[MUSIC] >> Good morning and welcome in, it's the Van Morin Show on Sportsnet 590, the fan, Matt Marchesean, Deniali Franceski with you here for the next four hours. As we like to call them in the business, a four-hour banger. We are live at Coppinwood Golf Club for the NHL alumni golf tournament. We expect plenty of former NHLers to roll through the program as we continue on for the rest of the day. And I bring in my co-host for the day, Deniali Franceski, who I have not seen around the building because our schedules have been off for like two weeks. It feels like an eternity. >> Yeah, it's been a while. >> Yeah, it's been a while. I mean, that's what happens when you get tucked away in the morning. >> [LAUGH] >> That's what happens. I got to see Jeff Azeparty every morning. >> I was going to say in the loving care of Jeff Azeparty. >> It was a big weekend in sports, the J's get a series win and no disrespect to the Toronto Blue Jays, but the biggest story coming out of the weekend was Lewis and I'm kidding. >> Come on. >> I'll set you up later for that. >> Yeah, we'll squeeze on with that for sure. >> And I can't believe that we're leading with this in terms of I never thought we would get here, but Canada beats Venezuela in penalties to advance to the Copa America semi-final. Is it, it's easy to, for me, it's easy to say and it's no disrespect to Gold Cup wins and you know, you know, the truth, I think it was 2002, the Gold Cup victory. This is the biggest win in Canadian history. >> Okay, so, Manny, I'm glad you started there. I am fully on board with you in that regard. And I was on the show with Gunning all of last week, certainly on Friday we did an extensive preview and teeing up what was a massive fixture for Canada playing in the quarter-finals of the Copa America and I made the argument that I felt like it was the biggest game in program history, including, and that includes them qualifying for the World Cup a couple of years ago, putting their stamp on what was a really fun qualifying run and the reason I felt that way and I still feel like this is probably the most significant international window that we've seen from this group is because they're doing it against non-Conca calf teams. >> Yes. >> For years, all they did was play Conca calf competition and you're playing within your own region, within your own federation, and lots of bad teams. >> Of course, I mean, like, with all due respect, you know, the United States is fine. And they routinely will churn out quality players, but they haven't had even the degree of international success to warn being in the conversation of being a true powerhouse at that level. >> Yep. >> Mexico, always pretty pesky, always good. And then we get into the Hondurases and the Panamaes of the world and you can only beat those teams so many times for it to feel massive. Now you're playing teams that are outside of that realm. So you're seeing, again, Venezuela, who is a surging team in the realm of world soccer, like they're going to make the World Cup for the first time in a couple of years as they should, because they're a pretty quality side. >> Are they not leading their, are they, I think they're, geez, they might be a third in their qualifying. >> But they are, but they are going to get in, yeah. >> But they're probably going to get in and make history for that program, which is deserved because they have a lot of really talented players coming through the pipeline. And then in addition to that, we're talking about now they're going to play Argentina for the second time. And they beat a peruse side that is also ranked higher than them in the world ranking. So I think it was refreshing to see them play different teams and different competition and to also show more, I think, metal in how they played those games. So heading into that, into that fixture, I felt like it did, to me at least, it resembled the biggest game in program history because of what was at stake and what could have been accomplished, which is a far departure from what we've become accustomed to. And as you said, with all due respect to the Gold Cup, to the nation's league, it's not the same. It's different. It's different. And that's why I think it felt bigger. >> I'm watching that game and when Solomon Rondong scores that goal, so you're so happy after Jacob Schafflberg buries it off of the Jonathan David pass on what ended up being a very uncannada-like goal in terms of they were on the attack. It's not something that we're necessarily used to seeing from the Canadian squad over, you know, decades of watching them. You know, we saw it a little bit under John Herman and now we've seen it under Jesse Marsh. But the funniest thing for me was watching Solomon Rondong score that goal. My first instinct was it's over now because they're going to fold under the pressure. It's a very pro Venezuelan crowd. It was it was loud. >> Oh, yeah, it was as it really that as well, it was playing a home game. And so I'm watching this happen. And I guess it's just being a fan of sports in this city in general. You just automatically go to, oh boy, yeah, your cynical. >> The doors are going to fly off here and you're in trouble. The way that they not only weathered the storm, but they attacked and they said, okay, we're going and we're going to we're going to get this done. Try to get it done in regulation. And then it goes to penalties and just the resolve that they showed. I mean, you know, when I look at the, there's two penalties that stand out and it's not even the Ismail Kone one that stands out the most, even though that was ridiculous. By the way, can we stop this delay and the 17 steps before we get to the ball, you're seeing that a lot in the euros too. >> And guess what? It throws guy like it's not throwing the keeper off. >> No, not at all. >> You just look like a moron. >> Yep. >> Anyway. >> I'm on board with that. >> But it was the two that stand out for me, first of all, Alfonso Davies burying a penalty after what happened in the World Cup and just putting that aside, and he said it in his postgame, like I had flashbacks of the World Cup. And everybody criticized the decision for him to be the taker of that penalty because it should have been Jonathan David who takes penalties for his team. But Alfonso Davies in a moment where he misses, it's over. It's over. >> Yeah. Game it over. >> And he not like just cool, calm, collected, buries it in the top corner, top right corner. And then the other one was moist bombito, lasers in his face, as if he's playing in South America, the green laser, the official even comes up to him to reset, and he does not budge, stoic as stoic can be. And he stands there and takes his penalty, again, in a big spot, cool, calm, and collected. And it was just