Halford & Brough in the Morning - How Will The Canucks Forward Group Stack Up This Season?

Episode Date: August 12, 2024

In hour two, guest hosts Jamie Dodd & Josh Elliott-Wolfe look ahead to the upcoming Canucks season and try and predict how the forward group might be deployed (3:00), plus they do an Olympic basketball wrap-up with Sportsnet 650 Basketball Central host Marcus Fitzgerald (27:01). 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.

Welcome Welcome back to Half an Abrupt on Sportsnet 650. It's Jamie Dodd and Josh Elliott-Wolfe filling in here. Half an Abrupt is brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. This hour of Half an abrupt is brought you by prime time craft beer meticulously brewed for quality and taste prime time craft beer is full flavor without compromise at a liquor store near you or visit the brewery to see how it's made

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We'll do that coming up at 830. But right now, you know, it was funny, Josh. I was talking in the last segment. We haven't really done any Canucks talk over the last week that I've been on the show, but we're going to do it next. As I was saying that, somebody texted in, hey, guys, can you give us an agenda for when you're going to talk to Canucks? So well-timed.

This one's for you, texter in the inbox, unsigned texter. And look, we're still what? We're a month plus out from training camp here right so this is uh very early obviously but at the same time we're not expecting any big moves here right like we have a pretty good idea of what this roster is going to look like pending some training camp battles you know we know what the coaching staff is going to look like all of that so we can kind of start to walk through just kind of step by step expectations what to look for areas improvement areas where they can perhaps regress a little bit and kind

of start to wrap our heads around what we're looking for from the Canucks and we can go kind of group by group step by step and we can start with the forwards today Josh yes so starting with the forwards let's just do like an off-season recap and then we can get fully into expectations and all that so in terms of what they added to the roster we all know it's uh jake debrusk danton heinen keifer sherwood and daniel sprung and then they lost elias lindholm ilia Mikheyev, Sam Lafferty. When I was putting this list together, I felt like I was forgetting someone, but I think that's it.

I'm pretty sure that's it. So they gained a few pieces, and the big piece they lost that obviously played a big part in the playoffs was Elias Lindholm. Well, Mikheyev played a big role in the playoffs. Not in a positive sense, but he was out there a lot. He was in some big positions. He had some chances. But yeah, so you add the four pieces and the big one obviously being Jake DeBrusque.

You hope he can fill in for Lindholm, but maybe fits in a little bit better being a natural winger and all that. So when you look at it, the biggest storylines, when we're specifically just talking about the forward group, I have a few, and if you have one or two that I'm missing, you can add it. This one, Pedersen, obviously. I mean, look, if you had to draft players we're going to spend the most time talking about this season, number one, obviously, with a bullet, is Elias Pedersen. is in that regard he is generational that he is going to be under the microscope coming into this season in a way he hasn't been in his career so far right and that's

pretty remarkable when you think about how much attention and how much focus he has been under right going back to his rookie year where there was so much hype uh even as recently as last season before he signed his contract and after he signed his contract for that matter but the conversation and the kind of i think reaction at least from the really plugged in canucks fans toward elias petterson has gotten much more negative than it's ever been and there's just i i think this is also something that just happens with once your team is good right once? Once your team has real expectations, there is so much pressure for the best players on the team to perform up to their own individual expectations, right? Because now there's real stakes. If Elias Pedersen is not something close to as good as he can be, that's going to prevent the Canucks from accomplishing what they want to accomplish, right?

And it's different than, you know, in his first couple of years in the league where it was like, hey, maybe they'll take a step forward. Maybe they'll play some meaningful games. Then there were some years where their team was just really really bad and disorganized. Now it matters. And I think it's going to be fascinating to see how Elias Pettersson deals with that extra level

of scrutiny. For me, I'm not concerned at all about the regular season. I know we'll probably have people text in like oh what we saw you know after the all-star break that's the real elias petterson that's what he's gonna do you know he's gonna put up 70 points or whatever like he's elias petterson's gonna rack up points he's going to probably be a really good two-way player he's going to make his line mates better which i know some people have forgotten that he has the ability to do but trust me he absolutely does I think the conversation only really becomes interesting

once they reach the playoffs. And I'm assuming they will reach the playoffs, but then it's where it's okay. Let's really see where this is going with Elias Pettersson. In the regular season, I have no doubts whatsoever that he's going to be good. Canucks won't win a cup if he's not in his game. It's absolutely not simple.

They need him to be exceptional. If they are truly cup contenders now, which I would say they probably are, at least for the next several years, he has to be their best player

or at least in their top three. If he's not playing to the best of his abilities, especially in the playoffs, they won't win a cup. It's like that basic. Yeah, and I do think the conversation with him,

it might almost get exhausting to a point during the season. No, impossible. Because even if he's good and I agree, I expect him to be good during the season. No, impossible. Because even if he's good, and I agree, I expect him to be good during the regular season, and I have no questions about him, but it's going to be like, well, he's good now, but wait for the playoffs, we'll see.

