Should the All Canadian Games selection committee be abolished?

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign [00:00:03] Speaker B: 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 Osman. I didn't want to record an episode like this, but I feel like I have to. We're discussing on today's episode the all Canadian game roster reveal and the uproar from a lot of people about the selection process and how we can make it better. It's not new that people are upset about the rosters. I feel like that's the thing every year, players being snubbed. But as someone that's watched a lot of these players been in the gyms. One notable name and he's been on this podcast before. Is that outrageous? Outrageous snub. And that's Yusuf Ahmed of King Heights Academy. I'll have Wes Brown of the Monday morning scouting report and Joe Moussa, an Astro scout at North Pole Hoops on the show today to give their thoughts on what they want to see tweaked about the selection process. They're part of the selection committee. They're in the rooms. They're part of the dialogue that happens before the roster is revealed. But before I get into my own monologue complaining about the game and and what I think is wrong with it, can we talk about how amazing the crowd was this past week at tmu Toronto Metropolitan University Formula One as Ryerson for the OUA semifinals between Brock and TMU and then the championship game for both the men's and the women's. As someone that's covered esports, specifically tmu, I'm alumni there. You guys have heard me talk about that almost a decade ago. I haven't seen like the Madame Athletic center that packed in forever. Like people couldn't even for the final game, the Wilson cup game. People outside were struggling to get in and they bought tickets. They had to tell people, you got to go back. It's too packed inside. I don't know what the capacity limit is in there, but it was insane. That's how packed it was. We need more of that. Hopefully the crowd in Calgary for the Esports Final 8 and is as good. That's on Friday. I think the brackets came out. It'll be interesting to see how that all shakes out. But congrats to Carli Clark, TMU women's basketball head coach and assistant with the Canadian senior women's national team on winning the OUA title, as well as Dave Deverio, who we had on this podcast winning as well. Both teams at TMU winning the OUA Championship. I think the last time they did it was in 2016, where they both did it at the same time. Was it 2016, 2017. One of those years. And now they did it again in the same building, hours apart. That's historic. Really historic. Both teams have a really good chance to win at Nationals, so we'll see what happens over there. But, yeah, congrats to Carli, congrats to Dave. Great job. Tmu, man, it was electric in the building. I was glad I was able to be part of that. Check it out. And, yeah, just supporting youth sports, basketball, man. And a lot wrong with youth sports as a whole. But seeing the atmosphere keeps me kind of hopeful, you know, back to the All Canadian game selection process. I might. I'll be honest, I might upset some people about what I'm about to say, because if you know me, I don't really sugarcoat anything and I keep it real, especially when it comes to Canadian basketball. But let's go through. Before I get into my monologue, let's go through the 24 players that were selected for the All Canadian game. First up, Patrick Animali at Edge School. Nice. Bakari at Bella Vista Prep. Xavier Blake at the Phelps School. Jordan Charles at Bella Vista Prep. Noah George at Bella Vista Prep. Cole Grandison, Overtime Elite City Reapers. Rakim Green, Bella Vista Prep Stefan Illich, Tri City Prep Eli Jolene, Fort Erie International Academy. Jacob McGregor, Royal Crown School Maxi Meyer, IMG Academy Dang Angor, Fort Erie International Academy Promise Nilandu, Fort Erie International Academy Anthony the Jofour, Canada Top Flight Academy Godson Okoku, Iowa United Prep Aziz Elijah 1, IMG Academy Paul Asuri, Bella Vista Prep Malachi Richmond Edge School Caleb Roberts, Ridley College Lewis Robinson, Bella Vista Prep Ruri Ruri Masa, Newton Military Academy. Miles Salah, Bella Vista Prep Javion Tyndale, Mount Ver Prep TJ Wall, Overtime Elite Jellyfam and Caleb Zhu, Rog, Crown School. Those are the 24 players that were selected. A few snubs, honestly, pretty good list when you think about it, right? Like, talent wise, but a few snubs, just like every year. But shocked would be an understatement when we describe not seeing Yusuf Ahmed here. One of the top players in my eyes, in The Class of 2026, not selected for the All Canadian game. And you might be thinking, oh, Lee, Ben, you know the kid, you literally had him on the podcast. [00:05:15] Speaker A: Yes. [00:05:16] Speaker B: As a journalist, I am not afraid to admit where my blind spots are, where I might have a conflict of interest, where I might be biased And I'm biased in this case 100%. But the scouts, the scouts that are actually in the gym will all tell you that he deserved a spot. Somebody I spoke to recently that watches the town that's been around Ontario basketball for the past few years, he got to watch him play recently. And he told me he reminded him of Leonard Miller, a guy that took Canadian basketball by storm a few years back, which is a big praise considering you know where Leonard's at right now, right? In the NBA. So if the scouts in Canada think that he's not without a doubt deserving of an All Canadian spot, why wasn't he selected? Well, from what I've heard, it's because of the selection committee. That includes 38 people. For some reason, 38 might as well make it 50. Make it 100. Like, how the hell do we get to that number? Like, from my understanding, they want to involve everybody across Canada within basketball so they don't feel left out from the process. For years, people have felt like the All Canadian game is like an Ontario Quebec All Star Game, which, I'll be honest, most times, it really is. Let's be real. And if you ask me personally, the only people that deserve. Deserve a vote in selecting the game are the scouts. Are the people that are in the gyms that are watching these players that are traveling coast to coast evaluating the talent. Who are we supposed to blame when a player gets snubbed at 38 people on a committee because one vote could have gone one way and then they don't make it. Matter of fact, can we go through the names of everybody on this selection committee? Let's go through it. Adam Huffman, CTA West. Amanda Miles, Newfoundland and Labrador Basketball. Carl Cormier, basketball, Quebec. Chris Skinner, William Academy. Dan Becker, basketball. Manitoba. David Harmon, Maple Minute West. Drew E. Banks, on Point basketball. Eddie Richardson, Edge School. Elvis Dennis, Brampton City Prep. Frederick Ingres, CSGV Prep. Jason Dawkins, Ontario Basketball. Joe Moussa, north pole hoops. Joey McKitterick, Brookwood Elite, Ludor Elite. John Sidor, Orangeville Prep. John Tramble, Armbury Academy, Dalhousie University. Jonathan Suited, Scouting. Josh Milliken, the Maple Minute made hoops. Josh Whitty, basketball PI. I'm not even halfway done yet. Are y' all not tired? I mean, going through all these names, like, how do you 38 people sit on the committee and, like, hear each other talk? Because this is insane. That. That's. That's insane. K. Myers, the Northway. Kemi O for Erie. Kyle Landry, Alberta basketball. Matthew McKay, basketball. BC Michael De Georgio, Royal Crown. Nanga Burke, basketball. Saskatchewan. Rise above basketball. Pasha Baines, Drive basketball. Ray Kim, Polaris Prep Academy. Roy Russell, Uchetta Academy. Ryan Chase, basketball. New Brunswick. Sean Gordima. You play scholastic. You play Eybl. Sergio Pejicic, Canada. Basketball. Tri City Prep. Sonny Such Good hoops. Wcpa Tony House, Canada. Top Flight Academy. National Senior circuit. Tyler Vernon, St. Francis Xavier University. Victor Rasso, Niagara River Lions. M. Northern Kings, Cali Prep. Wes Brown. Monday morning Scouter report. Zia Gulad, 3D basketball academy. This is insane. Literally insane. Like, what are we doing? I'm tired. I'm tired, and I'm sorry. Why do. Why does basketball P.E.I. [00:09:32] Speaker A: have a vote? [00:09:33] Speaker B: When was the last time a talent came out of pei? I'm going off right now. I'm sorry, but, like, are we serious? Like, I get. We want to give every province, every place a vote, and we want representation, but this is not the type of representation I want. And I know others. There's other scouts, Canadian Scouts that aren't even on this committee, but we got to get voices from pei, Newfoundland, which is kind of insane. Like, if I'm a person that wants the best for this game, right, I'm gonna leave the decision making to the scouts. I can literally come up with a list of maybe 8 to 10 scouts that I think would make a great group in selecting the game. Not 38 people. And you're still getting it wrong. You wanted more representation, and you're still getting it wrong. You guys are not tired of this? Like, this is ridiculous. When the names came out and Yusuf was snubbed, someone brought up a point to me that I didn't really think about. About, like, what this meant. And for Yousef's case, let's pause for a moment and let's just even entertain. Let's entertain the idea. What if he wasn't a. A top 24 talent in this country? What if he was borderline, just outside, you know, like, he was in the mix, but he was missing a few votes? [00:11:11] Speaker A: He's not. [00:11:11] Speaker B: But let's play that game. Since the committee cares so much about representation. When was the last time we had a kid from downtown Toronto, Mosque park, playing this game? When was the last time we had an East African player that had potential, that had actual potential play in this game? Do you know how much that would have meant for someone that looked like him to see a player like Yousef play in this game and be like, you know what? I could do that, too. I Come from the same background. I come from the same heritage. I'm also Muslim. I'm Muslim. And I'm seeing a guy do this in Canada in Canadian basketball. That's representation to me. He would have had a whole section of people coming from the downtown core traveling all the way to Orangeville to watch him play. What a missed opportunity, even for Andy at Roll Crown. He has a massive following. Filipino guy playing, killing it in Canadian basketball. Imagine the crowd he would have drowned. I'm looking at the lists, and no knock on anybody that was selected. That's not what I'm doing here. I could care less about saying, this kid deserved it. This kid didn't deserve it. To me, once you get. Once people vote and they select you, you honestly deserve it. I can't take that away from you. Nobody can take that away from you. But we talk about representation. I see maybe three, four schools being represented on this list. Shout out to Bella Vista. Shout out to Fort Erie R. Crown. And that's not a knock on these schools. I have good, like, really good relationships with coaches and players at these schools. They're not at fault. If anything, they're doing an amazing job. Like, every year, I see close to, like, five kids from Fort Erie on this list in this game. I even wrote a story on how a lot of talent is flocking to Fort Erie. Bella Vista has a lot of guys with a ton of potential, and people were pissed off. Let's be real, people were pissed off that they had seven guys selected. But I'm also just looking at the community. I'm like, there was nobody on Bella Vista that's part of the committee, so they honestly made it doing it the right way. I can't even hate. No one can really hate. But we talk about representation, and if I'm looking at the list of players selected, they come from three, four schools. And what does that say about Canadian basketball? What does that say? Also, 14 out of the 24 players selected for this game don't play in Canada. Might as well just change the all Canadian game to something else. Like, change it to, we want players that leave Canada and go play in the US Game. Change it to that. Because that's what this game is. It's literally, we want the top US Guys that left Canada because they were so good, and we wanted to play this game in April because what a slap in the face, when you think about it, to the homegrown talent that actually dominate here. You know what I'm saying? People I respect say Canadian talent here can compete on any level. But y' all on the committee would rather select Canadian talent that play in the States. So what does that say? And to me, this game has turned from, let's select the 24 people in Canada. Not even the players, not even the best 24. Let's appease people and have politics decide who are the 24 selected to play in this game. And I'm also giving, like, I'll be honest, I'm giving harsh criticism right now. And I'm someone that's never been on the committee. I don't know the behind the scene process and I never want to be, to be honest with you. So don't call my line. And I don't think I'm qualified in the first place, for one, I at least can admit that. But there's an entire committee that I'm looking at 30 people, all qualified. I'd say no. The people that are qualified, and I'll say it again, are the scouts. Not just people because they represent a specific province, but people that do scouting, that watch film, that evaluate talent, that actually speak to NCAA coaches about the Canadian talent here. And I get coaches do that too. A lot of coaches do that, especially on this committee. And I really respect a lot of these coaches on this committee 100%. But there's a clear conflict of interest. If you have a player that is being considered for the game, you should not have a vote on the committee. It's that simple. Like, how is that not ruled out? The fact that we can't all agree to leave the selection process to scouts is what's wrong with Canadian basketball. To me, just one of the many examples. Everybody wants to have a say in everything and everyone has an agenda to push. My last point on this, why can't we see how everyone voted? I want to know who voted where. Because that's how they do it in the NBA with the media votes. When Shay wins mvp, when Jokic. We all know how the media voted for major awards and there's transparency. And