So if you're not on this roster, no worries.
[00:22:25] Speaker C: Like no. Yeah. And that's what I try to tell kids. Like you're still young. Just work on your game. Don't worry about the nonsense or the socials. Just work on your game and. And it'll shine through.
[00:22:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
How many players do you feel like you could see in the NBA from this team? I always want this because we look back, like you mentioned Leonard, we didn't know what he was on U16. I think Shane Sharp was on that team. A lot of guys that just scratching the surface and their potential not even there yet. NBA talent.
How many NBA guys do you feel like we could see from this roster?
[00:23:00] Speaker C: Well, if you're, if you're going over the roster, I mean, how many guys do I think have kind of NBA upside? I mean, I would say Isaiah Hamilton, I would say Grady. I would say Jordan Fisher. If he develops a little, I would say Jeremy go here.
Isaiah Clark has that body, but he's got to get better.
Jacob Walker is a guy we haven't really talked about who's pretty skilled and advanced and has a strong body. Like he's six, seven. He could really shoot it. He could create his own. And he plays pretty tough inside. So he's a nice mix of high upside, but also physically ready.
[00:23:30] Speaker A: I think I've heard about that kid.
[00:23:31] Speaker C: Yeah, I know he's pretty good, but I would say, you know, there's four or five guys that have a shot. Again, you don't know who's going to grow or anything. What are the chances that all those guys pan out? Very slim.
So, you know, if I was going to give a number, how many guys make it One or two?
[00:23:48] Speaker A: One or two, probably, yeah.
What are you most excited about when it comes to this roster? Is it just watching their development, waiting for the U.S. matchup? Like, is there a moment you're most looking forward to?
[00:24:03] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, the US Matchup is always great, but I don't need to see them play the US to get an evaluation of the guys.
For me, I just. I love scouting. I love watching their decision making. I get however many games it is. What is it, let's say three minimum, you know, because there's a. There's a qualifying round, so whatever, it will be four to six games likely to evaluate all the top, you know, the guys that Canada Basketball considers the top under 16 prospects. And, you know, I'm just looking for the guys that have the IT factor, the iq, the high processing. Like, I love natural players, so I get to get all these opportunities.
And at the end of the day, when I write my report, I can write, you know, fully understanding what these players are. And you don't get that many opportunities, especially all on the same team in the same place.
And you get to see who's the alpha dog, you know, how does everyone find their role within it? And if you're usually a star and you need to be a role player here, how do you adapt? Or are you just taking dumb shots outside of the offense? So it's always interesting to see how they mesh, who. Who becomes the lead dog and just how they think over the course of, you know, five or so games.
[00:25:18] Speaker A: Yeah, this is like my first time getting at least watching a ton of these guys at the same time, so it's going to be really. I was actually at provincials too. I watched a few of these guys last summer.
Liam. I didn't even catch Liam play, which I'm, like, shocked about, but he's. He's the guy that you're telling me about. Well, well, Alberto was.
[00:25:35] Speaker C: Again, this is the fun in it, right? Like, you're. You're going to watch every province and going to watch every under 50.
[00:25:40] Speaker A: I'm gonna go watch Ontario, to be honest.
[00:25:42] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:25:42] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:43] Speaker C: And that's what most people do, right. And then you might have missed a kid like Liam who might be better than all of them.
So that, that was really the fun in it. And it's kind of cool, especially to see now how quickly. Usually with Canadian kids, the hype doesn't build up early, other than a few guys here and there that are probably elite athletes. But Liam, you know, he's obviously in a good spot In Iowa there. And he's started to build a name for himself and he's really, really, really good.
[00:26:11] Speaker A: Yeah. Shout out to Liam playing at Iowa Prep. Correct. Right.
[00:26:15] Speaker C: Iowa United.
[00:26:15] Speaker A: Yeah, Iowa United.
I want to ask you just about in the few last few years, it feels like we've had a lull in terms of like, sure fire, like NBA talent. Like, I'm thinking first round guys, like guaranteed. Will Riley obviously is the main guy here, but.
And we're talking about Paul and Sarui too, but like, do you feel like we're kind of falling behind or am I wrong in thinking that the last few years has kind of maybe Covid impacted? I was talking to Philip about that, but I feel like every year we had a guy or like multiple guys. We're still having guys, but I don't know, I can't for sure say, like, this guy is the next guy. I don't know. What's your thoughts on that?
[00:26:57] Speaker C: I think it comes in waves a little bit. I don't think there's a real rhyme or reason to any of that. I think there will consistently be guys.
I think the interesting part, and from what I've seen throughout time, is that you can't predict who the guy will be unless it's a Will Riley or a Shane Sharp. One of these guys that is, you know, Andrew Wiggins, whatever, one of these guys has been an obvious top end talent.
You know, a great example. Jamil Telford is a guy in this year's draft, right? Might not get drafted on his prep team. People would have said he was the third or fourth option.