And honestly, that is kind of a fair response, but the only problem is, we're going to spend the whole regular season debating him, even though nothing he does in the regular season is going to change anyone's opinion. Yes. What I will say is if he starts the season how he ended last season... Then there's a big cause for concern. Yes.

I agree with that. Oh, no. And then that's when you do worry about the regular season. He's almost in a no-win situation, though, in the regular season, because if he's good or if he's elite people are like well yeah he's gonna roll their eyes he's getting paid 11.6 million where was this in the playoffs and and all that so it's it's gonna be something we obviously monitor but it's gonna be hard to have a final say on who's right or what elise peterson is

during the regular season. Well, it's up to him to shut his detractors up, right? Yes. He's like, I'll show these guys what I'm made of in the season and in the playoffs. And if he doesn't do that, then oh my goodness. I think the thing is he's at a position where he can only do that in the playoffs. Right? Like if he has 115 points and plays near Selke level as a center next year,

there's still going to be people saying, I don't care, do it in the playoffs. And I get it. Elias Pedersen is in Toronto Maple Leafs territory. That's right. What happens between October and the beginning of April does not matter. Nearly as much as what happens game one playoffs. Yeah, absolutely.

Next storyline. Oh, and I just want to mention one thing in the inbox. A bunch of people texting in. Oh, you guys forgot about Zdorov. You forgot about Big Z. We're talking forwards here. That's why he was not on the list of departures. So don't worry.

We'll get to the defense tomorrow, but we did not forget about Nikita Zdorov. It's just he's not a forward. He's a defenseman. So that's why he wasn't on the list. Played net front a few times. He did. Other storyline.

I think this is maybe more interesting and we'll get a better answer during the regular season, is Jake DeBrusque's fit on the team, his role on the team, who he's going to play with. Basically everything involving Jake DeBrusque I think is going to be really, really interesting this year. And that plays into the Pedersen conversation because obviously he was brought in to be the winger with Elias petterson or is at least going to be given a very long and

good opportunity to be elias petterson's winger and if he can fill that role if he can be the guy with petterson that's like a huge answer that helps petersen, that makes the DeBrusque signing look even better. There's so many things that could go right with Jake DeBrusque, but also the thing we've talked about at times over the summer that I do find interesting is there's going to be a temptation to maybe play him with JT Miller, because it feels like that would work really well too. So it's going to be interesting to see where his fit is

and overall like the role on the team too like if he's going to play on the top power play unit which he should and on the penalty kill like how how big is is his role going to be with the Canucks and and how much is Rick Tockett going to trust him to be kind of a go-to guy on this team you would think he's going to play the fourth most minutes for Canucks forwards right after Miller Pedersen probably Besser also although he you never know he might eclipse Besser if he's if he's playing on the penalty kill right so third or fourth most minutes for forwards is what you would expect from Jake DeBrusque and that's a really important role right Like that is a key guy at forward that they're expecting Jake to brush to be.

And, you know, I think a big thing with to Bruskin is it ties into the Elias Patterson conversation, right? Obviously a huge part of the Patterson conversation was, okay, he's not performing up to his standards, but also you have to look at the environment around him. Jake to Bruskin was brought in to improve that environment, to fix that environment around Elias Pettersson.

Yeah, he's line mates for McCabe and Lafferty. There's only so much he could do. I mean, I will defend him there a little bit. That doesn't excuse his play, but it definitely doesn't help either when those are your line mates. And I think that if Elias Pettersson, as I expect him, plays the regular season like he did from October through the end of January last year, where he was exceptional,

Jake DeBrusque is going to have a huge year. I referenced this whole idea that Elias Pettersson doesn't make his line mates better, which cropped up going into the playoffs and after the playoffs. But you look at even Ilya Mikheyev last year. Through his first 28 games of the season, he had 10 goals and 7 assists. Like, really good second-line numbers,

playing alongside Elias Pettersson. Look what Ilya Mikheyev did before that, right before in his first season as a Canuck, scored lots of goals playing next to Elias Pettersson. Andre Kuzmenko scored 39 goals playing next to Elias Pettersson. When Pettersson is on, his line mates do very, very well. And Jake DeBrusque, clearly a cut above offensively, certainly what Ilya Mikheyev and obviously what Sam Lafferty can do. So, again, I think Jake DeBrusque has all of the qualities needed

to be a really good fit next to Elias Pettersson. And if Pettersson is sharp, if Pettersson is on his game, DeBrusque could have career-high type numbers playing next to him. That's an incredible opportunity for Jake DeBrusque. Yeah, DeBrusque still has career-high in goals so far, 27. That feels like an easily eclipsable. I don't want to say easily but like if he's playing with Pettersson in the realm of possibility for sure if he's on the top power play unit it's definitely like I could see him easily being a 30 goal scorer in my eyes if that's the role he's playing all year and we get

a tech 650 650 um I think that a great straight line player like DeBrusque will end up fitting better on the JT Miller line. I think that Pedersen will end up with another rotation of line mates that might eventually end up being Brock Peser. That's the other thing as well that I think people forget is a few years ago,

after the Lotto line had its good year, we penciled it in the next year. It's like, oh, look, the lotto line. You don't even have to worry about it. And then it struck. Things change. And so I do wonder if, like, hey, maybe you get into training camp and Jake DeBrusque, what if he fits better with JT Miller?

