Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 8/1/24

Episode Date: August 1, 2024

Jason & Josh look back at the previous day in sports including the Canadian Women beating Columbia in soccer to advance to the quarter-finals in the Olympics. Plus, Nabil Karim joins the show to give a full basketball update from Paris as the Canadian Men's team remains undefeated and the American team continues to dominate. 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.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Holiday drills it. Right field. Down the line grand slam the happiest of holidays swinging a fly ball

up center field well hit Raley's back there all the way to the wall and it's off the wall here comes the run here comes O'Neal he will score

Raffy delivers I kind of live by saying if you ain't got no haters, you ain't popping. So hate away. Good morning, Vancouver. Six o'clock on a Thursday. It is Halford and Brough, but there is no Halford. It is Josh Elliott-Wolfe. Jason Brough is still here.

Good morning, Jason. Good morning, Josh. How are you? I'm doing well. Good. Basketball Ben, your last day here on the show. How are you? I'm okay. You're okay Basketball Ben, your last day here on the show. How are you? I'm okay.

You're okay? You're okay. Yeah, I'm okay. There's a reason for this, isn't there? We'll get into it later. We'll dive into it. Laddie, how are you? Good morning.

Much better than Ben. Hello. Halpern Abrupt is brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. Text in 650-650. The 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. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio.

Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Soar feet, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're waiting for. On the show today, a few guests. We got Ben Steiner at 630 covering the Olympics for CBC Sports. Canada won yesterday. They beat Columbia. They got it done.

They did it. We'll get more into it in a few moments but he will join us at 6 30 to talk about that and maybe some other stories going on at the olympics as well seven o'clock adnan burke mlb network nhl network cinephile pod trade deadline is done who looks the best coming out of it jay's mariners his thoughts on those teams and uh 7 30 nabil kareem nba on tnt and covering basketball for cbc in paris um canada not playing today they play their final group match tomorrow has everyone played two games now on the men's side i believe so okay so we can kind of get an update from Nabil on how the Canadians have looked,

how the Americans have looked, who's been the best teams so far, or surprise teams, or who's been disappointments in that tournament that's going to really start heating up soon. So working in reverse, 7.30, Nabil Karim, 7 o'clock, Adnan Virk, and at 6.30, Ben Steiner. That's what's happening on the show. Let's 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. We will start with what we mentioned, Canada. They beat Columbia, Vanessa Gilles with another clutch goal, the lone goal of the game, as Canada wins 1-0. They're on to the quarterfinals. They will play Germany. They did it. Yeah, it won't get any easier against Germany, but you really have to tip your cap to the players given all they've had to endure during this

tournament. Now, some Canadians, and a few of you have texted into the Dunbar Lumber text line with your thoughts on this. Some Canadians might still be hesitant to cheer for them. But I said when the punishment was handed down that I liked the punishment and a lot of people are like, what are you talking about? That's six point punishment. That was way too harsh. But the reason I liked it was because it was a harsh penalty and it did send a message and hopefully that message has been heard not only by Canada, but by the rest of the world. But that punishment still left the door open for the players on Canada

to control their own destiny. If they won all three games, they were most likely going to go through to the quarterfinals, and that is exactly what they did. And frankly, that punishment might have served to help this Canadian squad galvanize around the moment. As you mentioned, Vanessa Gilles has been the hero for Canada, scoring the winning goals against both France and Colombia yesterday.

Just a perfectly timed run into the penalty area and a great free kick, great ball from captain Jesse Fleming. And Gilles made no mistake. Canada was clearly the better and more talented team against Columbia. I think that was obvious right from the outside of the game, but it did take them a while to break through. I thought they were going to score in the first 10 minutes the way they looked, but they didn't. And then the game kind of evened out a little bit. The

Columbians did have a few chances here and there. And it did take a while for Canada to break through. have a few chances here and there. And it did take a while for Canada to break through. It came in the 61st minute. And then after the 61st minute, after they did score, it was still nervous times because all it would have taken was one blunder by Canada or one brilliant moment by Colombia to tie it back up and for Canada to be eliminated. As I mentioned, Germany is going to be a stiff test on Saturday. They are one of the top teams in the world. So is Canada, though, and so was France when Canada beat France.

But the Germans finished their group stage with two wins and one loss, although the one loss was a pretty significant one, 4-1 to the Americans who I imagine are still the favorites to win this tournament. But if I was the Germans, I would probably be looking at that draw and going, oh, do we really want this Canadian team? Like hopefully, hopefully they've got a bit of a, well, we're just happy we, we got through the group stage, uh, attitude, but I don't know.

