Halford & Brough in the Morning - Canadian Women’s Soccer Resilience & Men's Basketball Victory

Episode Date: July 29, 2024

In hour one, Josh Elliott-Wolfe and Jason Brough look back at the weekend in sports (3:00), they discuss the massive win by the Women's Soccer team at the Olympics over France (4:00) and are joined by Donnovan Bennett to break down the Men's basketball team's opening game performance and expectations moving forward (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-d Wing and a fly ball. Deep right field. Grossman going back. And Farshoes left the yard again. We're losing a lot of good leaders in the clubhouse that are going to go to teams and do really well, I think. So obviously it's tough letting those guys leave. I miss being near you. I miss your scent. I miss your musk. Good morning, Vancouver 601. On a Monday, it is Halford and Brough, but it is not Halford

It is Josh Elliott-Wolfe, that's me But it is Brough How are you? Good morning, buddy Good morning First time we've ever worked together as co-hosts I'm looking forward to this I requested this, by the way

Did you? Yeah That's a lot of pressure Halford and I went to cam and we said This Josh Elliott-Wolfe. He's a young guy, but he's got something. And now we're going to find out. So, you know,

don't choke, I guess. Time to crash and burn. Don't choke. Youthful exuberance can only get you so far. This is Halford and Brough, and hour one is brought to you by the Delore family of Honda dealers. Experience the Delore difference today. Visit your nearest Delore Honda dealer today,

and you can text in on the 650-650 Dunbar Lumber text line. The Bridge Street Dunbar Lumber in Ladner has moved to Progress Way in Tilbury's Industrial Park. More room, more product, more awesome. Details at DunbarLumber.com. No A-Dog today either we got basketball ben in this morning good morning ben how are you great and laddie's in with us good morning laddie i'm still here i hired the good morning part and i definitely forgot the good morning part yeah i

was so ready for it oh you're ready for it oh okay you don't have to copy alford in every way you can throw your own spin on it. So just not say good morning and say good morning. Please throw your own spin on it. You really don't have to copy Halford in every way. Honestly. What do we got coming up on the show today, buddy? This is when you go through the guest list. Do you have it in front of you? Yes, I do. So at 6.30

we have Donovan. It's very Olympic heavy, by the way. The Olympics are on right now. So at 6.30, Donovan Bennett covering the olympics for cbc and sportsnet he's going to join us we're going to talk uh canada basketball they beat greece but it was kind of close so we'll talk about that and if it's maybe more encouraging maybe more worrying uh takeaways from that game um perdita felician host of cbc olympics primetime two-time olympian that's at seven o'clock talking about kind of the olympics as a whole opening ceremonies she was on the call for i saw

people were upset about the olympic opening ceremonies the culture wars were oh yeah waging over over that and then i i looked at that on social media and I pressed that little button that said, this is not for me. Yes, yeah. They were long, though, the opening ceremonies. Yeah, I didn't watch those things. I was like, yeah, and here they come down the river and that's it for me.

That's fun. And then 7.30, Ben Steiner covering the Olympics for CBC Sports, Canada soccer. A lot happened over the weekend that we will get into for the women, including a win yesterday, but obviously a lot more to get into with that team. And at 8 o'clock, Aaron Portsline covering the Columbus Blue Jackets for the Athletic. What's going on with Patrick Laine and his future? Is he going to be on the Blue Jackets come September?

We will talk to Aaron Portsline about that. So working in reverse, this is a Halpert thing. I know this. At 8 o'clock, Aaron Portsline covering the Blue Jackets for the Athletics. 7.30, Ben Steiner. 7 o'clock, Perdita Felician. And at 6.30, Donovan Bennett. But now it's time to tell everybody what happened.

Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened?

What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit bccsa.ca. So we will start with the big stuff. Canada women's soccer. Do we want to start with the game or work through the timeline of this weekend?

