The Voice with Jovan Brkic

The Voice: Blog #4 All Canada Classic

Published by Jovan Brkic on June 7, 2009

The All Canadian Classic presented by PHASE 1 went down this past weekend at Seneca College in North York. The best Canadian players and prospects came together for the weekend to put their skills on display for everyone in the house. I’ll just talk about what I thought were the most interesting parts.

On Friday, the skill competitions took place, including 2-ball, the 3-point shootout, and the dunk contest. I was surprised how well some of these kids could shoot, especially considering they’re only high school players. Cory Joseph and Brady Heslip already have NBA range, which is scary considering they haven’t reached their potential yet!

I was given the opportunity to judge the dunk-off and was pretty hyped for it. You always see guys on TV throwing up those big scorecards, and for some reason I always wanted to do that. It’s funny that a guy like me who can only jump about 2 inches off the ground gets to judge a dunk contest. Oh well, you don’t hear me complaining! I think the highest score I gave was a 9, but for the most part I handed out 8s and 7s. A lot of these dudes have crazy hops but I think the pressure of having a packed gym watching them affected their moves just a little. Emerson Murray out of British Columbia almost pulled off a monstrous between-the legs jam that would’ve even sent Kenny Smith into an all-out rant about how sick that dunk was…but he just missed. He still won the competition though, so it was all good.

The most exciting games were the Men’s Alumni and Men’s All-Star games. In the Alumni Game, the West team overcame a double-digit deficit in the second half to force OT and ultimately win the game led by Denham Brown. Pops Mensah-Bonsu of the Toronto Raptors coached the West team, and it was funny to see him on the sidelines getting really into the game, having a good time and cheering his guys on. I got to interview Pops, and he’s a really cool dude. I talked to him a bit afterwards about soccer since he’s from England. He cheers for a team called Tottenham Hotspur, but I’m a Liverpool fan so that actually makes us enemies. Pops, if you’re reading this, I just want to say that when you’re tired of watching Tottenham lose, feel free to join the Liverpool family!

The Men’s All-Star game went down to the wire, but the real highlight was Junior Cadougan’s epic performance. He dropped 24 points, but it seemed like so much more considering he went on a rampage in the second half. He took a page out of Dwyane Wade’s book, constantly tearing up the court with his handles, athleticism and strength. A few spectators were chanting “MVP!” every time Junior touched the ball. He’ll have a chance to continue his Dwyane Wade impersonation this fall as he suits up for Marquette, which is Wade’s alma mater.

The guys and I from CROWN were busy all weekend catching up with players to get interviews. We got Leo Rautins, Tristan Thompson, Cory Joseph, Alwayne Bigby, Junior Cadougan, Emerson Murray and Dallin Bachynski, just to name a few. Check out our website as we continue to post these interviews. I had some fun interviewing former Toronto Raptor Jerome “The Junk Yard Dog” Williams, who stopped by on Saturday night to coach the Men’s All-Star game. I tried to get him to join my summer league team, but he didn’t go for it. I guess the thought of playing with a legend like “The Voice” scared him. After all, I am one of the best players to ever live on my street.

On Sunday there was a banquet to wrap up the All Canadian Classic. Some touching Speeches were made, a lot of awards were handed out, and we got to dig into a delicious lunch! Congratulations to Alwayne Bigby and Christine Hyde, who won the Mr. Basketball and Mrs. Basketball Canada awards, respectively. Oh yeah, Eastern Commerce took home probably 70% of the awards, solidifying the supremacy of their program.

A special thanks goes out to Wayne Dawkins who headed the PHASE 1 All Canada Classic. He has been running this annual showcase for a decade now, and it’s people like him whose tireless efforts help raise the bar for excellence in Canadian basketball. And thanks to all the volunteers, supporters and players who came out and gave life to the All Canada Classic. I look forward to checking this event out again in 2010 as it should only get better every year!!!

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