And what if there's a little bit of chemistry loss between Miller and Besser? Not that you want that, but it might happen. And maybe Besser ends up fitting better with Pedersen. But the big part of all of that is that you have options now and that's one thing patrick alvin mentioned a lot when he was talking about the free agent signings it's like hey i didn't give rick tocket enough options to play with in the forward unit and that's something he's going to have this season

is like hey if if de brusque isn't going or neiliels Hoaglander isn't like name a player, if they're not going, you're going to have someone who can potentially fill in a spot or or, you know, go on a run in the top six, even if it's just temporarily. But I think everything we've heard, you're right, right? Obviously, we can't pencil in. Okay, you know, JT Miller and Brock Vester are going to spend the whole year together right now because things happen. Having said that, everything we've heard from Rick Talkett on this issue is that he wants to have the duos that in place at least three duos in place in your top three lines and then move the other pieces in and around those duos. Right. So I don't think he wants to be moving Brock Besser in and around like up and down the

lineup. He wants to be moving whoever the third guy is next to JT Miller and Brock Besser. And it's pretty clear that Rick Tockett views it as JT Miller and Brock Besser, which makes sense. It's not just last year. You go back to when they were playing with Tanner Pearson. They were really effective. They've been really effective, not just scoring, but as defensive players as well together. You're going to give that pairing all the opportunity in the world to continue to show how good they can be. I think it's pretty clear he views Joshua and Garland as a duo.

Now, maybe not quite as locked in together, but as a third line duo, we saw what they can do next year. So you look at that. Okay, I think he is going to do absolutely everything in his power to make sure that DeBrusque and Pedersen fit. Like, I don't see a scenario, game one, where they're not together, where they're not taking, you know, pregame line rushes together. Because I don't think you can go away from it just based on what you see in training camp in the preseason.

You have to give it real games, a real opportunity to thrive, because you've already got the other duos kind of locked in that you know you like. They would have to be, it would actually be like worst case outcome, because they would have to be so bad together in training camp and preseason that you're like okay we can't even like do this yeah exactly and it's like how can you even get that much information out of it in preseason right it would have to be

so catastrophic to go away from it and then if you do play to brusque up with jt miller and brock besser unless you're moving better down to pd then there's no one there's no one of uh like adequate caliber to be a duo with petterson there are other line mates that could work with him but not that you're going to lock together as a duo so it almost has to be to brusque at least to start the year yeah uh the next storyline i had um can the third line be the third line and so one question I have going into this season is who is going to be centering that because you mentioned the duo that we'll probably see of Dakota Joshua and Connor Garland the interesting thing to me about all the winger additions that Canucks made this offseason is it gives you the opportunity to move pew suitor to center and especially because you

didn't add a center you kind of need him to play down the middle can he be the guy on the third line and as much as i like teddy bluger i think his fit is much better as a fourth line center and suitor has more of an offensive touch he's still good defensively he can handle himself in his own zone so i wonder if there's maybe even more upside with a joshua suitor garland third line than there would be joshua bluger garland but that being said whoever the center is i think the storyline going into the season surrounding the bottom six is you spent a decent amount of money on dakota j Dakota Joshua can they be what they were last year in terms of controlling play and honestly you might even need someone like Joshua to be

even better than he was last season that is also so first of all on the Pew Suter question I mean I think people kind of forget that line really started controlling play not racking up numbers but controlling play at a really impressive clip while pew suitor was centering it right and then pew suitor got injured teddy bluger comes in and then the shots started to go in for him they started to get the bounces they got really hot they started to produce but we've seen them control play we've seen them be a really good two-way line with pew suitor in the middle so i don't think there's any reason to worry that they can't do it again necessarily i I think the bigger conversation is, can they afford the luxury of keeping Conor Garland

and Dakota Joshua on the third line for the whole year, right? Because we're talking about spots open in the top six. And okay, can it be Daniel Sprong? Can it be Niels Hoagland? Or do you move Pew Suter back up there? At a certain point, you might have to try guys that you're paying to be you know better than all those other players in the top six whether it's Garland next to Pedersen whether it's Dakota Joshua alongside JT Miller and Brock Besser up front right like if you're just interested

in getting the Canucks six best forwards in the top six you're probably going Joshua with Miller and Besser and then Dabrque, Patterson and Garland. Yeah. Is that the perfect lineup? Not necessarily. You know, I know Garland and Petey haven't always clicked next to each other. They haven't got a lot of time next to each other,

but that to me is, you know, obviously it's such a luxury to have those players on the third line. Can you find the other pieces in the top six to justify keeping them on the third line? Because I think if they are in that role again, they're going to produce. Now, Joshua,ua big new contract there's always comes with some pressure you know he scored at a very impressive rate last year is he going to be able to sustain

that all fair questions i i also just wonder how long can you keep them on the third line how long before their play demands a bigger role on the team yeah for sure and like it does feel like that might be your least preferred outcome because if you can keep them in the bottom six and and have them control the play that would be ideal uh in terms of numbers and and just kind of looking at their overall play uh i did want to throw out like who can take a step next season in the forward group and who are you most worried about regress regression in the forward group and regression i think is going to be maybe a big key word going into this season for the canucks obviously a lot of guys had career years last year they had high shooting percentages all of that jt miller dakota joshua brockbesser neils hoaglander are kind of the guys that come to mind to me for regression.

