Tuesday Cup of Canis: FIBA World Cup Update

Good morning friends. I have to admit I haven’t had a lot of inspiration to write given the lack of...anything really going on with the Wolves.

Mike covered the trip to the Bahamas many of the Wolves made to bond. That was some good stuff. I’m never sure whether these sorts of things matter, but I guess it can’t hurt. The Wolves locker room has not been a particularly fun place over the last couple of years. Maybe this is part of the change in culture that Gersson Rosas has been so big on promoting.

Elsewhere, I got yelled at on Bright Side of the Sun for comparing Devin Booker to Andrew Wiggins in response to some questions they asked me for a piece they wrote. To be fair, they were right—Booker has more going for him than Wiggins, it wasn’t a great comparison. In part I did it on purpose—I wanted to see how the Suns fans feel about Booker. They love him it turns out despite his weaknesses.

The FIBA World Cup has gotten underway in China. The U.S. beat the Czech Republic in their first game, and will tip off in their toughest group game, against Turkey, at 7:30 this morning.

Meanwhile, Josh Okogie has looked good in two games—both losses—for Nigeria. He’s clearly their best player, and is averaging 18.5 points and 4.5 assists per game. He’s made six of his 12 three point attempts, which is nice even if meaningless.

Elsewhere, Ricky Rubio has played fantastic basketball for Spain over two games. He’s leading them in scoring, assists, and efficiency in two wins.

Finally, the Minnesota Lynx play their final two regular season games this weekend, in Los Angeles and Seattle. The Lynx have won four straight and have clinched yet another playoff appearance. They can finish anywhere from 6th to 8th.

Given the personnel turnover this season, it’s been a very impressive showing by the Lynx. Nepheesa Collier is almost certainly going to win Rookie of the Year, and looks like a star in the making. She fills up the stat sheet in all areas. Odyssey Sims has been a tremendous acquisition, and the return of Damiris Dantas has been big as well.

Cheryl Reeve did a great job rebuilding on the fly, though there is still a lot of work to do. Making the playoffs given the situation is a terrific accomplishment, though the Lynx will be eager for more.

What ya got?