As I was looking through the interweb for the usual stuff, I came across this little story that mentioned Gonzaga's Robert Sacre and the New York Knicks. It seems, like Andrew Nicholson and Kris Joseph, Sacre has also been on the Draft workout trail.

The article mentions that he was in on a Knicks workout Tuesday with Cincinnati big Yancy Gates (which would have been a great match up I think) and it also mentions that he would be a viable option to back up Tyson Chandler.

I got to thinking about this and it would make sense for the ways that the post mentions: Sacre is of great size and athletic ability to play with the NBA bigs and as a back up option, he could possible be a steal if he doesn't get Drafted this June which is very possible with the many great athletic wings available in the second round.

After thinking, I got to think about it more and this would actually make a whole lot of sense for New York. Sacre would play a role as a backup and really, on team that will likely feature shot-happy Melo, Amare and probably Toney Douglas (yes he's trigger happy indeed for a PG), stepping in to do the dirty work of defending the paint and cleaning the glass would be right up his alley.

Sacre's biggest asset going into the Draft will be his athleticism and defensive ability and at his size he becomes an instant 10-15 minute guy for any team that will take him. And when you look at the roster that only has a frontcourt made up of Melo, Amare and Chandler with your lone bench big man Josh Harrellson, Sacre looks like a huge step up right now.

Today, after another set of light basketball news days we have some Senior women stories to check out as well as a great look from our colleague Ryan Wolstat on Tyler Ennis, a nice look at the new Waterloo Warriors head coach Greg Francis, a pair of Simon Fraser commits and lots of other great stuff all here in Canadian Content ...

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So it seems that Syracuse wing and Montreal native Kris Joseph was reportedly at a workout this past Monday in the Bay for Golden State (or soon to be San Francisco again).

This session, the first that I could find out about for Joseph, had him in the first of two session the Warriors apparently held. Each had six prospects and they all seemed to be matched in pairs. For Joseph, he was matched up against Vanderbilt's wing forward Jeff Taylor while also having players Draymond Green, Khris Middleton, Scott Machado and Tu Halloway.

Of course, I'll expect to hear or find little in the ways of evaluation of Joseph's showing at this event and it's the first event that he's attended thus far since his season ended in March. It's good to see that he's starting to make the rounds and this may be a teaser for him as to what's to come going forward.

With Golden State holding two second round picks as of right now, one early and one late, it's a good possibility that Joseph could fall into their hands in this Draft. With Richard Jefferson under contract until at least the end of next season and rising swingman Klay Thompson likely playing out his full rookie contract, Joseph may have a shot to be picked up. And despite maybe having to sit a year, learning from an aging vet like Jefferson is not a bad way to learn your position and your craft.

Again, there is nothing solid here. The best thing about the news is that Joseph is starting to "round" the workouts. I just wish there was more on how he fared out there. I guess we're waiting until the Chicago combine for that.

The recent discovery of a new semi-pro league in Quebec had Can Ball Ray thinking that maybe having a separate basketball league in every province wouldn't be a bad notion. In fact, Ray thinks it would be a great notion. Check out what got him all riled up late last night so much that he had to write about it here ...

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I don't know if you know this but there is a new semi-pro basketball league in Quebec going on right now. Called the Ligue de Basketball-Quebec Elite, this new league is looking like if could be a something to keep an eye on.

Now I'm not from Quebec but I know that basketball is a game that is being played at a high level in the province. All you need to do is take a look at the number of cats playing ball in NC-Double-Eh and overseas in the pros to know that if you haven't already caught the RSEQ games at either CIS or CEGEP level. The game is booming over there!

And this league is a logical step to develop in the province.