I don't think they will have that attitude because they are the defending gold medalists in this tournament. And if I was Germany, I probably would not want anything to do with Canada. It's going to be a very dramatic game. And this has turned into, um, the most dramatic story for Canada at these Olympics with all due respect to summer McIntosh in the pool and the men's basketball team. This says created, um, the most highs and lows of the tournament for Canada so so far and so you mentioned that like germany like hey maybe maybe there's an element of happy to be there i do wonder how much team other teams in the tournament are gonna look at canada and the punishment and everything that

went into it and be like man we really want to beat them because if i was a fan of another country or another team i'd be i would be mad that canada made it through country or another team, I would be mad that Canada made it through. Or at least I would want to be the team that beats them. How about the team that didn't make it because Canada did make it? And I think that might be Australia? I think it was Australia. Yeah, it was Australia. Yeah, it was Australia. If you're the Australians, not only are you mad that the Rugby Sevens team lost to Canada,

you're probably mad that Canada wasn't just outright banned from this tournament. Australia hates Canada right now, I'm pretty sure. They seem to maybe, spoiler alert, for women's basketball, maybe be about to get a win over Canada in that, but everything else, Canada has just

dominated or beat Australia in these Olympics, regardless of what sport it has been. Before we move on from that, there's also, so we talked about Germany, but the road, even if you get through Germany, is pretty difficult because the U.S. and Japan is the other quarterfinal on their side. So, I mean... So are we looking at a possible rematch of Canada and the United States in the semifinals? Would be exciting. I would welcome it.

Yeah, that'd be incredible. But Japan's a good team too. Japan's a good team. So Germany ranked fourth according to FIFA World Rankings, U.S. fifth, and Japan seventh, Canada eighth. But there's a few teams that are ranked in that that aren't even there, like England, which would have been Great Britain. They're either one or two, and they're not at this tournament.

Those rankings are, they can provide a bit of guidance, but when you're talking about the top 10 teams in the world, there, there really isn't a whole lot that separates them as we saw when Canada beat France in France. And I think that was their most impressive win, that win, because they were supposed to beat New Zealand, uh, and they fell behind to

France one nil and they came back and win that and won that game spectacularly in stoppage time and that allowed them to have their win and go through moment against Columbia. I don't think Canada actually played all that well against Columbia, to be perfectly honest with you.

I thought they had a really good start, but I thought some of their passing was wasteful um and I still think the issue with this team um you know Vanessa Gilles is is I don't know if she's supposed to be their scorer now but the issue with the team really for the, uh, when Christine Sinclair finally started to fall off a little bit and now she's, you know, not on the team anymore, the issue is like, how are they going to score goals? You know, I think Jordan Heidema, who I know I realize is, is local needs to do more. She needs to find the back of the net. She needs to be an impact player for this team. To actually win a gold medal, Canada relied a lot on defensive play, which is fine, and winning in penalty kicks to get the gold medal in Tokyo, but that is a really tough way to win, and you need some luck on your side. It would be nice if some of these forays up the field

had a little more clinical finishing, I would say. That was my only thought from the match. Yeah, I agree. It was a little sloppy. Did you want to move on to what else happened yesterday? Yeah, I think we should throw out a little love for Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is in a position right now to win not one, but two medals.

He's still got a long way to go, but Felix, who's still only 23. It's just crazy. I feel like we've been talking to him for a while. He's only 23. Advanced to the men's quarterfinals with, uh, Daniil Medvedev, which is a. That's a big win. Pretty good win.

Um, but he has also, uh, joined forces with Gabriela Dabrowski, uh, and in the mixed doubles and they have, uh, they defeated the third seed American duo of Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz, earning a berth in the mixed doubles semifinal. So I guess at the very least, that duo will be playing for a medal at some point.

Yeah, so the singles quarters for Felix, that goes at 7 o'clock today, our time against Norway's Kasper Ruud. And then the mixed doubles with Gabrielle Dabrowski is at 8.30. So yeah, those two are at least playing for bronze, but they have a chance to obviously play for gold. And then if Felix beats Kasper Ruud, same situation, he'd move on to the semis. And he's been, like, I always like the the tennis and to uh to an

extent the golf as well though it's also new in the olympics kind of goes underrated a little bit because it's not we're kind of used to like only caring about those at the majors whereas shows up at the olympics and like it's still interesting but I feel like other sports kind of... I think the golf especially has taken some time to make an impact. Down in Rio, the players used the Zika virus as kind of an excuse to not go, but a lot of it was just like, I don't think they wanted to, but I think they've heard from players that have been there about the experience at the Olympics. And I think they've realized that, you know, you can win a major, but what about the guys that have won majors that want to go and win something else? Right.