if you want, you can hold them accountable. You can go tweet at X and X reporter and be like, why didn't you vote for this guy? There's none with this committee process, especially for those on the outside looking in, if you don't have connections, you can't go ask a person how they voted. They're not going to reveal that to you. And to me, if you want to be on a committee like this, if you want to select the top 24 players, you should be willing, you should Be putting your hand up to reveal who you voted for. If I watch the Canadian talent 247 and I'm on a committee like this, I would be happily ready to reveal my vote. You know why? Because I'd have a reason behind all of it. And I think Wes would be happy to reveal his votes if people asked him. I think Joe would be happy to have their vote revealed because they would have reasons. But they probably don't want to sit out loud because people will be butthurt and that would ruin relationships. It's just sad. It's just sad. When you think about it like this is a game selecting the top 24 players and we don't do that every year. And I think showcasing votes, revealing it, I don't. I know for certain that's not going to happen. I know I'm just like beating on a dead horse at this point. I know it won't happen. But for me it would probably confirm. I think a lot of people would probably confirm their suspicion about whether there's politics in play or, or if coaches are voting in their own guys. Because honestly, you can game the system and make sure your guy gets in. There's probably a way possible for that. I can't say for certain, but I think a lot of people, A lot of people probably think that. And what's the criteria? Because with Yusuf being snubbed, I think the criteria itself went out the window. You can't tell me you picked people that have upside, that have potential because a guy that has arguably the best feel in his class does not get selected for the game, that has people thinking he has NBA potential, does not get selected for the game because you can't tell me all these 24 players all have NBA potential that are in this game. I can tell you. And I think a lot of people that scout the talent in Canada will tell you that Yusuf has that potential. Someone also brought up a good point to me. Why are juniors part of the game instead of just having an all senior McDonald's all American game? I'll say this. The reason in the past might have been because there wasn't enough talent pool. Now I think there is. But for the guys that don't play a fifth year, because you got to think about it in the Canadian system, when they go to the States, they go back a year. For the guys that don't play a fifth year, you lose out on seeing them. And if those guys have a lot of upside, they might not be in high school for too long and it might Be you might not get the chance to see them in a game like this. But, yeah, I think this year was bad. This year was bad in terms of missing out on the talent. Most years they get it right. And I will also say this, looking at the list, I probably have most of those guys in myself, so. But I'm not a guy that evaluates talent. So it's like, you're coming. I can't say that I'm gonna get it right, but that's why I'm not on the committee and why I don't want to be on a committee like this. Because the committee should be people who will get it right and who are actually dedicated and who are actually in the gym. Michael Torres is not on this committee. He's in the gym more than anybody. Like what? What are we doing? But to the people that are not selected for this game, I see some other names too. Yousef is more of a personal one for me because I see the talent, I see the potential. I think a lot of people agree too. [00:20:52] Speaker A: But [00:20:54] Speaker B: this game, people have gotten snubbed before and I'll say it again. Delano Banson was a last second, literally addition to this game because somebody decided because somebody backed out last second. He still laughs about it, how they almost missed out on him. He's an NBA guy. Xavier Lee, who's been putting up numbers over the last few weeks at Florida, he was not selected for this game. It really does not mean much. So just take that all with a grain of salt. Those are my issues with the selection process. Let me know if you guys think. Lee, Ben, you're overreacting. You've lost your mind. You need to chill, take a pill. Who cares? Some people might be saying, who cares about this? Honestly? I care about honesty because I think we should not miss out on seeing a talent that has this much potential. But if you have thoughts on this, what's wrong with the selection process, let me know. Hit me up at the Canadian Basketball show on IG DM us. I want to hear what y' all think. I'm gonna have Wes Brown and Joe Musa on back to back two basketball scouts in Canada that are on the committee about what's good about the process, what needs to change. Should be an interesting discussion. We'll take a break and be right back. This is Canadian Basketball show. I'm your host, Lee Ben Osman. Welcome back to the Canadian Basketball show. Joining me to discuss the recent all Canadian games roster reveal is a guy that lives, breathes and sleeps while scouting Canadian talent. It's my guy, Wes Brown of the Monday morning scouting report. How you doing, brother? [00:22:49] Speaker C: Good, man, good. Good to be back. [00:22:51] Speaker B: Glad to have you back. We were both just in LA watching basketball at the Borders All Star weekend camp. How'd you enjoy that? What was that like? Three Canadians out there, what was that like? [00:23:02] Speaker C: Yeah, it's great. For me, I'm always trying to find that, like, under the radar talent. So as a Canadian scout, it just kind of feels like it's an easy extension of what I already do. Try to go find some more international guys. And for me, since college coaches can't be there, it's great for my report to kind of have information on other guys and obviously see the Canadians, but I've seen them so much to try to see everybody too and see, you know, how well they compete against high level talent. [00:23:29] Speaker B: Yeah, I loved it. And then we came back and I saw, to say, disaster of a roster. You probably had different thoughts on this, but I, I saw the, the storm, I think a lot of people call it shitstorm of like a reaction to some snubs. Some notable snubs, I feel like, to the All Canadian games, I've never seen, you can correct me if wrong, you've probably seen a lot of, you've seen backlash over the years. I've never seen this much though, to where it's like 200 plus comments, everyone being like, how could y' all get this wrong? Like, some people suggesting, like, should we do our own game? Like, like some people just like being very upset about the process. And I thought personally, like, I don't know for myself, watching some of the talent, there was one name notable that I was like, I'm, I'm biased. I'll say that 100%. Like, I know the guy and I, I'll say that up front, but I was shocked that his name wasn't there. And then it made me think, like, what's, what's wrong with the system? You know, what's wrong with the process? But from your thoughts, what was your reaction on the backlash? [00:24:34] Speaker C: I mean, truthfully, I don't pay attention. I only usually hear it personally from people that I have relationships with, for the most part. I used to hear it a lot worse, to be honest, when there were 10 people on the committee, but now there's 38. So if somebody were to say anything, I mean, you're one of 38. Like your vote is drowned out. Your vote means nothing. Your vote means 2%, you know, 2 1/2 percent. [00:24:59] Speaker B: Something like that isn't that kind of sad, though, because I feel like for. For you that watches the talent. [00:25:04] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [00:25:05] Speaker B: 24, seven lives. Like, you don't feel like, hey, I should have more of a say in, like, who gets selected to this game because I actually like when I go to the games, when I go to the icu, I see Joe, Michael, Torres, everyone else. I'm kind of like. Like, on a consistent basis. Those who I see in the gym. Yeah, everybody else in this committee, I'll be honest, more than half this. The names on the community, I've never heard of, I don't know of. So don't you feel like when you say 2%, when you actually take the time and this is what you do for a living, you know, like, don't you feel you should have more of [00:25:39] Speaker C: a. I mean, I'm getting paid for it by. By these teams, so that's really, like, what I care about. But, yeah, I. I definitely care, and I definitely take a sense of pride in it. I think the committee's too large. There's obviously, like, your. My vote being worth the same as some other people is unreasonable, but, like, we've always said, like, there's not many independent evaluators that you could make this committee up of. So I think it's hard. And even though, like. Like, I think. I think it needs to be significantly smaller. I mean, max 8 to 10. But it's a hard thing to get a bunch of independent evaluators together that have actually done the work and seen everyone live to get together and discuss it. But, you know, I've. I've seen every iteration of what they've tried to do. When they first kind of made it a larger committee, it made a little bit of sense because they were trying to get kind of people countrywide, but now it's out of control with 38 people. Again, my. My vote. As someone who sees as much players as anyone, and, you know, I deal with 80 teams in the US all over the place. I know what talent looks like. Like, you know, I. And look, I agree. You know, we discussed a little off camera about not having coaches on the committee, but I think it's. It's hard to find that many people. And maybe we make a rule you can't vote for your own player or something like that, but it's. It needs. It needs to be a smaller committee. And, yeah, I mean, it's frustrating for me, but what am I going to do? Like, what's my recourse? I don't want to whine like everybody else about all these mistakes and whatever, and, you know, it's. It's inevitable. But I do wish the committee was smaller, for sure. [00:27:26] Speaker B: And, yeah, I don't want to whine. I want to come up with actual, like, solutions. Like, I want us to brainstorm some ideas, like, what are thoughts, what's wrong? What can be changed? How can we fix this? So I don't want to just complain about it, but on top of it, I want to hear people's concerns. I want people's voices to be heard, just about, like, what they thought about, what went wrong and that kind of stuff. You talk about the 38 people. We also did a podcast, literally, like, previewing the All Canadian game, and we talked about the process and that kind of stuff. I'm hoping to get Gus on, too, maybe closer to the All Canadian game, maybe get his thoughts, too, because I know he's probably dealing with a lot of people reaching out to him, being [00:27:59] Speaker C: like, yeah, like, again, even, like, members of the committee are going after him, and it's. He's in a tough position. I feel like you don't just want to be another annoying, like, nuisance on these. These guys that, you know. [00:28:11] Speaker B: And I'll say this from my perspective from chatting with Gus, just knowing him, it seems like the expansion to 30 people was, like, people saying, we want our voices heard. So he gave people what they wanted. [00:28:23] Speaker C: Well, it's not him. I. I don't know if it's him. I think it's like. Like, the Orangeville guys probably that have done that. You know, I. I think it would be good if Canada basketball got involved. And, you know, we had guys like Meeks or Phil that see all these guys consistently. [00:28:37] Speaker B: Are they not on the committee? [00:28:38] Speaker C: No. Meeks has been, I think, in the past. I'm not sure. Like, I think he probably votes, but I don't know if he's been part of the process. But, yeah, it would be great to have, like, you know, if you have Canada basketball, you have more of an unbiased platform. And we get into these discussions, like, and I see from, you know, behind the scenes, just to peel it back a little, like, everybody, you know, complaining and fighting for their guys and stuff, that shouldn't be a thing, right? You shouldn't be involved. Like, I understand if. If you want to go on, and if there's a committee of five or 10, we have a meeting and you can pitch your players, but other than that, like, that shouldn't be part of the process. And I think there needs to be a little more accountability too, from our end. But I can't be accountable if I'm one of 38. I'm happy to explain. Like, and this is always my thing with the scouting too. If the kids can take it, I'll be real about what. What it is. You know, hey, you, you know, you don't shoot well enough. You're not a good enough decision maker. You know, you need to play tougher or whatever it is. But I can. I've done the work. Like, I feel comfortable and confident saying, hey, like, you know, you know your guy Yousef, which I voted for him. But if, you know, if I didn't vote for him, hey, you know, these are the things. He's slim. Whatever. He needs to bulk up. Like, I'm comfortable saying those things. I think so maybe to have a representative to discuss it. But that can only be a thing if there's a smaller committee. And I think it's like the whole process is a little too soft. We're not trying to please everyone. [00:30:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:30:12] Speaker C: Which is. It's become a little bit of that. We're trying to please everyone. We have representation from Newfoundland and everywhere and we have that whole large, you know, published thousand player, you know, shout out. [00:30:25] Speaker B: What's the point? [00:30:25] Speaker C: I don't know. It's just like, it's just to be nice to these kids that unfortunately, at the end of the day, there's 24 kids. So that is what it is like. But it's not my process. [00:30:33] Speaker B: So I'm sorry, you dropped that 100 plus list. I am not looking at that list. Yeah, I don't care about that. When you get down to the 24. Get down to the 50. [00:30:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:41] Speaker B: That's when you call me. You know, but