Basketball in Canada

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Impressive. Winnipeg seems to punch above its weight when it comes to sports attendance.

It might be taking the crown of Canada's best sports city over from Edmonton.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It might be taking the crown of Canada's best sports city over from Edmonton.

It's not all sunshine and roses right now. The Jets have seldom sold out since the pandemic (not due to lack of interest since they still dominate the sports pages), and the soccer team is a basketcase although their attendance is still respectable by CPL standards. But if you are in the football or basketball business, it's definitely good times.

It's interesting to see how the Sea Bears have caught on... I will be curious to see if that enthusiasm carries over to the two main university basketball programs, both of which have players on the Sea Bears roster. Both teams (U of W/U of M) are in a bit of an upswing right now and fan interest was building last season for sure... there were some pretty epic playoff games at the U of M.

[megadude]

Is there a student section at some CIS games? And outside of the students, do many people wear the team gear? Even if it's just a t-shirt. Would look cool with some colour added to a full house.

We're not like the US of course. Around here you hardly see a bumper sticker or people rocking a school t-shirt or hoodie. I never got one from either of my two schools. Not so much as a keychain.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by megadude

Is there a student section at some CIS games? And outside of the students, do many people wear the team gear? Even if it's just a t-shirt. Would look cool with some colour added to a full house.

We're not like the US of course. Around here you hardly see a bumper sticker or people rocking a school t-shirt or hoodie. I never got one from either of my two schools. Not so much as a keychain.

The reality is that at most regular season games, crowds at university basketball games here are sparse. Seldom cracks 1,500. Fans turn up for the playoffs, as seen in the picture above. That's when you see students turning up in larger numbers. The U of M has "The Herd" as a loosely organized cheering section for students, it's not big but they are loud enough to make their presence known. Here's what they looked like at the basketball playoffs:



Some people wear team gear, but as you can see, it's not not many. It's not like a Jets or Bomber game where half the crowd is in jerseys. And certainly nowhere near what you see in the US. The only place to even buy U of M team gear is at the campus bookstore, unlike in the US where you can buy local college team gear pretty well anywhere.

When I started taking my kids to U of M sports on a semi-regular basis a year or two ago I made sure to outfit my family in Bisons shirts

[megadude]

Somewhere there has to be a budding marketing genius that can put out some cheap shirts and hoodies emblazoned with a CIS team's logo and name to get that mass of people to start wearing it and make it cool. And get the students into games for free and provide some entertainment to complement the game itself. Even if you have to create a mini marching band to sit courtside and play today's top 40 hits, but in a brass section and with drums. Heads will start bopping instantly. I mean, this can't be hard to do. If that happens, then folks will surely start coming, as long as tickets are very affordable.

The Burlington Teen Marching Band is a thing that many Burlington residents know about. They are good enough to have played at the Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena. Why can't they sit courtside at Mac games? Even if just 15 of them.

And you may need to plant a couple of charismatic dudes to show the students how to react with the idea of everyone eventually catching on. There were a couple of these types of guys in the Red Patch Boys section at TFC games in the early days. When they weren't there, I noticed the level of enthusiasm for the chants and all that was not the same.

[esquire]

^ The U of M could use your marketing savoir-faire

But the reality is that the U of M doesn't seem all that motivated to drum up interest in their sports programs. When it does spike, it's because of organic fan interest and not due to any marketing wizardry.

As for marketing wizardry though, the Sea Bears have done a great job getting their logo out there. The team's merch has become a pretty common sight. Younger people (kids, teens and students) especially seem to love it. You see the merch around town around a lot which is impressive considering the team only started playing a couple of months ago.

[thebasketballgeek]

Just beat the previous league attendance record (also set by the SeaBears) by almost 1,000. Too bad they lost but I’m very excited to watch the playoff game on Friday. Especially if they open up the nose bleeds for a 10k+ crowd.

Ridiculous attendance numbers for a first year expansion team in what is a minor league with no affiliation to the NBA. I know Winnipeg is a sports city but damn even I underestimated how hungry the city was for pro basketball.