And, and, and it's special and, and, and the men's golf gets underway today. I guess it's already underway, uh men's golf gets underway today. I guess it's already underway. Corey Connors and Nick Taylor for Canada. But it's a really good field. You've got guys like Scotty Scheffler and Xander Shoffley for the Americans. Rory McIlroy is there. He can't win a major, but maybe he can win a gold medal. The way they do the qualifying, if you're wondering, for the golf is, is partly based on

the, the official world golf ranking. So the top 15 players automatically make the field, but there's a maximum of four per country. So off the top of my head, basketball, Ben, you might know this for the Americans. It would be Xander Shoffley, Scotty Scheffler. I think Morikawa is there. And Wyndham Clark.

And Wyndham Clark. Good for him. Wyndham Clark is there. Okay. Each country is guaranteed two spots for the two top ranked players from that country. So there are also some players that are not really expected to be contenders there. So it is an interesting field.

It's being played at the course where the Ryder Cup was a few years ago, where the Europeans dominated the Americans. What's it called? The National? Is it the National? And I think that's what it's called. I'm not sure, but it was a massacre. Yeah, yeah, it was.

And Rory had kind of a cocky quote the other day. Maybe Rory should stay away from the cocky quotes, but Rory said, I think he got a question about what the rough was like at the course. And he said, you should ask the Americans. I wasn't really in it when we played the Ryder Cup. That's a good quote, though. It is a good quote.

And maybe he just was just joking around. But I don't know. Rory's not exactly in the position right now to be too cocky. Richmond's Evan Dunphy was in action overnight, our time, in the 20K race walk. This is a guy that won bronze in Tokyo in the 20K race walk. This is a guy that won bronze in Tokyo in the 50K race walk, which is too far to walk.

That's also no longer a thing, apparently. It's no longer a thing. They took away his distance. Yeah, they took away his distance. So now it's just the 20K. Spoiler alert, if you've PVR'd the race walk, first of all, yikes.

Good for you there. I stayed up to watch it. But he's a local. I stayed up to watch it yesterday. He's a local, so I know a lot of people were interested. So I think he finished, spoiler alert, I think he finished fifth. He did. Yeah. His brother was the emcee at my wedding, just full disclosure.

Wow. Really? Yeah. Adam Dunphy. Did you get free Kraft Dinner? I got a box of the Evan Dunphy. Oh, wow. That is awesome. He's a a good dude he's a really

good guy i wish the result was better yesterday but it was still good to see him back out does when he's so so you've you've you've met him and everything you've had one time i think i met him yeah he's does does he walk fast around like does he is he's not like does does that kind of he's quick he's quick he's quick. He's quick? He's quick. He's a pretty skinny guy, right? So he zips around really well. He zips around.

Oh, yeah. Like, he doesn't, like, when he's not race walking, like, you would think either he's always really fast or maybe he's a bit of a stroller, you know? Like, maybe he strolls because he doesn't want to. I was reading this article yesterday in the Globe and Mail on Summer McIntosh and on all her, once she's done in the pool, all the focus turns to getting rest and having a massage.

And she's like, she said some quotes, she's like, I'm a world-class napper, right? Everything is thought out after she gets out of the pool, right? She's, everything is thought out, um, after she gets out of the pool, like how she's going to eat. And I know that's not surprising or anything, but it was just very disciplined. And I thought for a 17 year old to be that

disciplined with all the other stuff, right. And I, and I know we're, we're, uh, we're learning more and more about really the power of rest. You know, we talk about that with the Canucks. And, you know, Rick Talkett sometimes says, you know, I'd love to practice, but we're not going to practice today because we've got to have rest. And a team like the Canucks that has a tough travel schedule

has to be especially careful of that. But anyway, I was just wondering if Evan Duffy was like, I'm not walking anywhere because I'm resting right now. Well, you've got to save your steps, right? You got to save your steps. You only have so many. For injury purposes, yeah. You don't want to overdo it when you're training.

Speaking of Summer McIntosh, she's swimming for gold in the 200-meter fly. That's what they call it. The fly. We got called out yesterday. We were like, no, they don't call it the fly. And it's like, yeah, no. Well, they call it the butterfly.

Yeah, they called you out. They said, bruv, they call it the butterfly. No, I know it's called the butterfly. I know, but you're being hip. But I'm being hip. You're trying to make a thing happen. It's, yeah, they call it the fly. The fly.

Like that's, I mean, swimmer's lingo. Guys, I got my blue badge. Okay, so I know how to swim. She's a significant favorite to win gold, but I suppose you can watch out for the American Regan Smith as well. But I think it would be a pretty big disappointment if Summer McIntosh did not

win gold today, which is crazy considering she's already won gold. She's already won silver. And again, she's already won gold. She's already won silver. And again, she's 17. Yeah. It's absolutely crazy. Her interview yesterday was really fantastic after her semifinal.