I think we have to start with the punishment that Canada got to put them in the hole that they seem to be digging out of. So let's start with the punishment. Six point punishment for the Canadian women's team for the drone spying scandal. I actually, to tell you the truth, I liked this punishment. And we've already got a text

into the Dunbar-Lumber text line that said, it's from Bill from Buffalo. And it said, despite the Halford and Brough show tossing the Canadian women's soccer team under the bus, the gals show terrific heart and even against all odds

and bad refereeing. They came through. Shame on all the bashers. So I replied to Bill from Buffalo, and it's really early to be arguing with people in the text line, but I said, ha-ha, define throwing under the bus because I think all we said on the show was this is embarrassing and to be caught spying the way they were with a drone and everything that then came from this story with

like oh it turns out Canada has been this isn't just a one-off this is a systemic thing and we're all going through this like embarrassment and there are headlines all over the world, whether you go to ESPN or BBC, there's a story about the Canadian women's, I feel sorry for the players because this is entirely on the leadership. This is entirely on Bev Priestman. And ADOG a couple times suggested, man, are they going to throw this team out of the tournament? And I said, I don't think they're going to do that, but I think they're going to bring the hammer down. And here's the thing. I liked the punishment that was handed down. It was a significant punishment, six points,

and it sent a message that this sort of thing isn't acceptable. But it did leave a window open for the players who were the innocent victims in all this. And I doubt many thought they'd beat france they'd already beaten new zealand after the punishment came down and i doubt many thought they'd beat france one of the best teams in the world on french soil no less but getting to the second part of the story uh they beat france yeah and now they're up to in the group stage they're up to, in the group stage, they're up to, well, they're up to zero points.

Good for them. They've got zero points because they've got two wins. They got one over New Zealand, one over France. And now if they beat Colombia, they're through to the quarterfinals, which is the goal all along. And the hero of the game, Vanessa Gilles, who scored the game-winning goal,

told CBC Olympics after the game, we haven't been eating, we've been crying. I wouldn't say they're ideal performing situations, but we've held each other through this and we have nothing to lose. What's given us energy is each other, is our determination, is our pride to represent this country. And my whole thing with this is I think this has been galvanizing for the players who have been adamant that they're not cheaters. They're not cheaters. It's their manager. It's their coaching staff that has been doing all the cheating. And that punishment left that window open for them to say,

okay, you know what? We're going to win the whole damn thing because of all this. And, you know, I don't think we threw them under the bus at all. We said that Bev Priestman should never coach again for Canada for the embarrassment that she caused the country. And I am rooting hard for the women to beat Columbia and get through to the quarterfinals because I think that would be awesome. So I do think it would be great for the women to beat Columbia and get through to the quarterfinals because I think that would be awesome.

So I do think it would be great for the women. And, you know, I think the point deduction was completely fair. And I do agree. Something about this, though, and I don't know what it is when I see this online and kind of like everyone getting around the women of the team, something about it is like rubbing me the wrong way. And I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the residual effect from, like, I do blame Bev Priestman

and more of the coaching side for everything that happened. And I do believe the women on the team when they say, hey, this wasn't us and this was was more of um priestman and the coaching staff but something about it just kind of feels icky to me still and i don't know if they just like need to keep playing and eventually i'll get over it but right now i don't know you're still not there you're still not there you're still not even though six points six points but six points is not worth drone spying right do you know what i mean like it like no no no country would go into the tournament and be like okay here's the deal uh we get to spy on their practices but we'll take a six point deduction

in the group stage right no one would agree to that but i I think it's just the history of it still. And when I think back to like, maybe it's still the Tokyo part of it, like potentially that's playing a part. I'm not sure what it is. I'm sure I'll get over it at some point, but I'm still not there. Are you mad because the drone spying

has tarnished that gold gold medal for you yes like you're mad because you enjoyed that gold medal very much and now you look back on and you're like yeah i remember i was i was producing the show you guys were doing play by play that you definitely shouldn't have been doing definitely not definitely it was like one of my favorite days of working here and like all the canadian the canadian pride was amazing and it was like one of my favorite days of working here. And like all the Canadian pride was amazing. And it was just a wonderful memory that now feels tarnished. Right. And so when that happens and it's directly because of a team that is now trying to get a bunch of people to rally behind it.

And I think justifiably so. It's still hard for me at least to get to that point right now. That being said, the emotion yesterday, especially from Vanessa Gilles, was a big step, I think. And there is a road to, and I think most people are already back on the side of the team, so maybe I'm kind of the outlier in this situation, but there is a road to them buying back the goodwill of Canadians and getting everybody back on their side. See, the thing that I feel is that the players, I know there were some reports that the men's team, for example, watched some of the drone footage in preparation for a game. I think it was a game against Honduras and Rick