And so what. What happens is guys go through different routes and develop at different stages and at the end of the day, there's enough talent that when they get used to that American competition, some guys, you know, are able to, you know, up their weight class kind of and get better and improve. Look at what Xavian's done, you know, and so it's. It's really a numbers game. There's so many guys now. Like, yes, I agree. Like, do we know who the next. I mean, I think Osarui is probably a lottery type talent, but do we know who the next guy is? Like, maybe not, but they will reveal themselves and there will be enough guys. Like, no matter what, there's always guys. They just, they get weeded out. They go through weird routes. Like, I've seen every type of way a kid can make the NBA from Canada.
So if that's how you feel like it's fair because there's nothing that's just glaring for the most part. But there are always guys. You would have said that about Shane Sharpe when he was in grade 11, and then two years later he's the number one prospect in America.
[00:28:36] Speaker A: Yeah, so that's a good point.
Where do you feel like we're at in developing talent? Are we in a good place?
[00:28:46] Speaker C: We're in an okay place.
It can get better.
I think one thing I'd like to see more of in general is shooting.
The most important skill that we still are not good at.
And every national team, you know, like Quinton Ethier on The last under 16 team was the shooter this year. I mean, I don't know who's going to make the final roster, but like Noah Dakra, like that's their shooter. There's one guy and that's it.
[00:29:18] Speaker A: Why?
If.
[00:29:21] Speaker C: Look, if. I've never. I've only told this to people privately, but if it were me, I would go around to every gym and say, look, we don't have the size and athleticism of the Americans, but we do have more talent than a lot of these European countries. What we need to do is be the perfect blend. And the only way to do that is shooting. Like the shooting in Canada is poor. Whatever it is, whatever reason, like the shooting is bad.
So we need to stress how important shooting is. And, and if it was me, if you want to make my prep team, if you want to make the provincial team, if you want to make the national team, you have to be able to shoot.
And that is the great equalizer, especially now.
And so I think that's something that has not been stressed because it's crazy how few shooters are coming again.
[00:30:07] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a good point because I'm trying to think of like how many guys are just sure fire shooters coming up.
It's tough. It's tough because like that's, that's the number one thing. When I speak to people, you just mentioned it. Everyone's like, you need to learn how to shoot. Like that's the. Especially in the NBA, like if you can't shoot, you're not going to be able to play at all.
So anybody listening to this? If you have a kid or a young prospect coming up, get a thousand shots up.
[00:30:34] Speaker C: That's it.
[00:30:35] Speaker A: Get a thousand shots up.
[00:30:36] Speaker C: The rest is important. But that's number one shooting.
[00:30:40] Speaker A: How do you feel like this roster compares to the U16 team two years back that Juan Silver? Is it better? Is it worse? What's your thoughts?
[00:30:51] Speaker C: I feel like it's Similar in that there's probably like five or so pretty high upside guys.
I think they're probably a little less ready. You know, a guy like Kamai Samuels, pretty low center of gravity, pretty strong with the ball, good all around game as a rebounder and playmaker and everything, that was really valuable. And I think not having a guy like that, even though Leah, Liam maybe has more upside, Liam physically isn't as ready. And then you had all these long bodies right up front. You had Animali and Akoko and Osirui.
[00:31:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:26] Speaker C: And those three guys are a high upside guys with, you know, the high upside tools. But also we're actually able to impact the game and so I don't think we have the same level of, you know, big dogs up front and maybe we do.
We'll see. You know, with Clark and with Hamilton and with Grady and with Fisher, you know, they're similar kind of bodies and we'll see how good they, how good they are.
[00:31:52] Speaker A: I want to ask you about Fisher. He just committed to Christopher Columbus in Florida.
How similar I've seen people talk about this is he to his brother Elijah Fisher. Do you see it?
[00:32:03] Speaker C: I see certain similarities.
Both of them at this age were advanced physically and could bully their way to the rim and had really good like balance through contact and could body guys and still finish.
Elijah was more of a wing and, and Jordan's more of a four.
I think Jordan's got some touch and jump shot making skills that Elijah didn't have at this age, I think.
And I, I just think Jordan needs to like a lot of these guys improve his skill set. I mean if, if he's done growing, he's gotta improve his perimeter stuff. He's gotta dive. Like what, what Elijah didn't do was just diversify his skill set. Like yeah, you can just bully your weight to the rim, but when there's a 610 guy there, that's a high major athlete protecting the rim, you can't do it anymore. So work on your float game, work on your shot separation, work on your three point shot, your decision making on paint touches, you know, playing off two. All those things that add to the advantage that you can create by getting downhill with your right hand.
So.
So yeah, there are similarities. I think he's a different player, I think he's a different position, but I think he's got pretty high upside.
[00:33:19] Speaker A: Good to know. I just wanted to ask you about that because I keep seeing that online. So I want to wrap up in a bit.
But I want to ask you, how deep is this team? Like, are you looking at like a lot of guys could be playing or would you want a shorter rotation like when you, when you're looking at the guys that made the camp, or do you feel like this is a deep team?
