The enthusiasm is outstanding, the level of commitment impressive, the energy at practice unbridled.

Now there remains one question for this so-called Golden Age of Canadian basketball: Can anyone here play this game?

For all the abundant talent that Canada’s national senior team possesses, from established NBA champions and budding NBA stars, the not-too-subtle differences between that style of game and international play are going to be significant things for the team to handle as it tries to qualify for next year’s World Cup.

“Every day we have a meeting and a little quiz, we try to teach them a little bit more,” head coach Jay Triano said after the team went through a two-hour workout at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday.

“There are nuances and a lot of these guys have never played the game.”

In the nuance department, the international game is more spottily officiated, smart veterans know how to clutch and grab and get away with stuff, and it’s far more physical.

It takes time to figure that out and the best thing this Canadian team has going for it are longtime national team and European veterans like Levon Kendall, Carl English, Andy Rautins and Jermaine Anderson — among others — who can let the likes of Tristan Thompson, Andrew Nicholson and Cory Joseph know what they can try.

“The one thing we have here is we have international guys who can help our NBA guys and our NBA guys can help our international guys to understand what it’s like to play in the best league in the world,” said Triano, whose team plays its only two games on home soil this summer on Thursday and Saturday at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre against Jamaica.

Nuances aside, there are also hard-and-fast rules that players schooled only in North American basketball need to get used to.

NBA players used to having to leave the key on defence inside of three seconds have to know they can camp out under the rim forever if they want; it takes only five fouls to be thrown out of a game — and a technical foul counts as a personal as well — and with only 40 minutes to a game, every botched possession is more costly.

“You can be a star in the NBA and a lot of these guys are up-and-comers but I always give a good example that when the Dream Team has to do the things it has to now just to win, it shows you that it’s a totally different game,” said English, who has spent the better part of a decade playing in Europe.

“In the NBA, there are so many possessions, whereas in Europe, every possession counts. If you want to be successful in the FIBA game, it’s not who can jack up 50 shots, it’s the quality of every shot you take and every possession.”

Taking care of every possession will be of paramount importance to this Canadian team. Two players who could have been counted on to be key offensive components — Kelly Olynyk and Anthony Bennett — will miss the qualification tournament with injuries and scoring could be an issue. English has also missed the team’s first three live practices with a sore back, robbing Canada of yet another proven offensive player.

“We’re going to be great defenders,” said the coach.

MORE:Canadian men’s basketball team faces a summer of transition

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Canadian men’s basketball team strong on paper but will it translate into international success? END

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