West had reported that. So I think there might've been some knowledge from the players or see, I, there might've been some knowledge that something was going on. There might've, but I, I really don't feel like the players felt like they were doing anything wrong from one out, from what was, from what was coming across to me. And, you know, I, I think you saw that a lot based on their comments after these games,

especially the France game. They're like, we aren't cheaters. That's not who we are. And we've heard comments from christine sinclair and others and they've said you know this isn't who we are and that combined with the punishment which i think was really harsh has me thinking nah i want them to do that because I imagine myself on this team and going, I prepared to defend this gold medal. And I've been super proud of this gold medal for the players that were on the team before. And the players that are new to the team are sitting there going,

this is the Olympics. Maybe this is my first Olympics. And this is so exciting. And we're going to go, we're going to play in the Olympics in Paris of all places. This is going to be amazing. And I'm going to join a team that won the gold medal. And then all of a sudden my coaches did what? My coaches, my coaches did what? And then all of a sudden, wait a minute, we're

probably not going to qualify now. We've got this tiny window that we're going to qualify for. We already beat New Zealand. Now we got probably not going to qualify now. We've got this tiny window that we're going to qualify for. We already beat New Zealand. Now we've got to go beat France in France. So essentially they're saying we're pretty much out of this tournament and then going, oh, wait a minute, maybe we can beat France and then maybe we can beat Colombia.

Maybe we can get through. I want to be on the side of those players and that's why I want to get behind them. I guess I understand where you're coming from, that it's tarnished, but I'm still kind of in the position where I'm going to get behind the players on this. I think I'll, realistically, I do think I'll get to that point. It's just really, really fresh right now,

but I do think it'll come around. As for the game yesterday, so Canada, with a late goal. We've talked about her already. From Vanessa Gilles in the 12th minute of injury time after the second half. So 90 plus 12 is what we were at right now. And she puts one in off the post.

Huge goal for Canada because, again, they had to win. They cannot draw. They have to win they cannot draw they have to win every game to move on so she scores they win now they have to beat columbia which they should do yeah at least based on the fifa rankings now france should have beaten canada based on the fifa rankings i think france is number two in the world they are based on the FIFA rankings. I think France is number two in the world. They are, yeah. Based on the women's rankings. Canada 8, something like that, and Colombia is down into the low 20s, I think. So Canada should win this game.

The problem is there's no margin for error. Am I right to assume that if Canada wins, like they hold their own destiny right now? Yes. If they win, they're in. Yeah, they win, they're in. Okay. Because they'd have the're in. Yeah, they win, they're in. Okay. Because they'd have the goal differential on Columbia.

Right, right, yeah. Okay, let's move on to the basketball because I know Basketball Ben wants to talk about this too. I'm not the expert here, but I did watch, I was pretty excited to watch this game, watch it from start to finish. It was a little too close for comfort for me in the end, but they got the win over Greece.

I really liked the games from Gilgis Alexander, SGA, the kids call them. Yeah. RJ Barrett was really good. Dylan Brooks, Lou Dort, really liked their games. Jamal Murray, to me, looked off.

And Brooks and Dort, you know, it's a little concerning to me, and I don't know if this is FIBA refereeing. I don't know if they were playing a little too aggressive, but they've got to find a way to stay in the game. They fouled out and had to miss the last few minutes.

Just your thoughts on the game overall and the players that I liked and the player that I didn't like and your thoughts on how it was refereed and how Brooks and Dort played just with the refereeing and such at FIBA. It's totally different for the refereeing. They're looking for different types of fouls.

They will call flopping. We know that Dylan Brooks has had a bit of a history in the NBA for some theatrics and kind of getting in people's faces, and these FIBA refs have no time for that. And so these players have to adjust, but I agree with you. The energy that Brooks brought was fantastic. And the defense that Lou Dort is capable of playing on the perimeter is great. And Giannis still had 34 points in the game.

He was still dominant. But they were able to contain almost everybody else, which was the key to beating Greece. And I kind of look at the box score. Jamal Murray was 0 for 3 from the three-point line. Lou Dort was 1 for 4 they didn't get a ton of shots from the perimeter to fall and I think RJ Barrett struggled as well so I just kind of look at it as like this is a good starting point for this team and I think

they can only get better but they're in a really tough group like their game tomorrow is against an Australian team that has a lot of team chemistry. Spain is never an easy game no matter how old they are or who's on their team. I look at this team's strength as its guard and wing play. You mentioned SGA. We talked about RJ. He is so much fun to watch. He's fantastic. He is so, so good.