She said, I have, I had trouble seeing the other swimmers. I'm usually really good at knowing where they're all at, but I knew where Regan was. And she, when she said it, I was like, okay, you know who your main competition is. But I think because Regan was like right beside her. But it, I was like, okay, you know who your main competition is. But I think because Regan was like right beside her.

I saw some splashing beside me. I was like, okay, I know who that's going to be. Yeah. I feel like she's, she knows who she has to beat and she seems like really,

really determined out there too. Yeah. She seems incredibly mature too when, when she's interviewed on camera, she just seems very, very comfortable with everything. And hopefully that continues because we have seen a lot of, um, young athletes that have achieved at a high level. I actually think Regan Smith, I think, I think she's been through some, uh, some issues because she was, um, uh, I

mean, what do they call, uh, a young prodigy, a prodigy swimmer. Um, and then she's, she's gone through some tough times because of that. So hopefully summer can keep her head after these Olympics because, you know, we talk about how she has to be prepared or how she has to be careful when she's not in the pool during the tournament,

you know, get rest, eat right, take care of your body. But one of the challenges for her after these Olympics is she's going to be a household name in Canada. She's going to get invited to all the parties. She's going to get in, you know, she's going to be, um, people are going to want to talk to her. Her time is going to become, um, more valuable to her because other people will want her time and other people will want to cash in on the fact that she is, um, a household name in Canada and, um, you know, we, we've seen, uh, Penny Oleksiak, um, and we've heard the stories about Penny Oleksiak kind of, you know, falling out of love with swimming because maybe she feels like, well, I didn't get to party or I didn't get to do the fun things because I was being so disciplined about swimming. And that's like fair too.

Totally fair. Yeah. Totally fair. Yeah. Totally fair. Um, and, um, so I think Summer's story is going to be really interesting to follow. Like if you really want to be, um, a great and not just a flash in the pan, you have to maintain the commitment, you know, even the

greatest athletes, even Tiger Woods, I don't know if you heard about him, but he got a little bit distracted in his life. He got a little bit distracted and there were some things that he had to deal with later in his life that at some point, at one point, nobody would have ever predicted.

I'm always hesitant, you know, when I, you know, when we spoke with Devin Heroux and I love Devin's attitude and I loved his energy and I loved his passion for talking about it. But when you're talking about and you're looking ahead and going like, you know, you expect this person who's, again, 17 to break all these records and become Canada's greatest swimmer of all time. And, and it's okay to say it's possible, but I

just think so much happens in people's lives that you just cannot predict. And, um, you know, one of the great things and one of the most incredible things I think about a guy like Sidney Crosby is when has he ever been involved in anything that's like untoward or when have you ever heard that Sid has, you know, he's not as enthusiastic about the game anymore,

or he's just, he's going through something, right? The closest came from something that he wasn't even in control of. Like he had some concussion issues earlier in his career and people wondered about that. But other than that, you're just kind of like, yeah, Sid, I don't know what he does. He goes, plays hockey and goes home and I don't know, just goes into his cocoon or something like that.

Doesn't have social media. Yeah, he doesn't have social media. There's never a controversy around Sid. There's never any photos about him. No. Around town or anything. Even Connor McDavid, there had been some gossipy pictures that went around him a couple of years ago

that he had to deal with. And Connor McDavid is kind of like Sid. He's pretty boring overall, and you get the sense that he mostly thinks about hockey in his life. But it is tough to be famous. Let's put it that way. It's tough to be famous. So Summer McIntosh today in the women's 200-meter butterfly final.

That's at 11.30. Also, the final of the women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay is at 1.03. She didn't compete in the semis or heats, but she's expected to be on the team in the final, so they're going to add a ringer. I always hate that, add a ringer. But no, it's good this time in the final. You're still upset.

I'm still upset. Was there any blowback from your follow-up on the softball story? Not that I've heard of. No, I think I won. Also, yes, you did. You think you won. That's when he goes to register next year

and he sees that he's locked out. All of a sudden, I can't do this. Okay, Ben Steiner's going to join us next on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. We'll go through the Olympics story, what to watch for today in Paris. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. You're listening to the best of Halford & Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford & Brough.