Bear in mind, I've only found out about the league yesterday, when they are currently nine games into their season and I wish I had heard of it earlier on. I've run down the rosters of the five teams (yes there are only five teams in Laval, Montreal, Riviere des Prairies, Laurentien and Longueuil) and the they look solid. Each roster has guys that have played at the CIS level with some having NCAA and pro ballers too. Some names that I immediately recognized were Bayonne Taty who went to Seton Hall, Negus McKenna who went to Western Carolina, Max Boudreau who was at Buffalo only a year ago and of course former pros Pascal Fleury (who played on my beloved Georgetown teams of the early 90s) and Dwight Walton.

Now unfortunately there weren't any stats that I could find so getting an idea of the scores and who was playing well is not readily available but for a start up league in Canada, I'm all for this right here. Any other outlet for our ballers to play, get paid some money and keep the game growing is all good to me.

So if you're keeping count so far, soon to be NBA Draft pick, or possible Draft pick, Andrew Nicholson has already done two workouts thus far during this whole pre Draft period, Boston and the latest Oklahoma.

There has, yet again, been no word out from the Oklahoma side this time that has any indication of how well he did or how much the team was impressed by his performance.

Now admittedly I haven't been watching the NBA as hard as I would have largely due to the fact that there is so much more college ball for me to watch and pay attention too but I'd think that this team situation would not be the best for Nicholson from a playing time standpoint. But from a learning standpoint, it's a great situation. He'd have a vet guy like Nick Collison to learn from and going up against the likes of him, Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins everyday in practice would definitely have him improving in almost all areas in leaps and bounds.

I wouldn't get my hopes up too high for this to happen just yet since there are four regular rotation big men committed by contract to the team for at least two years each and having another big like Nicholson may not be their biggest priority right now.

But the Thunder having in for a look does pose in interesting possibility particularly with the team having a pick towards the lower end of this year's Draft.

It's been a pretty quiet weekend in Canadian basketball circles but we still found a story on Jay Triano, the Senior Women's B team tied a game, a great profile from one of our colleagues out west on Robbie Sihota of the Edmonton Energy in the IBL and a few more stories for you all here in Canadian Content ...

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With the Chicago Draft Combine invites all out, Can Ball Ray was a little disappointed that only two Canadians were invited. He breaks down which other Canadians he thought could have been invited to the event here ...

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So I finally came across an article that mentions Andrew Nicholson's workout with the Boston Celtics and I came away with two things in mind.

First, there was not real mention in the story about how he did or what anyone thought of his workout. Well that just sucks for us people trying to get a handle on what people are thinking about him and his skill set.

Two, there is a possibility that Nicholson could be a good fit for the Celtics.

Though it's still very early in this year's Draft process, the Lottery isn't happening until next week yet, the idea of Nicholson with the Cs is not a bad one on a couple of levels. The first is that Boston has only four players under contract right now past this season according to HoopsHype's contract tracker - Rondo, Pierce, JaJuan Johnson and Avery Bradley - and have two that could be on the team next season in Greg Stiemsma (who is expected to get a qualifying offer apparently) and Brandon Bass (who has a final year left which is a player option). I would imagine that Bass may take his player option and try the waters as an unrestricted free agent. But regardless of what Bass does, there will be a lot of bodies to be replaced and Nicholson could be one of those bodies. He could fill the void of rebounder and defender, like a Brandon Bass, and he has a growing perimeter game that could extend to the NBA three area in a year or two.

Second, Nicholson's price would be right. Nicholson's rookie contract will likley be in the

As the spring turns into the summer more commitment information will come in so we've updated our running list of Division 1 commits again here.

We have added two more players that are heading over to D1 heading to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and the Atlantic-10 Conference respectively. Junior college transfer, and Eastern Commerce alum, Marvin Binney is heading to Duquesne adding to the total of Canadians that are already playing on teams in the A-10. Guard Damion Rashford has reclassified for 2012 and has committed to Loyola, MD for next season.

Also to add, Idaho State guard Vishal Banipal will be transferring from the school according to my colleague Barry Hayes of Hoopstars Canada. His destination is still yet to be determined.

On other news, it was recently learned that Washington State commit Richard Peters, who once played for Westwind Prep where Rashford played last season, did not qualify academically and will go to junior college instead next season.