He's just kind of slippery. He can kind of find these little gaps and get to his spots on the court and then be able to facilitate to it. It's just kind of slippery. He can kind of find these little gaps and get to his spots on the court and then be able to facilitate to it. It's, it's amazing. So here's a question from a total, you know, guy from a guy that kind of knows the NBA, but not all that well. I was told that this Canadian team, the strength of it is going to be the backcourt with SGA and Jamal Murray. To me, SGA looks like a thousand times better than Jamal Murray. Yeah. Are they –

It looks weird. Equals or like what's going on? I tweeted out during the game right at the end, I was like, get Jamal Murray out of there. And then some people rightly said like, for who? Half the guys fouled out. I'm like, fair enough. And then one guy who was

I guess kind of in in my boat he was like isn't he their best player and I'm like yeah not today so what's the story with Jamal Murray has he been struggling and Josh feel free to interject here too like has he has he not been as good as he has been in the last couple of last year because i know he was limited um in the the exhibition games he says he's a hundred percent is he just a little off or something so in the playoffs for for the nuggets he also wasn't he wasn't like last year's jamal murray either um he he was fine but he did struggle a bit. And he also missed time during the year with an injury too. So I do wonder how much that's still hampering him.

Like he hasn't been as good this year as he should have been. And I just wonder if he can get to that point that quickly in a tournament like this. And you're a Nuggets fan. Yeah, if this is just what he's going to that point that quickly in a tournament like this. And you're a Nuggets fan. Yeah, if this is just what he's going to be for the tournament and that's what Canada has to deal with. So what's up with him, though? I think it's just... He looks slow.

He looks out of it. He looks slow. I don't think he's 100% personal. Yeah. His first step doesn't look very quick. He's not being able to create space. And the shots that he's kind of getting are... He hit a really nice jumper early in the game.

And I know Dan Shulman, who was on the call, was like, that's a good sign for Canada. Like, it looked beautiful. And then he had a couple open looks from the corner, though, and they missed badly. Yeah. And that was the concern. If he gets hot, like, he will get very hot.

Totally. But... What do you think of him coming off the bench? I think it's fine. I think that's the way it's going to be, though, isn't it? Especially with how he played that game. You kind of have to keep him off the bench and just hope that it works. He can be kind of a spark for that second unit. Yeah, exactly. Okay, so you're the opposing coach playing Canada.

What's your game plan against them? Is it to try to get them in foul trouble? It's going to be to try to play a game down low. Yeah. Like if I was them, I wouldn't want to get into a track meet with Canada necessarily because they're so fast athletic and their guard play is fantastic. But their weakness comes down low like Kelly Olenek's

good player Dwight Powell's Olenek did not look good right but they don't have he's he's pretty old now though you know yeah he's getting up they just don't have the size and the strength to contend with you look at the other bigs in this tournament a Jokic a Giannis Joel Embiid on and Anthony Davis on the USA. There's some guys out there. What are you going to do with them? So if I was the opposing coach, I would try to slow the game down a little bit, get inside, and use these – because the game's only 40 minutes,

unlike the NBA where it's 48, and you foul out when you get five fouls. So try to get them in foul trouble by using a size advantage if you have it down low is how I would try to do this and wear out these guards. Maybe it's a full court press for you, slow the game down. So if you're Canada and you're the Canadian coach, Jordy Fernandez, what do you tell guys like Dylan Brooks and Lou Dort because you want them to be aggressive because defensively.

You don't want these guys going like, oh, you can come in there, no problem. But you also don't want them fouling out. Stop reaching. Stop using your hands. Get your body in front of it. Because these FIBA refs, if an offensive player puts a shoulder into your chest, they will call an offensive foul.

They value proper basketball proper technique and so do you need to flop or don't flop don't don't flop don't they will call that on you just use your body and try to stay in front of it these guys are so quick and athletic but it's the ticky tack fouls that really kind of rubbed me the wrong way like you didn't need to reach for that one that was unnecessary yeah and i think you can kind of get away with that a little bit more in the NBA whereas that's not a possibility in these games so I think for guys like Dylan Brooks and Lou Dort who are fantastic defenders in their own right just try to stay in front of their guys because they're going to play a lot of NBA players

or non-NBA players that are inferior to them. So we're going to talk a little more basketball with Donovan Bennett coming up in about, uh, seven or eight minutes. Uh, just a couple other points from the Olympics, uh, summer Macintosh silver for her in the pool. Um, and now she's going to compete, I think today. Yeah. She's in the women's 400 meter individual medley final today. That's at 11.30 Name all the strokes

In order There's the butterfly Then the backstroke Then the breaststroke And then the freestyle Is that the order? I think that's the order So you start with the butterfly?