[00:33:39] Speaker C: Yeah, no, I think there's at least 10 guys there that can play.
Again, it's hard to know and there's a unique kind of mix of players here, I think. Where. I'm not really sure who slots in where, and we'll have to see, you know, how their rotation builds out.
But I think there's probably 12. I mean, what do they carry? 13 guys, 12 make it, and maybe 13th is alternate. But I think there's 12 guys that can play for sure.
And I don't think there's like an outlier that, you know, isn't really ready. But how many guys can you really rely on, you know, in a tough, hard nose game, let's say against the Americans? Are there more than five? Are there even five? I'm not really sure. We're, we're going to find out, you know?
[00:34:27] Speaker A: Yeah. One name that surprised me. Malik from Bonn, Germany.
I don't know much about him, I'm guessing. Do you know anything at all? No, no.
[00:34:36] Speaker C: I looked him up. I saw the name, I looked him up. There's always things like that where they find, you know, someone internationally that has some type of Canadian citizenship.
[00:34:44] Speaker A: Like, great. Yeah. You know, we'll see if he makes a roster. Interesting to see how, how he looks if he does.
But. Yeah. What are your, your thoughts? I want to ask you this. A big, I feel like, sentiment that I've been hearing that prep school coach should be coaching the youth level national team. What are your thoughts on that?
[00:35:02] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I think it makes sense. Like I, I think those, that's the age of players that they coach.
So they have reps at talking to kids that age and dealing with kids that age and maybe some of the dumb stuff that they might do.
So I think it makes a lot of sense. I mean, I don't know if, if can't like the, the problem is when you're thinking about high level stuff, okay, maybe Canada basketball is thinking we need university coaches because, you know, they, they're more prepared. Right. A prep coach, I could walk off the street and technically, you know, be a prep coach, but I think the top guys are really good and I think they should at some point. I think that would make a lot of sense to give it a shot because those are the guys that have relationships with those actual kids.
[00:35:53] Speaker A: Good point. I just want to end off with. I want to ask you that. I just want to. Because I feel like it's a sentiment that I've been hearing a lot. So I just want to get your thoughts on it. Last question before I let you leave. What will you be watching for during the Mare Cup?
[00:36:07] Speaker C: I'm going to look for winners, guys who play hard at all times. I mean, I'm going to give you my, like, general scouting spiel. Okay.
The two most important things I look for are, are IQ and motor, who will. Who can make the right decisions and will make the right decisions. Very different things.
Like, if you can process it, great. But can you also will are also willing to do it rather than taking a dumb shot.
And motor, who's going to play hard at all times. I mean, it's going to be interesting to see. You know, Isaiah Hamilton is the same size and level of the guys in America. Is he going to be able to compete with those guys? You know, is Liam going to be able to get to his spots and get by the, you know, top American guards that, you know, are probably the top prospects in the world for their age? Right, Kenyon? Is he going to be able to deal with, again, the size and athleticism of the Americans? Like, he's a skinny kid still, you know, and he's very skilled and stuff, but is he going to be able to get to his spots and create separation and, you know, not get rushed off the dribble and deal with the physicality with the guys on his hip?
Again, you know, Grady, I mean, you could go down the list, and a lot of it just comes down to, like, can you deal with the size and athleticism and physicality of. And whether it's a. You know, I use America as an example. Some of the other countries might have that, too. But of the top players in the world, and this is a first chance to see if, you know, they're made of the right stuff. So maybe we'll have some type of review afterwards to discuss maybe what I saw, but for now, yeah, that's the most interesting part for me.
[00:37:43] Speaker A: FIFA America starting Monday. You'll be hearing this podcast live on Monday. I believe the first game's, like, in the afternoon for Canada. I think it might be facing Columbia. I'll double check, but I want to go quickly through some of the names I see on the US roster. Marcus Spears Jr is a name I've heard a lot about. I think his pops is like a football analyst. Or something like that. Oh yeah, but he another name right here. Eric Dampier Jr.
Eric Dampier, that's a, that's a familiar name. So like a lot of these guys man, we're going to get familiar with. So I'm really excited about is Christian.
[00:38:15] Speaker C: Collins on that team?
[00:38:16] Speaker A: Christian Collins, I do not see his name here.
But yeah, if you need to just search up on USA Basketball if you're looking for the roster for usa but that's who they're going to be competing with. Top guys. Eric Danpierre Jr. Mark Spears Jr. Two names I've heard. So excited to see some of those guys. And my guy Wes. Where can people find you?
[00:38:37] Speaker C: Instagram Monday Scout Twitter Wes Blair Brown and check out our hot brand Monday hoops club mondayhoopsclub.com tap in with Wes.
[00:38:47] Speaker A: Always a pleasure my guy. First repeated guest. Yeah, we'll have you on soon. So yeah and yeah, appreciate you.
[00:38:54] Speaker C: Thank you for having me.
[00:38:59] Speaker B: Foreign.