you talk about it too. You're behind the scenes. You see the process, like people campaigning, whatever. Whatever it is. Is there, like, transparency? You feel like when it comes to, like, people using the criteria for the selection process, is it very like, okay, you have to factor this and this. And then people just going off the rails and be like, no, I'm doing [00:31:02] Speaker C: it based on, like, this is a bit of. This is a bit of the issue people are discussing. Well, do we look at talent? Do we look at upside? Do we look at size or athleticism? That's what scouting is. If you know basketball, you understand how to balance their current production, what they can be, what their physical tools might allow them to do. You're figuring it all out and you have to balance. Okay. Like, you know, for example, A guy like Caleb Roberts, right. He's maybe 5, 10, but he makes. He's the best shooter in the country for, to, to me, for the last two years, he been the most efficient three point shooter. Is he going to be an NBA player? Probably not. But he produces to a level that we have to put him in the game as an example. Right. Anthony NA4, another example. Not the most refined guy yet, but a super talent. Right. And I can understand, okay, maybe we can put both guys in the game. So we've always gone through and actually discussed a little like, what is it we're looking for. But if you have to ask that question, you. You don't get it. Like, I don't think. And I think we can have a criteria, but if you got six independent scouts in the room, we could discuss it and figure it out. Like, it doesn't need to be an actual list of criteria. [00:32:13] Speaker B: So your thing is just like, there's just not that many scouts actually go to these games that actually, like, there's not. [00:32:18] Speaker C: Yeah, for sure. That's what makes it hard to make this a smaller group. Otherwise. If there were six legit independent scouts that have seen every single guy live, then fine, that's easy. Like, we could make, we can make a group of that. But I think they've tried to, and I get it, because they've probably heard a lot of backlash over the years. They've tried to add a lot more names so that we have coverage, but we don't need coverage. Like, those people. And I go to nationals every year, so I see the best every province has to offer. I don't, we don't need anyone else unless there's some. Like, you know, if there was a guy. Okay, send us the tape and we'll, we'll review it. But it's this year more than ever. I think it's. It's a little out of hand. [00:32:55] Speaker B: Yeah. This year, I don't know, because then I look at Yousef and I'm like, I think he has upside. I also think he's doing the production. But when you think about the committee itself, you talk about 38 people. I can't point and be like, this person is the reason why they got it wrong. You know, like, how much of that is an issue too, where there's like, [00:33:19] Speaker C: yeah, like, I agree there should be accountability. There should be a little more accountability. And I get that they don't want that. But I'm like, literally here saying, I will take the heat. Like, if we had six people on it. And I think it should even be more than even a vote, a discussion, because if you had six people discussing, you could balance it out and figure out, okay, do like a simple vote is fine if you have that many, but I think that you could even improve it by having a discussion with six knowledgeable people that know all the players and kind of give and take a little bit. Like, like I was saying earlier, I. I don't think I've ever picked the right 24, but usually 20 ish are the same guys. And this year, look, I picked most of the guys too this year. Like the exact same. Like most of those guys I selected, you know, and I'm not, I don't even have like this year is a normal year where some guys you pick made it or a lot of guys you pick made it and a few guys didn't. It is what it is, you know, And I have a stumbleist, like another guy, Andy Gamau, I think he for sure should have been on Royal Crown. [00:34:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:23] Speaker C: But it is what it is. I wish there was a little more and I'm happy to take the accountability if I played a real hand in it. [00:34:31] Speaker B: I also want to raise this point. Why don't we have the votes of this committee public to the point where people. Because like, do you see how anybody votes? Do you know? [00:34:43] Speaker C: No, I think that's just going to burn bridges and make things difficult. But I Look, we had a committee of six or eight and we came to a decision joint even we could come back with an answer. If someone says, Wes, if there's eight of us, right? And someone says, wes, why didn't you vote my kid? That didn't make it. I say, I did vote your kid. So then what's their recourse? Go complain to the other guys instead. If we had eight people that discussed it and they came to a general decision, I can say, okay, you know what? We considered Yousef, we liked him. But ultimately, you know, this, that and the other, and we came to a decision on that guy. Nobody can say anything like. And this is the general problem. That's like the whole basketball scene with accountability. You have to be able to explain your decisions and things. Like, and, and I feel comfortable doing that because I've done the work. But it's, it's not the case for a lot of. [00:35:34] Speaker B: And that's my issue because like, when I look at it, 38 people, you can just hide behind 38 because they can come to you and then you can be like, yeah, there's 37 other people. [00:35:42] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:35:42] Speaker B: I am not the reason why your guy didn't get. [00:35:44] Speaker C: I mean, I literally mean nothing now, unfortunately. [00:35:46] Speaker B: Like, it's sad because it's like, I see you at all the games and it's like, I feel like you, Joe and the rest of those guys, like, deserve more of a vote, more of a say in terms of, like, deciding this game. And when I bring up the reason why I want to see a public vote, not a public vote, because then it's like also kind of like in a way where like, these people that are upset, they know who to go to. And second in the NBA, when the media vote for the mvp, when they vote for the events of player of the year, when they vote for the first team, all NBA, their votes are public. [00:36:16] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:36:16] Speaker B: There's a list that goes out that says this person, Zach Low voted for this person for mvp, you know, whatever reporter voted for this. So it's out there and they discuss throughout the year of like, this is what it is. So I'm thinking of it as, like, hey, we do it as media, we cover it. [00:36:33] Speaker C: It's going to cause too many issues. There's too much politics involved. It's going to cause too many issues if. If again, another reason to have everyone do a joint committee that makes a joint decision. If you have. If you. If I didn't vote for your player, you might hold it against me. [00:36:50] Speaker B: I get that you. [00:36:51] Speaker C: You think that's not the case, but it is the case. [00:36:53] Speaker B: Okay. I'm coming from it from like, person that's not in this, like, involved. So I get that perspective. [00:36:57] Speaker C: You're just not trying to burn bridges for no reason. Because I didn't pick this kid or that kid. But if we come to a joint decision, we can explain it as a group. [00:37:05] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:37:06] Speaker C: And again, I'm fine to be that explainer, but that, that way eliminates all of the other issues, I think. [00:37:13] Speaker B: Yeah. And we talked about this just briefly, but how much of a conflict of interest do you think it is that a coach of a team that has a player that is being considered for this game has a vote? Because I look at it personally. You look better as a coach. If your guy gets in, he can be the most talented out there. [00:37:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:37:32] Speaker B: He could be like, not even that great. [00:37:34] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:37:35] Speaker B: But your program looks better. You can use that as a recruiting tactic, as a tool to be like, hey, I had X amount of all Canadian players. You should come here. This is why it is. And we'll get into the schools that I have Good relationships with some of the schools that have multiple players. Yeah, I know, I know the coaches. And I'll say that if I'm a prospect coming up, I'm looking at that list and being like, I got to go to Roll Crown. I got to go to Fort Erie. I got to go to Bella Vista to be considered for this game. What do you say to people like that? [00:38:04] Speaker C: No, I mean that, that's not really the case, but I think it helps to have a good platform which is, you know, one of those top prep schools. But, you know, I agree, like, coaches probably shouldn't have a vote, but they've always had one as long as I've been a part of the committee, which is maybe eight years now or something like that. But if we had enough independent evaluators, we would be able to resolve that issue. I think there's a way to manufacture it and get it done. But the other thing is, like, a lot of these top guys, you know, those top schools, I, I trust them. You know, Vic Razzo at Ridley, you know, I think he would be honest about who he likes. And I do it like, you know, DiGiorgio and the Fort Erie guys. All those guys, like, I think they're generally honest. Well, they probably vouch for their guys, like, yeah, but that's where, you know, the 38 weighs them down. But it's complicated, man. I mean, I, I, it's not my decision. And again, I, I think we need to, I agree we need to get rid of coaches, but it's going to be hard to narrow it down. [00:39:21] Speaker B: And then I also look at, I think McDonald's All American game has like, that process also needs to be fixed up. Like, the way they've done it. Malice Adler was obviously a stub in that game. They needed like that whole system. But I think they have a criteria where it's like maximum two players from each team that like, they're allowed to be selected to be Dolls All American. And that kind of creates like parody, right? It's like, you don't want to go to that school because if you want to be considered as a game, you can't all have the same talent. On one of your thoughts on that? [00:39:46] Speaker C: I think the guys are going to wherever who recruits them, wherever fits best for them. I don't know about a, A limit. A two. Yeah, a two player limit because, you know, there's a few schools that are stacking, know, impressive talent 100%. But I don't mind, like, that idea to. And we have had criteria like that in the past, to be honest, you know, trying to make sure we have representation from all over. And I think that's part of, like, if I looked at the actual criteria, I can't remember it because, you know, I read it over months ago, but they, they do. They have me. And look, that's why they have representation on this committee from everywhere is to try to get that. But at the same time, if we had independent evaluators, I don't think it's necessary. [00:40:33] Speaker B: I also talk to a lot of people. I had this discussion specifically about how we should be keeping our talent in Canada. And like people pushing that. It's like, the talent level here is great. We should be playing in that. But then I look at the committee, I look. Sorry, I look at the. I look at the players that were selected for this game. 14 of the 24 don't play in Canada. So then I look at this kind of like. And the committee is. Is it all Canadian people, like, coaching in Canada? [00:40:58] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:58] Speaker B: So then I look at, Then I'm like, I get it. So much talent from Canada are playing in the States. But then it kind of like. And it's not just one coach telling me this, that we should be keeping our players in Canada. But then I see the list of 14 out of the 24 not in Canada. And it's like you say we want to keep the players in Canada, but then you're. Now I'm looking at it like they're all in the states. And this is, this is the criteria where some people feel like you have to go to the states to like 14 of the 24 are all playing in the States. It's like, do I have to go to the States to be considered a top prospect in Canada? Do I have to leave home? So then it's like, it feels kind of contradictory in a way. [00:41:37] Speaker C: Yeah. There has been, there has been rules in the past. I remember for a few years, I think they'd only allow eight players not playing in Canada. I think that was a good rule. But it can get complicated certain years. Right. There's a lot of actually really high level prospects that are Canadian playing in the States. I do think limiting it is good, but I think that's another area again, to harp on the same point. If we had. I don't think we need criteria in terms of picking the better player. I think we need criteria in terms of if, all things being equal, we will lean towards a kid playing in Canada. [00:42:15] Speaker A: Okay. [00:42:15] Speaker C: Because we should. Because we should do that. I agree and we should reward it and we should push it. I wish that there was more pushing it towards staying in Canada and towards, you know, pushing kids staying in Canada. It is what it is. But I do agree with that sentiment and that that should be a part of the overall scope of what we're selecting. [00:42:35] Speaker B: I'm going to ask you a straight up question and you can answer honestly because you have a lot of reasons probably on the committee itself to do you feel like the community is watching enough basketball in the Canadian talent? [00:42:46] Speaker C: No. I mean, there's some names I honestly don't even know. So this year it got a little out of hand and it's. It's comp. Again, we need to go back to. We need to a narrower, commit smaller committee hashing things out like there. I don't want to air the. The laundry from the. The group chats and stuff like that. [00:43:14] Speaker B: I heard some stuff afterwards. Yeah, I've heard some stuff. People were, you know, pissed off about some certain, you