I would drown 10 minutes into this thing i wouldn't be able to do any of the strokes okay uh so that's her that's her specialty so a lot of people are expecting her to win gold two-time defending world champ in that one can we talk about the fact that she's 17 yeah like this is ridiculous this is ridiculous the other thing i and maybe i misheard, but I thought I heard Arash Medani talking about it, is that Maggie McNeil is 24 and that she's retiring after these Olympics. I heard that too.

Yeah, I was like, you're 24? What's going on? But swimming, I guess, is just early. You get in early and you get out early. You can go later, though, if you're a sprinter. Yeah, but I don't know. It's swimming. And like, hey, maybe it's her choice. Maybe she's just like this.

And I wish. Maybe she wants to have a life. Yeah. Outside of being an Olympic. Swimming is like. Maybe she got swimmer's ear. Remember when I got that and how painful it was? Remember that day?

I was talking about that and it was very, very painful getting swimmer's ear. That would be enough to make me retire. You're not cut out for the Olympics. I'm not cut out for the Olympics. We also got, we got a bronze. Eleanor Harvey. In fencing. Our first ever fencing medal.

Are we a fencing country now? Now? We are now. Yeah, apparently. Remember Adog said that he took a fencing class once? Yes. Can you imagine? Did he?

On guard. When he was a kid, I guess he saw it. It could have been the next big thing. You know what? We should have asked Adog. Poor Adog. We should have asked him how he asked his parents to take a fencing class, if that's the way it went.

Why not hit somebody with a sword? Do you think he saw a movie or something like that? I understand. He saw- I guess Pirates of the Caribbean was like, he wasn't a kid. No. It would have been before that. I like that that's the only movie we can think of that has a sword.

Princess Bride? That might be it. Could have been it for Adog. He's like, I want to be a fencer. Was Zorro big when he was young? I don't know. I actually have no idea how old Andy Cole is. Yeah, he's 40 going on 12.

Fair enough. We also got another bronze today, by the way. Men's synchronized diving. So we're up to one silver and two bronze. Still looking for our first gold, and hopefully that comes via summer Macintosh. A couple other points that if you want to text into the Dunbar Lumber text line 650-650 and talk about them.

The Whitecaps hosted Wrexham, and they got pumped by Wrexham 4-1, but everyone seemed to have fun. Ryan Reynolds was there. Did anyone go to the game? How did the grass look at BC Place? Texted into the Dunbar Lumber text line about that. Nathan Rourke got released by the New York Giants.

So the waiver period closes at 1 p.m. our time today. So perhaps another team will pick him up. Perhaps not then. And then Nathan Merark, I guess, will still try and find another NFL team to join if possible. But I suppose, I suppose,

he could come back to the CFL. And suppose he could come back to the CFL. And if he does come back to the CFL, the question remains, which team would he come back to? Would it be the BC Lions? Because Vernon Adams is playing pretty well for the BC Lions. So that could be an interesting situation. Donovan Bennett is

going to join us next. We'll talk a little bit about a bit of basketball. Canada gets a win over Greece. USA plays their first game and they beat Serbia. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with

us weekdays from 12 to two on sports net six 50 or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. Welcome back to Halford and Brough 633. This hour of Halford and Brough is brought to you by the Dilawri Family of Honda Dealers. Had it, lost it. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. It is Halford & Brough.

Josh Elliott-Woolf filling in for Mike Halford. I don't have the reeds down yet, but I'll get there by the end of the week. Well, Halford doesn't have the reeds down either, and he's been doing it for a while. Fair enough. So I will not get it. You're better. Honestly. Keep going.

Nowhere to go but up. Let's welcome in our next guest. It is Donovan Bennett covering the Olympics for CBC and Sportsnet. Thanks for taking the time, Donovan. How are you? I'm great. How are you? I'm great. How are you? Doing very well. And we wanted to get into the basketball game

to start yesterday. Canada beating Greece. It was kind of by a slim margin, though. Was that game more encouraging for you based on your expectations of what Canada was going to do this tournament? Or did you have maybe some concerns coming out of that game? Yeah, can I do what I did in university when I didn't know the answer

and just select all of the above? Because it was a bit of both, right? So one, like, full stop. It was cool to see our team in the Olympics, most of your listeners, because your audience is quite young, wasn't alive or wasn't alive and can't remember. 2000 was Steve Nash, a pre-double MVP, Steve Nash, and Rowan Barrett on the court. Todd McCullough, the other NBA player on that team,

playing real well, but really inspiring a nation. And obviously most of your audience probably doesn't remember, you know, Vince Carter in the Olympics, you know, dumping, dunking over people. And so it was nice as Canadian basketball fans, when we say, you know, our national team, Generally, we're talking about the Raptors, not our actual national team, for them to

be there and to be playing on the Olympic stage. We've talked about it for so long. I feel like as soon as Anthony Bennett's name was first overall in the draft in 2015, we started to put together the dots and say, Wiggins is coming and he's first overall soon.

