[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

No Kabongo? No Birch either?

When the international Hoop Summit team was announced, one could hear a sigh of relief from the U.S. contingent. Mysteriously Texas signee Myck Kabongo (Toronto, Can./Findlay Prep) was left off the team. In his place, Gonzaga-bound guard Kevin Pangos (New Market, Ont./Denison) was named. Why not take them both?

Kabongo was as shocked as the people who read the roster and noticed the omission. Frankly, his omission is absurd and inexplicable. He’s the one international guy that toed the line with the U.S. guards. Heck, if he were a U.S. citizen he would have made our team.

Equally puzzling was the omission of fellow Canadian Khem Birch (Montreal, Can./Notre Dame Prep). The Pittsburgh signee and J.V. Derrick Favors clone is a top dozen prospect in the senior class. While there remains a chance some of the international frontcourt players are bigger and maybe even better, its hard to fathom there are so many of them that Birch doesn’t merit selection.

At the end of the day, these are kids. Kids who rightfully earned and desired to represent the international contingent in the game. They aren’t owed an explanation for their omission but it sure would be nice to hear someone offer up a reason why they weren’t asked to play. They deserve to know.

-Dave Telep

 

This was written by Dave Telep for ESPN.com recruiting. I am pretty surprised myself to hear about this. I had just assumed that it was a scheduling conflict or that they were satisfied playing in two All-Star games with McDonald’s and Jordan, but to not even be invited is pretty darn strange and a major oversight. I guess you do not want the International team to turn into Team Canada, and that they do have a Team Canada for the summer’s Nike Global Challenge, but Myck Kabongo and Khem Birch would probably be fighting for spots on the Team USA roster if they were born in the states. They would definitely give the International team that much more of a chance of winning. As of right now, this seems incredibly odd, and I really hope that something is presented as far as why they were not chosen, or that Myck and Khem at least say they had other plans or something to that extent. There may be hope however:

 

"The Nike Hoop Summit is the country’s premiere annual basketball game featuring America’s top 10 senior boy high school players taking on a World Select Team comprised of 11 of the world’s top players who are 19-years-old or younger. Additional information on the 2011 Nike Hoop Summit is available online at 2011 Nike Hoop Summit."

 

This was taken off of the games media guide (to view it go here: http://www.nikehoopsummit.com/nhs_contacts.htm) and it does state that 11 of the worlds top players will be in the game for the World Select Team. Well, the roster right now includes 9 players, and I really hope, not just because of my ties to Canada (which is cold and I have my issues with even though I live here) but for the competitiveness of this team that Myck Kabongo and Khem Birch are added to the roster. They are really fun players to watch and they would add a lot to the team. You do want everyone to have a good deal of PT in these games, but I would not think that would be a problem if their were 11 players overall. I really hope this gets resolved and hopefully the right thing is done if in fact Myck Kabongo and Khem Birch were never approached to play in the game. Kyle Wiltjer was an obvious choice as he lives in Oregon, and Kevin Pangos is a great player, but Myck and Khem could definitely play roles on this team. 4 Canadians on a World Roster may be seen as too much, but I just want to see the best possible world players under 19 that they can grab, and Khem and Myck are two of them I believe.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 Kabongo is as good if not better as any PG in this class not named Marquise Teague, and Kabongo might be even a better pure PG then Teague and if the perfect PG for All-Star games his omission can not be reasoned talent wise.

Khem Birch is a freak only Rakim Christmas comes close to Birch in terms of size, strength, and althleticism in this class I’m not even going to watch if Birch doesn’t play he was the player I was most hype to see.

[The lake show2]

I wonder if it has more to do with NBA scouts or the public seeing these euro guys instead of the Canada Guys that they have already seen plenty of because they play in the states? 

[OhCanada-Participant]

I think stanford maybe onto something. This may not be a game for Top Ranked players who have been through the american scouts cycle…Pangos is relitively unknown, and Birch and Kabongo already have spotsi n other prestigous games such as the All American game.

[kanyedabestParticipant]

sounds pretty criminal 2 me

[OnionsParticipant]

 That’s what I noticed. Two top 15 players in their class, Myck being the best pure PG and Birch has some of the highest upside in the class.

 

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