Time For Change In Canada Basketball? TSN Radio Insider Chimes In

TSN Radio 690 Montreal and RDS basketball insider Peter Yannopoulos put pen to paper and chimed in on the current state of Canadian men’s basketball.

Canada basketball is on the heels of a quarter final finish at the U17 World championships, a silver medal at the U18 FIBA Americas and disappointingly our men’s program fell short of qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Yannopoulous reached out to by Hoops Hype Canada correspondents after self proclaimed Canadian basketball connoisseur Sonny Bairos wrote a scathing article on the state of Canada basketball, specifically about suspected kahootz at the grassroots level. Yannopoulous a former Division 1 assistant at UMASS and operator of national high school scouting services in the past (PY Sports) on demand of our viewership the ‘voice of reason’ Yannopoulous tackles this weeks topic of discussion circulating the Canadian basketball community, enjoy:

My Thoughts on Canada Basketball.

I think Basketball Canada led by Steve Nash and his team have set up a focused and detailed platform to ensure consistent success at all levels.

The level of commitment by our dedicated Canadian coaches is exemplary and deserves the utmost recognition.

Basketball Canada is fostering a culture where most of our athletes want to represent their country and a bring a sense of pride and work ethic that our national community can be proud of.

Having said that, the next step is about executing this platform and the appropriate results that we all expect. That has not been the case, which is disappointing.

Not qualifying for the 2014 World Cup is somewhat defendable as this was the beginning of the new group and vision.

Losing to Venezuela in 2015 with a full roster of NBA talent was, is and will always be unacceptable. The accountability falls on the players, coaches and upper management. That loss has set off a chain of events that will significantly slow the down the process of the medal podium we desire.

We witnessed the first step this summer when several players chose not to participate in the Olympic qualifier, who did not have injuries nor contract issues. The players that did commit to the program this summer put up a valiant effort and in my opinion overachieved. But the end result was another year of missing a world tournament.

There is accountability on both the players to participate but also on upper management to ensure these players show up as well.

I appreciate the process of building a sustainable program and gaining valuable experience. But with all due respect, the results need to follow and that is the tangible bottom line.

I believe they will.

Peter Yannopoulos

Thank you Peter. Who you can follow on Twitter at @PeteYannopoulos 

What do you think about the current state of Canadian Basketball on the men’s side?

Email us your thoughts to [email protected] as part of our voice of the Canadian Basketball community initiative.

Due to heavy volume of opinions coast to coast Hoops Hype Canada wants to anonymously publish emails to our editors in the last week regarding the Time For Change Canada Basketball article. Rain or shine, reflection and discussion can only benefit basketball in Canada.

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