[00:39:04] Speaker A: Welcome back to the Canadian Basketball Show. I'm joined by Chris Chang, the head coach of Canada's FIBA U16America cup roster. Chris, appreciate you taking the time.
[00:39:13] Speaker B: Appreciate you having me man.
[00:39:14] Speaker A: Set the fly out to Mexico soon.
How you feeling? How's training camp been?
[00:39:22] Speaker B: It's been good. I wish we had more time with these athletes because these athletes are really growing since we started. You know, we had a four day camp.
Every practice these, these kids are just getting better. You know, I look at that first practice that we had and it was so quiet in the gym you could hear like a pin drop.
And I think it was just a lot of nervousness because we haven't made the team yet. Right.
And we were installing a lot. So anytime you install in practice, you know the energy is low because they're trying to comprehend exactly what they need to comprehend and really apply.
But since then, you know, every practice the kids are getting better.
I think once we made the team all the nervousness was out the window and everyone's ready to go.
They knew exactly where they stand and the competition started going up.
So giving credit to these kids, they're really coming along, coming along well. And you know, as coaches we're really excited about coaching this group.
[00:40:19] Speaker A: Second time returning as coach for the FIBA U16 team. Tell me when you got the call to come back and the excitement you had.
[00:40:28] Speaker B: You know, I've been very fortunate for Canada basketball. That really helped me develop in my life not just as a coach and being around. I think this is probably like my 13th, 14th year in serving in different roles And I've learned a long time ago that whenever the red and white call, you say yes.
And I've been doing that now I wouldn't be able to do. I want to make it very clear I would have not able to do it if it wasn't for my wife. Like she's so amazing and allowing me to kind of hold it down with the family and giving me this opportunity. So it's always a privilege and honor. I always get goosebumps and excitement.
Everything's like a first, you know, because it's just so exciting. It's such an honor to represent the red and white, represent your country and being around world class people, you know, any basketball lover, you know, anytime you're around high level basketball, you know, I don't think anyone would train that for the world. So really an honor, really a privilege. I'm excited and I would always say yes. So I want to make sure that I make every moment count.
[00:41:33] Speaker A: You coached the U16 and the U17 last time.
[00:41:35] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:41:36] Speaker A: When was the first time you got the call? Was that for that or was it.
[00:41:39] Speaker B: Prior to that first time to be the head coach call ever to come.
[00:41:43] Speaker A: Be involved with Canada basketball?
[00:41:45] Speaker B: Oh, that first call was actually Rowan and.
Well, I served back in 2005 and 2006 with our junior team. We didn't have a U16, U17 team then.
[00:41:56] Speaker A: That's a while.
[00:41:57] Speaker B: That's a long time ago. Yeah. And rest in peace, Greg. Greg Francis gave me an opportunity to be his team manager and then I started joining Ontario basketball to be with the provincial team program.
Did. Had a lot of success there with a lot of great people, a lot of great athletes who ended up representing our national team. And it wasn't until like Rowan and Steve Nash called me like in 2012 and asked me to be the manager of player youth development, which is a role that Michael Meeks serves now.
And from there it's just been going since 2012.
So I think that was like the first real call that I got in 2012 to kind of be around this new era of Canada basketball with the new leadership with Steve Nash and Rowan Baird at the time, they're obviously Rowan still involved and Steve has taken some capacity and yeah, this kind of been going since and it's been a really, really great ride. And I know selfishly I don't want it to stop.
[00:42:50] Speaker A: Yeah, 12 plus years, that's big.
I want to get into just camp right now. Not a very long training camp for tournaments like these. Right? Yeah, I know you guys do an Easter camp and just get familiar with guys.
How do you go about preparing a young team U16 guys to compete in a tournament like this?
[00:43:10] Speaker B: It's a lot of planning. It's a lot of very detailed planning and you're trying to get it right. So I've always shared this story where, you know, coaching my university team and you have, you know, eight months to kind of figure things out, you know, try things and trial and error. And as the season's coming to a close towards the postseason, you're trying to play your best basketball. So you should, you know, have figured things out right then. So it's a marathon. When you coach a national team and you have a couple of weeks and a couple of days in training camp before you go to competition, it's a sprint. So every step along the way you have to get it right as best as you can.
And there's no.
You don't have a whole lot of time to kind of suss it out. You're like, hey, we're jumping to this two feet in. This is, this is the best plan. If it doesn't work, how do you. Much of an adjustment can we make to make sure we could get this right? So, for example, just the personnel that we have with the team, you look at the training camp roster, you think, okay, who's kind of the guy?
What can they do? You got to really know what they do. And you have to build a relationship with these athletes early before they come here and having those side conversations. And it's like, tell me what you do, tell me what you. And a lot of film watching, of course. And it's like, what's your favorite move? Which hand do you like to go to? I'm having a lot of those conversations with each athlete coming to camp and more so when we're in camp, even more so now that we have the team selected. And it's just trying to put them in right situations to be successful at the same time, develop them as basketball players. We're hoping that development will lead to winning. The winning will lead to development.