Despite that loss of Peters, the two recent commits will bring the total of players committed to D1 schools by my count to 32 thus far. If you include the transfers, we'll see a total 38 players on new teams next season. Stay tuned for more updates as the summer and the AAU circuit continues.

I found this in my timeline last night when I was Googling myself (yes I know it's sad to admit) and I thought it was a pretty interesting thing to pass on to you basketball fans. There will be a game between the alumni of Eastern Commerce in a few weeks and it looks like it's going to be a pretty damn good game.

Now I know that in the city I call home, there has always been a battle of who has the best basketball tradition and if you're only counting since the turn of the century (or since 2000 if you would rather) the Eastern Commerce Saints have been hands down the kings of that Toronto tradition.

Now I know that there are other schools in the GTA that will probably take this with sceptical eye but really, if we're talking about a program that has produced success in the form of provincial championships and sending kids to post secondary institutions, I would conclude that Eastern is the champ for now.

With that being said, just look through the rosters for the mens AND women's sides and you'll read a virtual who's who of D1 and CIS ballers not including the ones that are playing pro right now. This game will no doubt be entertaining to say the least.

So if you're in the area and want to see a game of Toronto basketball luminaries, hit me up and maybe I'll save you a seat if there are any left.

Today we have a jam packed set here for you that feature the idea of Nash in New York, some Andrew Wiggins, a nice extended mixtape of Iowa State commit Naz Long, Joel Anthony, Andrew Nicholson, Kelly Olynyk, Marc Trasolini, two teams looking for coaches, two teams with new coaches and a lot more in this edition of Canadian Content ...

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Late nights on Ebay again have not only yielded one of the best things Can Ball Ray has found in weeks but also one of the strangest. Not strange in a two headed cat kinda way but in a makes you think "Why" kinda way. Check out which of your current Raptors has a pretty highly priced rookie card that happens to have Hall of Fame written all over it ...

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It was announced this past Monday that Jay Triano will head up, pardon me co heading up, the Team USA Men's Select team this summer.

Huh, USA Basketball has faith in Jay Triano.

Check that. USA Basketball has had lots of confidence in Triano's coaching acumen. He's been a coach of the Selects in 2007 and 2008 while also being a member of the USA Basketball's coaching staffs that include the 2010 FIBA World Championships.

So what does mean for Canada Basketball?

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The NBA Draft Combine in Chicago will take place June 6-8 this year and as expected the list of players invited for the event has been posted early.

If you take a look at the list you'll notice that there are two Canadians that made the cut: Syracuse's Kris Joseph and St. Bonaventure's Andrew Nicholson.

Both Canadians had storied careers at their respective schools and as four year seniors, this marks the culmination of their journey through school and graduating to what could be NBA careers. They had both been projected by many mock Drafts since the 2011-12 season began and they are still projecting their now - Nicholson in the late first round and Joseph in the mid to late second.

If both players choose to attend the Windy City combine next month, we will find out some interesting things about them. Since the combine measures all the things we love to see as fans on their bio pages like true heights and weights as well as wingspan and standing reaches but it will also pit them against some of the better Draft eligible prospects around.

This will be the true measurement I think. Being in an environment where you're being pushed continually day in and day out either on the floor, in the measuring rooms or with media and GMs, how they perform here will be very important.

For Nicholson this will be his first such combine as he was not invited to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament for college seniors a couple of months ago. I don't think he'll have any issues with any of the physical testing that happens and the drills and scrimmages that will surely happen. My interest will be in his one on one situations with executive types. Nicholson has always been a very quite and not so boisterous kind of guy and how he handles himself here will be important. To tell you the truth, he doesn't say a whole lot to begin with so this will actually be interesting to see just how much he does say when interviewed.