know, names not being on the list. But I also just like, like what frustrates you most about the. The process? Because it seems like it's a long, drawn out. Like we talked about it, you get to like, how many names doesn't have to be that long. I feel like if we have six of you guys, eight of you guys sitting in a room. [00:43:38] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:43:38] Speaker B: And just my influence, me, everyone, like, I would prefer that. I'd rather prefer you, Joe and the rest of these guys sit in a room and discuss. And then you guys, like, vote. And then I feel like you guys will be able to be like, you know what? You convinced me on this point for sure. And be able to be like, you know what? I see your point of this. Compared to 38 people all having a vote, and then you just base it off of who gets the most vote. That to me does not seem like you guys are like, not you guys. But I'm saying, like, it's not. Doesn't seem like the process is being like, it's not a good process at all. [00:44:09] Speaker C: Yeah, it's not. I think. I think what bothers me the most is like the. The devaluing of my vote and my opinion and everything like that. Right. Like, when I first got it, honestly, like, it meant a lot to me when I first got, you know, got on the committee and, you know, I was honored and there was a smaller group and I think I had a good voice in that, you know, room because people knew I was, you know, independent and honest and I didn't have any bias with anything. And I could influence people, I think. But once you get to 38 and once there's all these, you know, players in the Canadian scene, it gets watered down, you know, and you're sometimes you're having to explain to people like who a player is, you know, And I think the other thing, like, you know, with a smaller committee, we could almost like make a locks list of players and probably narrow down 15 of the 24 players in a few hours. [00:45:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:07] Speaker C: You know, just by saying, hey, this kid's, you know, potentially a high major kid. This kid's going to a high level place. So I agree. I think, I think changes need to be made and I think we need to stop worrying about when anybody else thinks or cares about and have a. If we have a little accountability, which is me or some of the other guys, you know, being honest about the situation and what's gone on. I think that's all we need to have some more transparency while also getting it right. [00:45:37] Speaker B: It makes me wonder, is it time to abolish like the current alchemy game process? Do you want like, do you see it being a change coming next year potentially? Like from just like, I'm guessing you've had early chats with people. Just about. [00:45:51] Speaker C: No. [00:45:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:52] Speaker C: Like I haven't really. Yet again, it's, I think a waste of my breath. Everybody's complaining and whining about stuff. [00:45:57] Speaker B: Just wait for cooler heads prevail. It's. [00:45:59] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. And I'm, I'm not that person. And also my business continues. I keep like, you know, I saw you at a game last night. Yeah, I keep doing my thing. It has zero effect on me, truthfully. Like, I do, I want it to get it right. And do I have like a sense of pride and care? Of course. But now with 38 people, I don't like, that's not my priority anymore. [00:46:19] Speaker B: Yeah, and I think about it too, because like, last year's game was bad. Let's be real. Like, it treated like the All Star game. People running back and forth. I barely tuned. I spoke to one of NBA executives and they said they, they stopped watching at halftime. Like, it's not like I, I say that to, to tell like players that did not get selected to the game. Like, it's not the be all end. All right. [00:46:38] Speaker C: No, it helps. [00:46:39] Speaker B: It helps. But what are your thoughts on people saying we don't really care about the all Canadian game anymore? Like, when you think about the guys that have played in this. [00:46:48] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:46:48] Speaker B: You think about this. They History. And there's definitely going to be talent in this game that eventually, potentially make it to the league. Like, just you guys. It's not like you guys got it all wrong, right? It's not like this. This is. The 24 is not worthy. [00:47:00] Speaker C: No. [00:47:00] Speaker B: Like, I'm looking at the majority of this list. I'm like, outside of maybe like two guys, I probably. Maybe two. Yeah. Maybe two, three. I like, I think for majority, like, I would add it to this game. I think majority of this game I would have selected correctly. [00:47:14] Speaker C: I would have been like, it's mostly right. [00:47:15] Speaker B: It's mostly right. Usually you get it right. But what are your thoughts on people saying, hey, we don't care about Dal game anymore? [00:47:22] Speaker C: No, I think it needs to get a little juice back. I think having it on TSN was meaningful for sure. And those games that were at U of T were really good. I think there were good crowds. Bring it back, please, to U of T. I think. I think it needs. Things need to be done better. The socials need to be done better. The process needs to be done better. You know, it's. It's been changing every year, but it feels like. I agree it doesn't have the same level of juice that maybe it once did. And, you know, again, I don't know about the things that happen behind the scenes, so I don't know what's happening, but it feels a little stale. And I know it's complicated and there's a lot of money behind it and, you know, but yeah, I agree that it doesn't feel like the same. And, you know, the other thing that I. I'd say to kids, like, it isn't the be all and end all. Like, do you want to make it? I get it. You do. But I think it's a great opportunity for kids to have their first, like, real gut punch, like, and. And battle through it, you know, and all of us as adults like you, you deal with, know, I mean, I've sent out a bajillion emails and calls and everything trying to get people to subscribe to my service. And I've been told no a million times. I think it's a great opportunity for kids to have their first no. You know, and maybe it lights the fire under them. And so I think it's a good opportunity to be resilient, to fight, to get an opportunity to, you know, prove yourself at a young age, you know, and a guy like Xavian Lee did it in the past, and, you know, I mean, a guy like Andy Gamau who I love, who I think is going to be a great college player, you know, and Yousef, who can be a great college player too. Like, those guys can use it as fuel and go prove yourself. [00:49:17] Speaker B: Another question I had for you too was just about I see some people raising or like, upset about juniors being selected ahead of some seniors. Like, what are your thoughts on that being like, yeah, we could watch some of these juniors and anytime, like, they're going to be like, you're going to have their opportunity. But also you probably want to get a closer look at them in this setting too early on. What are your thoughts on, like, people being upset that some juniors were selected ahead of some seniors? [00:49:46] Speaker C: I. I do like the idea of an all seniors game, but I also want the best prospects to be there. So for me, I don't really care with having juniors. Like, I'm. The other thing is a junior here is grade 12. You know, a senior would be essentially be a prep year guy. So if that junior in quotations ends up leaving after grade 12 without doing a prep year and we miss out on them because they weren't considered a senior, you know, and they just get, you know, a good offer late in the summer and end up leaving, we might have missed putting them in the game and getting them an opportunity to be an all star. So I think that, you know, they've changed it in the past. We had like a Fosa one year, I think, made in like grade 10. I voted Afosa. He had an awesome year. He was a beast on a team that made like the OSBA final in that year and they were killing everyone. So I think he deserved it. I understand that we've changed it now to just grade 12s and fifth years. I think that's a great rule and I don't think it needs to be changed, to be honest, from where that is. [00:50:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:50:45] Speaker B: Because I think Will Riley too, like, he didn't do his last year of high school, went to college early. He played in all Canadian games. [00:50:51] Speaker C: A lot of guys have done that. [00:50:52] Speaker B: A lot of guys have done that, you know, Canada. So what's like, you kind of touched on your message to guys. Like, I snubbed. And I know. Where would you rank this year in terms of like. Because some people feel like this year is the names that were snubbed might be like, I don't know. I don't. I don't know how you would compare it to previous years to where, like, is this year, like, outrageous compared to you. Is it just like, hey, no. [00:51:17] Speaker C: No offense. Yeah, no, I, I think Yousef clearly should have been in the game. I know that's what you're referring to, even Andy, but I think that's probably the norm, to be honest. I think there's probably a guy or two that really deserves it and that doesn't make it every year. I actually think it's a really good class. Like there's a lot of high upside guys and there's a lot of really good players in it. So I think for the most part, as usual, we got it right. You know, there's a few guys maybe, you know, you'd swap them out, but that's what happens every year. There's no way to avoid that no matter what. But for the kids, just keep punching. It's not the be all and end all. I know it's an important thing and it's, you know, a great chance to showcase. But go to college, go be a great player. Prove yourself. Like life, there's a lot more important things. [00:52:05] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:52:06] Speaker C: And yeah, it's a great chance to kind of show what you have inside. [00:52:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:52:11] Speaker B: I don't want to get on, keep it all talking bad about the game because like that's the game itself. I've seen so much talent come out of it. So it's not like this is like. But I think it's important discussion to have because like there's a lot of people that have concerns, have thoughts that. Yeah, I haven't seen that many. Like if you look at the IG Commons, 250 plus people raising being upset about the Canadian game selection process. Please. And I know there is been discussions. Like some people complain in the comments, like why don't you join the committee? You mentioned the 6 to 8. If we can't get to that, what's an ideal number you think? Cuz like I think it will be very drastic for them to go from 38 to be like, okay, now we're just doing six to eight people. [00:52:58] Speaker C: I don't think so. [00:52:59] Speaker B: You don't think so. I think they're just going to be like, you know what? Now these people that felt like they had a voice in bc, in PI, in new. [00:53:07] Speaker C: But even those guys know for the most part that they don't see everyone. And like we, we have discussions when it was smaller about players and if you can get a self aware, reasonable person for the most part they'll understand, you know, and like shout out Pasha west like as an example. He knows, he's like, we don't have any all Canadians this year, or we have two all Canadians this year. And he'll be just upfront because he's seen it throughout the years and he has the experience and he's honest, you know. So as a result, if you get these guys in these areas who are honest and who know what the talent level that's necessary is, at least we can dwindle it down. Like, hey, we have two to three kids that could be considered. Here are their names. If 10 of us went and go, you know, watch their tape or something like that and tried to figure it out and discussed it, that's fine. But again, with 30 plus people, that's too many people to come to a reasonable conclusion as a group. [00:54:02] Speaker B: And it's hard to find people, like, I feel like Pasha, like you mentioned that are going to be like, you know, straight up, we have nobody that's all Canadian. Yeah, I know the talent I've played. I know what, what it looks like to be an all Canadian. [00:54:12] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:54:14] Speaker B: So, yeah, honestly, it's like you just gotta find real authentic people that are willing to put their bias aside to, like, actually select. Because to me, the 38, I can't point to anybody and be like, you're the reason why this person didn't make it. This person didn't make it. So, like, it's hard. In the previous segment, I'll be honest, I named every single person on the committee. So, like, just to hold accountable, every single person, like, these are the 38. We should know their names. Half of them I didn't know, to be honest. But I feel like if it gets down to like 12, you know, we can have some serious discussions. [00:54:50] Speaker C: Yeah. And I, I felt more comfortable with those, like, final lists as well, because you're more involved and you're, You're. Your vote means more. [00:55:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:55:04] Speaker B: Let's talk about any players you excited to see. Just quickly before I let you go. [00:55:09] Speaker C: I've seen a lot of. I've seen a lot of these guys a lot. Honestly, off the top of my head, I've. I've seen pretty much everyone recently, I think live. Cole Grandison I haven't seen in a while, so it'll be good live. [00:55:21] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:55:23] Speaker C: Roy Rui, I haven't seen live in a man. I mean, JV on Tindall I just saw recently. I love him. He's great. He's fun to watch. Yeah. Pretty honestly, pretty much all of these guys I've seen recently in different settings, so nobody particularly. But I, I do like the talent in this, in this game. [00:55:40] Speaker B: In this game, the all Canadian game, I think it's on the fifth, I believe. 