The only market I see in the foreseeable future potentially matching these attendance numbers is Halifax provided they get an expansion team. Which should be an inevitability given their market size and historic support of basketball in the region.

[megadude]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ The U of M could use your marketing savoir-faire

But the reality is that the U of M doesn't seem all that motivated to drum up interest in their sports programs. When it does spike, it's because of organic fan interest and not due to any marketing wizardry.

As for marketing wizardry though, the Sea Bears have done a great job getting their logo out there. The team's merch has become a pretty common sight. Younger people (kids, teens and students) especially seem to love it. You see the merch around town around a lot which is impressive considering the team only started playing a couple of months ago.

For the last 20 years I thought to myself that if I were running the NHL, I'd make jerseys no more than $50 to try and saturate the US markets with them. Have every Tom, Dick and Harry wearing one while walking around town. Doesn't mean Reebok or Adidas or whatever would agree to that but I'd try to make it happen. Might not want to get a lesser name sportwear maker to do it either as the jerseys then wouldn't be prestigious, especially if it's for a major league.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by megadude

Somewhere there has to be a budding marketing genius that can put out some cheap shirts and hoodies emblazoned with a CIS team's logo and name to get that mass of people to start wearing it and make it cool. And get the students into games for free and provide some entertainment to complement the game itself. Even if you have to create a mini marching band to sit courtside and play today's top 40 hits, but in a brass section and with drums. Heads will start bopping instantly. I mean, this can't be hard to do. If that happens, then folks will surely start coming, as long as tickets are very affordable.

The Burlington Teen Marching Band is a thing that many Burlington residents know about. They are good enough to have played at the Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena. Why can't they sit courtside at Mac games? Even if just 15 of them.

It's been baffling how inept USports are in marketing varsity sports and these are institutions that teach marketing. Many decades of waiting and they still haven't been able to do what I assumed were obvious and easy to implement things. I doubt it's because they're thick so it has to be due to utter apathy. They just don't care.

The only schools who got their act together were football programs in Quebec: Laval, Montreal, Sherbrooke. None of this stuff is rocket science. What it takes is an athletics department to get off their butts and do common sense marketing. After 35 years of waiting, I've given up hope that it will ever happen. Waiting has been an exercise in frustration and a continued head scratcher.

[megadude]

Originally Posted by isaidso

It's been baffling how inept USports are in marketing varsity sports and these are institutions that teach marketing. Many decades of waiting and they still haven't been able to do what I assumed were obvious and easy to implement things. I doubt it's because they're thick so it has to be due to utter apathy. They just don't care.

The only schools who got their act together were football programs in Quebec: Laval, Montreal, Sherbrooke. None of this stuff is rocket science. What it takes is an athletics department to get off their butts and do common sense marketing. After 35 years of waiting, I've given up hope that it will ever happen. Waiting has been an exercise in frustration and a continued head scratcher.

That's like the Niagara College logo I posted in the logo thread. They have I assume marketing and graphic design departments or programs. Despite being an institution of higher learning, with expertise on staff, they pumped out the worst school and team logos for decades now.

I went to four Vanier Cups at the Dome. Other than that, I have never seen a U Sports/CIS game in person other than when I walked by the field one time and watched for a few minutes. And that's five years at Windsor and York. Football for most teams was a horrible product. Basketball on the other hand was quality. Put a small marching band in there and I would no doubt have attended some games and still would. It really brings the fans together.

I was at a Pistons game 10 years ago and I paid $2.50 for ticket and $2.50 for Stubhub fee. They sucked and the crowd was sparse on that weekeday. They tried to start some new traditions at the start of the game by instructing people on the PA on what to do. Can't remember what but it was very inorganic and almost nobody did it. But in college/university, bands fit in quite well and would be organic. But I would also plant a super fan like this and pay him to be super enthusiastic and rile up the crowd. And I wouldn't deny that he's on the payroll. He'd just be another source of entertainment.