like that felt different for sure. >> Matt Triple makes a big save. Ismael Kone steps up as if he's in the park. >> As if he's done it for 10, 15 years doing that. And he's 22. >> Yeah. >> And he goes up, he buries it on the spot in Canada's off to the Copa America's semi-final. And it's funny, I was talking with a lot of people after that game. And I can't tell you how many people said that they were glad that Argentina won. >> Even though that's the tougher match up, and only because Canada showed really well in the opener. >> They did? >> They did. >> And you could make the case, well, Argentina missed two breakaways, and Lionel Messi looked like he was playing with his food at times. That's fine, but Canada had their own chances that they didn't capitalize on either. So I think people were like, we want Argentina again, because we want to show that the way that we played in that game was not a fluke. >> For sure. That would be real here. >> Ecuador would have been a- >> Ecuador was really- >> I would have been a more favorable match. >> But that's a more favorable match up than the- >> For sure. Totally. >> The defending- >> Yeah, yeah. >> As they would say in wrestling. >> The reigning defending. >> That's the Paul Heyman World Champion. So I think that's just a really interesting change in the mentality. >> The mentality with not only the players, but with Canadian soccer fans, because before it would have been like, just give us Ecuador, and hopefully we can get it to penalties. >> For sure. >> And then it's a 50/50 draw. I think this is a, it's a wonderful thing for Canadian soccer and sets up for now this is the biggest game. Like when you can do that, it shows kind of the, it shows the growing maturity of the program where you can go, this is now the biggest game where it keeps growing and growing and growing. I just think it's fantastic where this program is right now. >> I agree wholeheartedly. I think the key word there, and you hit on it, is maturity. I think this entire run at every single sort of touch point, game-to-game, they've showed massive maturity and growth. That to me is what's important. It's not like it's been this sort of plateauing effect of them just playing the same style game-to-game, getting favorable results here and there. They get a couple breaks. No, no. They've shown the maturity and the poise in big spots routinely, which is something that, and this is with the utmost respect to John Herbmann and the job he did. They didn't have that in the World Cup or in the World Cup qualifying process. They have that now. They're starting to tap into that. And that's where I feel like you're seeing the biggest impact of having a new manager in Jesse Marsh. And we need to remember, this is the critical point here. This is fun. It's great that they have the confidence and belief they can win it all. They can beat Argentina. They have that belief. That is the most important, but I don't think there's really anybody in that camp of the players that are all on the pitch starting or coming up the bench and factoring in that they don't have a true genuine belief that they can win this game tomorrow. I think the key, though, is it's the first international window under the new coach. This is going to be game number, what, seven under his belt? And a gauntlet of teams that they played in the first three games. Exactly. And four out of the for seven matches that will be played under Jesse Marsh include two against Argentina, one against France, one against the Dutch. The Dutch and the French are in the semi finals of the Euros. That's remarkable. And I know people will look at the Netherlands result and say, well, they lost four now. Yes, but they played with them for 55 minutes. They made some changes. And that was the first game under Jesse Marsh. Now, and if you want illustration of that evidence of that, Maxine Cropod did not start in that game. It was Dan Sinclair, who was the gold keeper first game ever, ever in a back line partnership that featured Derek Cornelius and Moises, Mombi, who have been fantastic, a bit unbelievable, but that was the first time they had played together. Richie Lareo was not in the starting 11. At that point, neither was Jacob Schaffelberg. Like there have been some pieces that have moved around and rules that have shifted and evolved as this, what, three, four week process has sort of unfolded up until this point. So I think you're seeing, you're seeing steady growth and improvement. And they should have supreme confidence going into a game like tomorrow night because I think that that first game, that tournament opener in Atlanta, against Argentina, who are the defending World Cup champs, defending Copa America champs, the number one team in the world, the fact that they came away losing two nil, it felt like at least an observing and watching that game. The first 15, 20 minutes of that game in that opener felt like Canada was sort of tiptoeing around and trying to say, okay, do we belong? How are we going to play these guys? Do we fit? And sure enough, as the game progressed, you could see their confidence grow by the minute, by each segment of that game, you can see them building that level of confidence to the point where then we're saying, at the end of the 90, boy, yeah, they lost, but they look like they actually belonged on the same pitch with all these world class players. So I don't think that intimidation effect, quote unquote, is going to be there at all. Tomorrow they're going out and I think they're from the moment that ball is kicked off, they're going to have that urgency and that desire to go and get this and truly have that belief that they can win it. And I think that's really vital to not just like tomorrow or the fact that they're going to play a game, whether it's in the final or for third place, it's vital for two years from now when they're playing in the World Cup on home soil for the first time. What win on Friday night was one of those potential galvanizing moments for the younger generation. Totally. Even for the older generation, and I put myself in this class because I played soccer at, you know, at 16 years old, I was playing soccer at the highest level. I watched a lot of these elite players that, as Jeff, I was a party last because he thinks there's no way that that's true. That arc is the elite soccer player? I wouldn't say I was elite. I said I was saying I was playing at the highest level that doesn't mean much. But I saw these players like the one player that I remember was a guy named Gabe Gala. Okay. He was a player that he ended up playing for TFC and he scored, if I'm not mistaken, he scored in an exhibition game against Real Madrid. Really? Oh, wow. And so, but it never got further than that. And so I always