733 on a Thursday. This is Halford & Brough, Josh Elliott-Wolfe filling in for Mike Halford, who is away this week. You can text in 650-650-DUMBAR-LUMBER-TEXTLINE. Halford & Brough is brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. And also this hour of Halford & Brough. Brought

to you by Bridge Brewing. Meticulously brewed for quality and taste. Primetime craft beer is full flavor without compromise. At a liquor store near you or visit the brewery to see how it is made we go to the phone lines where we welcome in nabil kareem nba on tnt and covering basketball for cbc in paris appreciate you taking the time to bill how are you i'm good how are you guys doing very well

what have you uh what have you thought of the canadian men through two games so far in this tournament well i think they're starting to develop their identity right which is going to what have you thought of the Canadian men through two games so far in this tournament? Well, I think they're starting to develop their identity, right? Which was going to always be defense before the tournament started. We were talking to Jordy Fernandez and he was talking about the world cup and, and how well they did there. And he said, the one thing we were really good at the world cup was offense, but our defense kind of let us down in the world cup for getting a better result there.

So he wanted to be a top three defensive team at this tournament. I think when you saw what they did against Australia in their last game, that was kind of what he had envisioned as far as their defense. They got all these wings that can make a difference, and especially in FIBA-style basketball. I know we talked about that a little while ago, you know, with the more physical brand of basketball, you can get away with more stuff.

And guys like Lou Dort become more effective, although he's pretty effective in the NBA too. But, you know, a guy like Lou Dort really took over the game. They made that switch from Dylan Brooks to Lou Dort on Josh Keevey last game. And from there, Camden was just rolling. So I think they're starting to really pick up on that side of the ball. Have you been surprised, pleasantly surprised,

by the play of R.J. Barrett? He's been awesome. You know, he's actually – I was just looking him up right now. We're going to go to practice in just a bit, and I want to talk to R.J. And coming into the tournament, again, we talked about Shane. We talked about Jamal Murray, right, that one-two combination, how special that's going to be. And Jamal's kind of limited in his minutes right now,

and they've got a plan for Jamal, but RJ Barrett has stepped in, and he has just been fantastic. And Jordan Fernandez is not running plays for RJ Barrett. RJ Barrett is coming through and getting buckets in situations where he's kind of making something up on the fly, or

he's going to the offensive glass, getting a rebound getting extra possessions and so rj barrett has just been god's effort candidate and the way he has played so far i think if you're a raptors fan you're loving what you're seeing from rj bear right now because not only is he putting up numbers he's doing it really really efficiently from two from three and a free throw line where historically he's kind of struggled a little bit uh but rj barrett's just been he has been the x factor for canada so far there's no doubt about it so jamal murray um is what what's the story with him what are what are you hearing about him is he uh just

off or is he hurt a combination of both well from what we know with jamal he's uh he's on a minutes restriction so he played 18 the first game. He played, I think, 23 and a half the second game. They're going to ramp him up. And that's, you know, we've been told they're going to ramp him up. And they're waiting to do that at the right time. And listen, Jordy Fernandez knows Jamal Murray really well. He was his assistant coach in Denver.

Spent a lot of time with Jamal. So he knows him. He knows his body very well, and that's the good thing here, to have that relationship. They can communicate these sorts of things together. But, you know, he was saying the other day to a reporter last year about Jamal, he said, listen, this guy's

a game-changer, and at any point, Jamal Murray can go off. And so they're happy to have Jamal, to have him kind of figure his way out here. And for Jamal, he even mentioned this after the last game, everyone's got a role on this team, right? I mean, you look at the Americans and the situation they're going through

where guys are not playing and being these huge names. Well, it's kind of the same thing with Canada now when you have so many NBA players at stars that guys are going to have to accept roles. And Jory Fernandez had actually talked about that in one of the first practices he sat in on. He said guys are going to have to accept roles. And Jory Fernandez had actually talked about that. One of the first practices he sat in on, he said guys are going to have to accept roles. It's going to be different from your NBA role for some players,

but there's a trust that comes with all this. Right. And does that mean Jamal is not going to contribute in a big way? Like you've seen him in Denver. No, I didn't mean that at all. In fact, when we when we think about Jamal Murray, you think about the big moments. So I think there's more to come from Jamal. But at this point right now, again, I think he is being held back just a little bit. The one guy that has stepped up in these first couple games is Shea Gilgis-Alexander. What have you thought of his first two games?

And it kind of feels like he's primed to almost show people through this tournament how good he can really be. Well, I think everybody already knows. I mean, Shane Gilders, I almost won MVP this past year. So I don't think he has to show anything at these Olympic Games. Like, everybody in the NBA and basketball fans know this guy is a perennial MVP every single year. He's done it two years in a row. And the thing about Shane Gilders to Alexanderlexander is that i mean here's a prime

example of a guy who just does not get rattled he got two early fouls last game it's a really important game against australia right uh his former teammate josh giddy is going off you know obviously there's uh that connection there he comes back and i think he didn't play for roughly nine minutes he's off the court for nine minutes he comes back in and again takes over and jamal i'm not jamal uh shea gildas algana he has this rare ability that's like four or five maybe players like luca donch is one guy who comes to mind but like shea gildas algana has this rare ability to like play at his own pace you can't speed him up you can't really like you can't really affect his game he's gonna get to his spot he loves the mid-range you can see that here.