20, 26. [00:55:45] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:55:46] Speaker B: Wes Brown, I appreciate you coming on because people. People want to hear the. Not. I don't feel like the juicy stuff behind the stuff, but, like, I appreciate your honesty being, like, straight. This is what it is. This is how I feel about. This is what I think should change and real discussion. Just the Al Canadia. [00:56:04] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:56:04] Speaker C: Like the. In the past, I was okay with the process, and since there were not that many of us, like, you can take some accountability for the votes and everything like that, but this is the first year where I think it's just gotten out of hand. And even though I disagree with some things, I think now there being so many people and not even, like, knowing and just seeing behind the scenes, like, kind of the process, like, I don't feel comfortable with the way it's going. And I think for the first time I'm like, actually saying something like, I think there needs to be a change to a smaller group. [00:56:46] Speaker B: I agree. Holy abolish the committee. It's a small panel of independent scouts, and I'm not saying that just because, like, it's because I know the scouts in Canada and I feel like they would get it right, you know? So it's like, if you're adding 30, add me to the panel. I don't watch any of these talents. It's like, I don't watch. I can't watch all these Canadian players. But like, 38, at that point, I'm like, might as well give me a vote. Might as well let my homie, who watched two Royal Crown games, watch the 4 Erie game, watch the Crestwood game, also have a vote because, like, if we're adding 38 people, I'm sorry. Might as well expand it to 50. I'm sorry. Like, it makes no sense having 38 people on a panel because you're not going to get it right. And 38 people is literally just people advocating for the people. And I'm not even privy to this discussions that I have, but I can just tell there's a lot of politics going on, which is sad. But, Wes, I'm sorry, I just rambled a lot, but I'm just getting my thoughts on and thoughts off. And yeah, it's a unique process. And yeah, if you're pissed off about this, man, let us know. Send us a DM at the Canadian basketball show. Wes, man, the hats taken off. [00:57:53] Speaker C: Yes, sir. [00:57:54] Speaker B: I just want to make sure we talk about that. Yeah, you were at all star weekend. [00:57:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:57:58] Speaker B: You dropped some off for the studio here. [00:58:00] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:58:01] Speaker B: Where can people get them? Always got to plug it. Tell me where, where, where do we got it? Where we got to find it and tell me just about like the, the expansion. [00:58:09] Speaker C: Yeah. Monday Hoops club dot com. Monday Hoops Club on ig. Yeah, we're growing. We have a big meeting tomorrow actually with a high level team O hoping that collab goes through. We have a lot of collabs in the works for the next few months. We got something with some players from Canada. Soccer for the World Cup. [00:58:28] Speaker A: Wow. [00:58:29] Speaker C: Anything, you know, at the intersection of of it started as basketball and fashion, but really now sports and fashion, we're trying to, you know, take over that niche. Cool designs, classic 90s, you know, retro style, but sports oriented, you know, we just did a MHC Monday hockey club hat. We have tons of new designs. We have suede hats now. So we're always on the forefront and yeah, it's blowing up. [00:58:56] Speaker B: It's crazy. Donovan Mitchell. I've seen where Chris Paul, I've seen where. Forgetting players, baseball, you were at World Series. They were rocking it now the FIFA World Cup. [00:59:08] Speaker C: Yeah, we're gonna get insane. [00:59:10] Speaker B: Monday Hoops club no longer just a scouting. It's a lifestyle now. [00:59:13] Speaker C: It's a lifestyle. Monday. [00:59:15] Speaker B: My guy, Wes Brown. I can't thank you enough for, for coming on the show. This Canadian basketball show. We'll take a quick little break and discuss more. Get our grievance out on the Canadian basketball show about the all Canadian game. [00:59:27] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:59:36] Speaker B: Welcome back to the Canadian basketball show. We're discussing the recent all Canadian game roster reveal on the men's side and inside the. I don't know what you call the inside the selection process. A complete show. I don't know. Here on the second half of the show to do so is Joe Musa, national scout at North Pole Hoops. My guy. How you doing, brother? [01:00:01] Speaker A: I'm good, man. Thanks for having me. [01:00:03] Speaker B: You, I think I saw your IG once the roster was revealed, had a little bit of a reaction. Tell me about it. What were your thoughts on the roster reveal? And I feel like you weren't holding back a bit. [01:00:14] Speaker A: Yeah. So of course every year there's going to be a couple snubs, Right. Like even if you think about a couple years ago, someone like Xavian Lee didn't make the game when he obviously should have. And every year you can make a case for the people that didn't make the game and you could obviously make a strong case for the 24 that did make the game. But for me it was a shocker to not see Yousef Ahmed on that list. Obviously we've spoken about it and you know, we've been pretty high on him over here just for what he can do and what his upside is as a prospect. Especially this as a NBA sanctioned event, the all Canadian game. Right. So you want to essentially have, of course you want to reward the players and who have been performing, but at the same time, if this is something NBA personnel and NBA scouts are going to be coming out to, we want to put on a show and say these are our best prospects that we have to offer that have NBA upside. And for a kid like Yousef, I'm not sure if there's a prospect not just in Canada, but anywhere in North America with his type of profile. We're Talking about a 6, 7 point guard with a really smooth and polished skill set. As polished as it gets. His feel for the game, his IQ is on a different level. He's a leader. He brings his teammates up with him and he's been producing. I mean we're talking about a guy that's top, you know, most major statistical categories in the NPA. I think he's averaging something like 19 11, six, two blocks, two steals. Had a triple double against Royal Crown, who's obviously a top program in the country. And he's been doing it for a while. I mean you play eycl. He produced and then he had that big sum. We were talking about Janet, Jane and Finch where he went up against a unity. They were doubling him and obviously that's a team with a lot of high level prospects and again now doing the same thing at King Heights. So obviously there's, there's been a few guys I feel like Nathan Yamba. Yamba is another one. Is a 2027 kid who coming out of Alberta, he won the national championship with team Alberta last year at the Canada games. And his upside is great as well. Six, six, six, seven. You know, hyper athletic, can shoot the three and, and these are both guys who are getting anywhere from mid major to high major level interest. Now maybe not everybody is always seeing that. If it's not necessarily official offer, that's a whole other story on what is an official offer and what isn't. [01:02:15] Speaker B: We could talk about that. [01:02:15] Speaker A: You know, we can definitely get into that. But for me, seeing Yousef on that, you know, it, it made me question. Right. Because you know, of course we have these conversations and of course the, the panel and, and Gus did a great Job of putting together the committee and organizing it. I know it's a lot to organize these zoom calls that we have and. And have this type of dialogue. But at one point, is it like, are there too many chefs in the kitchen? Right. [01:02:38] Speaker B: Like, we're talking about 38 people. [01:02:40] Speaker A: 38 people on the committee. [01:02:41] Speaker B: How does it go? Can you just, like, yeah, sort of break down. I don't know how much you could reveal inside the process. Yeah, but is there much discussion? Is there people advocating for certain players? How do 38 people decide on a vote? Do some people just say, hey, I'm not listening to you. I'm doing my own ballot? [01:02:59] Speaker A: Yeah. So they, again, they do a good job of trying to bring everybody together and have these type of calls that not everybody might be able to get on. And essentially, you want to have some dialogue on there, but for the most part, what you don't want on a committee is to have that call. And. And you're basically there to fill people in on what they may or may not know. Like, I. I feel like to be on the committee, someone like myself or someone like Wes, who. Who are in the gyms, who are. Are. Are at every school's practice before the season talking to coaches, you're getting intel like, this kid grew three inches this summer, or this kid is doing this and that in the workouts. So, again, everybody that got selected is. Was selected for a reason. I mean, maybe they're a major stakeholder in the region. Maybe you try to have different type of geographical representation. But again with that, there might be some blind spots, especially in. With a kid like Yousef, where. Where his situation is pretty unique. Right. Like, he's a kid that really came up out of nowhere and is a late bloomer. So for a kid like that, he might not have the same type of buzz as the type of guys who have been in our face and in our ears and in our eyes for the past two, three, four years. But that's why it's important for. For all of us to do our due diligence. So in terms of that process for the committee is there's dialogue, there's conversation, but at what point is that dialogue and information that we're getting just going off of stuff like maybe official offers or going off of what school he plays for? So it's interesting. So, you know, it's. It's definitely, you know, a blend of trying to have the right people in different areas. But then you might have some prep coaches on there who are going for their own Guys. So it's, it's interesting, man. It's a lot, a lot. [01:04:33] Speaker B: Because you mentioned playing for King Heights Academy, not the biggest name brand school in Canada, let's be real. Shout out to the coaching staff over there, but not the biggest name brand. You know, probably on the low totem pole, let's be real. But when you look at the players that were selected for this game and you look at the schools that they went to and shout out to the schools, I have, you have relationships with these schools. I have relationships with these schools. But if somebody was looking at this roster, I'm asking, is this the Bella Vista for Erie Royal Crown All Star game? And shout out to them. They're doing their thing. So for a young prospect that's coming up and they want to play for a game like this, what do you say to them when it's like, hey, I'm seeing these schools highly represented in this game and there's some others that also have two players. But when you see those schools represented and they're doing a great job, what do you say a player like, do you. Is it. Are more guys getting more looks because they're going to a school like this and it's, it's better to go to a school like this because you, you have more opportunity, more spotlight on you? [01:05:37] Speaker A: I think it could seem like that for sure. But as, as a player, as a student athlete, I think your priority should be to go somewhere where you're going to develop and where you're going to have opportunity. Right? Like there's only so many spots for players on each of these top teams. So that's why, you know, for a player like Yousef, you got to respect what he's doing with a newer program, trying to lift them up and doing a great job of doing so. I mean, they're competing, they're hanging in there with, with some of the top teams. Like we talked about some of these games. It's like most of their games have been like really high level games and competitive games against teams like Royal Crown, Crestwood. They played Edge a couple times. One time in Calgary, one time here, they played Ridley as well. So I think for a player you should understand what your priorities are. And if it is to get a scholarship, you got to go to set yourself up where you're going to have high level coaches. Of course, certain schools do a great job of having a large network. I mean, Fort Erie being right by the border is huge. When they do the battle in the for they're able to Fill it up with coaches and different typ of personnel. And obviously Royal Crown have high level coaches with Chris exist, Mike De George obviously coaching at the CEBL level. So that's a lot of great experience. You can get there. But at the same time, you got to go. Like, there's going to be benefits of going to the school. Yes, I'm going to get better. I'm going to compete against the best. But maybe your opportunity won't be the same or maybe you look the other way. Like, I want to earn my spot. If I, I want to go, I want to compete against these top guys. I want to earn my keep like you. You look at a kid like Andy Gamau at a Royal Crown who I feel like was definitely another player who could have made that list. And he's only been at Royal Crown now, I believe this is his second year now. And he, you know, scratched and crawled his way into that starting lineup and now he's looking like their best player both in the grind session and in the npa. [01:07:11] Speaker B: He doesn't make this game. [01:07:12] Speaker A: He didn't make the game either. Right. So. So, you know, it's, it's, it's interesting, the whole process of it. Of course, I just have one vote out of 38. I just hope everybody. [01:07:22] Speaker B: What are your thoughts on that? Because I asked west that and he was like, my vote is kind of like 2%. You know, it's like it's whittled down to that. Before it used to be like a committee of. I think he was saying maybe like six to eight, ten people around that. What are your thoughts on kind of like for a guy that watches the talent, watches the film that takes their time, speaking to coaches, advocates for these players. Yeah, like, I don't know, do you feel some type of way that you like your vote doesn't really matter in a committee like