Canada continues to prepare for the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifier after a strong showing at the Tuto Marchand Continental Cup in Puerto Rico over the weekend. Canada started their final preparations for the qualification tournament a couple of weeks ago with 15 players in camp and took 13 players to Puerto Rico on Wednesday, leaving 6'4" Ryan Bell and 6'6" Jermaine Bucknor behind, claiming however that this did not mean Bell and/or Bucknor were cut from the qualification squad. Since only 12 players were allowed to dress for each of the 3 games in Puerto Rico, Canada had to sit out at least one player of the 13 travelling each night. On Friday night against Puerto Rico, 6'7" Aaron Doornekamp was the odd man out while on Saturday night against Argentina, 6'6" Juan Mendez did not dress, while Doornekamp saw limited action. Saturday, with Canada coming off a pair of wins and another game looming with Brazil in only a few days, the coaches decided to rest both 6'5" Carl English and 6'10" Samuel Dalembert, both of whom will make the final 12 man roster. Participating teams in the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifier don't have to finalize their 12-man rosters until Tuesday, one day before the tournament opens for Canada with a game against Brazil. Here is one person's speculation on who has earned roster spots and who is on the bubble.
cishoops.ca view of earned roster spots:
PG- Jermaine Anderson
WINGS- Carl English, Olu Famutimi (pictured), Denham Brown, Dave Thomas, Andy Rautins
FORWARDS- Samuel Dalembert, Jesse Young, Levon Kendall, Vlad Kuljanin
ON THE BUBBLE- Juan Mendez, Aaron Doornekamp, Rans Brempong, Ryan Bell, Jermaine Bucknor
The guess is that Mendez and Brempong, given their international experience, will get the nods for the final two spots according to the above speculation. But we will know for sure by Tuesday at the latest. Canada opens the tournament against Brazil on Wednesday in Las Vegas at 8:30 PM ET in a match that will be televised LIVE! by the SCORE in Canada.
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