And all of a sudden, we've got this top-end NBA talent. We're going to be a force. That was almost a decade ago. Finally, no contract issues. Relatively, no health issues. Our best players were all playing at the same time that committed, and it was nice to see them on the floor together. Having said that, right before our game was,

you know, Australia and Spain, and we are in the group of death. And some people said Australia upset Spain, and I don't think so at all. When you look at the way those nations were trending, when you look at the amount of NBA players on their rosters right now, obviously the United States team is exclusively NBA All-Stars,

never mind NBA players other than, I suppose, Derek White. Canada has 10, and then Australia is right behind them with the second, or the third most amount of NBA players in the tournament. So I wasn't surprised Australia won. I was surprised they won by 12. And in this tournament, plus minus matters, especially in this group where all four teams consider themselves a medal contender, I was like, all right, we got to win by more than 12,

which we didn't do. But at times, it seemed like we might not win, had the lead the entire time, but it was much too close because of the foul issues and just some general sloppiness. So it was a bit of a sweet and sour experience, but I'm happy we're having the conversation in the first place. So one of the questions that a lot of people have after that game

and maybe before that game is what is up with Jamal Murray and what can Canada expect from him at this tournament? It's the question that everybody is wondering and I think he looks like he's managing himself in a way and just trying to get through the games rather than trying to impose his will on the game, which is what Shea Gildas Alexander looked like. He was pretty active defensively, and so if you're totally hampered, you assume you might want to rest defensively, but he just looked generally sluggish.

And I do worry about Jamal. you might want to rest defensively, but he just looked generally sluggish. And I do worry about Jamal. I mean, we're thinking short-term right now and how he looks between now and the end of this tournament in the second week of August. But I actually worry long-term. He's multiple years, multiple summers where he's had nagging injuries, specifically, you know, knee injuries. And I just fear that we could be going down the road of a Brandon Roy or a Derek Rose where bright start to the career. Really, you look at what the trajectory could be. Some amazing moments, but never reach there

because you can't reach that level consistently due to injury. It's interesting because when Jamal was coming into the league, and I remember talking to him as a prep player of who he thought his game would comp to in the NBA, he said Derrick Rose. The profiles are different. Jamal's obviously not as explosive, but great ability to finish around the basket.

So we might just hope that he can be a super sub, and the threat of Jamal Murray, especially late in games, is enough. But yeah, I think to me this makes Mikheil Alexander's role even bigger because Jamal wasn't himself. So if you're head coach Jordy Fernandez and you saw that three of your players fouled out against Greece, including Lou Dort and Dylan Brooks. What do you tell your guys about defending in this tournament and how to play?

Because you want them to be aggressive. You want them to defend aggressively, but you also need them on the court for the entire game. No question. I think you tell them be smart and don't get frustrated because there's two sides to this issue in conversation, which is going to be an ongoing one. We saw it in the world championships last year.

We're going to see it again in this tournament. The officiating is inconsistent at best maybe the nicest way i could put it and so some of it's going to be out of your controls don't get frustrated don't lose yourself in that aspect but be smart in the sense that if you're going to foul make it worth it don't be fouling 90 feet away from your own basket, you know, picking up someone full court and applying pressure in the backcourt that isn't necessary. You want them to be aggressive, as you said, because that's, you know, our greatest trait that we've got these pitbulls as wing defenders on both sides

with Dylan Brooks and with Lou Dort. I think the aspect is you are both, and the team in general, so athletic. You don't need to be necessarily that tight all the time. You don't need to press full court when the situation doesn't call for it. So stay aggressive. don't get frustrated, but just be smart so that you are putting yourself in an optimal position to ration those ticky tack fouls throughout the course of a game. The great thing is they do have depth.

So if they have some foul issues, it won't hurt them in the same way as well as some other nations who don't have the same amount of depth that some other nations who don't have the same amount of depth that Canada does. Their next match is against Australia. What is the biggest challenge that Australia presents? Stop Josh Giddey. I think he's looked outstanding, both in the lead up to this tournament and in their first game. I think by and large at this point, given the age of some of the other players on their team, he's by far and away their best player. I know that FIBA Patty Mills is much better than NBA Patty Mills.