this when there's 38 people. [01:07:50] Speaker A: I would just say I feel, feel a type of way or necessarily even feel like my opinion might be, might way more than the other person. But at the same time, like you said, the amount of time that we spend tracking these kids and talking to their coaches and getting that type of intel, you wish definitely there was more, I don't want to say influence, but maybe, you know, just, just giving. But maybe that starts with me, man. Again, maybe I should have been on more of those calls and vouching for Yusuf and saying, hey, like this kid's hearing from Virginia Tech, this kid's hearing From Stanford, from St. Louis, some bonaventures because maybe the people that aren't having those conversations, like Wes and I with the college coaches, maybe they have a blind spot to that. So maybe they just go on the Instagram profile and they see what offers he has and for him still has, you know, UTMR in Jacksonville, Liu, those are still D1 offers. So maybe they don't have that full type of information. So that's why again, I'm looking at myself and like, what could I have done to vouch for a kid that I just feel like should have been in the game? Like, again, we are neutral. Like I'm a neutral scout. Like, I have no horse in the race, so I'm not necessarily vouching for anybody unless I feel like they really should have been on that game. And again, if we're leaving a 6, 7 point guard out of this game where we're inviting NBA scouts, it'd be funny, man. Imagine you're, you're, we're at that game, sitting at the practice with the NBA scouts and it's like, hey, but guess what? There's a kid not here that might be better than all these kids in a couple years, which is crazy to say. Then they're going to be like, why isn't he in this game? I'm gonna say, you know what? People felt like for whatever reason that, you know, he, he didn't deserve their vote. But I, I just feel like it comes down to doing your due diligence, right? And, and, and the season is, is a lot of ways like a story, right? Like different storylines are emerging. From the start of the year, it was like, okay, Royal Crown is coming off a national championship in the npa. They were looking like the top dogs. And then in the middle of the season, it's like 40 restringing together, a couple wins, both in the states and both here. And now we're getting into Nationals. Things are heating up. Maybe some players left, maybe some players are coming back. So to really be entrenched in that, like again, me and Wes and maybe a couple other people doing it on a full time level, like, to actually have that time spent is how you're going to gain all that type of context on it. But it's, it's interesting, man. Again, I got, I got nothing but love for everybody on that committee. And I respect everyone's opinion, but I, I do feel like we got this wrong as a whole. And, and part of that is on me. [01:10:08] Speaker B: What's your criteria when it comes to selecting players for this game? Because Some people base it off of production. Some people like Wes was talking about, obviously he always bases it kind of off of like that. And looking at upside NBA, because some guys might have. Might bloom a bit later, right. They might become a player in a few years and they have, you know, you can't tell right away what do you base off in your selection. [01:10:31] Speaker A: Yeah, so it's definitely, I would say, a blend of both that production and that potential where you don't want to go too far on either side because you could have a kid with all the potential in the world. But if you're 18, 19, we're still going off potential, then it's like maybe he hasn't figured it out all the way yet. But at the same time, you go too far on the, on the level of production where of course they put up great numbers in whatever league they're playing. But maybe they don't have the same type of quote, unquote, NBA upside, which usually for a lot of times it's physical tools or athleticism, a size for position, whatever the case is. But I think you have a happy median of both. And then I also like to look at the tangible and the intangible. So obviously you have the tangibles, which is your positional size, your skill, athleticism, all that type of stuff that we see. But the intangible stuff, their motor, how bad do they want it? Their. Their processing speed, right. When they get off of a ball screen, how are they reading defenses and all that type of stuff. So you want to have a nice blend of both. You don't want to go too far on each side. But I, I think if you have that happy medium of both, usually. And of course this NBA sanctioned event, you, like I said, want to have guys that might have that NBA type of profile, but at the same time do have some polish on them as well. So definitely want to have a blend of both. [01:11:42] Speaker B: Do you feel like we're transparent enough about the selection criteria? Like when you guys are talking about, hey, this is what we're looking for, like, is there a set criteria? When you guys are discussing, it's like, hey, everyone should be aiming for this when we're selecting players for this game. [01:11:58] Speaker A: Good question. So I, I think to the public that could definitely be communicated better because people might look at that and say, okay, it's the best 24 players, you know, and we're going to go off of stats or something like that. But maybe they not know the, the NBA side of it where they're going to have NBA scouts in attendance, NBA personnel. So it's an actual NBA sanctioned event where you might want, might want to put our best NBA products on display, where sometimes it might not be the guy that's putting up the most numbers, but, but you know, Maybe he's a 610 rim running athlete with a 75 wingspan, whatever the case is, right? So you want to have that blend, but then internally, for the most part, they leave it up to us in the committee. Which is why sometimes if you have too many people again, too many chefs in the kitchen, it could be one guy might be going for this and people might be going for their own players, which, you know, I can respect that side of it. If you have coaches in there who are competing against these players and understand what they're like on a game to game basis. But at the same time, I just hope everybody's done their due diligence where we're not just going off of maybe offers or whatever, or maybe we're not just going off of whatever five minute clips that we might see on social media. Right. Like it's, it's really a job that takes a lot of thoroughness, a lot of corroboration, we like to call it. So if, if I have a player and I want to learn more about him, I'm talking to everybody in a circle, talking to, to his coach, his AU coach, his trainer, I'm talking to, to certain people that are close to him to really understand the me men up of this kid and see what he's like. Because sometimes he might not be all the way there yet, but maybe the coach tells you like, yo, this kid's in the gym three times a day. He's a psycho. I can't get him out of the gym. Okay, what does he look like in a year or two with that same work ethic? Which is why I think it's important to have people that really care, man. And, and like you said, I put that, that stuff out because I care for the game in Canada. Like I've been, you know, with nph now since 2019, so it's, it's a career for me. And, and I care about us putting our best, best product forward. And if everybody's not really approaching it with that same type of care, then, you know, I, I, I feel like that's what the committee should be about where people that truly care for that and, and in order to do that is, you're, you're putting in the time. Now obviously people are coming from different areas of Canada and It's harder to do that, but that's why we have the NPA where we're getting to see teams from Calgary, teams from Quebec, teams from different, you know, areas in the country. So I think the criteria has. Has to definitely be a little more. As much as we can try to be objective with it. Like, for example, again, for Yousef's case, I know many six, seven point guards with his skill set that are walking around that might not be in the game, but it's. It's definitely an interesting process when you have that many people kind of. Kind of in the mix. [01:14:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't feel like we. There's another 6, 7 prospect with that feel, which is kind of crazy. That's not in the game. You mentioned coaches. Coaches are obviously part of this selection process, too. And I think, correct me if I'm wrong, like, some of the coaches on this list, you definitely probably respect. You know them pretty well. You know, sometimes they probably are not, like, pushing their guys. They're gonna keep it real. But I personally think no matter what, there's a conflict of interest in that. As somebody that's like, I'm speaking from a conflict. [01:15:06] Speaker A: Interesting. [01:15:07] Speaker B: That's why I wanted you guys on to be like, hey, am I bugging when I'm saying Yousef is a top talent? But. But here you're saying you've watched the talent, but when it comes to coaches, do you feel like there's a conflict interest having a guy that has players up for a game like this to have a vote on a committee for a selection process? Because I'm thinking of it like, maybe it's because there's not many people in Canada that get to watch talent. Like Wes was saying, like, a lot of these coaches, whether it's like. Like Michael de George, who's on this committee for Erie, coach on Kemi, that's on this committee, those guys get to see a lot of the talent. So they have a different perspective. [01:15:44] Speaker A: Right. [01:15:44] Speaker B: Victor Rasso as well, you know, like those guys. So they have a different perspective. But do you feel like there's a conflict of interest at all with that kind of stuff? [01:15:54] Speaker A: So obviously, naturally, you know, it's. It's hard to remove that bias when they're coaching these kids, when they have that type of care for those type of kids and they're going to want to vouch for their guys. Now, I do, of course, value and appreciate their opinion because they're competing against these guys. They have to game plan against these guys. They're watching film they're doing their scouting reports. They got to understand their tendencies. And of course, there's a lot of mutual respect, but maybe we do something like what we do for the npa. So we just sent out our ballot for the NPA for the awards, and we have the coaches vote, but they're not allowed to vote for their own players, so you got to vote for the guy that you're competing against. That. It's just. At that point, it's just basketball. It's just not. I'm coaching this kid. I think he's the best. Or everybody thinks their kids are best if they're coaching them for the most part. Right. So you still 100%, like, value their opinion, because we need more of those type of voices in the game that do it at a high level, who I have a lot of respect for, but maybe you just have them in there and, you know, say you're not allowed to vote for your own player. [01:16:49] Speaker B: Yeah, it's interesting. I think that's a great method to where it's like, you're. Because some people will be thinking, okay, I see all these schools in there, and it's like, do I got to go to these schools? Because these people are part of the community. They're part of the process. And, yeah, I think that's a good way to just kind of like, knock. Knock that off. When it comes to. I'm guessing you saw the comments on social media. I think it's almost 300. 300. I'll scroll through. I'm like, God damn. What are your thoughts on people saying, hey, let's boycott this game? This is not like. This is not the game that, you know, it's not what it was before. And I'm gonna say this. They get it right. 90. Yeah, like, 90. Like, this roster is good. It's talent in there. I probably would have had most of these guys in there, you know, so it's like, yeah, I can't complain. [01:17:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:17:36] Speaker B: But what are your thoughts on people saying, hey, like, people are fed up, you know, it seems like it's reached a boiling point. [01:17:43] Speaker A: I kind of. [01:17:43] Speaker B: I look back at last year's and seeing if there's as much uproar. There's, like, only, like, 13, maybe 20 comments. I think now there's 290 people pissed off. [01:17:53] Speaker A: And. And if you look at them, a lot of them are vouching for the same players, whether David Bottomley, also, David Boston, like, just like. Like, man, he put up some numbers against some really good teams, man, like, against some D1 players, like he put up some numbers and the people that know his story and his background, like he's been at it for a while and, and you know, his skill set's really high and. But that, that buzz in a way could be good for the game. Right? Like now we're gonna have a lot of people watching the game. But, but at the same time, maybe it's like I didn't know there was that big of a contrast from last year's comments compared to this year. So maybe that says something. [01:18:27] Speaker B: I got to double check. But I, from my understanding, yeah, like [01:18:30] Speaker A: I, I don't remember last year. There obviously might, might have been a couple guys and again there's going to be a couple guys every year. But I think the Yousef one was a big one just because the level of prospect he is. But I, again, I just think his case is so unique because he was such a late bloomer and people are really just starting to figure out about him this year. And he did his thing with, with you play on the EYCL circuit and, and it's funny because the you, you play EYBL team kind of struggled. So a lot of people were like, yo, Yousef could have been the best player on that team as well. You can make the case for him as well. But I remember seeing him for the first time, I think it was probably just around two years ago and he was still with King Heights and they were quite in the NPA yet, but they were still in our other prep league. And I just remember seeing this tall, like he's probably about 6, 6 at the time, lanky kid. And, and he's, he's just so smooth on the floor. I remember one play he got to like a two dribble, pull up like pump fake, got the defender off of his feet. He put up a shot and how quick it didn't go in, but how quick his second jump was. And he was able to get off of the floor and quickly like tip it back in. Like I'm seeing some stuff at that size. [01:19:44] Speaker B: I'm like, who is this kid? [01:19:45] Speaker A: He kept putting up big numbers, hit a couple game winners. And one thing about Yousef is his rebounding numbers are always insane crazy. [01:19:54] Speaker B: Like 16, 15 games. King Heights gotta do everything. [01:19:58] Speaker A: And, and he's the point guard on offense, but then on defense he might be guarding the bigs and stuff in the statue with his defense. So like people talk about his ability as an oversized guard, but it's funny, his, his, his most underrated skill set might actually be his rebounding. And every coach from the mid plus to high major level that has seen his tape is, is, is like who is this kid? This kid is legit. Now of course everybody knows the landscape and how it is now but if this was two years and it was pre transfer portal, Yousef would probably be already committed to the high major level and he already has that high major interest. But again people that aren't having those conversations, they just might not know that. [01:20:31] Speaker C: Right. [01:20:31] Speaker B: So I got. There are comments from last year's pulled up 35 comments. 