National team manager Chris902 was asked to give individual thoughts on every player at this weekends mini-camp:
Guards:
Sylvain Milot: I see him every week and he still has the one major draw back he’s always had: he has no confidence in his jump shot. Unfortunately, no one else has confidence in it either because it’s terrible. He’s improve a fair bit with it this season but it is still a major hurdle. If you look past his shooting, Milot had a phenomenal intersquad game. He was able to put the clamps on Issa and Mathews and used his long reach to create havoc in the passing lanes. He may be the best perimeter defender Canada has ever produced. He also was very successful at leading the Red team on the fast break and in the halfcourt offense. He is still at least half a season away from being a useful specialist but when he does mature he should be a beast.
Jerome Forest: Jerome Forest had a solid mini-camp. He showed a little bit of everything and is both a solid play maker and a good mid-range scorer. He had trouble dealing with Ed Mathew’s physicality on both ends and was really scared to go into the paint to mix it up. His mid-range game and solid point guard skills make him an intriguing option as a solid bench player but unfortunately he is a bit of jack of all trades, master of none kind of player right now.
Matthew Williams: Didn’t see much playing time in the intersquad game due to a poor showing in drills. He has a lot of potential but he’s still far too raw and doesn’t have a clearly defined position. Not quite good enough with the ball in his hands to run the point and not a good enough shooter to play shooting guard.
Ette Mazzocco: A bit of a surprise, Mazzocco caught fire in late in the game and scored eight straight points for the Red team, including two long three pointers. He has the potential to be the sort of designated shooter that the national team needs. He’s still a bit of a one way player, but coming off of the bench he could be very useful down the road.
Paul Gaize: He’s moved away from his previous role with the u21 team as an undersized SF and is now much more of a guard. He finishes well inside and has a good midrange game but like Forest and Williams he lacks a real position. He played well in spurts and could turn into an excellent scorer in the long run.
Chris Thomas: He’s a player who has been in and out of the national team a bit due to his skill set. He’s definitely a unique player and while he struggled a bit at SF in the intersquad game he did find himself on the floor at SG with Milot, Kaleel and Maja and Griffith late in the first half when the Red team went on a 12-2 run. The five young players used their athleticism and passing skills to work the backdoor cut and get to the rim with ease against the veterans. Thomas’s combination of inside scoring, range on his jumpshot and good fundamentals make him a really interesting option to use at SG when we want to go inside. Unfortunately, his well known deficiency keeps him from being a viable SF option at this point.