So I don't want to, you know, disrespect his name, but in a similar fashion, Giddy is the head of the snake. So I expect them to see a lot fashion, Giddey is the head of the snake. So I expect them to see a lot of traps and doubles to get the ball out of his hand. I expect them to see a lot of Dylan Brooks, a lot of Lou Dort,

who's probably guarded him more than anybody in the world, being the fact that they were teammates with OKC. But I don't know if you guys noticed this. I noticed a different, almost snarly, Shade Gildas Alexander, who's normally so cool and calm and collected and unflappable. And I wonder if he takes the challenge to say, listen, I'm by far the best player in this group, in this tournament, and I've played with you a lot, and I'm going to show you why there's levels to this. The main competition, if they get that far,

is obviously going to be the U.S., who played their first game as well. They beat Serbia, and a couple days from now they're going to play South Sudan. It almost feels like there's always this constant pressure on the U.S. not only to win, but to win in convincing fashion. To an extent, do you agree with that?

How much pressure do you think is on this team, and do you think they can handle that pressure? There's so much pressure on them. There's no real good outcome for them. If they win in convincing fashion, they're supposed to. And if they lose, it's a catastrophe and the players should be embarrassed and if they win in a small margin then you know we need to blow it up and start again there are tick tocks of jason tatum and terry's halliburton just being on the bench making fun of them essentially uh even though that happens on every team.

You're not going to play 12 guys for every game. So I understand why there's a bunch of American players over the last decade who was less than interested in playing for their country because it's in some ways a zero-sum game. You can't really feel elated when you win. You have to feel relief when you win. And the FIBA game is very different than the NBA game. So just because you're good in one doesn't mean you're good in the other.

They have no real history of camaraderie. Joel Embiid has never played international basketball, never mind played in the usa basketball system so unlike other countries where dennis schroeder is playing for germany every single summer since he was essentially 16 you're asking guys to get together with two weeks notice and play at a high level against a growing level of competition yeah it is it is tough it's more about managing pr and players going to make sure that their shoe sponsors uh are happy uh and less so about being able to play at an extremely high level having said that they by far and away should win the tournament and it's almost like for the other strong nations it's like a relay race.

You want to stay close and hope that the team that's the fastest messes up at the baton at some point. And I actually think Canada sets up well to be able to do that if and when they meet up with the U.S. in this tournament. How do you think Jason Tatum felt being on the bench the whole game? Here's a guy that just won the NBA Finals Tatum felt being on the bench the whole game? Here's a guy that just won the NBA finals as the best player on the Celtics and not good enough to play any minutes in the first game for the Americans. I think he felt like he had to do the thing at

award shows where you start clapping for the other person that won because you know the camera's on you. Essentially because, yeah, this is why, quite frankly, Jalen Brown isn't there. It's because he probably wouldn't have dealt with it in an understanding way. But that is life in current international basketball where the U.S. can't just run two teams of five and win by 50. They have to actually be locked in, and there's some surplus requirements.

For me, even though Jason Tatum was the best player in the finals, despite the fact that Brown got the award, Kevin Durant and LeBron James and Anthony Edwards are better at the needed skill that they have at getting buckets in the backcourt. So it's a long tournament. He might find himself back in the rotation, but awkward for sure for those players.

Is there anything about the American roster that you can look at and say, that might be a problem? Like besides the whole, you know, if jealousy tears this team apart or anything like that, you know, you look at the Canadian roster and you say, okay, well, you know, the lack of an elite big might cost them in the end is there anything about the american roster that looks vulnerable so i'll beat who doesn't seem in shape or in rhythm if they were to decide we're just not going to play dwell Embiid and we're only going to play Banna, Bio, and Anthony Davis, who looks outstanding, I think they would be much better.

But again, egos come into this. And when someone who is walking from the hotel, because the American team is not staying in the Olympic Village, to the Sprinter van or the charter bus, and every time there's people screaming at him to give back his passport because he essentially just cherry-picked and jumped on the USA team like it's an AAU team,

I get why they feel like, oh man, we kind of got to play this dude. But at the same time, he's not the best option and puts them in some bad situations and gives them some awkward spacing so i i think if steve kerr you know gets a little bit more ruthless with his rotation i think they'd actually be better off uh but that is you know literally nitpicking. The roster is bounced.