thought like there's a, there is a group of players that look excellent. And obviously I'd never seen the other side of the coin. I'd never seen the guys that went to Europe. I never, none of that. But you, you saw it and you went, there's just nowhere for these guys to go. It speaks to the growth of the Canadian Premier League. It speaks to the growth of MLS and specifically Toronto FC. The Canadian teams, not, not just, not just Toronto, yeah, yeah. The Canadian teams, the Vancouver White Cabs, Montreal Remote Davies. Yeah. Think about his trajectory and where he started. Yeah. We're talking about a guy that, you know, played for the Vancouver White Cabs before he ever became an international star. Yeah. And so you talk about the growth of the programs and now there is a place for these guys to go and develop where you look at Ismael Kone, who's now going to go play for Marseille. You look at Mois Pombito in MLS going to Lyon, not Lyon, Olympic, I'm going to do it right now just to make sure. Yeah. I think it's, it might be Lyon. Anyway, point being is that he's playing top five division soccer. Yep. And Olympic Lyon. Okay. Sorry. So it speaks to that, but it's a moment where younger Canadian soccer fans can watch that game and say, I can get there totally. It's the same thing. I had this conversation on Friday with Kevin making. It's the same thing as in what you see in the P.W.H.L. for young girls. I see myself, I can be there. There's somebody who is like me that got to that point. And I think that that's a potentially galvanizing moment for soccer in this country because a lot more people are playing soccer. You see the drop in hockey numbers. More people are playing basketball. Yeah. We talk about and we're going to talk about the Olympics. That's exactly. Great parallel right there. And that is just it because when we look at at historically, um, soccer in this country, we look at basketball in this country. It's a lot of immigrants that come in because it's less expensive than playing hockey. For a lot of these people, that is the way into sports. And before it was just, okay, we get to this point and now soccer's done because we're, you know, 17 years old. It really was for the longest time. Once you were like 16, 17 years old, that was pretty much it for a lot of people. It's changed now. And so I think that Friday night, that victory over Venezuela. And what was also a fantastic game, really good. It was a very exciting game. There were lots of nerdy moments. There were, you know, plenty of scoring chances. You thought, especially the way that Canada was playing, like they created all these opportunities and they just weren't able to capitalize the fact that they could get it done in a big moment. Like that was incredible. But that's where I look at this and say it's one of those games. That you can look back on and say, A, where was I? Not that it's, you didn't win anything yet. Yep. But you are in the top four. I know Brazil had a rougher road path, but they're not there. They're not there. And I'm not saying that Canada is Brazil, but you are among some of the best teams. When we look at this final four, the betting odds will tell you that Canada is not supposed to be there, but you are in the final four with Argentina, Uruguay, and Colombia. That's pretty good. And last time I checked, Colombia made mince meat of Panama, who by the way, if Carly Lloyd is listening to this program, good morning, Carly, how are you? That was a team that beat out the U.S. to get to that point. So I don't know, to me, and I'm again, I'm not saying that like part of this is kind of lightning in a bottle. Part of this is the route that you had to get there, like you were able to avoid any of the big teams in your quarter final matchup, but they've defended well. They've created opportunities. They are playing a brand of soccer that for the longest time, nobody thought was capable because they didn't have the players capable of playing this way, be they didn't coach this way, and see it was just Canada is just happy to be there. We're not we're past happy to be there, which I think is very important. Yeah. Yeah. There's no participation trophies for this team anymore. It's about doing damage and getting results in these types of situations and tournaments. Now, you know, I think, you know, context is important, one, when you and you touched on the talent, the quality, they still, they do still lack quality. It's moving in the right direction. This ties in beautifully to your point about that game on Friday being a potentially galvanizing moment. We've seen this with basketball. The reason that we are optimistic, we are hopeful, we are enthusiastic about the team that Canada is fielding in men's basketball at the Olympics is because 20 years ago, Vince Carter, a man by the name of Vince Carter, was representing the Toronto Raptors. That 10, 10 years ago or so, we had a guy in Andrew Wiggins and even Anthony Bennett, although we all forget about him, get drafted first overall in the NBA draft, those are moments that people who were, you know, young kids at the time or in their early teen years could point to and say, holy, I didn't think that was possible. We actually see something that's tangible. This is why I always went not to go too much into the basketball room. This is why I always separate Steve Nash from this discussion because, you know, look, I was born in '96 and I know Steve suited up for Canada in 2000. I get it. He was on the last Olympic team, but throughout my entire childhood, you made me feel really old. I never felt that Steve Nash was, I could equate Steve Nash with Canada. I never felt that that's type of connection relationship. However, it is different. When you see people that grew up in the GTA or various parts of Canada sort of ascend through the ranks, make it, have success, steadily just continue to grow and get to the point where it feels like, oh man, you know what, yeah, it is attainable for Canadians to play in the NBA for a GTA kid or even in my case, I always use Wiggins as an example because, heck, he grew up 20 minutes away from me and I say, man, that guy came from there from Thornhill, Bond secondary and now he's the first overall pick in the NBA draft. That makes it feel different. It makes it feel tangible for any young kid to have that dream. And I think Friday, even if they lose tomorrow night, now we could have more moments that are going to be made, which would be fantastic. So let's say it stopped on Friday. That victory in and of itself, you can think about the millions of parents and kids that gathered around a television to watch that moment. And there are kids that might be 10, that might be 6, that might be 14 that are never going to forget that. And it's