SAN JUAN —

Cory Joseph shot 1-for-5 on Monday and was one of the most impactful Canadian players in the win over Brazil at the Tuto Marchand Cup.

Yes, you read that right.

How-so? Well, the Pickering, Ont., native, who will back up Kyle Lowry for the Raptors in Toronto after signing as a free agent last month, set the tone at both ends. He was stellar defensively, bullying his Brazilian counterparts into one bad decision after another.

He also settled down an offence that had committed 19 turnovers a day earlier against Argentina, contributing six assists and only one miscue in 23 minutes on the floor. Canada only turned the ball over 11 times.

Joseph looks extremely confident, which isn’t surprising, since he has been great for Canada the past two summers he has played for them, which has carried over to his NBA play.

It isn’t quite Steve Nash propelling himself into a star after decimating international competition, but Joseph has definitely built on his strong outings on the FIBA circuit and used it when called upon in San Antonio.

He is never rattled, always plays at the pace he wants and doesn’t make many mistakes. All while using his size and instincts to great effect defensively.

He might not have the talent of an Andrew Wiggins, but right now, Joseph is probably Canada’s most indispensable player.

BENNETT STILL BEASTING

Anthony Bennett is showing no signs of slowing down.

He might have been the best player at the Pan Am Games in Toronto last month, went for 10 points and 13 rebounds against Argentina, then only missed one of seven shot attempts against Brazil.

Bennett blocked a shot, hit both of his three-point attempts and had a couple of rebounds.

“Anthony’s a good player, we all know that, it’s fun to see him believe in himself. This is great,” said teammate Dwight Powell.

“We know he’s really talented and obviously he works really hard too, so with his athleticism and his skill-set he’s going to be pretty tough to stop,” added Phil Scrubb.

While his teammates expect this from him, Bennett is becoming a bit of a revelation to many others.

Post-game, one international reporter struggled to politely ask Bennett why he has performed so much better for Canada than for Cleveland or Minnesota.

“Just playing with confidence, pretty much,” was Bennett’s response. “Just going out there, playing defence, running the court. Just doing the little things first and trying to make offence come to me.”

TOUGH JUGGLING

Jay Triano isn’t going to complain about having a lot of good players. No coach would, but it’s a challenge for Canada’s coach.

He didn’t play Lakers centre Robert Sacre in the opener and Magic forward Andrew Nicholson only got nine minutes. Utah Jazz second-round pick Olivier Hanlan didn’t play in Game 2 (along with the injured Kelly Olynyk) and more players will sit going forward.

“You know what, it’s hard to play 12 guys,” Triano said on Monday evening. “I’m playing 11 right now and that’s difficult. We told Rob yesterday, I said, ‘Rob, don’t take it personally, come out and play because you’re going to get a chance today.’ It will be the same thing with Olivier. We’re not afraid to roll guys out there and give them the experience, it’s just when it was late in the game I didn’t want to put him in. I thought it wasn’t a position to put him in.”

AROUND THE RIM

Canadian general manager Nash will become the 14th member of the Phoenix Suns Ring of Honour on Oct. 30th.

The Suns legend, who won two MVP awards while playing for the club and perennially directed the NBA’s best offence, made six all-star appearances as a Sun. He is the franchise leader in assists, made three-point shots and free throw percentage and third in games played ... NBA personnel on hand in Puerto Rico are impressed with Wiggins’ improved jump shot. They see a noticeable difference, even on shots that aren’t falling ... Canada has out-rebounded opponents by an 87-51 margin (including 23-12 on the offensive glass) through two games here.