Got great shooting with Durant, who looks healthy, and Devin Booker and Steph Curry. And then ultimately, watching LeBron, and I've watched him up close in playoff games, and it is bizarre, and we've seen it in this tournament. It's like he's the older kid on the playground who is managing how hard they try. And then when they decide they're going to take it over, there's just nothing you can do. And that's what he's doing in the Olympics.

So, yeah, they should be barring injury or barring an episode of succession where the family fights each other. And they should win, no question. It's like the old guys are, are, are in charge of that American team and they're deservedly in charge. Who's going to be the, who's going to be the young guy on that American team that, that runs with LeBron and Katie.

I think it'll be Anthony Edwards. Cause Anthony Edwards has no idea that he should actually take a backseat to the old guy. He was telling some members of the media that he is the guy who should be taking the last shot on the team, and that LeBron is kind of old and past his prime. I'm like, are you wild? One, LeBron is currently your teammate, and two, you have not won an MVP or a championship or an Olympic medal.

And you have a bunch of teammates who have. But the irrational confidence, I think, is why he's such a great player and why he's willing to not only take big shots, but make big shots. And so I think he's going to be that connective tissue for this team from these games in France to the L.A. games in four years. And I think he's going to have a huge role on this team. Hey, Donovan, thanks for joining us this morning. Always enjoy chatting basketball with you. Hopefully we can chat maybe even later this week

as Canada progresses at this tournament. Enjoy the rest of your day. Would love to. Ladies playing today, guys off to a good start. What a time to be alive. Thanks, Donovan. Have a good one. That was Donovan Bennett talking a little basketball.

What do you think of what he had to say about the American team and the fact that it's going to be pretty tough to beat these guys. It's just like, it's impossible. Unless they have this... It's not impossible. It's not impossible. It could be a one game.

One game. But you have to make... Canada doesn't have to do it. Some other team.... One game. But you have to like make... Canada doesn't have to do it. Sure. Some other team. Some team could. I don't... Impossible. South Sudan nearly beat them. Give it a percent chance.

Like 12. You think if this team plays the USA 100 times, Canada would win 12? Yeah. Yeah. What do you think? One. One? One?

Really? Maybe. What about other teams? Maybe two. Who's most likely to beat the Americans? I give it five then, if you take the field. Right. Honestly, you play this team 100 times.

The Americans are going to beat South Sudan by like 70. Exactly. After that scare? They're like, you shouldn't have done that. The relay race thing I think that Donovan brought up, I got on your guys' ear, it's a great analogy because everything has to go right for you to have a chance and then everything has to go wrong for them.

And then it could be like, maybe. The Americans could fight with each other and be jealous and have all these problems, which we're not saying they do have, but they could, and they could still win the tournament. The Americans could have their B team with guys that aren't at the Olympics right now, and they would win silver. How do you guys think Jason Tatum felt? I mean, here's a guy that is coming off an NBA title

and obviously played well, and now he can't get a minute. And he's watching his two teammates, and Drew Holiday starts for the Americans, and Derek White got 14 minutes of play. I think it just comes down to roles, and the fact that Holiday and White play such fantastic defense, they're very prolific three-point shooters,

and when you're building a team, and you have guys like Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Steph Curry, you need guys that can kind of do the other things too. I think Steve Kerr, the head coach, after the game said, like, that's embarrassing that I wasn't able to find some... I feel like an idiot. I feel like an idiot that I didn't get Jason Tatum any time. You know, when it comes to a lot of people would compare it to the Canadian Olympic hockey team where, you know, it's well known that some really great players have to take different roles.

And you got guys that are number one centers on their teams playing, you know, fourth line crash and bang with the Canadians, but at least they get into the game. The difference is, you know, in basketball, you're so openly on the bench. Yeah. And everyone's looking at you and, you know, Donovan mentioned that there are, right? And the social media, you know, guys are probably looking at social media after and going,

everyone's making fun of me because I'm not playing. That will be tough. But, you know, the hope, I guess, the dream for Canadian sports fans is that hard feelings tear this American team apart, but I think they're just so good regardless that they could have issues behind the scenes and they could still win this thing. Yeah, definitely. And like they've done it before, it can happen again. It is Halford and Brough. Coming up next, we're going to talk to Perdita Felician about the opening ceremonies, some of the other Olympic events going on, including Summer McIntosh's excellent start. And we'll see if she continues it later today. It is Halford and Brough on Sportsnet 650.