But in terms of who can take a step, the new guys, obviously, Jake Dabruska, I think, is the most intriguing. But also you could throw Kiefer Sherwood in there and maybe to an extent, Denton Heinen as well. Elias Pettersson, a very obvious option. But again, I don't think many people are going to put too much stock into what he does in the regular season. terms of regression and taking a step i kind of think dakota joshua fits in both almost okay you know explain what how are you expecting to see him take

a step so if he can find a spot in the top six like hey maybe the the josh Joshua Garland duo is split up, and for a stretch of time, he is trusted playing with JT Miller and Brock Besser, or something like that. He takes on more of a role in the top six. That's how I can see him taking a step, maybe even getting time on Power Play 1. Yeah, Power Play 1 is the really interesting thing, right? Because there's going to be an open competition

for that fifth spot on Power Play 1. I think Jake DeBrusque probably gets first shot at it as the big new free agent signing left shot. There's a lot of reasons he might work there. But Dakota Joshua, if you're looking for a net front guy, he showed how good his hands are in tight last year. You're paying him now, right? So if Jake DeBrusque doesn't work or if you need to go with different looks at certain points in the year, I think kind of next logical guy up is dakota joshua with how the canucks power play sets up and i i would honestly be really excited to see what he could do if he was top power play unit net front and just being a big body in front of the net but maybe there's also a reason he hasn't been given that opportunity yet

but when we talk about like hey how do you make the most out of Dakota Joshua and his contract and get more value out of it, that could be a really interesting route. But then you look at the regression side of it, and to me that would be like, hey, he hasn't put up numbers like this at any time in his career almost ever. And even going back to when he was playing in university, like he never put up this many points never put up this many goals is that was last year just kind of a blip and i hope not i don't think

it is because everything i've seen from him i'm like there are really encouraging signs in his play but at the same time it can be a legitimate question that you're worried about and when you look at it did you maybe pay him based on his career year and especially for a guy that there was questions about his fitness going into training camp last season does he get paid and and maybe take a step back so i think the thing with joshua we're talking about regression right for joshua for besser for hoaglander you know miller you could throw in this category. A lot of guys with really high percentages. Joshua shot over 21%. He's not going to shoot 21% again.

I get it. He took a lot of in-close shots. He could have a high shooting percentage, but it's probably not going to be 21% again. So you have to factor in regression. And I almost think you have to mentally get ahead of it and not be super disappointed when it happens. Because it is going to happen, and it doesn't mean all of a sudden it was a mistake to sign him. It doesn't mean all of a sudden he's not a good player

or he's not a useful player. The key for me is, okay, your shooting percentage might regress, but are you still controlling play, right? Are you still helping to tilt the ice in the Canucks' favor? And if he's still doing that, and he's still contributing on the penalty kill in the case of Joshua, maybe he gets some looks on the power play. Then you can live with a little bit of your regression in in shooting percentage.

And again, like Brock Besser scores 40 goals. If he has a 32 goal season to me, that's not a disappointment. Like, yeah, it's regressing, but it's still a really good productive season for a player in his role. I think the key for the Canucks is going to be to offset some of that very expected, very understandable regression from those guys is getting more from DeBrusque, right? Getting more, getting something from Sprong, from Danton Hywin, from getting the depth to kind of compensate for the regression from some of the key players from last year. I think that's a fair bet. They were such a high scoring team early last season.

It was never going to last we already saw the regression kick in down the stretch and into the playoffs can they find the kind of middle ground between the two poles of last year and i think the depth gives them an opportunity to do so uh definitely and just overall confidence level for me like hard to find any holes in the forward group when we're just talking about the forward group i still think you can add more as the season goes on especially another center um but i'm definitely not worried about the canucks forward group going into this season uh it is halvard and broth on sports net 650 by the way uh 650 650 you can get your text and get your what we learned in

someone texting in. They'd like the idea of Joshua at the net front and potentially DeBresk on PP2 gives more equal time and a more balanced unit. All right. On the power play. As mentioned, Marcus Fitzgerald from Sportsnet 650 coming up

next here, but right now it is time for the Canadian Football Report brought to you by Securian Canada, the official life insurance partner of the CFL. Looking back at Week 10, now in the books, kicked off with the rare tie, the Rough Riders and the Red Blacks.

22-22 deadlock in Ottawa on Thursday. The Argonauts took care of the Stampeders. That was a 39-25 win for Toronto. And I'm starting to see a lot of discontent from Calgary Stampeders observers over the state of that franchise.