And let's say you could buy a jersey for $40, and have more and more people wearing them so it becomes cool, you could have a cool alternate each year with the shortened version of the name or a city/school nickname, which is a popular thing in basketball. McMaster could be MAC, which is how the school is affectionately known.

You see those people wearing Toronto vs Everybody t-shirts and Home is Toronto. And I'm sure it's a thing in some other cities too. People like to represent their hometown and would do the same for their school/city if only the school would actually try and make some cool gear available for a reasonable price.

A school could also add a unique pattern to their unis, which does not cost any extra. UK and IU have these two patterns and when you got to a game you will see some students and fans wearing these. It sets their school apart and might even add just a little bit more school pride for being so unique.

Wouldn't it be better if U of S had SASK instead of Huskies on their jerseys? At least one of home and away. You know, to buy into that Saskie pride. I mean, I don't think if the men started wearing that tomorrow people are going to rush out and buy it. You still have to make an effort with the factors above to get to that point and every little thing helps. As for that black and red jersey in the women's pic, I don't even know what school that is. Case in point I guess.

By the way, one way Canadian schools do compete with US schools is in unique team names. That adds a little bit of cool factor. Would have been nice if York chose something other than Lions when replacing Yeomen. CHL does extremely well with this too.




https://www.nbastore.ca/en/toronto-r...z-8-1833418731


https://teeforsports.com/products/to...ybody-t-shirt/






https://huskies.usask.ca/news/2022/1...n-preview.aspx


https://huskies.usask.ca/news/2020/5...to-roster.aspx

[esquire]

Originally Posted by isaidso

It's been baffling how inept USports are in marketing varsity sports and these are institutions that teach marketing. Many decades of waiting and they still haven't been able to do what I assumed were obvious and easy to implement things. I doubt it's because they're thick so it has to be due to utter apathy. They just don't care.

I don't think they care because they don't have to... university paycheques never bounce, even if there are only 100 people in the stands.

Contrast that with the pros where everyone in the organization understands that without paying customers, they get pink slips. So they work hard to draw fans.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by isaidso

It's been baffling how inept USports are in marketing varsity sports and these are institutions that teach marketing.

Insidiously amazing good point.

[elly63]

Jordi Fernández named Senior Men’s National Team Head Coach, taking over for Nick Nurse
Senior Men's National Team basketball.ca June 29, 2023

Canada Basketball announced Wednesday that Jordi Fernández has been named head coach of Canada’s Senior Men’s National Team for the upcoming FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023 after Nick Nurse recently stepped down from the position.

“On behalf of our program, I’d like to thank Nick for his contributions to our team and wish him and his family well in his new role moving forward,” said Rowan Barrett, General Manager / Executive Vice-President, Senior Men's Program.

“With Jordi, we have found a head coach who has both valuable FIBA and NBA experience and puts our team in a position to win right now,” said Barrett. “Jordi has developed a tremendous reputation working with some of the best players in the world, and we feel that the culture and connection he will build with our team will set us up for success this summer,” said Barrett.

“Our goals for the upcoming FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup remain unchanged, and we are focused on qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” Barrett said.

Fernández recently completed his first season as associate head coach with the Sacramento Kings, where he helped guide the team to a 48-34 record -- their best regular season since 2004-05 -- and returned to the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2006.

“To have the chance to lead Canada this summer at the World Cup is a tremendously exciting opportunity and one I’m extremely grateful for,” Fernández said. “Not many international programs have the ceiling that this team does, and it is a testament to the hard work and development Canada Basketball, as well as Nick and his staff, have put in over the last several years.”

From 2016-22, Fernández spent the previous six seasons as an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets, as the team made four consecutive playoff appearances (2018-19 to 2021-22) and a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2019-20.

He was also head coach of the Canton Charge in the NBA G League for two seasons (2014-16), where he led the team to a 62-38 regular season record, including two appearances in the G League Eastern Conference Finals.

