Dillon Brooks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

World Cup Notes: USA-Canada Rivalry, Valanciunas, Latvia

September 9th, 2023 at 9:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

They both fell short of the gold medal game, but Sunday’s meeting between Team USA and Canada could be the beginning of a significant rivalry in international basketball, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. The teams will face off for third place as the Canadians hope to win their first-ever World Cup medal and their first in any tournament since the 1936 Olympics.

Both countries have rosters filled with NBA talent, and both had successful runs in the World Cup before slipping in Friday’s semifinals. The U.S. lost to Germany by two points, and Canada fell to Serbia by nine.

“They haven’t won a medal since the 1930s, so they’re coming for us,” Tyrese Haliburton said. “I think both of our countries will expect to see each other for the coming years. So it seems like this is kind of the start.”

Familiarity is part of the storyline as players bring their NBA rivalries into international competition. There are even some ex-teammates involved as Jaren Jackson Jr. will face Dillon Brooks for the first time since Brooks left the Grizzlies in free agency to sign with the Rockets.

“I hope Dillon does talk trash,” Jackson said. “Otherwise it wouldn’t be him. It wouldn’t be real.”

There’s more on the World Cup:

Following an All-NBA season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been one of the biggest stars of the tournament, notes Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. The Canadian guard is sixth overall in World Cup scoring at 23.6 PPG and he’s number one in terms of scoring efficiency. “It’s the change of pace, yeah,” Thunder and Canadian teammate Luguentz Dort said. “Also, it’s the way he explodes, the way he can get off the defender to rise for his shot. The way that he handles the ball, the way that he creates for himself. There’s so much more.”
Jonas Valanciunas has represented Lithuania in every major tournament since 2011 and he’s not ready to think about stopping, per George Efkarpidis of Eurohoops. The 31-year-old center considers it an important part of his basketball responsibilities. “I feel proud playing for my country,” Valanciunas said. “That is what I can give for my country. This is how I can put my country on the map. I am going to keep doing that (as long as) my body lets me and the team needs me.”
Latvia wrapped up the No. 5 spot in its first-ever World Cup, defeating Lithuania by 35 points on Saturday. It’s an impressive statement from a team that played without Kristaps Porzingis, who sat out the tournament to recover from plantar fasciitis, and lost captain Dairis Bertans to an injury, observes Aris Barkas of Eurohoops.

Dillon Brooks Thinks He’s The Best Defender In The World

September 7th, 2023 at 3:53pm CST by Rory Maher

Rockets forward Dillon Brooks certainly doesn’t lack confidence. Following Canada’s quarterfinal victory over Slovenia at the 2023 World Cup, the veteran wing was asked if he was the best defender at the tournament.

“Yeah. This tournament, this world, in the NBA,” Brooks said, per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. “I feel like I bring a different type of defense with my IQ and how physical I play and how disciplined I am on the floor.”

Brooks earned a spot on the All-Defensive Second Team this past season, his first appearance on an All-League team. As Fischer writes, new head coach Ime Udoka singled out the former Oregon product as a key target for Houston in free agency this summer due to his defensive tenacity.

“He (Udoka) knows that I bring a different type of edge to the game,” Brooks told Yahoo Sports. “I have my ups and downs with it. But I can teach young guys. Houston was a great offensive team. They just needed more on the defensive end, stressing priority on the defensive end.”

Describing the Rockets as a “great offensive team” in 2022/23 isn’t exactly accurate — they ranked 27th in the league, only faring better than the Pistons, Spurs and Hornets. However, Brooks is right that Houston needs help on both ends — the team was even worse on defense, finishing 29th in ’22/23 after being dead last two seasons ago.

Long known for being an irritant and a tone-setter for Memphis, the 27-year-old received a lucrative four-year, $86MM+ deal from the Rockets via a complex sign-and-trade. Brooks tells Fischer he’s ready for a leadership role with Houston.

“Just having a positive mindset, knowing that it’s gonna be a transition day by day,” Brooks said. “Getting better day by day and finding ways to believe in the details and believe in the little things that get you to where you need to get to, whether it’s playoffs, whether it’s winning the in-season tournament, each game getting better and better.”

In case you missed it, Canada faces Serbia in the first World Cup semifinal early Friday morning. You can vote in our poll for both semifinal match-ups right here.

World Cup Notes: SGA, Brooks, Doncic, F. Wagner

September 7th, 2023 at 10:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has separated himself from the field in the race for World Cup MVP, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet. The Thunder guard had 31 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday against Slovenia and has been outstanding while leading Canada to its first semifinals appearance in tournament history.