They fall below 500, 4-5 on the season. Montreal just keeps cruising with a 33-23 win over Hamilton. And as we talked about earlier on in the show, the Elks, with their second straight win, giving the Lions their third straight loss, their 33-16 winners, although Elks quarterback Trey Ford did leave the game in the first half of that one.

So after Week 11, here's how the standings stack up in the CFL. In the West Division, Saskatchewan still on top, 5-3-1 now with that tie in the books for 11 points. BC one point back at 5-4, so still very, very close at the West Division. That's followed by Calgary, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. Montreal continues to be the class of the CFL. They lead the East Division with an 8-1 record.

Ottawa at 5-2-1 with that tie now, followed by Toronto and Hamilton. That was the Canadian Football Report brought to you by Securian Canada, the official life insurance partner of the CFL. Get ready for the ultimate sports fan trip to Michigan from September 27th to October 1st. Experience games at the Big House, Comerica Park,

and Ford Field. Contact Neil Chark at neilc at uniglobecarefree.ca for details. Some Olympic basketball talk with Marcus Fitzgerald next year. Halford & Brough, Sportsnet 650

with Jamie Dodd and Josh Elliott-Wolfe filling in this week. Half and Abrupt is brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. This hour of Halford & Brough is brought to you by Primetime Craft Beer, meticulously brewed for quality and taste. Primetime Craft Beer is full flavor without compromise. Add a liquor store near you or visit the brewery to see how it's made.

650-650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. The Bridge Street Dunbar Lumber and Ladner has moved to Progress Way in Tilbury's Industrial Park. More room, more product, more awesome. Details at DunbarLumber.com. We need more What We Learn submissions, so get those in. We'll read them at 830. Hit us up, 650-650.

But joining us now from right here on Sportsnet 650, he's the host of Basketball Central on the station. Very pleased to be joined by our own Marcus Fitzgerald. Fitzy, what's going on, man? I'm good, Jamie. How are you guys doing today? We're doing very well. So lots to digest from a basketball perspective at the Paris Olympics, which have wrapped up now. And, you know, we'll start with the gold medal game. And I got to ask you right because

look we're all canadians here i i know certainly i reflexively root against the u.s especially when they are you know heavy heavy favorites as they are in basketball but it was also interesting because as a basketball fan you're watching steph curry put on that performance late in the game and it's hard not just to sit back appreciate it enjoy what you're seeing. How did you balance those kinds of competing emotions, those competing motivations watching the game? Well, it was actually quite simple. I was absolutely rooting for Serbia in the semifinal once they got out to that big lead.

I thought, you know, we make the jokes on this side of the border. If the world junior team loses, then it's referendum time, right? I can't imagine what the fallout would have been for USA basketball had they not defeated Serbia in that semifinal. And they come back and they beat Serbia. And I'm sitting there and I thought, I'm 37 years old. Why am I mad right now? Like I was legitimately upset that the Americans won that game.

But, you know, watching on Saturday, you know, late late in the game it's still very much in the balance and and there's there's very few players guys in nba history at least for me personally that uh bring me joy when i watch them bring me joy when they hit big shots there's two guys it's goby bryant and then it's steph curry and i know the warriors won a title in 2022, so we're not that far removed, but it was almost like a nice little reminder when we saw a step do that. We were reminded of what this guy just brings to the sport. Like I watched that sequence that he had in the fourth quarter, and I just realized, you know what? Basketball is really good.

This is a lot of fun. And I totally forgot about who I was rooting for. I totally forgot about who i was rooting for i totally forgot about alliances i was just able to enjoy just real quality high level basketball which was a lot of this tournament quite frankly but to see steph do that on that stage and have his olympic moment which he had not had yet in his career that was truly special and i'm gonna take that with me for the next couple of weeks. throughout the tournament, and I kind of can't believe where the discourse is at south of the border on this. I was listening to the syndicated American show we play before we come on the air off of Finnerty Sports, and they're talking about, like, this is an embarrassment.

Like, Steve Kerr's embarrassing Jason Tatum. It's like, it's the best team in the world. Not everyone can play 20 minutes and get plays drawn up for them. Someone's got to sit. Am I missing something? Like, boo-hoo, you were on the team, but you didn't get to play. No, Jamie, we can never get sucked in by the take economy, especially in the United States.

That's how the machine works. We know that. No, I do follow a lot of Celtic honks and Celtic fans and Celtic bloggers, and I think that's where it kind of started. And, yeah, I mean, I get that just from a Boston standpoint. You're caping for your guy who just won an nba championship he's been all nba first team the last handful of years he's definitely on the list of the next great american star which the americans are also freaking out

about because they're kind of wondering who it's going to be like i'm sure we're going to do this but we're going to look ahead to 2028 and be like, OK, well, who's going to be the alpha dog on that team? Because Steph and Bron and KD will not be there. Who's going to be a part of that next group? And on that list, it's basically Jason Tatum and Anthony Edwards and everybody else. You can kind of figure it out from there. But it's also one of those things where there's 12 guys on the team. No level of basketball does playing 12 guys work.