He's been doing that throughout his time so far at the Olympics, but he is just such an impressive player to watch. And I think it kind of resonates with the rest of the team, right? Because as well as RJ has been playing as most of them, as the other guys have kind of been chipping and dilling and blue, and you know, you got SGA. And at the end of the day, when the game is on the line, I think that kind of resonates his calmness, his coolness,

that we got a guy, we have a closer, and a guy who can take us to that next level. Because at this tournament, it's the stars of all the stars, right? Like every team that's in contention for this thing has a game changer. And we definitely have one deal with SGA. Nabil, Canada is a nine-point favorite over Spain, which seems like a lot of points, but maybe I'm just not used to this quite yet.

How important is it for Canada that they get the win over Spain, finish undefeated in their group? Are there, is the most important thing the seeding, or is there still a possibility if they lose this game that they actually don't go through to the quarterfinals? No, they're already into the quarterfinals, so they've already clinched that. So they're good in that sense.

They're going to the quarterfinals no matter what. Now, here's the important thing. You want to finish the top two seeds, right, because the top two seeds kind of get split up, and then when they do the seeding after that, so potentially, okay, the Americans are going to go number one. You kind of want to be that two seed right so that you avoid the American so potentially the final defile goes well now point differential comes into into play here so I'm looking at it right now Germany's a plus 33 they're also 2-0 the Americans are a plus 43 they're 2-0 and Canada

is 2-0 and a plus 17 so yeah they're gonna have to go for it not only you're gonna have to win this next game uh but they got to go for it and really try to run up the score and and get themselves in the best position possible to um they're not to the Americans frankly I mean listen you never know how it's going to work because they kind of just toss the balls up in the system where the quarterfinals are concerned. But you do know for a fact that if you are one of the top two seeds, you will avoid them until the end. And that's the best plan for success.

So we're going to talk to Jordy about that a little later today. But I'm sure that if you see Canada running up the score, you know why they're going to do it. Well, let's talk about this American team. We all know they're unbelievably talented and unbelievably deep. If there is one thing that's going to trip them up, what would it be? Boy, it's hard to say because it looks so good. You know, you can have a drop shooting night,

but I think it would be on the flip side of things where they play a quality opponent who is big, physical, and are on fire. And that's really what it would be. It would come down to a situation where the other team is shooting the lights out from three. They can match the American size because nobody can really do that in this tournament. But if they can, to a certain degree, and be real physical,

what you're seeing in this tournament, you're noticing, like, the fouls are very different here, right? And it's kind of frustrating to watch, too, because sometimes you see with these refs, like, it's a foul. You know it's a foul. They don't call it. They wait to see what happened on the plate, and then they call a foul if it was a bucket or not.

And so I think for the Americans, that would maybe be the one thing that kind of sticks out is that if you know they have maybe an off shooting night and the other teams on fire it kind of could match the physicality because besides that they look unreal i mean kevin durant uh that second unit that comes out for the americans i mean that's a team on its own like that could be you know um one of the top teams that's ever played this tournament so uh they're very deep but it's interesting because they're going through their own set of drama because they they have and i shouldn't say drama but their own set of circumstances where um they got so many good players you know you can only play so many guys

so for steve furr he's got to figure out the right combination because at the end of the day you know some of these guys are not going to play as much and when you're a guy like a Joel Embiid you know you're used to getting the ball every time down the floor when you're playing with Philadelphia the offense goes through you which guys can really which guys games can kind of resonate when they don't have to have the ball all the time and can kind of develop those roles like we talked about with Canada. You mentioned, so yeah, the roles part. Is there almost too much, I guess like ego is probably the word, but on the American side for these guys to be able to fully accept these roles? And if we talk about, hey, it's still like a crazy uphill battle

to try to craft a way to beat them, but would that play a part in it as well if these guys aren't fully into the role they're expected josh is asking you the question if egos are going to tear this american team apart yeah right i don't think so i really don't i mean i think when grant hill put this team together i'm sure they had conversations about this i would steve kerr originally you know sat the team down i'm sure they had conversations about this i would steve kerr originally you know sat the team down i'm sure they had conversations they were never going to play guys even it's just not going to happen you're not going to play guys even when you what you've seen from steve kerr so far is he's going by the match you know certain guys are going to play certain minutes lebron and steph are going to play certain minutes kevin durant play certain minutes

but after that he he can he's got so many pieces that he can kind of interchange them um but i i think at the end of the day they realize what what's at stake here they realize the pressure you know that's around being this team and the fact that the narrative has changed quite a bit in basketball right like everybody is coming up and they saw what happened at the world cup um and so i i really don't think ego is going to be a thing here. And you could go on X and Twitter or whatever, and people can make up that narrative. I really just don't think it's a thing.