Among those impressed by SGA’s exploits is Canadian star Steve Nash, who served as general manager of the national team and had him on the roster for an Olympic qualifying tournament in 2016. Although Gilgeous-Alexander was just a teenager at the time and barely played, Nash could tell he had the potential to become something special.

“I mean, he’s got it, right?” Nash said. “He has the game, the feel, the understanding of his responsibility in the moment. It’s just a beautiful thing when you have a player like that in your arsenal.”

There’s more on the World Cup:

Canadian coach Jordi Fernandez credited Dillon Brooks for his strong defensive effort against Luka Doncic in the win over Slovenia, per Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. The Slovenians were upset by some of Brooks’ tactics before both players were ejected in the fourth quarter, but Fernandez doesn’t mind if Brooks takes the same approach in the semifinals against Serbia. “If they complain, they complain,” he said. “We have to play our game and we have to keep our composure, so we can control what we can control. I think yesterday we did a great job as a team defensively and especially Dillon put on a defensive clinic and it should be in a FIBA museum at some point.”
Doncic was upset at not getting more foul calls and made a money-sign gesture toward FIBA officials during the game, but he and Slovenia remain on good terms with the organization, Barkas adds in a separate story. Doncic downplayed the incident in a post-game press conference, according to Barkas, and Slovenian Federation president Matej Erjavec sat with FIBA secretary general Andreas Zaglis for Thursday’s contest against Lithuania.
Franz Wagner is confident that German teammate Dennis Schröder will bounce back in Friday’s semifinal meeting with Team USA after shooting 4-of-26 from the field against Latvia, relays George Efkarpidis of Eurohoops. Wagner also discussed the ankle injury that sidelined him for much of the tournament before he returned for the quarterfinals. “We tried to do as much rehab, icing, all that stuff as much as possible, and I think we did a really good job,” Wagner said. “And then the last week or so, I started working out on the court and was able to do a little bit more. I did a bunch of conditioning stuff, too, just so I can play again.”

Team Canada Notes: QF Win, SGA, Brooks, Nurse

September 6th, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

In addition to qualifying for the 2024 Olympics, the Canadian men’s national team has earned a spot in the FIBA World Cup semifinals for the first time in the history of the event. However, star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates aren’t happy to simply leave the Philippines with a spot in the final four.

“It feels good, but we are not satisfied,” Gilgeous-Alexander said after Wednesday’s victory over Slovenia, according to Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops.net. “We didn’t come here only to get to the semifinals, we came here to try to get gold.”

Team Canada will be in tough in the semifinal against a talented Serbian squad that played in the gold medal game in the 2014 World Cup, and would be an underdog against Team USA in a potential final. However, Slovenia’s head coach Aleksander Sekulić is bullish on the club’s chances after seeing his team fall to the Canadians on Wednesday.

“Canada has a hell of a team,” Sekulić said, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “They can play different lineups, small-ball and two bigs. They have big guards, strong guards. They have guys who can create. So they have everything they need to go all the way. I think they can match up with (the) United States.”

Here’s more on Team Canada:

Although the Canadians made it past Slovenia in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, head coach Jordi Fernandez chided forward Dillon Brooks after the game for his fourth-quarter ejection. “He has to be better,” Fernandez said, per Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. “We need him on the court. You can’t get disqualified. We have to have better composure as a team.” The head coach did laud Brooks for playing his role “at a high level” prior to his early exit.
Although he’s no longer the head coach of Team Canada, having been replaced by Fernandez when he stepped down earlier this year, Nick Nurse continues to keep a close eye on the club’s performance on the international stage, writes Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. “An awesome job by them, so very happy for them,” Nurse said before Wednesday’s semifinal win. “Just in my time, from 2019 to now, it was a big process to get here and I’m just glad to see them realize the vision, the goal, the dream.”
Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman shares his takeaways from the Canada/Slovenia game, noting that Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic entered the World Cup as the consensus top two players in the event and the Thunder guard won their head-to-head battle on Wednesday.

Southwest Notes: Luka, Brooks, Mavs, Whitmore, Branham

September 6th, 2023 at 11:04am CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to reporters after Slovenia’s loss to Canada on Wednesday, Mavericks star Luka Doncic claimed that the FIBA officials said they weren’t inclined to give him foul calls due to the way he was arguing with them all night, as Aris Barkas of Eurohoops relays.

