Here are a few thoughts about this morning's Slovenian slaughter -- hey that's what they called it on the FIBA website.

1. The drop off from Jermaine Anderson at point guard and whatever combination of Carl English and Andy Rautins they use is simply vast. Anderson is solid and improving but a notch below what you ideally need at this level; Rautins and English simply are not point guards and it's not fair to ask them to play the role.

2. My sense is Sam Dalembert wants to play a bigger offensive role than he normally gets to in Philly. The problem is Canada needs him to focus on blocking shots, running the floor and getting on the offensive glass. That's what makes him good in the NBA and that's what Canada needs also.

3. Sorry to harp on the point guard siuation -- and yes it would be nice to have Nash playing -- but it's ironic that just when Canada's big man rotation is possibly the deepest it's ever been and there is some promise at the wings there is only one even remotely proven point guard available, nationally, unless Rautins badly overlooked someone.

4. After the way the Slovenians shredded Canada with ball movement and dribble penetration, you have to be nervous about what could happen if Korea gets them moving around.

5. From Deeper Andrew followed up with some good observations today:
 
-The Greek network, ERT, showing the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament has switched their signal to the World Feed and it doesn't appear people with broadband computer access will be able to watch any further games.
 
-Props to The Score & Canada Basketball for providing coverage this morning... some audio problems early on but all things considered it wasn't that big of a deal... problem resolved around 6:20 am
 
-In case people are wondering Jeff Taylor provided the commentary for the FIBA International feed... I believe he's from North Carolina, very knowledgeable and his work appears on the FIBA website
 
-Canada came out strong... and early on got a lot of good looks... ran a lot of solid offensive sequences... in fact, Canada scouted Slovenia at the Alpos Cup and took away many options in the first three of four minutes of the game, which included several steals
 
-Canada totally out of sync when Jermaine Anderson is out of the game for any prolonged period of time... once he came out of the game with his 2nd foul, the Slovenians immediately began denying Rautins the ball on the in-bounds pass... and when Canada was able to get offensive sets with English and Rautins on the floor, the Slovenians were trapping guards at the top and forcing decision making situations
 
-Canada still trying to establish an offensive identity when the first five are off the floor, second unit hasn't meshed
 
-Most noticeable on the defensive side of the court for Canada is the lack of ball pressure
 
-Slovenian spacing on offense is problematic for Canada, and their ability to put the ball on the floor allowed them to get to the FT line
 
-Slovenia's M2M defense was disruptive, especially out on the perimeter where they took away dribble penetration opportunities, forced Canada late into the 24-second shot clock with great interior, help defense... usually resulted into low % shots
 
Andrew