Somebody's going to sit. If this was a year ago and Jason Tatum was coming off an Eastern Conference finals loss as opposed to his first ever NBA championship, then I don't even think that we're having this conversation. I think it was just born out of the circumstance. And if Steve Kerr decides that Tatum isn't going to fit, which you can disagree with Steve Kerr, that's fine. But at the same time, no coach at any level plays all 12 guys in the rotation, not even in high school.

It just doesn't happen. There were going to be somebody that had to sit and it had to be Jason Tatum. And it was great for the discourse and it was great for people like me for a few days, but I don't think we should freak out about it too much. Believe me, I am very aware that not everybody in the 12 men gets to play in high school. So am I, Josh. Don't worry. I am very aware. You mentioned the big three of LeBron, Durant, Steph. It could potentially be their last Olympics.

Is there worry about what this american team could look like because it feels like it's like a relative worry because it's they're still going to be amazing probably in 2028 but it's it's gonna it's gonna be headlined by by different guys and what what could this team look like in 2028 and who do you predict being the the kind of leaders of that team yeah it's an interesting question to consider now on what's the date today, August 12th, 2024. I mean, in 2028, a lot of different things could happen. I expect Jason Tatum to be on that team and to be one of the leaders of that

team. And I know, you know, the industry that we work in, guys, you can already kind of hear the narrative. Oh, four years ago, Jason Tatum barely played. And now he's leading the team and you know what i mean like i'm already thinking about that so so we know that tatum and brown are going to be on the team likely especially if the celtics uh continue their run here uh in the nba but uh we'll absolutely see anthony edwards on this team tyree's halliburton is going to be

back uh and obviously he'll play more minutes as well. Isn't that a funny thing though, guys? Because I just said about Tatum, if he had lost in the conference final, nobody would have said anything. Tyrese Halliburton didn't play at all. And then on Twitter made a joke about not doing anything in the group project until winning the gold medal. And nobody's talking about that. They're just kind of smiling when they see Allie.

You know, because we know we're going to see him again on the team in four years. But it's going to be a younger team. It's going to be a different look. There's probably at least one player that is not in the NBA right now that will likely be on that team. And Cooper Flagg, who's going to Duke this fall and will be the presumptive number one overall pick. Chet Holmgren of the Oklahoma City Thunder, I think,

is going to be on that team or at least make a case to be on that team. So it is going to look different, it does take time for uh the avengers the lebron steph durant level guys to form and who knows maybe the americans will get to that point by 2028 but it's definitely going to be a different looking younger roster in four years in los angeles so looking at the canadian perspective now right we've all had some time to kind of digest the disappointing loss in the quarterfinals, especially coming off a pretty good group stage performance from Canada. You know, France ends up going to the gold medal game, playing the U.S. pretty well. I think we recognize now how big an advantage the home fans were for France. But with a little bit of distance, how do you look back and kind of make sense of Canada's

performance at this tournament? I think distance with this, Jamie, is very important because it was very easy in the five minutes after they lost that game to France for everyone to freak out and be like, oh, this is a disaster. What a disappointment this was. I don't make a habit of getting mad online that often, but I really had to keep my thoughts to myself. It's like, well, why are these people freaking out? They won their group stage, was called the group of death, partly because they were in it. They were 3-0.

There were three tightly contested games. The FIBA system for the quarterfinal isn't necessarily the best. You can't play teams, you know, in your group right away. Like, if that was the case canada probably would have just played australia again and you know what they probably would have beaten australia again the second the bracket came out and i saw we had to play france i thought well that's not good we're in trouble because france hasn't played well yet so they will eventually and they're gonna have to deal with the officiating which they had to fr France had a 25-8 free throw advantage in the first half of that ballgame.

So now that we've had some time to kind of digest, it was a very positive tournament. And I know to some I'm going to sound like I'm waving a towel for the program or something like that. I'm not. I thought it was a very positive run for them to go 3-0 in the group to do that when they got pretty much nothing out of Jamal Murray. And maybe we'll get into Jamal Murray in just a sec.

But you look at the age guys of this roster as well, and I was just looking at it last night, like Shea Gildas Alexander, Lou Dort, Dylan Brooks, R.J. Barrett. All these guys are definitely going to have one more run here in 27 at the World Cup and then again in 28 in Los Angeles, which is, depending on how you feel about New York, the biggest stage in basketball right now. So a lot of this core is going to be back.

They will have some younger players in to contribute. Benedict Matherin of the Indiana Pacers is one. Shaden Sharp, a young slasher from Portland Trailblazers, is another. Omax Prosper, who's a Dallas Mavericks rookie, didn't play at all this year, but he's going to be taking that Dwight Powell role with the national team eventually.

There's a lot of things to like. There's a lot of things to be disappointed about because they did not play well in the first half of that France game, and that cost them. But there's nothing but positive things and good vibes for this program going forward because, don't forget, we waited 24 years for this. So I'll wait another four. That's okay.