Internationally, Fernández was the lead assistant for the Nigerian men’s national team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Originally from Badalona, Spain, he served as an assistant coach for Spain at EuroBasket 2017, where the team captured bronze, and was an assistant at the 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Men. Fernández also coached professionally in Spain with Club Basquet I’Hospitalet.

Both associate head coach Nate Bjorkgren and assistant coach Nathaniel Mitchell will remain members of the Senior Men’s National Team coaching staff.

Nurse previously coached the team at the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2019, in 2021 at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Victoria, British Columbia and last summer during the third and fourth windows of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers.

“I have made the difficult decision to step down as head coach of the Senior Men’s National Team for Canada Basketball,” Nurse said. “It has been a tremendous honour and privilege to coach this team. This is not a decision I made lightly, and after discussing it with my family, I felt it was important to dedicate my time and energy to the new opportunity I have as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.”

“I will support the transition however I can and truly appreciate the support and understanding from everyone at Canada Basketball,” said Nurse. “I am forever grateful to Canada Basketball and the amazing players, staff, and fans for embracing me and my family.”

The Senior Men’s National Team will gather in Toronto for training camp in early August to begin World Cup preparations before departing for Europe for exhibition games in both Germany and Spain.

The FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023, set to take place from August 25 to September 10, will feature the best 32 men’s teams. The Group Phase will take place in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, with the Final Phase to follow in the Philippines capital city of Manila.

[elly63]

Extended Senior Men’s National Team roster yannounced ahead of FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup
Senior Men's National Team basketball.ca July 14, 2023

Canada Basketball announced Thursday the extended Senior Men’s National Team roster ahead of the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup.

“We’re excited to unveil tonight the players named to our training camp roster for next month’s FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup,” said Rowan Barrett, General Manager / Executive Vice-President, Senior Men's Program. “The team will be composed of players committed to play from both the summer and winter cores in the current Olympic quad. The familiarity, continuity and consistency this group brings will be critical as we pursue our goal of qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”

The FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023, set to take place from August 25 to September 10, will feature the best 32 men’s teams. The Group Phase will take place in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, with the Final Phase to follow in the Philippines capital city of Manila.

Canada is in Group H and will face France (August 25 - 9:30 a.m. ET), Lebanon (August 27 - 5:45 a.m. ET) and Latvia (August 29 - 9:30 a.m. ET) in the Group Phase in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Last month, Canada Basketball announced that Jordi Fernández had been named head coach of Canada’s Senior Men’s National Team for the upcoming FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023.

The Senior Men’s National Team will gather in Toronto at OVO Athletic Centre for training camp August 1-6 to begin World Cup preparations before departing for Europe for exhibition games across Germany and Spain.

Canada Senior Men’s National Team will face Germany on August 9 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin. Following this game, Canada will head to Hamburg for the 34th Basketball Supercup on August 12-13 at the edel-optics.de Arena. Canada will face New Zealand, while Germany takes on China in the semifinals on Saturday, August 12, with the winners advancing to the finals on Sunday.

Canada then travels to Spain for a two-game exhibition series (August 17-18) at the Palacio Municipal de Deportes de Granada in Granada. Canada will face the hosts and defending FIBA Men’s World Cup champions, Spain, on August 17, before taking on Americas zone rivals, Dominican Republic, the following day, August 18.

In the Group Phase of the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023, every team plays against the three other teams in its group. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the second round, with the results of the three games from the opening round will carry over to this second round. In the second round, every team will play against the two teams in their group that they did not face in the first round. Following that round, the top two teams from each group will advance to the medal round.

The Canadian men can directly qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with a top-two finish amongst teams from the Americas at the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023.

Basketball fans can watch Team Canada in action starting Friday, August 25, exclusively on Sportsnet and stream live via SN NOW. Full broadcast details to be announced at a later date.

Canada is currently ranked 15th in the FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike.