35 comments compared to, let's see, what's the latest? 289. 289. So basically 290. [01:20:46] Speaker A: Wow. [01:20:47] Speaker B: I think someone deleted one of their comments because I was looking at the other someone are like you know I gotta go back. I was too, I was too spicy. I see Marcus Carr who's killing it with the national team. [01:20:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:20:57] Speaker B: Playing World cup qualifiers. He was in there pissed off. He was like forget about the committee. What's. Do you feel like I'm gonna put you on the spot because Wes said no straight up to this answer. He said I'm gonna ask him do you feel like the community is watching enough basketball? What are your thoughts on that? [01:21:15] Speaker A: Again? When you try to have so many people just for the sake of geographical representation, it's hard to be that tapped in on a day to day level. There's games going on every day. There's OSBA games during the week, there's NPA games on the weekend. If I'm in Newfoundland at Canada games, I'm seeing Wes in the gym. If I'm at a we having our NPA sessions, Wes is in the gym. We were at the Royal Crown crest with the other game. I see you there. Wes is in the gym. I see him on the AU circuit. So again like to do this at the at at the level where we're putting our time, investing our resources to go to these different games to track these players. Like we do it for the players man. Like we want to help these kids get looks and at the same time try to grow the quality of the game here. So to answer your question, unless I'm seeing these 38 people [01:22:01] Speaker B: in the gym [01:22:02] Speaker A: all season which you don't. And again it's hard to go off of just film man. It's hard because you want to walk in the gym and see kids body language. You want to see how he's interacting with his teammates, you want to see his energy level from tip off from, from warm ups. You want to see how he's talking to his coaches, if he's looking his coach in the eye, if he gets discouraged, if his coach tells him something he doesn't want to hear. All that type of stuff. Especially when we're talking about what college coaches and next level personnel are looking at. That's the type of stuff they're looking at. Sometimes even more so than the game. Right. So again, it, I feel like a few years when the committee was maybe around 8 to 12 people. I think that's a good number. I think that's a good number where you can still have a right dialogue. Where I'm not saying my opinion is, is the end all, be all, but we can have enough conversation. And I think I heard Wes say this before. It's hard to get on these zoom calls and try to have a debate with 30, 35 people. Right. Like, I, I just don't think those are necessarily the most productive ways of doing it. Now, of course they want to have different areas of representation, or maybe they just want to throw everybody in there and try to grow the game that way. But it's, it's hard to really do that at the level that I would say Wes and I do it and maybe a couple others. Josh Milliken does, does a solid job in his little pocket over there in Orangeville covering the games. [01:23:14] Speaker B: And [01:23:16] Speaker A: other than that, man, it's, it's not a lot, which is why, yeah, you want to have some prep coaches on there, maybe some people who've done stuff with the national team, maybe mix in a couple youth sport coaches. I see Dave Devereau in the gym [01:23:26] Speaker B: all the time and I see probably more than this. [01:23:28] Speaker A: OUA champs, right? Like, it pays off. He's, he's recruiting high school kids. He's in the gym. I remember actually sitting, complete sidetracked, but I remember sitting with Dave at an NPA session and it was like a mid season NPA session where obviously you're not going to have all coaches come out because they're in the midst of this, their season. But again, head coach of one of the top youth sport programs in the gym. And I'm talking to Dave and I'm like, yeah, you know, it's probably, you know, because of them, I'm giving the coaches benefit of the doubt. I'm like, you know, it's probably because they're in their season. You know, they might be traveling. My coming out with Dave's no excuses, man. [01:23:57] Speaker B: No, he's there and that's the head coach. [01:23:58] Speaker A: Right. So if he can take the time and come to the gym, then I would respect his opinion on this, on this committee. Now, maybe he doesn't want it just because he's got enough on his plate, but maybe that. Those are the type of people we need more of, man. It's. It's hard to find people that are junkies about, you know, Canadian basketball. Of course, it's very niche, but I feel like you got to reward the people that are, like, out of those 38 people, man, we're talking about snubs for the players. I got a snub for the committee. My guy Michael Torres should have been on that list, man. [01:24:22] Speaker B: Can we talk about that? [01:24:23] Speaker A: We could talk about that, man. That guy is in the gym more [01:24:25] Speaker B: than anybody myself as well. [01:24:27] Speaker A: I see him at. At offset games, and he's at regular high school games. That guy is a grinder, man. I think if anybody should have been there that can provide input, I think it should have been him. Shout out Mike Torres, man. That was the biggest snub. Bigger than any player. [01:24:40] Speaker B: That was a slap in the face. [01:24:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:24:42] Speaker B: Because, like, how is he not. Yeah. What are we looking at? It's like, how do you even select that? That's. To me, that makes the committee process a joke. When you. Someone that's in the gym more than anybody is not on this committee, you just got to reevaluate the whole process and relook at it. And that's why I think of, like, when I talk about. I go out to some EYBL sessions. I try to go to one or two at least a year. You see me, like once a month at a game in the city. I'll try and come out. I'm not there every single time like you guys, but I'll come and check out the big games, like, notable games to come watch. I feel like we can get. Not me included, because I'm not in the gym. Eight to 10 Scouts across Canada that evaluate the talent. Forget the coaches, forget the Ontario basketball, forget basketball PI. Forget all these, like, maybe get someone from Canada basketball that also evaluates the talent that represents. Get 8 to 10, maybe 12 people to decide this game. And I think at that point, I would have no issue. Yeah, I have an issue because I'm seeing people that are not even close or watching these games have a vote, because then that makes me think, expand the committee. Expand a committee to 50 people at this point. Give everybody. [01:25:56] Speaker A: She's been on it at that point. [01:25:58] Speaker B: At that point. [01:25:58] Speaker A: At that point. [01:25:59] Speaker B: Give me a voice like, you know, I would have. I would have got it wrong. But you see, that's my issue, because I don't think people can admit that, hey, I shouldn't be on a committee like this because I'm not watching the games. [01:26:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:26:12] Speaker B: If you can't admit that to yourself, that's what's wrong. That's what's wrong with Canadian basketball, too. But, yeah. Yeah. And I want to get your thoughts on this, too. Do you feel like there's a lack of accountability, especially when it comes to 38 at that point? Because it's like, who can we blame? That's what people are wondering. [01:26:29] Speaker A: True. And it's funny. I'm. I'm even sitting up here thinking I. Maybe there was something I could have done more to maybe vouch for certain kids that I felt like they should have been on there. [01:26:40] Speaker B: Like, what are your thoughts on public votes? What are your thoughts on people? Because I think if it's 38 people, if you're gonna keep it like that, I want to see everyone's vote. [01:26:47] Speaker A: I think that would actually be productive. It's like, oh, you didn't vote for this kid. Why? Tell me. Give me a reason. Tell me why. [01:26:53] Speaker B: Because I feel like you, as a scout, you would have a. This is exactly what I think about this player. This is. This is my. This is potential. This is production. This is what I think you'd be able to give an actual reason as to why your 24 was your 24. You know what I'm saying? So that's my. That's probably my issue. I would have liked that. [01:27:09] Speaker A: Yeah. For sure. We can talk about. We can have a basketball conversations. We can disagree and it's fine. Nobody should take it personally. And. And that's it. Because. [01:27:16] Speaker B: Do you think people take it personally, though? [01:27:17] Speaker A: And can't. [01:27:19] Speaker B: Because Wes has mentioned that, too. [01:27:20] Speaker A: He's like, I would think so, man. It's. You know, it's. Especially when people have their certain type of players, whether it's a certain type of build of a player, maybe it's just like a relationship they have with the player. Like, of course there's going to be obvious biases. [01:27:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:27:39] Speaker A: And. And then you might have people that have that chip on that shoulder, and it's usually like the people. It's. It's outside of Ontario that is like, I don't know. We're. We got to be on here, too. You know, they don't want people to think it's just an Ontario game, which maybe that's why they went that route is because maybe a people were looking at it as it's Ontario bias. And, and let's get some more people from out of province. So maybe they might take feel a wave if they feel like, you know, [01:28:02] Speaker B: I get that sentiment. But then I look at the roster. 14 out of the 24 players do not play in Canada. Is this an all Canadian game or is this an all American game? To be honest, Because I'm also wondering that do you guys care about watching talent? Like we don't care about the homegrown talent. And I hear from people, people should stay here in Canada. But then I see this and I'm like, more than half the players selected are not playing in Canada right now. Is that a good thing? [01:28:28] Speaker A: So you have your no brainer guys, of course. Miles Adler, Paulo Cerui, Lyric Robinson, those boys, no brainers, you got to have those in because again the, the point of the game is it's an NBA sanctioned game. But I feel like for the borderline players, like a player that might be as good as a player that's here. But I, I think, you know, you, you, you'd want to reward the kids that are here playing in Canada. You know, it goes for the same thing like a player, player. Like I remember last year, like I felt like someone like Justice Hazley should have been the national player of the year. Because we're talking about a kid that's been at Royal Crown basically his, his whole high school career. We're talking about a kid that's played Team Canada, talking about a, a kid that won a national championship with Royal Crown in the npa. So he did it all in Canada while getting to the next level. So I feel like that's what we got a reward. But at the same time still understanding like the NBA sanction side of it, you want to have the best prospects regardless. But if it's not, you know, like those no brainer guys that I said, and if it's a back and forth between a kid that hasn't been to Canada since he was 15, 16 and you know, a kid that's been killing it up here, you know, then I, I would like to lean towards the Canadian side of it for sure. And, and I don't think kids necessarily gotta go to the States and you're seeing a lot of kids go make that trip and then they're bouncing back and they're not having success. I think it's different for everybody, right, because they're, they might go to the states chasing this thing, thinking you're going to go to the states and that's it. 100 D1 coaches in the gym every time. Which isn't always the case. Like I'm watching every grand session stream. If I'm not there and I'm not seeing a lot of coaches in the gym, of course if they do their national stuff, it's there. But I mean, I think the type of players that should be going to the states are maybe the players that like need that next level challenge. Like you should be going up against, you know, other five stars every day, every game, every practice, maybe those guys that need that test. But if you're a kid that's still developing like, you know, four Erie had that one 20, 24 team. They said multiple guys, high major like Ishan Sharma, killing. Maryland, Quintock, Texas Tech, Felix Casseros, Colorado. Like out of Fort Erie, small town. Yeah, obviously helps. It's by the border, but a lot of schools have been doing that in Canada. So it's changed, man. It's. It's not necessarily all glitz and glamour. When they go to the States, they have a