“The refs told one of the guys, ‘We’re not going to call a foul on him because he’s coming at us,'” Doncic said. “I know I complain a lot, but I don’t think this is fair. They were playing physically against me, but that’s not fair, to say something like this.”

Both Doncic and Rockets forward Dillon Brooks were ejected from the game with technical fouls in the fourth quarter — Doncic for objecting to a non-call and Brooks for taunting. Brooks was the primary defender on Doncic and guarded him aggressively for much of the game. However, Doncic said his anger wasn’t aimed at Brooks.

“I respect Dillon, he is very physical,” Doncic said. “People may not like him, but I respect him for what he does. And he does that really good.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

The Mavericks will benefit a little financially from JaVale McGee‘s contract with Sacramento, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Dallas will receive $697,340 in “set-off” based on McGee’s new deal, and that amount will spread across the five years he remains on the team’s books, reducing his annual cap hits by $139,468.
Rockets rookie Cam Whitmore, the MVP of the Las Vegas Summer League in July, spoke to Kelly Iko of The Athletic about his experience in Vegas and his expectations for his first NBA season. According to Whitmore, his focus when he reports to the team this fall will be on learning his role. “Whatever the coaching staff wants me to do, I’ll do it,” Whitmore said. “If they mention something to me, I’ll make sure it’s taken care of. I’m all ears in training camp.”
As he prepares for his second NBA season, Spurs wing Malaki Branham has spent the offseason in gyms in San Antonio, Washington, D.C., and even in Madrid during his first ever trip overseas, part of an NBPA retreat. As Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News writes in a subscriber-only story, Branham is optimistic that the work he has put into improving his game this summer will be readily apparent in the fall. “Even the guys I’ve seen since I’ve been back are like, ‘I see you’ve been in the gym a lot this summer,'” Branham said.

World Cup Semifinals Set; Serbia, Germany Qualify For Olympics

September 6th, 2023 at 9:32am CST by Luke Adams

Germany completed a comeback win over Latvia on Wednesday to earn a place in the World Cup semifinals, while Canada defeated Slovenia to claim a spot in the final four as well.

The World Cup semifinal games, which will take place on Friday, are as follows:

United States vs. Germany
Canada vs. Serbia

Although Team USA will enter the semifinal as a heavy favorite, Germany is the only undefeated team left in the tournament, having come out victorious in all six of their games so far.

The Germans, who got Magic forward Franz Wagner back on Wednesday following an ankle injury, recovered from an early deficit and overcame an off day from guard Dennis Schröder, who made just four of his 26 shot attempts from the floor. The rest of the team shot 54.5% (24-of-44), with Wagner contributing a team-high 16 points to overcome Davis Bertans (20 points) and the Latvians by a score of 81-79.

The Canadians, meanwhile, pulled away from Luka Doncic and the Slovenians in a strong third quarter and won 100-89, earning their first-ever berth in a World Cup semifinal.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31 points on 8-of-12 shooting) and RJ Barrett (24 points on 9-of-22 shooting) scored more than half of Canada’s points, while Dillon Brooks (14 points on 5-of-7 shooting) chipped in and played tough defense on Doncic, who scored 26 points on 8-of-20 shooting. Both Doncic and Brooks were ejected during a chippy fourth quarter.

While Latvia and Slovenia will join Lithuania and Italy in the classification games to determine the fifth-through-eight seeds, Germany and Serbia have assured themselves of spots in the 2024 Olympics by finishing as the top two European teams in the World Cup, regardless of the semifinal outcomes.

The eight teams that have qualified for the Paris Olympics so far are the United States, Canada, Germany, Serbia, France, Australia, Japan, and South Sudan. The remaining four spots will be claimed next summer in a series of qualifying tournaments.

World Cup Notes: Brooks, Motiejunas, F. Wagner, Naturalized Players

September 4th, 2023 at 10:41am CST by Arthur Hill

After a difficult season with the Grizzlies, Dillon Brooks feels rejuvenated by his World Cup experience, writes Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops. Brooks has moved past the acrimonious ending of his time in Memphis and is enjoying a summer that has included an $86MM contract with the Rockets and a chance to lead Canada to new heights in international competition.

Brooks had 22 points and five rebounds while playing his usual disruptive defense in Sunday’s win over Spain, moving Canada into the quarterfinal round and wrapping up a spot in the Olympics. The Canadians trailed by 12 points entering the fourth quarter, but Brooks hit three three-pointers during a rally in the must-win game.

“Coming off a tough year with my old squad, it was great having a refresh with Canadian blood,” Brooks said. “Guys who believe in me. Guys who trust in me.”

