Jared Mintz will try to take his Lafayette College Leopards to the top in 2010/11!

Well to say Jared Mintz played better last season would be quite the understatement. Mintz became a main go to player for the Lafayette College Leopards in the post...averaging 14.1ppg and 5.7rpg while his free throw shooting was 27th best in the country at 87.3%!
The 6'8" 240lb forward also garnered All-Patriot league first team honours while becoming the first Patriot League player to lead the league in FG percentage and FT percentage. Quite an amazing honour indeed especially since big men are not usually known for their accuracy at the charity stripe. His career-high is 26 points which he put up against Delaware in a game that he

also went 8-for8 from the free-throw line! Mintz helped the team improve 11 wins over 2008/09 finishing with a 19-13 overall record.

Jared Mintz and Hoopdome's Ted Badner

The Toronto native was also named to the Jewish Sports Review's All-American team joining Jon Scheyer (Duke), Derek Glasser (Arizona State), Sylven Landesberg (Virginia) and Zach Rosen (Penn).
2010/11 will be Mintz' last season at Lafayette and he's looking to improve on a terrific campaign in 2009/10 where the team made it to the Patriot League Tournament championship game for the first time since
1999/2000. If you want more info on the Leopards squad check them out HERE.

Mintz dropped in to Hoopdome where I got a chance to chat to the big guy about his last year and the prospects for the future...

Nem Mitrovic is ready to do work for the Portland Pilots in 2010/11!

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Nem Mitrovic and Dad Miki Mitrovic 

Toronto Native Nem Mitrovic is a Junior Shooting Guard for the Portland Pilots of the West Coast Conference(W.C.C). Mitrovic is looking forward to a big season. His squad will play Kentucky on November 19th at the Rose Garden and that has Mitrovic stoked.
The Northern Secondary(Toronto) graduate worked out at Hoopdome recently and spoke about his upcoming season and what he's been working on this summer to take his game up another notch.
He's an excellent shooter and has good size at 6'5" that enables him to get his shot off over defenders at
will. Look for Nem to make his mark as the Pilots challenge the elite squads in the West Coast Conference such as Gonzaga and Santa Clara.

Check out Nem's stats in his first 2 years at Portland right HERE.
Team website and info click HERE.


Watch the video to hear what Nem's got on his mind!

Dinjyl Walker bids adieu to family and friends!

                                                                                                     
Vaughan Secondary's supreme point guard Dinjyl Walker said goodbye to family and friends at his home in Maple with his Mother and biggest supporter Samantha Walker and Brother Quran by his side. It was a festive evening as more than 50 people came out to wish Dinjyl all the best. Walker has decided to leave the friendly confines of Vaughan and Maple, Ontario for the slick city ball at The Academy of the New Church in Philadelphia, Pennysylvania. Actually the school is in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, which is about 30 minutes from Philly. The school boasts an amazing roster that includes Rakeem Christmas a 5-star prospect who has verbally committed to Syracuse University.
To check out New Church's game results from last season go HERE.
A real test awaits Din as he's affectionately known and his supporters were there en masse to cheer him on as he looks to elevate his basketball career to new heights. The theme was jersey night as the guests were encouraged to don Basketball jerseys for the sendoff.
The pics above were from the B-Game exposure camp in Summer 2010.
Drew Ebanks of Crown Magazine was there so check out the video.

Jay Triano gets props in this NY Times article about the Raptors coach assisting the Americans!

Raptors Head coach Jay Triano is truly a well-respected man in USA Basketball circles...it seems even more than in his role in Toronto. Not sure why that is...but Triano has been in the hot seat since his ascent to the top spot for the Raptors. This man has dedicated his life to basketball...having played for Canada twice in the Olympics and coached our National team as well as the U.S. Select team.
It's very true of Canadians that we don't usually give props to our own until they've been recognized somewhere else so let's hope that if the USA wins gold at the FIBA World Championships for Men in Turkey, that Triano's work with the team will be seen as a key factor to their victory.  Check a nice piece in the New York Times about Triano and team U.S.A. HERE.