So it's really a lot of that where it's detailed planning strategy.
Like I said, it's a sprint and just trying to get it right.
And you're only going to get it right when you have the buy in from the athletes. And the athletes have to be vulnerable enough and also be self aware to who they are and who they aren't. And we're trying to find a balance to help them to who they aren't and really showcase who they are.
[00:45:10] Speaker A: Yeah, obviously, we're recording this on Friday. This episode won't drop till Monday when you guys are out there. So we can talk about the roster itself when you're selecting it, what were you looking for in terms of this? I feel like I've heard a lot of hype around this class. How do you feel about it? I don't know if you've seen it on social media, but what was it like selecting the 12 players? And how excited should we be?
[00:45:33] Speaker B: Really excited.
And I say that because it was so hard and challenging and stressful for me to select this roster because there were so many players that we let go that were so, so deserving, and they'll probably get their opportunity, you know, in the future. And it's happened, you know, everyone's pathway with the national team is nonlinear, where, you know, you may get cut one year and then you make it. You know, you just look at the players who represent us, you know, in the past, even now, like, it wasn't linear.
So this team, this class is very exciting.
There's a lot of length and height and athleticism and skill set in different positions where we didn't have one through five that, like, okay, wow. Like, they could do special things. They could do some really good things as well as the bench.
You know, we're. We're a very deep squad. I don't think. Again, I've been around and shared that already. Like, I can't remember having a team like this where it's very deep and talented, but these kids are really, really good kids.
I'm only talking about coachability, just their personalities. They're really gelling with each other. I think it's because they played against each other. They played together at some point. The provincial team system have something to do with that. So credit to all the PTSOs.
But yeah, it's a really exciting group and we can't wait to get to Mexico and showcase the growth of the game in Canada. This particular class, but also just showcasing just what we've been doing behind the scenes that kind of give us the opportunity to go and compete.
[00:47:13] Speaker A: You talked about how deep it is. I was going to ask you how deep this roster is. Do you see yourself, like, the rotation wise, like, going in, being like, we could play maybe all 12, 10, like, what do you see the rotation looking like?
[00:47:26] Speaker B: 12, man. Yeah, 12 mans.
You know, everyone could go out there and compete. I think what's really good is that any one of these guys could start for us.
So you know what my first team meeting with the group was like, we're going to hold you accountable to, you know, I list a couple things to how we hold you accountable.
It's not going to be in the offensive end, you know, to.
We will hold them accountable there, but it's more in the defensive end. So if you're going to come off the floor, it's because you're not doing this, this and this and this on the defensive end.
We could play anyone, anyone could start.
So it's almost like, okay, respect the person next to you, but also fear them. Like it could take your minutes, you know, so 12, 12 guys. I think we, we definitely want to try to get 12 guys. It's hard in a 40 minute game, but I think we're capable of doing it as everyone buys it into their role and understand, you know, when they're coming off, it's, there's intent and purpose to it and it's not going to be like, oh, I'm coming off because, you know, I didn't do this properly or coaching like me. It's when they come off, they know exactly why they're coming off and when the, the next person comes on, they know exactly what they're coming on and what they're there to do. And we just hope that the guys go there and execute.
[00:48:39] Speaker A: I want to ask you about two players in Pacific. Just get your thoughts. General thoughts. Jeremy Goyer, 7 foot 3, 14 years old. Crazy, crazy. How's he look? Tell me a little about him and how you kind of want to use him.
[00:48:52] Speaker B: As the camp went on, he started to smile more and laugh and he actually told me a joke yesterday and I was like, kind of like, is he really telling me a joke right now? And I started laughing and then he started laughing. I'm like, okay, there's, you know, he's becoming more comfortable beginning. You know, I didn't know what to really expect and it's not my first time seeing him, but it was like, okay, what can he do?
And it wasn't until we got into the game, I'm like, oh man, like there's a lot more. Then I said to him, you know what, you need to practice harder because the way you played in the game, I didn't see that in practice. It's hard to evaluate and hard to trust a player if you don't practice hard. And so I get it. Some guys are not practice players and they're gamers and I really hate that. But it's like I saw him in the game, like, okay, you show me what you can do. Can you please do that in practice? So at least I know what you can do and how I could help you and get you better prepared for the games. But they're all young, you know, they don't really learn that concept until they get older. But this is a great opportunity for them with our national team program to develop and learn that.
[00:49:58] Speaker A: Two quick questions before we wrap up. Isaiah Hamilton. Early thoughts.
[00:50:01] Speaker B: Oh, athlete. My goodness. Hey, I think people see what they need to see, you know, in terms of his game and obviously he's a highlight reel. But what people don't really get opportunity to see is how great of a kid he is and how self aware he is. He wants to learn, he wants to be really good. He's a sponge and he's self aware to, to the things that he doesn't do well. He's like, coach, teach me. He has a very good basketball iq. And I'm. And, and I was like, when we're having these conversations, we're watching film and I'm like asking him questions just to kind of see where he's at. I'm very impressed.