For Joseph, he choose not to attend the New Jersey combine held this past weekend so there will be a little more scrutinizing eyes on him. He, like Nicholson, had not attended Portsmouth but declining the combine may raise a few GM's eyebrows. I know that it may have been a strategic decision on the part of him and his agent to not shift his potential Draft status so him being in attendance at this event will be paramount I think. I can't imagine his being drafted will hinge on his performances here during testing or drills but one can never know. He'll be best seen during the team workouts that will happen in June before the Draft so this will probably be a formality thing for Joseph but he'll definitely need to show up regardless.

All in all, there was not surprise to see these two players on the list. This was a preliminary list I imagine and I can see players dropping out as the days go by. But whatever happens, we'll need to see both of them at the combine for sure seeing how this is on of their potential employer's first interviews.

If you haven't heard by now, the childhood home of the greatest Canadian ever to us basketball loving people, Dr. James Naismith, is now up for sale.

Now if you take a look at the pictures that accompany the listing of this incredible piece of history, you'll notice that the home is not anything like you or I would have maybe expected the home of a family that lived in the mid 1850s to look like. Sure the outside is made of stone and the other structures and landscaping may have the bare foundations of what the property may have looked like then, this home is definitely far from a throwback inside.

I'll be honest, I was expecting to see a lot of period furniture and a lack of modern indoor plumbing but the home is nothing short of a country palace. It looks like you would think a person who is asking $1,195,000 would have their house look - pretty damn good!

Though the house is the childhood home of Naismith it doesn't have any of the charm that I would have thought it would have. The stainless steel appliances in the kitchen completely throw you off and as a home that was actually lived in by an obviously well to do family, it has really taken away the mystique of the listing.

Would young Naismith have been running around these grounds? Really? I can't imagine it at all.

Now I'm as big a fan of sports memorabilia as the next collector, maybe even more, but I'd have to say that I'd this has turned into nothing more than something that a person would simply by to have as a novelty. Other than that, unless you have a legitimate reason to use the 45 acres and three barns in beautiful farm country in rural Ontario or that you truly like living in a peaceful and serene place like Almonte, you'd just be showing off with your money.

And in my opinion, whoever listed the home at almost two million dollars is clearly using the aura of James Naismith in I'd call a cash grab.

And all I can do is shake my head.

After a long weekend that left him tired and in need of rest before the start of a likely long work day what does Can Ball Ray do? He spends an hour on Ebay of course. And in the wee hours of the morning he comes across two interesting jersey from a gold medal team from the 90s. Check them out right here ...

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After a long weekend of beautiful weather we return with some Senior Women's team news, Steve Nash as business man, the All Canada Classic is around the corner, Robert Sacre looking to the Draft and the NBA, Andrew Wiggins, CIA Bounce at the EYBL and more in this edition of Canadian Content ...

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Toronto bred Texas Longhorn point guard Myck Kabongo has the game on the court but did you know he has game on the mic too?

Neither did we.

I recall that there were stories like this one that circulated early in his freshman season that stated he was into controlling the mic but I left it at that. Figuring that he was a part performer due to his college basketball season I was a little surprised that he dropped a full length mixtape.

Under the moniker Yung Swag, Kabongo has dropped his mixtape (the first one we've heard of anyway) last week and I've had the chance to really listen to it and I have to say it's not a bad first offering. The mixtape is what it is but Kabongo's flow is pretty nice. He uses witty punchlines and he has good cadence to match his beats.

If I have to compare his style to anyone, which I hate doing with music and players, I would say that his style right now is comparable to that of some of the newer cats out like an A$AP Rocky where flow matches the slow, catchy beats he uses on his songs. But don't get me wrong, he is not an A$AP clone. Kabongo, or Swag, has a flow his own that is smooth and likable.

My only real critique of the mixtape is that there was a lot of guest spots and they went primarily to Swag's boy from Blake St. D-Bonez who put out that tune Kabongo Time last year. I get putting your boy on but I would have liked to have seen Swag carry more tunes on his own.