I think these guys are pretty focused. They know what they got to do. The Canadian women lost to Australia today. Is that pretty much it for them this tournament, or do they still have a chance to advance? Yeah, it was a tough loss. We just did that game a couple hours ago now and and the situation is this now they're oh and two uh the next game that's coming up uh in about half an hour is nigeria and france now nigeria upset australia in their first game so So if Nigeria beats France in this next game, Canada is out, eliminated out of contention.

So it was tough. It was tough to, you know, talk to some of the players after the game because they played really well for three quarters. They kind of went back and forth. And then that fourth quarter, Australia's experience, their size, it just came through. They got a roster that has current WNBA players.

I think it was six of them. And then the other five had all played in the WNBA, whereas Canada's mix-up, they do have four WNBA players and a few who played prior to, but there's some experience and then there's a lot of youth. And you can kind of see that. And for Canada, the one thing that has not gone right for them in this tournament is offense.

They just have not found a way to open up that offense. They've been shooting pretty poor percentages. Bridget Carlton was great today from three, so she gave them a chance. But Canada's really got to figure that out. It was, I believe, a five-point game at the end of it, but it kind of got close towards the end. But it's tough. It's a tough situation right now.

Now, that being said, they've been in this position before because to qualify for the Olympics, they were also waiting on one final game. And in that game, it was kind of crazy, and they ended up qualifying because it kind of threw back channels. So they're still alive at this point. There are some positives to take. Some of the performances from the young players have been great uh but at this point right now it's kind of a wait and see deal for

for the canadians and then moving forward you gotta unlock the offense somehow what is the state of the women's program i think it's a good state like i think they're like they went through some turnover right with some of their uh players from the last Olympics in 2021. And now you've got this roster of, like, really young players. And I'm talking young players. I'm talking Silas Thornton, who's 18 years old, okay? She's 18. She came straight from high school to this.

And she's going to Michigan next year. She was outstanding, actually. I mean year she was outstanding actually I mean she was absolutely I think for an 18 year old she's the youngest uh basketball player ever to play at the Olympics for Canada men's or women's uh yet Aaliyah Edwards who is in her rookie season uh in the WNBA right now she's a star at UConn for a while uh she's had an impact but it's going to take time for them to grow right because you talk to the to the vets on this team and they'll all tell you the same thing their first olympic experience is really difficult because you're coming in and you're playing these teams and this is the big difference you look at a team like france okay they play france that first

game uh the french team they asked their wmba players to stay back this year so they did not play in the wmba. They're three best players. They played in their local French league here. So they've been playing all year round together. And that cohesiveness, that chemistry, that's huge. Now for Canada, Victor LePeno, their coach, has had his entire team, and I'm not even joking, for one full game leading up to this tournament in 2024.

So that's due to injuries and that's due to wmba availability but that's difficult that's really hard and then you factor in a lot of young players who are still learning the game still learning at the professional level there's a lot going on but i think the future is bright it looks tough right now especially if you go back to back in these olympic games and not get out of the group stage but But I think there has to be some patience and there has to be some realization that the future, it's bright for Canada as far as the talent we have coming up. And Nabil, really appreciate you taking the time and enjoy the tournament in Paris.

All right, thanks, guys. There is Nabil Karim, NBA on TNT, and covering basketball for CBC in Paris. Canadian man in action tomorrow against Spain. How important is this tournament for you on the men's side as a fan? Very important, I would say. Yeah. Because they haven't been to the Olympics in so long.

And it's kind of weird. Now there's immediately the expectation of, hey, you have to get silver. Or you have to medal at least. So it's kind of a weird spot expectation wise, but they should be getting silver. Like it's weird and disappointing that they haven't been competitive in so long. Despite, you know, like even last Olympics, they should have been there and they should have been able to be competitive and they just weren't. And now they get to this point and I do think it's very important for them to at least medal. And I honestly, going into it, there was some worry, especially with their group, that I was like, man, they might just not make it out of the group stage.

Yeah, it was a tough group. It was a deep group. Every team is good. But they obviously did and now the expectations kind of change again. Is Shea your favorite player? I like him. I'm more of like because I'm a Nuggets fan. Jamal Murray is out there for me.