And I want to give him his flowers because he's going to be a great player. Because he wants to be a great player. He's a great teammate. You know, he's extremely coachable and he's professional. He's world class in my end, like in my eyes. So really proud of him. Looking forward to watching his development.
[00:51:00] Speaker A: Last question for you. Expectations.
[00:51:02] Speaker B: Maricop medal.
Like that's always been the expectation. Like obviously we want to qualify. That's the first thing. We want to finish first in our pool, qualify. So I guess finishing first in our pool is first thing. Qualify, reach the podium. We want to win a medal, we want to win the gold. Something that we know this age group hasn't done before. Obviously USA has been dominating this tournament.
[00:51:23] Speaker A: USA is always. I was talking to someone, they said they just develop faster, right? And the Canadians just develop. It takes time. Like you see the Shays mvp, right? But it just takes time, right?
[00:51:32] Speaker B: Yeah. You know what I think when you look at obviously the USA team, you look at that roster and if you look at their upbringings, like some of their parents play professionally, you know, I don't think we're there yet. We will eventually get there, but we're knocking on the door and hopefully we, we actually put two feet in this year.
[00:51:53] Speaker A: Chris, I can't thank you enough for taking time. Good luck in Mexico. We'll be watching.
[00:51:58] Speaker B: And yeah, you know, the support. These kids are going to do great.
[00:52:01] Speaker A: Appreciate you.
[00:52:01] Speaker B: All right, thanks.
Foreign.
[00:52:11] Speaker A: Welcome back to the Canadian Basketball Show. I'm joined by Isaiah Hamilton, one of the 12 players representing Canada at the feeble America Cup. A guy that has gone viral. I've seen probably this guy do every crazy dunk.
Isaiah, how you doing?
[00:52:25] Speaker D: I'm going great. How are you?
[00:52:26] Speaker A: Good, good, good. I appreciate you joining on the podcast. How's Cap been so far? And tell me about how excited you are just for the FIBA U16 tournament.
[00:52:36] Speaker D: I'm super excited. You know, it's an honor to be here. We work hard this camp, so it's been great.
[00:52:43] Speaker A: Tell me about the first time Canada basketball hit you up and was like, we want you part of whatever it is. Like maybe it was a early camp assessment. Tell me what you remember about that.
[00:52:54] Speaker D: It was the Thanksgiving camp this year came down and you know, we had a little three day camp and it was great. I loved the energy in the game.
[00:53:03] Speaker B: Gym.
[00:53:04] Speaker D: In the gym. So. Yeah.
[00:53:05] Speaker A: Yeah. What do you remember about that first time you got the call and I'm guessing first person you told. What was that feeling? Like?
[00:53:12] Speaker D: I felt great. You know, I think I told my parents first and you know, we were super excited. It's obviously like, like I said, it's an honor to be here. So. Yeah, it was great.
[00:53:22] Speaker A: Yeah. What was your reaction when you found out you made this 12 man roster, headed to Mexico?
[00:53:27] Speaker D: Super excited.
You know, the way they did it, you know, they were just talking and I couldn't, I couldn't. I was just smiling the whole time because, you know, a few years ago I wouldn't be in this spot. I wouldn't think if you asked me a few years ago if I, if I was going to be in a spot, I would say no.
So it's an honor. I worked hard. So.
[00:53:46] Speaker A: Yeah, I want to get to know you a little bit, man.
Favorite players you have growing up. Tell me, who's your goat?
[00:53:54] Speaker D: My goat's LeBron.
[00:53:55] Speaker A: Why LeBron?
[00:53:57] Speaker D: It just happened recently.
[00:53:58] Speaker A: Okay, yeah, let me hear this.
[00:54:00] Speaker D: I just like, I started studying him more and started watching his game from like a year ago and I feel like the stuff that he was doing, I feel like Jordan wasn't doing that.
[00:54:08] Speaker B: Really?
[00:54:08] Speaker D: Yeah, I feel like stuff that LeBron was pulling out in games, Jordan was doing and he's just more skillful and stuff.
[00:54:13] Speaker A: Okay, okay. Any favorite players you like watching this year?
[00:54:17] Speaker D: I started watching Shaymore, you know, Canadian guy, he's Great. He's a great player. I love watching the stuff that he tweaks on his game, and I love picking it up and just adding it to my bag and doing that little.
[00:54:27] Speaker A: Stuff in terms of he just won MVP.
First time someone from Canada wanted since 06. Steve Nash, when you saw that, what was your reaction? And I'm guessing for yourself, you're like a guy that from Hamilton could do it. Maybe I could. I can get to that point, right?
[00:54:41] Speaker D: Yeah. I think for everyone in Canada, it was just. It was just like, great. It was a confidence boost for everyone because it doesn't matter where you live. He showed it. It doesn't matter where you live, it doesn't matter where you play, your height, all that. So I feel like he gave people from Canada just like a big confidence boost.
[00:54:56] Speaker A: Yeah. Any comps you have, people compare your game to that, you hear.