The biggest surprise of the whole thing isn't that he can hold his own on the mic, if you've ever met him you'd expect his outgoing and incredibly big genuine personality to allow for this type of endeavour, but it's that Texas alum and curretn OKC star Kevin Durant is on the track Texas which is one of the better songs on the tape (Who would've thought that the Durantula had some flow? Could use work though).

I've only heard the mixtape all the way through twice so it may grow off me but for right now I'm liking it quite a bit. I'd say check out the mixtape yourself and make your own judgement though.

My Fave Tracks: Texas, Big Dreams, Moving On, One Hit

So Robert Sacre took part in today's joint Nets and Rockets Draft combine in New Jersey and for the most part, there is nothing out yet regarding his outcomes or his play as of yet.

I had thought that there would be more tweeted by Jonathan Givony on the whole event but him and his team from Draft Express were likely kept busy with other things during the sessions. The only tweet that came out about Sacre was the following:

Biggest wingspan at #NetsCombine today: Kyle O'Quinn 7-5. Biggest hand size: Justin Hamilton 10 3/4. Tallest: Robert Sacre 6-11 w/out shoes

Well this is a good sign for Rob that he's a legit tall guy for a big man, especially without shoes.

This is the only other Sacre mention that I could find with the hashtag #NetsCombine from @NetsRScorching:

Robert Sacre is a legit 7 feet and playing like it. Mitchell Watt and Kyle O'Quinn bodying well, too. #NetsCombine

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Looking for anything else on the Twitter universe for the combine was a little difficult and this tweet by Jonathan expresses why:

Thousands of @ mentions and retweets from the #NetsCombine. NBA is leaving tons of social media buzz on the table in closing the NBA Combine

It seems like we'll need to wait for the good people at Draft Express, and any other outlet at the event, to let us know what they thought of Sacre in the coming days.

Can't wait to see what Canucks are heading to Chicago for the official NBA Draft Combine in a few days.

The National Basketball League of Canada had experienced some great successes in it's first year of existence and is thriving in a time that's not the easiest for young basketball leagues. But after this great inaugural year, is it time to sprout more teams? Can Ball Ray gives his opinion on the matter with the expansion deadline fast approaching ...

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Kris Joseph skips the New Jersey Draft Combine happening this weekend but by all accounts Gonzaga big man Robert Sacre is staying in.

Sacre had a real up and down season with great stretches sandwiching injury laden middles but this is a great place for him to show what type of player he could be to the pro scouts.

As outlined by our colleagues at The Slipper Still Fits, Sacre did finish strong and it included a great showing against Jared Sullinger in the NCAA Tournament loss the Zags had. Sacre did show improvements to his overall O game this season and in setting where he will likely be asked to drill plus play in the various scrimmages (3 on 3 and 5 on 5 I would imagine) he should be able to truly show off how much he's learned.

Sacre is scheduled to take the floor in the second part of the combine tomorrow and he has a trio of big men that could match him physically in Eli Holman from Detroit, Justin Hamilton from LSU and Kyle O'Quinn from Norfolk State. All three tip the scales at about the 260 range (O'Quinn is the "lightest" at 240) so this could be a good gauge for us if the pundits talk about 1 on 1 matchup drills.

I really wish I could have been there to see this. I don't know much about O'Quinn and Hamilton but I know that Holman is a legit pro talent. Sacre going up against him would be a good to see since Holman is also an active player with a good two way game.

I think the way Sacre performs here at this combine will be a good indicator of how well he could be at Chicago one in a few days, if he even goes to it.

As we let you all in a few days ago on the Can Ball Report's Twitter feed, Kris Joseph was invited to the pre-Draft combine being hosted jointly by the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets and the Houston Rockets slated for this weekend. But no sooner than 12 hours (actually more like 8 or so) after we learned of this news we found out that Joseph has actually opted out of the according to NetsDaily.com's Twitter feed ...

NetsDaily.com ‏@NetsDaily

Kris Joseph of Syracuse has dropped out of the mass workout sponsored by the #Nets.

This was also later reported by Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun here giving it some credence late Thursday evening and I'm sure throughout Friday as well.