Kyle Alexander
Nickeil Alexander-Walker
RJ Barrett
Trae Bell-Haynes
Oshae Brissett
Dillon Brooks
Lu Dort
Zach Edey
Melvin Ejim
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Cory Joseph
Jamal Murray
Kelly Olynyk
Kevin Pangos
Dwight Powell
Kassius Robertson
Phil Scrubb
Thomas Scrubb

Missing names Andrew Wiggins, Bennedict Mathurin, Andrew Nembhard, Brandon Clarke, Shaeden Sharp.

[thebasketballgeek]

Lower bowl sold out. Looks like there could be 10k+ attending the playoff game on Friday. No matter the result this has been a wildly successful season for the SeaBears and CEBL in general.

[thebasketballgeek]

Sea Bears shoot to host CEBL 2025 championship with $1M backing from Manitoba government

Championship weekend features 5-day festival, showcases Canadian Elite Basketball League's top 4 teams

The Winnipeg Sea Bears haven't even finished their inaugural season and they've already got their eyes on the Canadian Elite Basketball League's biggest prize — in a couple different ways.

The team, which has set multiple CEBL attendance records, is beginning its chase for the championship trophy.

It locked up second place in the league's Western Conference with a 12-8 record and will tip-off its first-ever playoff game at home on Friday.

But the Sea Bears don't just want to hoist the league title — the organization wants to host it, too.

The team and provincial government announced a bid Thursday to bring the CEBL championship weekend to Winnipeg in 2025.

The province is providing $1 million for required upgrades and needed resources to strengthen the bid.

"Basketball is among the fastest growing sports in Canada, if not the world," Sport, Culture and Heritage Minister Obby Khan said at the announcement at Canada Life Centre, the Sea Bears' home court.

And the Sea Bears are showing that Winnipeg is a basketball town, he added.

The Sea Bears already own the records for the six largest crowds in CEBL history. Before they entered the league, the CEBL record was 4,404, set by the Vancouver Bandits in 2022.

The Sea Bears topped that in their season opener on May 27 with 7,328 fans and peaked with 8,230 at their final regular season game on July 29.

The league's average attendance for the season is 2,843.

"We are so grateful for a lot of things about how the Sea Bears have launched. Because of public demand, we've had to add extra seats for our playoff game on Friday night," said team owner David Asper.

The Sea Bears' total home attendance this season so far is 54,846. The next highest is the Edmonton Stingers with 34,736.

The CEBL's annual championship weekend features a five-day festival, annual awards, a concert featuring local and Canadian artists, a youth basketball tournament, community clinics and a championship after party.

The weekend also showcases the league's top four teams competing for the trophy. This year it takes place in Langley, B.C.

The defending champs are the Hamilton Honey Badgers, who relocated to Brampton in 2023.

The CEBL was founded in 2017 and began play in 2019 with six teams, with more added through expansion in 2021. Winnipeg's addition in 2023 brought the league total to 10, making it the largest professional sports league based entirely in Canada — surpassing the nine-team Canadian Football League.

The two leagues are linked in another way, as well. The CEBL commissioner is former CFL receiver Mike Morreale, who played for Toronto and Hamilton.

[craner]

Way to go Surge !!!

[Bishop2047]

https://www.fiba.basketball/basketba...cup/2023/games

Team Canada is looking to medal in the FIBA world cup. Some impressive wins (Spain was a huge one), and for once fairly consistent play from the team. They have been a blast to watch. Next game is tomorrow AM for a spot in the gold medal game.

This performance was already good enough to lock us in to the Olympics, anything else is just gravy.

[thebasketballgeek]

Shai Gorgeous-Alexander is the best player in the tournament. I repeat a Canadian born player is the best player in a world championship tournament. He outplayed Luka and every single game he has played in FIBA, he’s been the best player on the floor. His efficiency and consistency is absurd. The best part is dude doesn’t complain to the refs and just gets back on defense.

Hot take and sorry Steve Nash but this dude is going to be the GOAT of Canadian Basketball when his career is over. Can’t wait to see what he does in Paris next summer.

Built different fr. He is who Wiggins was promised to be and should be the one called Maple Jordan from now on.

[esquire]

^ Any thoughts on the play of Dillon Brooks?