going to be part of their development cycle if they are playing the sport. That is always going to be somewhere in the back of their mind. You cannot overstate how important that is to shaping the next generation. And that all brings it back to the quality point. That's how you develop the future of the program. That's how you develop the next wave of elite top tier premier talent to come into your program. Because right now, as much as we're all on maritime messy, we're loving this run that he's had. We're enjoying watching Alistair Johnson. We love the back pairing of Bombito and Cornelius. The only two guys of legitimate world class quality on this roster are Jonathan David and Alfonso Davies. And that's no disrespect to anybody else. But clearly, there is still a need if they're going to be a power or a team that is capable of challenging for wins at a World Cup, for advancing beyond the group stage. You need more than just two world class players. That is, that's proven. Look at the rosters of the other teams that are left in the final four on both the Copa America side and the Euro side. There are teams that are laden with the most elite talent possible. So that is still a factor in all this. That was the point I was just trying to drive home. That being said, I think one thing that, and it's great that you mentioned this, you hit on it stylistically. I think they've shown a tremendous amount of evolution because if you think about the way that all these games have been played, they've all sort of had contrasting styles to them. Right? It's been very physical. There's Venezuela where they want to play more open and free and use space and try and attack. Canada's like, this is perfect. Yeah. We're going to generate opportunity. Yeah. Now, the main thing tomorrow night, for example, is you got to finish like Jonathan, David, Cal, Larry, your job is to score. You better score. Yeah. Like you're supposed to be, you know, in David's case, especially you're a world class striker. Everybody views you in that light. You better put one in the back of the net on occasion. Like we can't just be scoring two goals throughout an entire tournament or you have one to your credit. You got to be able to be more productive. But yeah, just overall, very, very impressive obviously and really exciting for the program that they're in this position where they're playing yet again, I mean, crazy to think. They're going to share the pitch again with Lionel Messi and Argentina. So, you know, I'm looking at this team and we talk about the, you know, the year old. We talk about the Copa America. Those are the two biggest federation tournaments in the world. Yep. And the fact that you mentioned, you know, Canada played against two of the teams that are that make up the four semi finalists in the year old. We talk about playing Argentina for a second time in this tournament. Here's the, here's where you talk about the next step in the evolution of this program. Having, and part of that is having elite players. Alfonso Davis is an elite player. Jonathan David is an elite player at the club level. He does, although I thought his first half was horrible on Friday. I thought his second half was brilliant. I thought he was great when it mattered. And so we talk about two of those guys. Jonathan David is probably going to end up in the Premier League for sure. So there's that. Bambito and Kone are going to the French league, which is great for their development. I anticipate that they are going to be playing for even bigger teams in the, in the, the, you know, coming future. What I want to know is what kind of trickle down this has for the other players. Like, does it play like Jacob Schaffelberg end up playing in a top five league after this? I was talking to, I was talking to Alex Gange Rosique on Friday from one soccer and, and he does a couple of other podcasts. And he was saying, when you look at, you dig deeper into the numbers, Jacob Schaffelberg has been one of the best midfielders in this tournament period. Among the best in the world that are in this chart. Our eyes would also align with that. Exactly. Sure. So you watch him and you watch the difference maker that he has become kind of for a lot of people out of nowhere, really. Does he get a look from a top five European club? Does Alistair Johnson move from something like they moved, they moved. Satello. Yep. Off of his side, because Alistair Johnson was working his hands, unbelievable. They moved him to Alfonso Davi's side in the second half. That's a good Alistair Johnson. That's a wild statement. Think about that. That is wild. Let's go from the, you know, the right back who's playing for, you know, Celtic. Very good club and he's all right. Has a decent pedigree, good international experience. Let's flip them to the other side against the best player on their team, just because we're playing for Bayern Munich who wins championship after championship. Yeah. Probably going to Real Madrid. Yeah. And as the captain of the squad, but we're going to put them on that side because we don't feel, we feel better about that matching. Yeah. So I think Derek Cornelius is another guy that was relatively unknown coming in because a lot of people just thought, well, that's Kamala Miller spot. Why? And I like Kamala Miller a lot. Derek Cornelius has played so well that he does not come out of the squad. He's been so good. And so I wonder if he gets a move to a top five league, like this is, and those moves, people will say, oh, well, you know, if they're playing, you know, for a middle of the pack team in the French league, that is still a stepping stone to something else. Massive. But it's also going from MLS to the French league or the Swedish league to the French league or Spain. You're playing against better players, which in turn means you are going to become better. The Tejambu Cannon thing is just such a, it's, you know, well, so unfortunate, but that's another guy that's playing at a big club at Inter Milan. That was my point. So we are now moving in that, that space where much like the US, you are fielding a starting 11 of all guys that play in Europe for, you know, in top five leagues in Europe. That's where the program takes another step forward. And I think we're on that path right now. Now it's not a matter of if it's just a matter of when these guys start to get to that point. And I think that we are right there. The guy at the top, there's two guys at the top of my list right now, Derek Cornelius and Jacob Schaffelberg. I think that goes without saying those two guys have been excellent in this tournament. I would, I would love to say it about Max Crapole, but unfortunately for him, he's under six feet and he's 30 years old and that or he's going to be 30. That part