This is the first of the two big NBA Draft combines being held before the workout period starts prior to the NBA Draft and Joseph not appearing at this event may have some people wondering what's up.

Looking down the list of invitees, the majority seem to be second rounders at best and this may be something that they may be using to help their Draft position. Some of them may just be trying to get a look from a Euro scout and this is a pretty good place to do that.

Joseph is sitting somewhere in the early to mid second round right now depending on the mock Draft you're looking at and it's safe to say that he'll be at a few workouts combine or no combine. He'd have to do some serious tanking to be lodged any further than where he is presently I think and his rather tight movement only a few slots on the mock Drafts only bodes well for him, especially since so many players have declared early.

Regardless, Joseph skipping this event should not really make anyone fret too much. The big one is in Chicago towards the end of May and this pre pre-Draft combine will not be the one that has him hanging on the outside looking in.

Now if Joseph skips the Chicago combine well ...

Trey Lyles is reported to have committed to playing for Canada in the upcoming FIBA Americas U18 Championships this summer and this news is HUGE!!!

Lyles, a 6'10", 210 lbs. forward from Indianapolis who was born in Canada, is a class of 2014 star in the rise in the US high school scene. He was the Indianapolis High School Player of the Year averaging 21 points and 14 rebounds for Arsenal Technical School. He is currently ranked in the top ten by several scouting services including Scout.com and Rivals among others. Did I mention that he's already committed to Indiana - as an eighth grader!

Lyles is looking like he will be a force as he gets more mature in his body and game and his time with the National Program will be a boost to his skill development and his profile as a player. Him, teamed with the likes of Andrew Wiggins, Tyler Ennis, Duane Notice, Xavier Rathan-Mayes, John Hegwood and Matthew Atewe among others will make this Junior Men's National Team one of the most talented in recent memory when they head to Brazil in June.

If anything, one of Lyles' tweets yesterday says it all folks ...

Today we have the Senior Women split the first two games with China, a great Steve Nash story, some high school player rankings, a nice Harouna Mutombo video, a list of females heading south on scholarship and a lot more in this edition of Canadian Content ...

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Can Ball Ray, the finder of the strange and unusual on Ebay, has found an oddball of an autograph for you Raptors fans. The player who's autograph it is is a memorable Raptor shooter during that string of three consecutive Play Off runs but the item signed is a little unusual. Find out who it is and what he signed here ...

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With the Senior Women's National Team beginning their road to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament last night, Can Ball Ray weighs in on the idea of a Senior Women's "B" Team and what that would mean for the women's player pool ...

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It was announced last week that Steve Nash was announced as the new general manager of the Canadian Senior Men's National Team and it's about time that Can Ball Ray put a video up of the whole thing.

He has written about three big areas where Mr. Nash could be seen to immediately the Senior Men's program, and Canada Basketball as a whole, and you can find those posts here in Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 where I discuss them in greater detail.

Basically, I'm harping on Nash as the best thing to happen to the National Program in a long time and all this means to infuse some much needed optimism for the future. It may only be a matter of time when we, as a collective basketball loving people, will be looking upon the next few editions of the Senior Men as Canada's Nash-onal Team in the most figurative and literal forms on the floor.

So who's on the bandwagon early?

CanBall Report: Steve Nash Becomes National Team GM (via raptorshqsbn)

Today we have a few more looks at the Senior Women's National Team, three more NC-Double-Eh commits that you should already know about, the invites for the Junior Men's and Cadet Men's tryouts are out, some Steve Nash stuff, some foreign kids signing up for the CIS for next season and more in today's edition of Canadian Content ...

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Avid basketball jersey collector Can Ball Ray has located another set of great items on Ebay that would make anyone's jersey game turn heads of basketball fans, sports memorabilia collectors and uber hipsters alike. Happening upon these great finds has made him not only curse the online gods for showing them to him but for making them available when pay day is two weeks away. Check out what item he found in Big Ebay Country ...

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