Was a bit surprising to see that Jay’s senior team opened its exhibition tour of Europe yesterday by beating Croatia 91-80.

Not that Croatia’s a powerhouse and that it was an upset of epic proportions but a Canadian team quite unfamiliar with itself and with only a week of training landing in Europe and winning right out of the gate was impressive.

Phil Scrubb made every three-pointer he looked at, I was told; Anthony Bennett had a big game and when I was chatting electronically with Jay after the game he said was impressed with how Tyler Ennis controlled the game.

I don’t know what the result means in the long run – I still think it’s a longshot that they qualify for Rio out of the Manila tournament next month – but winning beats losing and maybe it does give them a measure of belief in themselves that will carry on forward.

That’s especially true with this team, a group missing some high profile names but one that I think will develop some kind of “hell, we’re good, why not prove everybody wrong” attitude that could coalesce into something special. I don’t if it’ll be special enough to win the games they need to win against some top-level competition in Manila but I do like the makeup and mix of grinders and veterans with a great collective work ethic.

Now, it’s well documented that I think both Andrew Wiggins and Nik Stauskas should be there and I do think Tristan should take a week or so off and then go join them but, and I don’t know if I’ve said this clearly enough before, every other absence is understandable.

Dwight Powell, Jamal Murray and Andrew Nicholson don’t have insurable contracts, the Utah Jazz wouldn’t let Trey Lyles go but I think he should have pressed the issue harder, and Kelly Olynyk is coming off surgery and simply not healthy enough to play (he was in camp to lend support last week here and that’s pretty cool.)

I can hear the howls of “oh, but the gritty Canadian pucksters always answer the call for the worlds” now and, man, is it tiring.

Yes, a lot of them go, to play for Canada and a handful of othr countries each spring but comparing that to basketball isn’t comparing apples and oranges, it’s comparing apples and aardvarks and it’s probably time to explain why.

It’s one thing to go right from a season into a tournament, there is no time to get even a little bit out of condition and a couple of extra weeks isn’t a huge load. It’s not the same as, say, a season ending in mid-April and ramping it back up in June after a month off.

All the players who go from the NHL to the world are operating under their existing contracts, which can be insured to mitigate any financial concerns. I wonder how many free agents would take that risk in their summer with no guarantee of employment in the fall. I don’t think I would.

So, yes, a couple of these NBA kids should be with the team and I have no problem with the inherent criticism that comes with their decisions – and if Canada somehow secures an Olympic berth, I’d leave them at home – but the blanket comparisons between one sport and another are blatantly unfair.

-

Can remember where I heard that today is Ray Davies birthday but we could all use some Kinks, right?

-

Totally missed the summer solstice and am not comforted by the thought that the days now start getting shorter.

I think we should start a movement to have Summer Solstice Day declared some kind of holiday, no?

-

Last pre-draft workout for the Raptors today – unless they hold some secret session in the next two days and that’s not out of the realm of possibility – and Masai’s going to talk to us in the middle of the day.

I love the guy but I can guarantee there won’t be an awful lot of breaking news which will leave us to figure out the nuances and draw conclusions that are likely to be entirely wrong.

Love this time of year.

It’s interesting to go through the list of players the Raptors have had in or seen in their travels because it really is a group that’s all over the map.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Yeah, the predictable subjects, at least by all the guesswork that’s out there on the interweb, have worked out but the number of players who are longshots to even be drafted has been intriguing.

I don’t think it means Masai’s gonna load up on second round picks on Thursday night but you can see the direct impact of having the Unfortunately Named Mississaugas. Someone has to fill out the D-League roster, not to mention the Summer League team, and they’ve had a couple of dozen possibilities in to have a look at.

And that’s why we haven’t done an awful lot of breathless reporting on minor league

-