Boucher passes up valuable exposure
Staying with the national team would have provided chance to expand his game
He remains a jumble of promise amid myriad questions but Chris Boucher will not be able to show that promise, answer those queries or expand his game at what once again seems a sort of crossroads in his basketball career.
The 26-year-old Raptors forward has pulled out of representing Canada at the FIBA World Cup that begins later this month in China.
“He’s got some things he needs to take care of here in Canada at home,” coach Nick Nurse said Thursday. “I’m disappointed, because he was as good as I’ve seen him in our training camp. So I’m a little disappointed, but again, personal things come up. Life happens for some of these guys, and he’s going to need to withdraw.”
The news was much better for veteran stalwart Kelly Olynyk, who will need at least a week to recover from a knee bruise suffered in Wednesday’s win over Nigeria.
The 28-year-old native of Kamloops, B.C., will miss Friday’s game against Nigeria in Winnipeg but it still expected to be with Canada for its exhibition tour of Australia and the World Cup in China.
“It’s a bruise, so that’s positive news,” Nurse said of Olynyk, who fell hard on the Mattamy Athletic Centre court in the third quarter of Wednesday’s game. “It’s going to be about a week probably before he’s cleared to go back to full on-court activities.”
Olynyk’s injury — he appeared to slip on a wet spot on the court — underscores the inherent risk all the professionals who decide to spend parts of their summers with the national team take each time they practise or play.
But not playing because something “might” happen seems ridiculous because something “might” happen anywhere and they know that. That Olynyk got banged up while playing for Canada was a tough break, just as it would have been tough had he tweaked an ankle in some open gym run somewhere.
“You’re out there playing, stuff can happen in any pick-up game, any practice, any workout, anywhere you’re at,” Nurse said. “It’s part of it. I’m just glad it’s not serious. A serious, serious injury is a different story. I just don’t think you see that that often.
“I know the Paul George one (the NBA star blew out his knee in a gruesome fall during an intrasquad game with the U.S. national team) is the one that everybody remembers, but other than that, what other serious, serious injuries? Again, I give the guys that are here a lot of credit. They love to hoop, they hoop for Canada, and they do it with a lot of pride and a lot of heart.”
Boucher, meanwhile, was going to be given every opportunity to not only expand his game while playing for Canada but to show his Raptors head coach that he was worthy of more serious consideration to make a regular NBA rotation.
Nurse had lauded him for his versatility through the first two days of camp before Boucher had to withdraw from his first significant international competition.
Boucher’s ability to show more for Canada could only have helped him with his NBA career. He’s got a paltry guarantee of only US$125,000 from the Raptors heading into training camp and while his contract will be fully guaranteed if he makes the team, he’s still got to carry that hurdle. And, at 26, time is, unfortunately, running out so the more he can do, the better.
“I’m even lightly entertaining some small forward for him,” Nurse said earlier this week.
To replace Boucher, Canada added European veteran big man Owen Klassen to the roster that will play Friday in Winnipeg before leaving for Australia and five more tuneup games.
The 6-foot-10 native of Kingston has played five seasons in Montenegro, Germany and Belgium this coming season and gives Canada a bit more bulk up front, a much-needed commodity for key World Cup first-round games against Australia and Lithuania.