bad experience. They're in the middle of wherever, Missouri, far from home and coach screams at them. One time they're calling their mom to come back home. Right. It's, it's different, man. So I would definitely like to reward the kids that are, are definitely grinding it out up here that deserve it, of course, as well. [01:30:46] Speaker B: Somebody left me a comment on my last podcast and they said, can you discuss why the all Canadian game has underclass for the game instead of just having seniors like the All American game in the U.S. what are your thoughts on that? Juniors playing for the seniors? I know, like, I kind of discussed this a bit earlier, but it's like a lot of guys that are obviously in their grade 12 year. So like if they're that good, you might even get a chance to see them. But what are your thoughts on making this an all senior game? [01:31:16] Speaker A: I, I understand that wanting to reward the seniors because it's their final year, but at the same time I think getting the best 24 because you might have kids that are grade 12 still and you might think they have another year so you might leave them off of the game. But a lot of times in Canada they're ending up reclassing, so it might be a little different. So for example, Will Riley, yep, he ended up reclassing and going a year early because he had all the high major offers in the world. So there wasn't a need for him to stay that extra year. So for him he would reclass. So it's a little bit different where they kind of consider the class as in Canada with the post grad, if that makes sense. So like if we're trying to go all seniors and we don't pick a kid because he's a 20s, 27. So say this year, say we take off Paul Osarui for example, because he's a 20, 27 and then he ends up reclassing or Den Gord, he ends up reclassing and he doesn't have the game. I think we should just keep it like the best 24 regardless. And then maybe it's even like yo, maybe it's, it's not even just a grade 13, grade 12 thing. Maybe open it up to a couple grade 11s and then this year maybe you could add Isaiah Hamilton. [01:32:21] Speaker B: Isaiah Hamilton. [01:32:22] Speaker A: And that would have been St. Louis. Who's doing it? Because if we're talking about best NBA prospects regardless of age and class, like obviously he's up there, no doubt. [01:32:29] Speaker B: Tristan Edwards. [01:32:30] Speaker A: Tristan Edwards doing his thing. [01:32:33] Speaker B: Those 28 and 29 classes, I'm excited for that. [01:32:36] Speaker A: Have a chance to be really special. [01:32:38] Speaker B: I'm excited for that. What are your messages like to players that got snubbed? Like the players that I'm guessing you're like, you should have made this game. You should have been part of this. It should have been your, your going out party. What's your message to players that got snubbed? Obviously it's like, hey, look at Xavier Lee. [01:32:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:32:56] Speaker B: What's your message? [01:32:57] Speaker A: Use this as fuel, man. Remember this feeling. Remember what it like what this feeling of people thinking you're not good enough. And maybe it's a feeling of them not knowing about you yet, but you got to make it undeniable. And again, that's the thing. I, I was talking to a bunch of these kids afterwards just because you want to make sure their spirits are so high at the end of the day they're still 17, 18, 19 year old kids and this type of stuff means a lot to them. Rightfully so. Who wouldn't want to be in, in this game getting that recognition? But if anything, that should light a, a fire under you like like never before. And, and, and every time you see anybody on that list, you want to go out and destroy these guys. Make it absolutely undeniable. Like Xavan Lee was a big one. I feel like obviously during co he was playing in the States, but he came back home for that one summer crushed Jane and Finch crushed cnit. Now obviously that was in the summer so it would have been after the game but that was the message and will continue to be the message. I'm telling these guys just use it as fuel man. Just, just go out and destroy everybody [01:33:52] Speaker B: that you see that made this list that you feel like you're better than what players. I know we kind of touched on some players but any other names that you're like snubbed. [01:33:59] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:33:59] Speaker B: That you would have made your team for sure. [01:34:01] Speaker A: So obviously Yousef Nathan Yamba Yamba at CIA as well. Like I think his upside is through the roof. You know six six athletic weighing and he's starting to get a lot of mid to high major interest. I would have loved to see Kamani Walters in this game just because I know he would have came in and tried to lock up everybody. An absolute dog. Arguably the best guard defender Kamai Samuels who made it last year. Malik Jepi Kitson who was the MVP of the game last year. Like you can make a case for [01:34:28] Speaker B: those guys as well. [01:34:29] Speaker A: I think they definitely could have made the list. Daniel Simon is another player especially if we're talking about upside now maybe he's a player that falls into the category of elite upside. Like we're talking about a six nine six ten mobile and skilled forward that can shoot the three and move really well but maybe his production hasn't been at that level yet so maybe people are still learning about him. So those are guys Athena Madut out of Alberta playing out Western Canada Prep. That's a kid who's really starting to blow up on, on some mid to high major radars and we're going to be seeing them in the NPA next year so I'm looking forward to seeing him. I think those handful of guys were, were, were guys that were Kamar Grant. I mean you can make Colton crowdis like you. You can really make a. Colton is [01:35:14] Speaker B: very at Crestwood right before he was [01:35:16] Speaker A: at Crestwood last year now he's at Bridgeton Academy. He's, he's really crafty man and and his skill and feel for the game is really really high. He's got pretty good size for position as a point guard so you can make a case obviously for these 24 that made it but you can make a case for another 10, 15, 20 guys. Like there's a lot of time we [01:35:32] Speaker B: could do a whole snub game if we want to straight up NPA idea for you guys do a whole SN game of Players could be interesting. [01:35:39] Speaker A: Andy Gamau I didn't talk about. I maybe brought him up before. But yeah, you can do like another whole game. We're obviously going to do our NPA All Star game. So that's going to be good. Celebrate some of the guys that maybe didn't get that love. [01:35:50] Speaker B: But any players you excited for in the game? Miles Sal. My question is he. Is he going to play? Because he might get selected Hoop Summit. And that's like, that's why I'm like, there's going to be a spot likely. I don't want to put it out there. But I'm like the Hoop Summit game or like the weekend before that. It literally the camp starts. [01:36:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:36:08] Speaker B: And I'm gonna get out there on April 6th. [01:36:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:36:10] Speaker B: And the game is the fifth players [01:36:11] Speaker A: to get there a week early. [01:36:12] Speaker B: Exactly. So it's like to me, it's not. If I'm miles out there. I'm not. I'm not. Especially after last year's All Canadian game. I don't know what your thoughts. I thought it was like I spoke to some NBA people and they're like, I turned that off after the first half because nobody was playing hard. No one was actually competing. It wasn't an actual. It was just like layup lines and like alley oops. Like, I don't know. [01:36:31] Speaker A: You have the Chipotle Nationals as well around that same time. So they're A lot of those CIA guys might not ended up making it. So there, there could still be a case where some of those snubs could make the game. But aside from that, like Dangor, like guy, I'm looking forward to seeing guys who are ultra competitors. Please. Because in all star situations, it's easy to get chill, laid back. You're playing with your boys. But those ultra competitors are the guys that say, yo, forget all that. Like, I'm here to dominate. I'm here to win mvp. But I think Deng is going to be fun to watch. I think Eli Jolene is going to be really fun to watch. Looking forward to seeing Max Meyer back home. The Duke commit. Obviously that's going to be good. It's going to be good, man. Jacob McGregor has the ability to light it up from a scoring standpoint. So he's going to be fun. It's going to be good. Still going to be a good game. Like talent is. Is definitely still high. But you know, again, someone like a Yousef could have went in that game and been arguably the best player on [01:37:23] Speaker B: the floor and is, you know, in this game. So even though they. Even though we're pissed off, even though we're, like, putting our frustrations, I can say no one from the AL team hit me saying, like, yo, Lee Band, you're. You're wild. Because I. I actually value this game. Y. I think it's so important. I just think there's certain stuff that we could fix, and if you're open to discuss it, come on this podcast. Let's have a chat. And I feel like a lot of people would also be willing to. To bring up suggestions about how we could fix this game. My suggestion. Leave it to the scouts. Leave it to the scouts. They. And. And, you know, we can blame them instead. You know, we'll take the accountability at [01:38:02] Speaker A: that point because at least we can have that conversation and provide our criteria. [01:38:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:38:06] Speaker A: And go from there. But, yeah, it's. It's. It's interesting stuff. At the end of the day, the conversation's good. [01:38:13] Speaker B: But going forward, I just hope this doesn't happen again. [01:38:17] Speaker A: I hope it doesn't happen again. And I. [01:38:19] Speaker B: And it will likely happen again. [01:38:20] Speaker A: It's likely. [01:38:21] Speaker B: If you don't go down to scouts. [01:38:22] Speaker A: Exactly. If we don't, you know, clean up that process. But, you know, at the end of the day, like, you know, we can. We can all. Again. I'm always open having that conversation with people. I'd even like to talk to some of my committee members and. And, you know, hear who they voted for. I'd like the public vote, please make that public so we can see who voted for who. [01:38:39] Speaker B: If you were on the committee, DM the Clean Basketball Show. Send us your ballot. Yeah, I'll grade it A. I'll give you a B. I'll give you comments. [01:38:49] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [01:38:50] Speaker B: Or we'll put it on our IG story and we'll ask, rate this on a scale of 1 to 10. We'll do something fun, you know, like let us know if you're confident in your 24, which you should be if you're on this committee. [01:39:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:39:02] Speaker B: Let us know who you voted for. We'll put on ig. No. No names. We won't put your name out there. [01:39:06] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:39:06] Speaker B: Well, we'll leave it for the public to decide. [01:39:08] Speaker A: Who wants to smoke? [01:39:09] Speaker B: Right. Who wants to smoke? Like, you know, leave it to discuss NPA Nationals, though. [01:39:13] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [01:39:14] Speaker B: How excited you for that. Tell me what date, what day that is. And also, you guys are expanding out to BC. [01:39:19] Speaker A: I saw that. Yeah. So we're NPA Nationals, March 23rd to 29th at Humber College. So that's going to be good. Get a chance to see all the teams on the same week is always really fun because sometimes you might see Edge in the first session, sometimes you might see Royal Crown in the next session. But the see them all together is great. Usually we have like 50 plus post secondary coaches at all level everywhere from high major D1 to USport, CCAA JUCOs. So it's a great opportunity for these coaches to come out and see these players live in person and to also put on a show for these prep programs and to show them like this is the type of product that we're trying to put out for you guys and for your players and it's usually a great event. And then the B.C. western Canada stuff, there's a lot of interesting stuff bubbling out there. We have a session going on at Edmonton in June that's going to be like a lot of club stuff. So good hoops, Genesis, those type of clubs. We did an NPA session in Calgary a couple months ago where Edge hosted. And then we just recently announced Aspen Grove from B.C. is going to be in the NPA next year. And then there's going to be a couple other announcements coming out soon about new teams. So that's exciting. But you know, we. That's what the NPA is about, right? It's a national prep league. It's the only one in Canada where we can have all the programs across Canada come out. And that's how we're able to see all the best players in in country from coast to coast. That's how we're not missing anybody because we're seeing these teams from everywhere. So it's going to be good. National is going to be great. And then there's obviously a lot of stuff bubbling out in Western Canada. [01:40:43] Speaker B: I'll be out there at MP Nationals. Excited for that. Sure. My guy, Joe Moose, I can't thank you enough for jumping on this podcast and discussing the All Canadian games roster and yeah. Just our thought process how we can fix it. Because I don't want this just to be like a we're talking bad about the game because I don't think that's what yes. Podcast was intended for. But it's also just like coming up with a solution because there's something wrong and we should fix it. We should be willing to have that conversation about how we could get it right. [01:41:10] Speaker A: Exactly. [01:41:10] Speaker C: You know. [01:41:10] Speaker B: Exactly. So Joe, can't thank you enough. [01:41:12] Speaker A: I appreciate it. Thank you for having me. [01:41:13] Speaker B: This is Canadian Basketball. Show your go to spot for the latest news stories and analysis on Canadian basketball with my guy Joe. We out.