[00:55:01] Speaker D: I haven't really got like a player comparison yet, but I, like I said, I try to model my game after Shay. You know, the little stuff that he does. We're around the same size right now, so I just like, walked. I like watching him.
[00:55:11] Speaker A: Give me your scouting report. What's Isaiah Hamilton? If I'm guarding you, like, what do I got to watch for?
[00:55:17] Speaker D: My. My explosiveness? You can. You can stop me when I'm getting to the rim, but I'm going to go back up and I'm gonna. I'm gonna get the bucket. So if. If you want to stop me, that's how. But it would be pretty hard.
[00:55:28] Speaker A: Yeah. What's been something you've been honing in on or like, trying to improve, expand your game?
[00:55:33] Speaker D: I've been trying to start my defense.
You know, I've been working on it a lot. Even in this training camp, you know, I've been tweaking little stuff the coach has been helping me with, so it's been great. Yeah, that's something.
[00:55:42] Speaker A: I seen you guys do a TikTok when I walked in.
Tell me how many guys you know on this roster that you knew prior to coming to camp?
[00:55:49] Speaker D: I've known most of them because from the Canadian nationals, most of them were on, like, Alberta, Quebec, most of those teams last year. So I've seen them, seen them around, played against them. And the guys from Ontario, I've either played with them, played against them, and yeah, that's how I know most of them.
[00:56:04] Speaker A: You talk trash. Ontario won, you guys won last year.
[00:56:07] Speaker D: It's definitely been the conversation at most dinners with the Quebec guys and Alberta guys.
[00:56:14] Speaker A: What's your thoughts on that, like Ontario, Quebec, people like to compare the two provinces.
[00:56:20] Speaker D: I definitely say we have better Hoopers.
[00:56:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:56:23] Speaker D: You know, we showed it last year.
Yeah. I feel like we have better Hoopers.
[00:56:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
I want to ask you, what part of the game are you probably most proud of that you're like, you elevated or you're very excited maybe to showcase in this tournament?
[00:56:37] Speaker D: Not even the physical part. I think the farthest I've came in the last year is my mental part, my mental side of the game.
It's just been, like, something I worked on a lot, and I feel like I've came a long way with it.
[00:56:49] Speaker A: Tell me about your growth spur.
How tall were you? Maybe, like, three, four years ago?
[00:56:55] Speaker D: I think three or four years ago, I was like, five, six, five, seven, maybe.
[00:56:59] Speaker A: Damn.
[00:56:59] Speaker D: Yeah. And then I kind of, like, it was kind of small. Like, it was in, like, small spurts. And then this year I kind of, like, expanded more.
[00:57:06] Speaker A: So how tall are you now?
[00:57:07] Speaker D: Around, like, 6, 6, 6, 7.
[00:57:09] Speaker A: Are you still growing?
[00:57:10] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:57:11] Speaker A: Scouts, if you're listening to this, he's still growing.
What's been your favorite part about camp so far? And you guys are about to head out soon, but what's been your favorite part?
[00:57:22] Speaker D: Just our energy on the court. I feel like our energy is unmatched. You know, we have a lot of energy going in and a lot of confidence going into the tournament. And I feel like the energy that we brought in, the work that we put in this week is just. It's been great. And that's probably been my favorite part.
[00:57:35] Speaker A: Any players you've been, like, really impressed with that. You're like, I want to shout them out. And maybe you. You knew, but, like, you're like, I didn't know you had that in your bag or anything like that.
[00:57:46] Speaker D: Most of them. Most everyone's playing good, you know, everyone's playing at their best right now. I feel like that's why we have a lot of confidence going in, because everyone's doing what they're supposed to do. But one guy I probably want to shout out is Isaiah Clark.
[00:57:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:57:56] Speaker D: And Jordan Fisher. You know, those have been, like, my comparisons who I've been matching up with all week. And we just been pushing ourselves. You know, those are both great players. Like, they're definitely going to be at the next level someday.
So, you know, just, like, pushing myself against them, I feel like it's made me a better player, and we've made everyone better players.
[00:58:13] Speaker A: Yeah. Jordan Fisher, I think he just committed to Christopher Columbus, I believe, and Tell me about Kenyon. I know you guys played together. Aau.
Tell me about him and your guys relationship.
[00:58:25] Speaker D: Me and Kenyon, we have a great relationship. You know, that's like my right hand man off the court. So it's been great. You know, we connect, we connect on the floor. So it's just been like him in my corner is great. I feel like we're a great duel and.
[00:58:36] Speaker A: Yeah, what's the summer been like too? I know you were playing can elite, right?
What's that look like? How's the season been going? And I'm guessing after this you're going back to playing again, right?
[00:58:46] Speaker D: Yeah. You know, we have a great team this year. Assembled a great team. Everyone's a good player, everyone can play.