Photos courtesy of SacBee.com, USA Basketball.com,athletics.sfu.ca,thenbabreakdown.blogspot.com

Bell Canada on board as a sponsor for Canada Basketball, Great news!!!

Just reported by Doug Smith of the star in his blog:

It appears as though Bell Canada has jumped in the mix and has become a sponsor for Canada Basketball and just like TSN/TSN2 has shown by committing for 2 years...Bell Canada has apparently signed on for a "very lucrative" multi-year deal as per Smith. Smith is of course in Izmir, Turkey covering the World's...wish I was there! This is tremendous news for a burgeoning basketball program...Men's and Women's all the way from the young cadets to the men's and Women's Senior National teams. The hard work and perseverance has paid off as a major sponsor has committed to the 2nd most popular sport in the world behind soccer! Let's see who else jumps on the bandwagon after the Bell Canada coup.
In my opinion, keep the sponsors coming because Canada WILL be a basketball power within the next 3-5 years...and as former Raptors play-by-play man Chuck Swirsky would say, BOOK THAT!
Canada Basketball will need to manage the money coming in wisely and invest in the program in an effecient and purposeful manner! They will hopefully be able to also build a national training center which I believe is absolutely imperative if Canada Basketball is to grow to greater heights.
Today is a great day for Basketball in Canada!

Here's the goods on the news so far...CLICK HERE

GOOD ON TSN/TSN2 TO COMMIT TO CANADA BASKETBALL!

Photo courtesy of turkey2010.fiba.com

I must say that I'm really excited about the exposure basketball in Canada is finally starting to receive.
With the recent successes on the international stage and increasing coverage of these achievements by
the blogosphere, TSN...and TSN2 has joined in on the fun with a just-announced two year commitment
to televise international basketball competitions around the globe! It's about flippin' time Canada!
TSN2 will be the exclusive Canadian broadcaster for the upcoming 2010 FIBA World Basketball championships for Men that start on Saturday August 28th, 2010. The Canadian team will be in tough
in their pool as the team has been struggling in the European pre-tournament international warm-ups due
to injuries to various players. Andy Rautins hasn't played since the 2nd game against France on August 13th and Jermaine "Rock" Anderson has been battling the injury bug for a few weeks now. The team is hoping they will be "healed" up for their opening tilt against Lebanon(Saturday August 28th at 11:30AM Eastern) who they just recently lost to on their tour.
Back to the coverage, as TSN2  will also be the exclusive Canadian broadcaster for the 2010 FIBA Championship for women, the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship and the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship for women.
Here's a link to the press release from Canada Basketball and TSN...
http://www.basketball.ca/en/hm/inside.php?sid=1&id=4420

This coverage will provide a lot of exposure for the Men's and Women's team which is exactly what basketball in this country needs right now.
TSN is getting in just before this sport takes off and that's a great thing because in a few years the burgeoning Canadian young talent will be front and center and doing big things in the world of international basketball!

The world is watching basketball as well...as a record 183(132 in 2006) countries will be broadcasting games from the 2010 FIBA World Championships from Turkey, including India and the various nations on the African continent. FIBA believes up to a billion people will be watching the biggest world championships ever as 24 teams vie for the title of king of world basketball.
Some networks broadcasting games includes ESPN, Al-Jazeera Sport and Canal +!
Check out FIBA's presser on the growing popularity of basketball worldwide...HERE.

To keep the domestic coverage going Canadians will have to put their money where their mouths are by donating(by text as well) to Canada Basketball, Supporting the teams by watching games on television, buying merchandise and attending games when Canadian teams are playing on home soil.
I must say I was most disappointed with the turnout for the 2 games the Men's team played against France on August 12th and 13th. Not sure if there wasn't enough publicity on the games but an average of about only 2,500 came out to support Team Canada as they thumped France in both games to remain undefeated on home soil. Going forward the support has to be there from the people if we hoops lovers are to see this sport accelerate to the level where we are major players in world basketball...which I definitely think we can be!
Again, thanks to TSN/TSN2 for seeing the potential and growth of Canadian basketball by committing for 2 years!
Cheers.

Schedule for the 2010 FIBA World Championships for men: CLICK HERE...GOOD LUCK CANADA!