‘Best camp roster Canada has ever put together’: Shepherd on Olympic camp invites | Jay on SC

‘Best camp roster Canada has ever put together’: Shepherd on Olympic camp invites | Jay on SC

you’re here in the best Baseline in sports television and that’s because I’m walking over to Javon Shephard our basketball analyst to talk about this team Canada roster announcement first of all what a You’re The Wolf of Wall Street today Javon Shepard you look great I love the double breasted I like this you’re pizazzy we’re just trying our best right we’re trying to look good just like the Canadian Olympic team um initial reaction to the players that were involved Ed from you what a roster right this is this is the best you know camp roster we’ve ever fielded or put together um and I I I look at that group and I think the ceiling is so high right the floor has been raised but Soul has a ceiling and and you you can’t help but wonder what does it look like when SGA and Jamal Murray um they’re in your back court and then you have Andrew Wiggins you have RJ Barrett there’s so much offensive power there’s so much skill to so much tools but the big question is going to be you have a short window how fast do you build and and Foster that that connective tissue that connective fabric because that’s what that’s what wins in international play and we’re not just talking about any International cup we’re now talking about the Olympics right um and those guys they’ve got to sacrifice some as well right they are talented they’re skilled all those guys are you know the feature players on their team with the basketball is in their hands and how’s that going to work right so there’s going to be a lot of responsibility on head coach jordy’s you know his shoulders in even for Jamal Murray right him him and shav even played together right you’re not running Twan game with joic anymore this is going to be a completely different brand of basketball where you’re in tandem with another prolific score that commands a lot of attention that command commands the basketball as well Wiggins is in the mix so there’s still a lot of question marks but I think this is a great start and we can all be excited about you know that roster that’s fielded but now guys the the next hurdle is guys showing up and checking in to Camp right and then after that is everybody staying healthy through camp and committing through the end of training camp and then into exhibition games and then that first game into the Olympics and then once we get to that point and we’re like we’re here right now we can start to focus on our goal but it’s it’s step by step first you know as Canada basketball improves and as more players make it to the NBA and as you pointed out like what a roster you know the flip side of it is that veteran players who have really contributed to Team Canada for a long time might be left out and that’s exactly what happened to Corey Joseph on Wednesday your reaction to Cory Jo Joseph being left off this roster Cory Joseph should be you know on that training camp roster Point Blank um when I when I think about myself as a player I can understand where he would be hurt and disappointed uh because he’s also put in a number of years into red and white when nobody else would answer the call so from Cory’s perspective I completely understand right but two things can be right at once and if you’re Canada basketball you have to make decisions and build the best best team there’s no perfect way for a player like that to have a soft Landing yeah right so ultimately decisions have to be made um and that that one hurts right I know you know general manager Rowan Barrett spoke candidly earlier today and you know he knows Cory’s family Cory’s family well he’s played in the men’s Leagues with his father he knew him since he was knee high so this decision that had had to be made is was a tough one for him right and I think you know you there’s a number of other NBA guys that aren’t on that camp roster right even think Chris buet right and it just becomes tough because now we’re in a position where we have to turn away NBA guys right and that those are good problems to have 10 years ago we wouldn’t I wouldn’t be sitting here talking basketball with you right because we just didn’t have the the level of talent right so I think this is also new territory Uncharted Territory for everybody in terms of you know can of basketball the management of the players the players themselves because before you could do you could do things the way you wanted to if you’re one of the the top elite players now you’re coming in and we’re talking about guys that are all stars guys that are potential MVP candidates um big players AC internationally as well as at the NBA level so there’s tough decisions to be made um and I I think this is there’s some learning curve here as well well maybe communication could have been better from both sides but we’ve never dealt with this before right right and going forward you know how we manage these situations is going to be important feelings are always going to get hurt this is just one of those things it’s it’s great for Canada basketball it’s tough for Corey Joseph let’s talk about the team itself though they get to Paris they’re competing can they hit the podium I you don’t sub subscribe to anything less right and it shouldn’t be we have to change that Nar in in how we speak about this team how we speak about basketball in Canada it shouldn’t be should they or can they hit the podium the goal if you look at this camp roster and what this will end up what these 12 players will end up being who they end up being the goal should be gold medal right that’s what everybody’s sites should be set on you have the second best roster in this Olympics right I think we can all agree on that so why not us right is is my stance there and yes if you aim for the gold medal and you fall short it’s a Podium finish y but I don’t think anybody should be thinking anything less than gold medal because Podium is a standard when I was playing you we got excited about qualifying right right just qualifying yeah times are completely different now with every International Tournament whether it’s the the World Cup whether it’s the qualifiers you know whether we’re talking about Olympics the ultimate and only goal that we should be discussing is the gold medal for

TSN Basketball analyst Jevohn Shepherd joins Jay Onrait to share his reaction to the players invited to Canada’s men’s Olympic camp, the decision not to include long-time national team player Cory Joseph, and if he feels this team is strong enough to reach the podium in Paris.