So that's just like a big thing. We just been focusing on like staying, not staying humble but like don't, don't get complacent because we let, we took two losses last UAA session. I feel like we just like got in our head a little bit because we were. Everyone's saying we're the best 15U team all this. So I feel like we just have to stay grounded and if we stay grounded, then there's no stopping us.
[00:59:10] Speaker A: I was going to ask you about that. A lot of hype around this team coming up.
What are your thoughts on it? You kind of just touched on. I want to stay humble. It seems like just talking to you, you're very grounded, you know, like you're very humble. Tell me about that. And what are your thoughts on everyone hyping up this team?
[00:59:26] Speaker D: Obviously we're a great team.
You know, we deserve it because we work hard, but I feel like we can't let that get to our heads.
So we just need to like work hard. Like we can always work harder. There's always stuff that we can tweak and there's always stuff that we can control. So we just need to do stuff like that and then we'll be the best team.
[00:59:46] Speaker A: How do you prepare yourself like mentally to face international competition? I think probably for the first time, right, like going out there and you're going to be facing likely USA other teams. And how do you prepare yourself?
[00:59:59] Speaker D: I just want to. Don't take anyone lightly. You know, all the teams coming into this tournament are great. I don't want to take anyone lightly. I don't want to take any teams for granted, like the smaller countries and all that. I don't take any of that for granted and come and you know, work our hardest. No matter who we're playing if we're up 20 or down 20 then we just need to work hard.
[01:00:17] Speaker A: I want to get to know you a little bit. What do you do in your free time? What's. Are you a 2k guy? Are you?
[01:00:22] Speaker D: Ah, well, I'm not really, I'm not really a 2k guy. I don't really play be playing video games like that, you know, just hanging out with friends and family because when I get to time, you know, I'm working out a lot. So when I get the time to hang out with family and friends, you know, I kind of take advantage of that time.
[01:00:36] Speaker A: Tell me what's your day to day like in the gym working, say on the off day?
[01:00:40] Speaker D: On the off day I'll probably. On the off day I'm probably just chilling, you know, eating right and stuff like that. Maybe hanging out with a couple friends and then you know, just doing a little stuff like stretching, still stretching, still doing the push ups and stuff like that.
[01:00:53] Speaker A: Nice.
And, and on a day where you're working out, what does that look like?
[01:00:59] Speaker D: I don't usually work out early in the morning, so I still get to sleep in and then working around like dinner time, working, that's when I work out and still doing stuff like stretching, doing push ups, stuff like that and still just getting that extra work in. And even if I'm working, I'll still go outside, put up a shots on my outside net and.
[01:01:15] Speaker A: Yeah, nice. What part of the Ontario are you from?
[01:01:18] Speaker D: Oakville, Ontario.
[01:01:19] Speaker A: Oakville, Ontario. Tell me about Oakville. I'll be honest, I never go out to Oakville. But I'm guessing you're downtown or what part of the city you most reside in?
[01:01:27] Speaker D: Just the city kind of. Not really. I'm around everything.
There's a lot of schools and stuff.
[01:01:32] Speaker A: So big up Oakville. Tell me about Oakville.
[01:01:36] Speaker D: I wouldn't say it's the most exciting place, but we make it fun. All the people I love, all my friends from Oakville, they're all great, they're all great people and we make the best out of it.
[01:01:47] Speaker A: Yeah. Final two questions I have for you before I let you go.
What's something people don't know about Isaiah Hamilton? Because I see, everyone just sees the clips, right. They see the Instagram, they see the, the dunks. You dunk it on everybody. Well, what do people not know about you?
[01:02:06] Speaker D: I just my me off the court and me on the court is two different people. You know, I just want people to know I'm a very nice guy.
[01:02:14] Speaker A: I see. Hey, when you duck out, I like it, though. I like the energy, man. When you don't, you gotta let somebody know.
[01:02:18] Speaker D: Like, come on, let them know. But off the court, like, I'm just a chill guy.
[01:02:23] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, yeah, chill guy. I like that. That's Kawais, man. Kawais.
Last question I have for you dream. And I. I see a lot of people asking this, what's your dream nil deal? And what would that look like?
[01:02:36] Speaker D: I'd probably say an unarmored deal.
[01:02:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:02:38] Speaker D: You know, I'm playing in the circuit right now.
I love the circuit. I love the people surrounding the circuit, and I was just hoping I get an nil from them one day.
[01:02:45] Speaker A: Yeah. Isaiah Hamilton, I can't thank you enough for jumping on the podcast.
What can we expect from this AmeriCup team?
[01:02:53] Speaker D: Expect? Like I said before, expect energy. You know, we're gonna. Our energy is unmatched. We're gonna have the best energy in the tournament, I think. So that's something that we have to watch out for in our defense. Our defensive stuff is just great. That's something we focus on a lot, and that's our identity.
[01:03:08] Speaker A: Isaiah Hamilton, can't thank you enough again for joining the podcast. We'll be watching in Mexico, and I will tap in. Man, Isaiah Hamilton, man. One of the best clean prospects coming out.
[01:03:17] Speaker D: All right, thank you.
