With apologies to The Who, the kids are alright.
On a Canadian national basketball team laced with NBA talent, it was a couple of high schoolers who stole the show Sunday evening before 4,783 fans at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
R.J. Barrett, projected as the No. 1 pick for the 2019 NBA draft, scored 21 points and high school teammate Andrew Nembhard scored 18 as Canada defeated China 108-72 in an exhibition game.
The exclamation mark was the play of the game, as Nembhard fed Barrett for a soaring dunk over the Chinese defenders.
The two buddies from the Greater Toronto Area graduated this month from Montverde Academy, a high school in Florida for elite basketball players, which went 35-0 this season thanks to its one-two punch of Canadian prodigies.
“We’ve played together since the sixth grade, so it’s kind of easy, because I know what [Nembhard] will do before he knows it,” said Barrett.
Nembhard concurred: “We’ve been playing together since [grade school] so the chemistry between us on the floor is really good.”
Barrett will play U.S. collegiate NCAA Div. 1 basketball at Duke University for the Blue Devils in the fall and Nembhard for the University of Florida Gators. But they remain just a couple of Canadian kids at heart.
“Every year I can, if my country needs me and I am available, I’ll be there [for national team duty],” said Barrett.
That sense of loyalty has been drilled into Barrett. His father, Rowan Barrett, is the Canadian team general manager. He played for Canada at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics. Two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash of Victoria captained the Canadian Olympic team of that era and Nash and Rowan Barrett became close friends. Nash is R.J. Barrett’s godfather.
“R.J. plays the game. He has a great, athletic body for a young kid,” said Canadian team head coach Jay Triano.
“He also has mental focus and a great attitude.”
With the likes of Barrett and Nembhard, the future looks bright for Canada in basketball.
“It’s much more physical up here than in Under-18 play. But I felt good out there. I’m happy to be here. The fans were amazing the last two games,” said Nembhard.
Canada began the two-game Pacific Rim set against China with a 97-62 victory before 7,636 fans Friday night at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
The Pacific Rim games in Victoria and Vancouver were to ready Canada for Americas regional qualifying play this summer for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, out of which seven teams will qualify directly to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. China receives an automatic berth into the 2019 World Cup as host.
Canada, 3-1 so far in Americas regional World Cup qualifying, plays the Dominican Republic in Toronto on Friday and U.S. Virgin Islands in Ottawa on July 2.
“We now have four days to get ready for the games that really count,” said Triano.
Triano, interim head coach of the Phoenix Suns last NBA season and recently signed to be lead assistant coach of the Charlotte Hornets, said it was like coming full circle for him to be back in B.C. over the weekend.
Triano starred as a player at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, and with former University of Victoria greats Eli Pasquale and Gerald Kazanowski, led Canada to top-six finishes in the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Olympics. Those exploits inspired an Island youngster named Nash, who in turn inspired R.J. Barrett.
“This has been special for me,” said Triano, the native of Niagara Fall, Ont.
“I used to be part of the Vancouver Grizzlies broadcasts [before the NBA franchise relocated to Memphis]. And the Canadian national team was located in Victoria for a long time, and a lot of my former national teammates live here. It’s great to be back.”
Meanwhile, veteran European pro Brady Heslip scored 13 of the Canadian points Sunday on Blanshard while NBA players Dwight Powell of the Dallas Mavericks added 12 points and Dillon Brooks of the Memphis Grizzlies 10 points.
Barrett admitted he and Nembhard might have been given more floor time in the exhibitions than they can expect in games that will truly matter this summer for World Cup qualifying. Canada has more players in the NBA, 12, than any country outside the U.S.
“Coach [Triano] let me play [in the Vancouver and Victoria exhibitions against China] to get some experience,” said Barrett.
“And it was a great experience to play with guys who are in the NBA. It’s a different level of play.”
Seven-foot centre Kelly Olynyk of Kamloops, who just completed the first season of his four-year, $50-million US NBA contract with the Miami Heat, was dressed for the first half Sunday, but did not play. Olynyk did not return to the bench for the second half. As Triano noted, the games that count start Friday.