is, you know, unfortunate because, but maybe there isn't a team in a top, maybe it's, you know, a lower pack Spanish team, whatever. But these guys are getting international exposure from big clubs right now. I think Crapole playing in MLS is still favorable because of the competition and the fact that he's, I mean, historically throughout his career with an MLS in particular, especially the last five years or so in that cycle, he's been on very good teams. He's had been competitive in trying to win league titles you're in and you're out. I think having the ability to play in those, those moments where there's actual stakes attached to a lot of the games that you're playing in is helpful. It's probably better than playing in a low level league in some foreign country like Spain or, or like, look, we saw how, like, you know, Milan Borean and Atiba Hutchison played in the same, for the same Turkish team for years and years and years. And it's like, okay, that's, that's fine. But, you know, that there's a limiting effect as much as it is a pro league and somewhere in Europe, it's not always better than the MLS route. And I think actually this is where, you know, actually that point ties in maybe nicely to the coaching for a second. Here's a, here's a perspective. Here's an opinion I have. I think there's one individual in particular who might be the most gleeful and happy out of anybody that can't, this team is having this type of run. It's Kevin Blue, the CEO and General Secretary because it feels like they got the higher right for the coach. Yeah. Like Jesse Marsh, given his experience, his background, both in the international space with different teams in Europe, and of course domestically North America having a sense for what that game entails, plus his appreciation for MLS, like the fact that he does have that through line with MLS and the players and the competition there, it feels like it blends perfectly with the type of roster that Canada has to field for a lot of these international events and windows. And so I think from the perspective of the program, there might be nobody who is happy right now than Kevin Blue because we can look at that higher and we're seeing immediate results. And I don't think anybody thought we were going to see this level of immediate result in terms of like making a semi-fucking all the copa merit. No, Danielle, it was if they, if they show well in the group stage, that's great. That's right. Advanced to the quarters. That is like the greatest thing. Absolutely. You had players. Sorry, I think was the most notable one talking about, hey, if we get out, that is a massive success. Sure. Right. And, and I think that's fair because new coach, different system, different mentality and way of playing players in roles that we hadn't seen before, and they've wildly exceeded expectations. And so they can take a victory lap at this point if you're Canada soccer and say, well, you know what? Yeah, we, the process of hiring our coach, our successor for John Hurdman was pretty, it was, it was tumultuous at times. There were, there was a lot of unpredictability. It was up and down. People were questioning us. There was skepticism. But guess what? We were patient and, and it looks like they got the higher right. And for that, gotta give them, gotta give them kudos and, and to use John Schneider's and how to tip our cap to them because they deserve it. They really do. This is the guy that seems fit for the job. And I think it's been mostly on display more than anything in this tournament because look at all the various, all the different variables that they've encountered from the officiating, the physicality component of it, the way in which even, even here's a weird one, Matty. And I don't know that everybody's privy to this. But even the field dimensions are different. Did you know this? Did you know that the field? Okay. Oh, it's like a couple of more feet wide or something like that. It's essentially, no, no, the COPA field, because this competition is being played in the United States, because it's played in, in NFL stadiums, which I think, not all of them, but I think it's like 14 out of the 18 venues being used are NFL stadiums. As a result of that, there are limitations on how much those stadiums can adapt their facilities to accommodate the fields. So as a result, COPA, Kanma Ball, which is the federation that is overseeing this tournament, they have decided for the sake of uniformity, we are going to reduce the size of the field. The pitch is smaller. I think it's like, so I have it in front of me. I think the pitch is a hundred meters, yeah, it's a hundred meters by 64 meters in width. That is, for comparison, if we look at the Euros, if we look at the World Cup, that is five meters shorter and four meters in width, that is less smaller than what we're seeing at the Euros or what we would see in any other type of traditional international competition. That makes a difference. That's essentially, you're eliminating a penalty area. That is what they're taking away from the field in this game. So in a weird way, though, that promotes more violence and more physicality, and Canada's met that challenge, which is something in the past we haven't always been able to say. So I think that is also a positive in this, and a weird quirk of how the dimensions of the pitch have sort of factored into what we've seen and makes it even in learning that. I was like, you know what, that actually makes it even more impressive the way that they're playing. Like the fact that they can't escape and just say, we can play passively or conservatively, no, no, there's less space. You're in it. You're in it. You're in the fight. Yeah. It's been a fantastic run. It continues tomorrow night. We're going to talk more Canada Soccer with John Molinaro at 730 this morning. We're going to take a break. We're live at Coppenwood Golf Club for the NHL Alumni Golf Tournament. It's the fan morning show. Matt Markeyzy, Danieli Franceski with you here. We're going to talk some Canada basketball and write up your alley. A little Bronnie James making a summer league debut when we come back. You're listening to the fan morning show on SportsNet 590, the fan. Live deep into Toronto sports and the NFL, the JD Bunk is podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to the fan morning show, SportsNet 590, the fan live from Coppenwood Golf course. Ahead of the NHL Alumni Association Golf Tournament, Matt Markeyzy, Danieli Franceski with you here. I like that. You know, we sleep. We don't sleep. We don't. It sounds like morning show stuff. It does. It's very fitting. We're going to go. Josh. You're disoriented at this time of day. But you know what? Over your head at all points. You're just like, huh? What