But he's been frustrating. Shea's fun, though. So what do you think is going on with Jamal? I just think he's still battling through an injury. And, again, I think we talked to uh we talked to someone about this but through the playoffs as well in denver he was kind of struggling too so it's it's difficult to say but i do think he's battling through something and personally like look again if he gets hot he'll get really hot and the bill kind of mentioned that but

the he's also a very inconsistent player at times yeah it's tough to put all your eggs in the jamal it feels like the coaching staff isn't playing this hoping game with jamal they're just like we got a plan for him to not yes reach the level that he has in the past which is good because i i don't know if he will be able to reach that in this short of a tournament uh by the time the nba season gets going hey maybe he'll be able to get it back but i think in this tournament him coming off the bench i think is a is a good move okay i'm gonna bring it back to age again are you too young to be bitter that sga plays for oklahoma city instead of seattle yeah Yeah. I wouldn't say I'm bitter about it. No. Right. Yeah. Are you bitter about it? Well, I would have a lot of issues cheering for

SGA in the playoffs. Put it that way. Oh, I see. Yeah. So, okay. Like I'm, I don't, I mean, I'm cheering for him now and I love that we can cheer for a player that's as talented as he is. But when the playoffs are on, I am anyone but Oklahoma City still. And I think that won't even change when Seattle gets an expansion team. What is your even memory of NBA in this region? Not much. But you're a big NBA fan, right? I'm like a decent NBA fan.

You're a big NBA fan, right? I'm like a decent NBA fan. You're a decent NBA fan. Okay. But I, so yeah, I would say at that age, regardless, I wasn't really watching basketball, but I do remember the whole move and all of that. And I remember it being disappointing, but in terms of being bitter or like upset about it, I don't have that. I'm more bitter about the Sonics leaving than I am about the Grizzlies leaving. The Grizzlies won. Because the Sonics had such a history in that, in that city.

And, you know, I think it was a joke the way it was, the NBA was handled here in Vancouver, but the history in that city and then go to go to a town like, I'm sorry, but Oklahoma City instead of Seattle. And I don't know if those feelings are going to be righted when the Sonics are back in Seattle, but it's weird. I still have this feeling like I do not want Oklahoma City

to win an NBA title, but I think they're capable of it with a player like SGA. They're a very good team. For sure. Are you going to cheer for a Seattle team when they return? Definitely. Definitely.

Like, they'll just hop right back on? Absolutely. For me, I still cheer for the Sonics when the Grizzlies were in Vancouver. Like, it never got to the point, well, Vancouver was so bad. Yeah. Like, there was never a year where I was like,

well, I've got to make a decision now. Even the first year? I mean, I was happy. I mean, the first year they were, I mean, they won their first two games. Yeah. We were hot. And then we got real cold. Real fast.

Yeah. Good hashtag start. I mean, it never really came to the point where there was any sort of rivalry. You know, there was nothing. And, you know, I still don't think there's been a rivalry between the Kraken and the Canucks yet because when the Kraken did have their one, I mean, they've only been, what, three years? Yeah.

They did have their one year. The Canucks were still bad. And then the Canucks take a massive step forward last season and the Kraken missed the playoffs. But isn't that this stuff is born in the playoffs? It is born mostly in the playoffs, but I do think there can be some geographic elements to it. Is Edmonton a rival?

I think so. I think it's our rival. I'd be curious to know what Oilers fans would say. Oilers fans seem, at least on social media, seem to hate Canucks fans. Well, Canucks fans are hateable. Yeah, it's a very easy thing to do. Especially on social media, right? And maybe fans. Well, Canucks fans are hateable. Yeah, it's a very easy thing to do. Especially on social media, right? And maybe they see Calgary right now and say,

okay, we're going to put this rivalry on the back burner. It's all about the Canucks now because I think the Flames are going to be going through a few years of hurt there. They've still got some things to unravel. Their team does not look very good going forward, and I feel like that's almost the plan. Plus you've probably got an ownership group there that's like, eh, we won't be spending to the cap.

And maybe their plan in Calgary, and it's probably a good one, is like let's aim to be good when the new arena opens in a few years. If there's any Oilers fans listening right now, I'd be curious to know. Text in 650-650 know what your feelings are about the Canucks. Are they the biggest rival? Um, I don't want to assume though, because remember, um, remember the Canucks wild rivalry. It was kind of like, uh, the wild were like, oh, I hate the Canucks. And we were still kind of like, yeah, we don't really care.

We don't think about you all that often. Yeah. Right. And it's happened in an opposite way to the Canucks as well. Uh, so text into the Dunbar Lumber text line 650-650. No guest in the next hour.

So it's going to be all what we learned and random discussions that we get out of the text line. So any questions or comments, text them in to the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650-650. And don't forget to get your what we learns in as well. And we'll read yours in the final half hour of the show. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. You're listening to the best of Halford & Brough.