Reaching the Olympics is a life-long dream for Canadian teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, whose mother, Charmaine Gilgeous, competed for Antigua and Barbuda in the 400 meters during the 1992 games, Stroggylakis adds.

“In my whole life I knew what’s like going to the Olympics because of that,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “And I know the best athletes are there.”

There’s more from the World Cup:

Former NBA big man Donatas Motiejunas tells Aris Barkis of Eurohoops that beating Team USA on Sunday compares to Lithuania’s last victory over the Americans in the 2004 Olympics. “I was a kid at that time, I was 14 years old so I remember watching the game and it was something spectacular,” he said. “Like I said from the first day we are here to bring joy to our people, to our basketball and I know how crazy it’s right now in Lithuania. And I really loved that we, as a team, can bring this joy to our people.”
Germany reached the quarterfinals without Magic forward Franz Wagner, who suffered a sprained ankle in the opening game, and it appears his status for Wednesday’s contest against Latvia won’t be decided until shortly before game time, per Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops. Wagner is considered day to day, but he hasn’t been active since the injury. “He had no team practice yet. We’re gonna have to see what his situation is tomorrow, and the medical staff will make a decision on Wednesday,” Germany head coach Gordon Herbert told reporters. “We go day by day; we have to see how his ankle feels in the morning, see if he’s able tomorrow or not, and we go from there. It’s a process. He wants to play, but he’s pretty frustrated and disappointed he can’t play.”
Along with Mavericks star Luka Doncic, one of Slovenia’s most important players has been center Mike Tobey, who obtained a passport in advance of the 2020 Olympic qualifying tournament, Milanti adds in another piece. Tobey believes naturalized players will have an increased impact in international basketball. “I understand both sides of the rule,” he said. “For me, I think it helps make teams competitive. I’m sure in the future the national teams will do it more because sometimes teams are really just a piece away. Slovenia shows it’s just adding one person in the position they don’t have as many big guys in this generation. I think it can make a big difference, and help small countries compete.”

World Cup Notes: Team USA, Kessler, SGA, Brooks

September 3rd, 2023 at 5:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Following Lithuania’s upset of Team USA, Bucks forward Bobby Portis said the team needs to have a short memory as it prepares to play Italy in the World Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday.

“One thing I learned about sports, nobody gonna feel sorry for you,” Portis said to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports and other media members. “Nobody gonna pat you on your back and sleep with you at night and say, ‘Hey man, it’s gonna be OK.’ Move on, get ready for the next opponent.”

The upset was fueled by Lithuania’s inside power and dominance of the boards. Lithuania out-rebounded Team USA 43-27 and had a 17-2 edge in second-chance points.

“They out-rebounded us, for sure,” Portis said. “I don’t have to look at that stat. I think that was kinda obvious.”

We have more from the World Cup:

Another thing Team USA needs is to get off to better starts, Fischer notes in the same story. The U.S. trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half. “We were on our heels that whole first half,” coach Steve Kerr said. “They were carving us up, and we definitely had some miscommunications.”
Jazz second-year big man Walker Kessler hasn’t seen much action for Team USA, though that could change, given its rebounding issues. Kessler is averaging 3.6 points and 6.1 minutes per game but he’s just happy to be on the roster, Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune relays. “I think that our team, all 12 of us are just unbelievably talented players,” he said. “All the guys are great guys. Regardless of who’s playing, we all cheer for each other. We all support each other. It just goes to show how deep we are. Anybody could have a good night on this team, and it’s a lot of fun to be part of.”
Canada clinched a spot in the Paris Olympics with its 88-85 win over Spain on Sunday. The victory was fueled by the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Rockets’ Dillon Brooks, Eric Koreen of The Athletic notes. Gilgeous-Alexander had 30 points, seven assists and three steals. Brooks supplied 22 points and was also a defensive nuisance. “It’s something that’s almost indescribable,” SGA told Sportsnet in regards to Canada clinching an Olympic appearance for the first time since 2000.

Western Notes: Kings, Brooks, Jones, Lillard, Timberwolves

August 28th, 2023 at 5:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Kings decided to tweak the roster rather than make major changes this offseason after finally reaching the postseason in the spring. They acquired Chris Duarte in a trade and re-signed Harrison Barnes and Trey Lyles. They also signed EuroLeague star Sasha Vezenkov.