happened? Yeah, it's true. The drive over here, I was saying to you, was remarkable. If I could drive that route to work every single day, you would take it. Oh, avoiding downtown Toronto traffic, more so going home when you're doing the morning show. But this view of the golf club, my goodness, even even just going through, I mean, my route was a lot of side. You went through God's country. You went through King City, man. Well, that's my point. Yeah. It was city secondary school. Yeah. Right. By the arm of Alliance. It was it was out. Oh, it was incredibly scenic. It was for five or no, whatever it was, four something in the morning. It was nice. It was very nice. It's enjoyable. Get here. You're highly. They be here first. You wait. Hold on a second. Jeff as a party. Yeah, I was broadcasting. I was surprised. I was very surprised. I was I don't know why it was 4.50 AM and they were here already in the front. Just I don't know if they had just gotten here, but yeah, they were they were. I feel like a slacker. I got here at 5.30. All right. Okay, so Canada basketball, the Olympics. It's not like we just talked about the Canadian soccer program and where things are at. And I feel like I feel like we're slightly ahead with the basketball program because, you know, although it's it's pretty comparable when you talk about, you know, like a Jamal Maria compared to maybe a Jonathan David, whatever you talk about. Shave with with Alfonso Davies. That's kind of. But when we look at the schedule and the group of death, it's fun, it it but it is the group of death. It's it's Greece. Yeah. It's Australia. Yeah. It's Spain. Sure. Those are your three games. I look at this and I say this is the I mean you would like them to have an easier route, but this is show us what you got right now. Yeah. Okay. So they're in pool a group a as you already laid out for comparison sake. The United States isn't group D. The United States has a couple of cupcakes in there and then they have Serbia. So naturally dreaded Serbians like they are the past love love the way Serbia plays basketball and they're going to they're going to just give the United States a ton of ton of trouble like the United States is vastly more talented, but like just as a matter of international basketball, man. That's part of it. Yeah. There's a different stylistically. We know the game is vastly different, but they're they're just going to they're just going to try and mess with them in so many different ways and just try to try to make them incredibly uncomfortable. So mind you though, those two teams should advance from that group. This one, there's obviously less certainty surrounding Canada's ability to advance. Now part of the reason they're here is because of where they sit in the world rankings. It's not just in accordance to the roster that they're fielding here. I look at Greece, for example, next to Janus, you know, like they've got a couple guys who who perform well for them in the last chance qualifying tournament that they just won over the weekend to then this is part of why it's relevant. Last chance qualifying tournament's all concluded yesterday. So now we know what the field of 12 actually looks like, you know, with respect to Janus and Greece, I think Canada should be think they should like they should win that game. It's just essentially you got to focus and determine how are we going to approach Janus. In most situations, it's funny anytime you play a superstar, especially in, you know, in the NBA or in college, a lot of times you'll see opposing teams as much as they want to focus on sort of neutralizing or limiting that player. There's almost an ideology that at times that guy's going to get his. So let's make everything else extremely difficult for the other four guys on the court at all times. In this situation, I think it's slightly different. I think Canada needs to make sure we focus on Janus, we don't let Janus get going downhill like a freight train and really taking over this game. And then at that point, I think Canada is the better team and they can, they can, should win that game. Australia is the one that I'm circling as the most challenging. Spain, they're the number two ranked team in the world. Don't let the ranking fool you. Don't let the ranking seduce you into thinking, oh my goodness, we should be afraid of Spain. Here's why I say don't be overly scared of them. They're not the same span that you would have seen 10, 20 years ago when they were trotting out the Gasol brothers and they had Ricky Rubio and they had Rudy Fernandez in his prime. Rudy Fernandez is still on this team, he's making his sixth Olympic appearance. He still gets minutes and their best players are the Hernan Gomez brothers. Like with respect, again, with all due respect to them, who they needed a last chance qualifying tournament to get in, Canada should beat them. The one that gives me cause for concern or a bit of a red flag is the Australia game. And I think that's a real test of what Canada is capable of against a real international team because Australia is laden with NBA talent and they play a very effective style. They're always, always very tough in the international game with how they play and the continuity that they possess cause a lot of these guys have played together for years, whether it's Showingles and Patty Mills or Josh Giddy who's been with the team since he was a teenager, like a lot of these players who are on this roster have NBA experience and extensive background internationally. So that's the game I'd circle beyond that. Canada should, again, air quotes, should advance. They should make it out of this group. They are one of the better teams in the tournament. And if they fail to do so, then it's a catechismic failure for a team that has a superstar in Shagil just Alexander, another world class player and NBA champion in Jamal Murray and an excellent supporting cast. They, they, I saw it and I know people are like, oh my gosh, it's the group of deaf because they see the name, they see Yannes, big name, they see Spain perennial international program with tons of pedigree. And then Australia, I found like people were kind of dismissing Australia the most out of the three. I'm like, no, they're the best team out of the three. That's the one you should circle as perhaps the biggest challenge for Canada on paper. They have the best roster out of the three teams that they're going to play and they have the pedigree to go with it. Yeah, Canada has the best roster, whatever they put together is the best roster in this group. For sure. There's no question about that. The way that they played at the FIBAs, they, and that was without Jamal Murray. I think the, and you can tell me if I'm wrong, but there's a couple of things