What do you make of the Jamal Murray of it all? And he was expected to be the second biggest contributor on this team. He obviously disappointed. How much of the blame, I guess, for a potentially early exit falls on his shoulders? He's going to get some just because of the way that he played and i mean he didn't contribute a ton and also you know jamal was in a situation where he was coming off the bench and regarded as the guy that had to carry the second unit well in theory that's all well and good but clearly he did not have the uh wherewithal the capability to do that the question is though guys i'm pretty sure that jamal murray was hurt that he was battling through something because i watched some clips

from uh the playoffs just a couple months ago and i thought to myself well the jump that jamal murray has in this series in minnesota right now he did not have that at all uh in the olympics i think he was battling through that and then when you're battling through that, then your confidence starts to go. It got to the point where if he had an open jump shot in one of these games, you're almost surprised if he made it. And Josh knows this, myself as a Laker fan. I've seen Jamal Murray go off. I've seen Jamal Murray go nuts.

If Canada's opponents wore Laker uniforms in this tournament, maybe Jamal Murray gets his head right and scores 25 points off the bench. I've seen him do it, guys, and he certainly didn't do it in this tournament. And again, I wonder if he was playing through something the entire time. That's the only explanation I can come up with. Otherwise, yeah, he deserves a lot of the blame. He was there to try to carry the second unit. You play a role when you play for your country, and he wasn't really able to do that. I definitely think there's some stuff of the blame. He was there to try to carry the second unit. You play a role when you play for your country,

and he wasn't really able to do that. I definitely think there's some stuff on his shoulders, and I'm interested to see if that stays with him going into this NBA season because he is due for a large extension as well, and I wonder what the Nuggets think after seeing what they saw at these Olympics over the last couple of weeks. You know, looking ahead to 2028, Fitzy, and as you mentioned, look, there's, you know, a lot of the core players from this team

are still going to be in their prime, still going to be able to really contribute. And then you look at, you know, Mathurin and Shaden Sharp, other perimeter guys. But the guy I'm most curious about is Zach Eadie because we saw, you know, the lack of size, the lack of depth in the post for Canada in this tournament. You know, a warrior like Kelly Olenek, he's probably done. Dwight Powell's 33. You mentioned Maxson's Prosper, Olivia Maxson's Prosper,

but, you know, he's 6'8". Like, how important is it for Canada, for Zach Eadie, to be somebody that can play real minutes and really contribute for them, given the other options in terms of bigs for the program? I think it's crucial, Jamie. I really do. And watching even this tournament, you couldn't help but think, man, you know, they really could use Zach Eadie out there.

After you saw Zach Eadie's first summer league game, you thought, oh, boy. Uh-oh. You know what? Maybe this guy isn't just some dominant college player. Like, he can really help out. And, you know, going into 2028 yes they're going to need at least two uh young functional bigs and and again we talked about kelly olenek and and dwight powell and kelly's 34 and uh dwight's dwight's 33 like this is probably going to be their last run

and kelly has been just an absolute warrior for the program. And you watched him in this tournament. You had Jordy Fernandez playing a switch-heavy defense. Kelly, to me, just looked old and slow. And it was almost jarring because the year before at the World Cup, he was fantastic. He scored close to 19 points a game. And he looked like the Kelly Olenek that we've come to know. And for whatever reason, he didn't have the same gas in the tank. Powell, on the other hand, I thought he played well as far as what his role was

and what he needed to do. But I couldn't help but think to myself, well, there's a reason that Dwight Powell barely played as the Mavericks got all the way to the NBA Finals. And I remember thinking about that during that playoff run and saying to myself, well, if Powell's not playing now, how much juice is he going to have for this Olympic tournament? Is that a good thing? Does that mean he's going to be good to go?

Or is it because he's maybe lost a step? And I think we saw that from a Canadian standpoint at this tournament. So it will be a new generation of bigs come 2028. And unless some mystery prospect comes along that i can't think about zach edie is going to be at the forefront of that you just hope that uh at his size because again four years is a long ways away you just hope that he's able to stay relatively healthy and then he can contribute in a big way in la on that big stage in four years it might be way too early to predict but outside of the u.s in and canada in in 2028 are there any countries you

look at as potentially being on the right on the rise that could hit their peak or close to their peak in 2028 in la well i definitely love uh south sudan i i think everybody's coming into this tournament that was that was that was a heck of a run there and they got royal ivy and they've got you know luaueng's cash up front. They're going to have a good program again in four years. I wouldn't doubt that at all. Also, I love Germany, too. Frankly, guys, I'm surprised that Germany lost to France in the semifinal.

I don't know that FIBA Schroeder will be back necessarily, but Franz Wagner was playing with a bit of a chip on his shoulder at this tournament. He's a young guy, just got that generational wealth from the Orlando Magic and he's only going to get better. That program is definitely on the rise and they were impressive at this tournament and I also think too, and this might be a lame answer but Nikola Jokic and Serbia man, they were right there. We know that they're right there and we know that as long as Jokic is healthy and willing to play and not too concerned about his horses,

he's going to be right there in Los Angeles as a potential gold medal favorite in four years. There's no doubt about that. And, of course, guys, after the run that Canada just had, they're going to be there too. I'm convinced that they will be. There's going to be more talent. There's youth in the pipeline.