Kings coach Mike Brown is excited to have his core group back and is eager to see how they respond to the newfound respect they’ve gained after snapping the franchise’s long playoff drought.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how we can handle the pressure,” the Kings coach said. “It’s flipped now. We’re no longer hunting people; people are hunting us. And there are expectations, so how do we handle that? I believe our guys are ready for it, and with the fans that we have here and the juice they brought last year – let’s go. Let’s get it. I’m excited for Sasha, I’m excited for Chris Duarte, I’m excited about our young guys. It’s good to have the new guys, but I’m more excited about having our guys to be able to run it back and give them the opportunity to grow as a nucleus than anything else.”

We have more from the Western Conference:

The Grizzlies allowed Dillon Brooks in free agency and traded Tyus Jones. So what have they lost? Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal explores that topic. The Grizzlies have become known for their flashy style and trash talking and Brooks was a major reason for that. Jones was a locker room leader and led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio in each of his four seasons with the club.
Trail Blazers fans want the Damian Lillard saga to be resolved soon. In a poll conducted by Jason Quick of The Athletic, 80.4% want the front office to take the best offer for their longtime All-Star and prioritize the team ahead of Lillard. However, the high-scoring guard was voted as the franchise’s greatest player (51.9%), ahead of Clyde Drexler and Bill Walton.
Anthony Edwards (United States), Karl-Anthony Towns (Dominican Republic), Rudy Gobert (France), Kyle Anderson (China), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Canada) and draft-and-stash prospect Matteo Spagnolo (Italy) are participating in the World Cup, while Luka Garza played for Bosnia and Herzegovina in a pre-qualifying Olympic tournament. That should give those Timberwolves players a head start to the NBA season, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Alexander-Walker agrees with the notion. “I want to use it to propel me for the season,” he said.

World Cup Notes: Canada, Fournier, USA, Mills, Towns

August 25th, 2023 at 1:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Canadian national team hasn’t had a ton of success in international competition in recent years and is missing top players like Jamal Murray and Andrew Wiggins at this year’s World Cup. However, Team Canada looked formidable its first group-play game on Friday, outscoring a talented French club by 27 points in the second half en route to a 95-65 win.

“We got our ass kicked,” French wing Evan Fournier told reporters after the game, per Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops. “… They were really physical with us. Taking us out of our set plays. And as a team I think they kind of forced us to do things that we don’t want to do.”

The Canadians leaned heavily on their NBA talent in the victory, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Luguentz Dort, Dwight Powell, Kelly Olynyk, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker all playing at least 20 minutes. Melvin Ejim was the only other player to log more than five minutes in the game.

Gilgeous-Alexander was the standout, racking up 27 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists in just 27 minutes of action. Powell (+35 in 23 minutes) and Brooks (+33 in 26 minutes) anchored Canada’s aggressive defense.

Canada will face Lebanon on Sunday, while France will look to bounce back against Latvia.

Here’s more on the World Cup:

In an Insider-only story, Jonathan Givony and Kevin Pelton of ESPN pick their 15 most interesting players at the World Cup, including reigning NCAA national player of the year Zach Edey (Canada), projected 2024 first-rounder Juan Nunez (Spain) and Fournier (France), who scored a team-high 21 points on Friday after spending most of last season glued to the Knicks‘ bench. A strong World Cup could help earn Fournier a new NBA opportunity via trade or buyout, Pelton notes.
Team USA entered Friday as the strong frontrunners to win the 2023 World Cup, but head coach Steve Kerr knows the team can’t afford to get overconfident, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN writes. “Last time through this tournament, we finished seventh, we lost (two) games,” Kerr said. “We recognize how hard this is. These are not the days of 1992. … We may be one of the favorites, but I don’t think anybody’s clear cut. I think there’s a lot of teams that have a shot at this thing.”
Following an eventful offseason that saw him traded from Brooklyn to Houston to Oklahoma City to Atlanta, veteran guard Patty Mills provided a reminder on Friday of what he can bring to a team. The Hawks guard scored a team-high 25 points in Australia’s resounding win over Finland. “No surprises there,” Jack White said of Mills’ performance, per Olgun Uluc of ESPN. “We know he can turn it on; that’s what he does… he’s a hell of a leader and it’s what we expect from him.”
Prior to the start of the World Cup, Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns spoke to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic about why he’s playing for the Dominican Republic and what it means to him to represent his mother’s native country. Towns and the Dominican Republic team got off to a strong start on Friday, defeating the host Philippines in a game that set a new World Cup attendance record (38,115), as Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press details. Towns scored 26 points in the 87-81 win.