that I look at with this team specifically in this tournament. One, as I look at every international tournament, are they going to be big and physical enough? They're not going to be big enough. That's, that's how you question your, can they, can they manage the physicality of the other teams? Because when you get to international basketball and I can, I, I, I have to, I feel like I have to remind people every time these events come around, it's a different game. Not only are the rules different, but it is officiated differently. It's very physical. I think the biggest question that I have outside of that is, what's that? That was just this crack because it's real basketball. Yes, that's, that's a, that's a very good point. It's real. The way the NBA is played right now is something that they, you know, the, the, you're going to see NBA players in this tournament and we see it every year when they play in a World Cup or any international event. There's a travel that's called and they look over the like, what are you calling? Yeah. You know that thing that's supposed to be planted, that pivot foot? Yeah, you drifted the pivot foot. You picked it up or you slid it. That's called a travel. Are you carried the ball for six steps? Yeah, yes. We're going to call it. We're going to see. We're going to see the actual rules called. I think the biggest question is, what does a back court of Shay Gil just Alexander and Jamal Murray look like? Can they coexist because they're, listen, this is the same question that you have with the, the US teams is, can certain players coexist? And I'm not saying they don't like each other. What I'm saying it, because that's the case with the US team is some of these guys don't like each other. I don't know. I don't know that I don't know their personal relationship, but these are two guys that demand the basketball. These are two guys that, you know, there are guys that, that can be very good players without the ball. I'm not saying these guys can't, but they are the best and most effective when they have the ball in their hands. They're both big time shot makers for sure in big moments. Who does the ball go? Yeah. Does that cause maybe some dissent between the two of them? Like, so that's, I think the biggest question is, can that back court of those two coexist and not only coexist, but be super effective in a short tournament like this? Yeah, that's, no, that's a big question. And I think that's why some of these exhibition games that they're going to play here leading up to it are going to be hopefully instructive in terms of the preparation process leading into their first game against Greece on July 27th. And it's funny. We're actually going to see them play the United States this week on Wednesday night, which is I'm really looking forward to and I don't want to look forward to staying up until 10 30 p.m. and I to, to watch it when we have to wake up the next morning to do the show. But mind you, it is a terrific challenge that they're going to have the opportunity to square off against the United States in Vegas. And both teams are going to be trying to sort of get a feel for what the roles are going to look like. I do feel like the back court is certainly the biggest question. You know, the beauty of Jamal Murray, though, is because he's played with a guy like Nicola Yochich that also commands a lot of attention in terms of playing on the ball. I feel like Jamal Murray is capable of sliding in nicely and acquitting himself in a bit of a different role. I think Shea is, it's trickier to say to Shay Gil, just Alexander, hey, we're going to take the ball out of your hands a little bit more than we did last year because even with the OKC Thunder, he routinely is the guy with the ball in his hands. Denver, it's a little bit different. Those responsibilities are sort of shared between Jamal Murray and Nicola Yochich. So I feel like Jamal can play off the ball and has proven it even at the NBA level that he is capable of being a big time shot maker while not always having the ball in his hands for the majority of the game. I do think, Maddie, this brings it back to tie it all together. There needs to be one clear alpha. This is what was really effective for them last year. SGA was the, there was a clear hierarchy and SGA was atop the higher. Yeah. There can be no questions about who sits where. Is it SGA in the big spots that is going to be making all the decisions? Like you're going to draw things up and let him make decisions or you're going to have Jamal Murray. Another way you got to decide it's got to be one of them. I don't think you can play this game of let's throw it back to each other. You take it one time. I'll take it another time. You take it one game. I'll take the responsibility of the next. No, no, no. Let's have a clear hierarchy. That worked really well for them last year in the World Cup and it and again with the United States, it's the same thing like every time the U.S. has been a successful winning goal at the Olympics, they've always had a hierarchy. There's always been a hierarchy in place no matter how many officers, how many MVPs have been on those teams. There's a hierarchy and you need to have that to have success in international play. Speaking of players that want the ball and the hierarchy, Anthony Edwards. Love it. He spoke about who should be the guy. We have the audio. We're going to play it here. Anthony Edwards on the upcoming Olympic tournament and why he should be the guy. I'm still the number one option. I'm still the number one option. They got to fit it around me. I like it. He's a dog man. Now, I wonder how that is taken by the other players on the team. I do wonder about that. What's the reaction to that for other guys that are like, "Well, hold on a second. I'm that guy." Because that's a talent laden, like, "How does Joel and Bede feel about that?" Yeah, I mean, I'm not worried about it. He's fake American. He's fake American. He's fake American. Yeah, that's one. Secondarily, I mean, if you're the United States, if you're that program, you're not worried about Joel and Bede. You're probably worried more so about LeBron, Steph, KD, the guys that have been there. This is their, what, third, fourth tour of duty on the Olympic team. But here's where I do think it's a little bit interesting. So, you know, Anthony Edwards, first time being on the Olympic roster, he's 22 years old. He's also a star in the play. I know. I forget that. And I'm using LeBron as an example here. LeBron's 39. I do feel like when push comes to shove, there's a respect level that is there. And he understands, you know, I think Anthony Edwards, if we had to even, you know, and a lot of people would say, oh, you know, that Ross, that starting line, that's