Written by Charles Vanegas
(TORONTO)—The Canadian Sr. Men’s basketball team added former Baylor guard Brady Heslip to its Pan Am tryout roster Thursday, giving the lineup a much-needed threat at three-point line. Head coach Jay Triano said that as the team is to be announced by Saturday, it was the last day the team could add someone and properly evaluate.
“His game has evolved to where he can handle [making a lot of decisions.] The thing that he does the best is shoot the ball, but Brady is a great playmaker,” said Triano, who is also Heslip’s uncle.
Heslip (Oakville, Ont.) averaged 24.5 points per game in a 20-game stint with the D-League’s before leading Igokea of the Bosnia League to a championship. After playing NBA Summer League with Minnesota last year, Heslip re-joined the Timberwolves in Las Vegas but due to a lack of playing time he decided he would have a better chance to play for Canada and jumped at the opportunity to join his countrymen.
“The most important thing is for me to be playing,” he said, noting it would be a good warm-up for Olympic qualifiers in August.
Heslip is optimistic about his NBA prospects moving forward, as the 6-2 guard — who shot connected on 10 three-pointers at a recent Nike Crown League game — has made a career out of proving people wrong.
“Everyone is going to say something, you know, ‘the little white guy who can’t guard at this level’ and stuff like that. But you know, there are plenty of guys who do it in [the NBA], you just need to be in the right situation.”
Also just joining camp was AEK Athens guard Carl English, who had been unable to fly out of his native Newfoundland for days due to fog.
Also present at the camp was Boston Celtics centre Kelly Olynyk, who like Cory Joseph the day before him, is practicing with the team but will not be a part of the Pan Am team.
Two players making their presence known at camp are also the youngest in Oregon’s Dillon Brooks (Mississauga) and Kentucky’s Jamal Murray. When asked if they could actually help the team in their first time with the senior team, Triano was blunt.
“Yes, no doubt. From what I’ve seen the last little bit, those two may be our youngest players but they’re two of our more efficient scorers, which is good.”
Written by Charles Vanegas
Photo by Charles Vanegas
Edited by Drew Ebanks