It's all good things. I know it's disappointing and frustrating that it had to end the way that it did in France, but it's going to be better four years from now. And that, along with Serbia, Germany, and extra fun, South Sudan, that's going to be at the top of the list four years from now. Looking forward to that. The last thing I wanted to ask you about, Fitzy, is Victor Wemba and Yama. France wins the silver. It's not necessarily the driving force of that, right? You look at like Yabasele and Lesort and Cordinier as guys who really stepped up and got it done for them. But then you also see some of the plays he's capable of making, right? And I know, you know, as the NBA season progressed in his rookie year, he just got better and better. And, you know, the thing that always impresses me as well is his attitude seems to be really locked in right he seems to have a really good head on his shoulders which

is pretty impressive considering the hype and how young he is like how how close are we to talking about you know victor wimba and yama best player in the world or at least in that conversation uh i think we're about two to three years away. And you mentioned him having a good head on his shoulders. There was that quote that was distributed around. I'm probably paraphrasing a bit, but he said, basically, I'm concerned for my opponents. And the guy said, well, FIBA or the NBA? And Victor said, no, everywhere.

So this guy's coming at 7 seven foot four with the length and the build that he has um what i'm about to say is nothing uh new necessarily but he does something on the court once in a while that you have never seen uh in your life there was there was a sequence in that canada game where rj barrett stole the ball from him and then started to take off down the court and somehow with this Condor-like reach, Wemby reached all the way back after RJ had like two steps on him and then stole the ball

back. I'd never seen that before. Just the way that he changes the geometry of the court, the way that he already is defensively. Like, look, guys, if he fills out like a Giannis, it's over. He will be illegal. He already has arguably a better handle than Giannis does.

He's a better jump shooter than Giannis is already at 20 years old. If he fills out even a little bit, this guy is going to be absolutely unbelievable. And he still will be anyway. But I just feel like if he grows into his body, then they should just cancel the know uh cancel the nba and create some european super league and let him go dominate that because it'll be over on the nba in a couple years this guy's going to be absolutely incredible and we've already started to to see the glimpses so the nba is in good hands it just may not necessarily be a group of american stars that That's all. And before we let you go, NFL preseason underway.

You're a big Eagles guy. How are you feeling about your team this year? I am excited. I'm glad you asked me that because it's very boom or bust. Like, there's a very high ceiling, but there's also a very low floor. Nick Sirianni has been stripped of all his autonomy. There's new coordinators now. Kellen Moore, Vic Fangio, which is a breath of fresh air after what I saw last year

in the 1-6 collapse down the stretch. Guys, there is a road where they could easily be in New Orleans at the end of the year because they had that much talent, and there's a road where this all completely crumbles and Bill Belichick is somehow the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles a year from now. So really, it's two completely different extremes, but I'm here for it. I'm ready to convert 41% of my personality to that of a football team.

We are just four weeks away. Can't wait for that game against the Packers in Brazil. Fitzy, really appreciate it. Great stuff, man. Thanks for doing this. Thanks so much, guys. Take care. That is Marcus Fitzgerald from sportsnet 650 and you

can hear uh him on basketball central every week on sportsnet 650 as well weighing in on the olympic basketball tournament and uh looking ahead a little bit to 2028 and i will say just quickly before we go to break here the fact that it is in la and as he said right big big stage you don't have to you know the time the the, the time zone is so much easier. The travel is so much easier. There's still, I think, questions with teams like Canada, even the U.S. Are all of the guys going to commit? Do they all want to be there?

I think it makes it a lot easier for everyone to commit when it is in L.A., right? It's so much easier logistically from their perspective, and you get to be on the big stage. Like, it's a nice carrot to be able to hold out to these guys, too. One question, just because he was so good. Would it fully surprise you if LeBron James is like, I'm going to play four more years? It would not surprise me at all.

It would be the most LeBron thing ever. He's like the Yarmir Yager of the NBA. I'm coming back. No, but if he just stayed in. And Yager's a good comparison, right? Because Yager's, like, his physical attributes meant, okay, he's not going to be Yarm or Jager, but he can still be a really good player for a long time.

He's still playing professionally. Like, could LeBron give Team USA 15 minutes off the bench and, like, run the second unit offense a little bit? Like, yeah, of course he could. I'll be the player coach. Oh, that would be sick in LA. Let's go. Get ready for the ultimate

sports fan trip to Michigan from September 27th to October 1st. Experience games at the Big House, Comerica Park, and Ford Field. Contact Neil Chark at neilc at uniglobecarefree.ca for details. We'll do a little bit more basketball talk with Brian Slusarchuk. He's the co-owner of the

Vancouver Bandits who were in the CEBL championship game yesterday. They fall just short, but we'll look back on the game and the season with Brian next here on Halford & Brough Sportsnet 650.