probably going to have a bunch of the veterans in there. I actually think Anthony Edwards has a pretty good chance of starting for this team. And he probably should start on Merit. On Merit. Yeah. And he probably should start alongside Steph Curry. And that, and then we're talking about obviously LeBron, KD, and probably Joel L&B, rounding out, you're starting five for the United States. But I like that mentality. And I feel like on a team that has a lot of veteran guys, that's totally fine. Like that's going to be, he's going to be fine. That's always been his approach. I think you know what you're getting in the type of player you have. I think you much rather have that mentality of I want to be the best version of myself and be the guy. And every time I'm out there, I think I'm the best player as opposed to saying, oh, I'm just going to blend in and sort of be a part of the group. No, be the best version of who you are. Don't change who you are for a month long span because of the fact that you're playing with all these other luminaries in the basketball community. Be you. And I think that's what they probably selected him with the understanding. This is who he is. This is the type of player he is. And there's enough of a leadership group in place with a lot of those veteran guys that have been around for many, many years that it's not going to be an issue. So I don't see that as a problem. And in fact, I really like that. I love that quote because I think it speaks to his mentality as a whole. And if he was going to change it now for a two month span and then have to go back to being this dog and this killer, no, that doesn't equate. That doesn't add up Kobe played for many years of the United States national team. And that was never, never a question about his ability to, to coexist or work with other players and collaborate with guys that he would go toe to toe with throughout the NBA season. It was never a problem. And I don't think it is an issue here. Okay. You mentioned LeBron James in there. Yeah. We have a couple of minutes here. Sure. Bronnie James, Summer League debut four points broadcast nationally on ESPN. The world wide leader as they like to refer to themselves. This is, you know what? In all of this, I feel bad for Bronnie James. Totally. I made this point. Was it two weeks ago when he got drafted? That was not what he asked for. It was not. That was my primary takeaway. I said genuinely because everybody's just criticizing him, criticizing LeBron, criticizing the family, the agent, the team rightfully, but nobody, nobody like like, if we, if we're just going to put ourselves in the shoes of that kid for a second, he had very minimal input and a very minimal hand in determining how this unfolded. Like if we think about it, the narrative surrounding him playing with his father was never pushed by him. It was always pushed by his father. It was always presented by his dad for years about, man, if there's anything I love to do, I love to play with my kid. Oh, my kid's going to USC left to play with my kid. All these things and that is not fair to Bronnie and his own path and developmental process. I even made this point last week on a show where I said, realistically, Bronnie should still be in college. That's the best thing for his development. Just look at him play and we, and then of course you're going to have all the big networks and all these outlets that are going to hop on the bandwagon because he has such now, he's become such a polarizing figure. So it's no surprise Saturday I'm looking, I'm like, man, this game. It's a meaningless, you know, California summer league game, it's not even Vegas yet. And nationally televising the United States yesterday, we even had our own company, Sports that pick up the game, he didn't play by the way, because he's already nursing an injury of some kind for whatever reason, even though he played 20 minutes in, I don't know, that's besides the point, but we even had our own network, Sports that pick up that game for the sole purpose of Bronnie James being included in that broadcast. And I think that's, it's not fair to him. And it's also, you know, every which way it goes now, it's all, it's more about LeBron than it is about Bronnie. And I don't think that's how it should be, or it wasn't tended to be at any point, because he has his own life to live his own career to pursue. And that's not fair. That's not fair to the player. It really isn't. Uh, you're right. He should absolutely be back in school time now for the Canadian football report brought to you by Securian Canada, the official life insurance partner of the CFL week five began Thursday night in Saskatchewan as the rough riders relied heavily on their defense forcing five turnovers to beat the Toronto Argonauts 30 to 20 through at Mosaic Stadium. Friday night saw the blue bombers get their first win of the season with a 25-16 victory over the red blacks at home, a revenge game for the blue and gold who lost to the nation's capital in week two. Chris Dreveler made his first start since 2019 in the CFL. He had been playing his trade as a, well, whatever he was in the NFL. Montreal's winning streak almost came to an end as the Alawats had to come from behind erasing a double digit deficit to defeat the Calgary Stampeders 30 to 26 in front of a home crowd on Saturday. Walter Fletcher played the hero rushing for 31 yards and a touchdown late in the fourth to give the Al as the lead. The stamps had less than a minute to try and score to win, but to drive ended with an interception to seal the game and the win for Montreal and closing out the weekend action on Sunday night. The BC Lions went into Hamilton and dominated the tire cast, defeating them 44 to 28. So after week five in the CFL, your standings look like this. Montreal remains undefeated and sits atop the east division at five and oh, followed by Toronto and Ottawa who are at 500 with a two and two record. Then at the bottom of the division are the winless tie cats who are now oh and five. Meanwhile, in the west Saskatchewan stays atop the division with a perfect record of four and oh, followed closely by a BC who are four and one, then Calgary at two and two with Winnipeg one and four near the bottom of the division, only trailed by the Edmonton Elks who remain oh and four after their bi week this past weekend. That was the Canadian football report brought to you by Securian Canada, the official life insurance partner of the CFL. We're going to take a break. When we come back, maybe we have some live in the studio guests. We will see. We'll keep you posted. We're live a copy with golf club for the NHL alumni golf tournament. This is the fan morning show on Sportsnet five, nine fan, Matt Marquesi, Danieli Franceski with you here.
