The Canadian Men's Senior National Basketball Team announced it's 2011 Training camp roster late last week. And noticeably absent were Canada's newest NBA ambassadors and long time teammates Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph.

The 2011 NBA Lockout has forced many International Federations including Canada and National basketball team Head Coach Leo Rautins to get creative with his roster selection.

As usual with NBA players, Canada Basketball must come up with insurance money for all Canadians playing in the NBA.

The current agreement between the NBA, FIBA and National Federations goes something like this, NBA covers one-third of the insurance costs associated with NBA players playing in national team competitions and tournaments. Another third is covered by the national team (Canada Basketball) and the final third is covered by FIBA.

Canada currently has seven players in the League and as more Canadians basketball players get drafted the cost of insurance will force the Canadian national federation to look at corporate sponsorship to help offset its non-profit organizational structure.

Fortunately, Canada Basketball is currently in better financial shape thanks in part to strong partnerships from corporate support and the Toronto Raptors.

A deal is currently in the last stages to ensure that Cory Joseph will join the Canadian Team at Ryerson University (Toronto) for the second phase (August 12 – 20)training camp.

Joseph is familiar with the National program and has played in two FIBA World championships, 2007 and 2009.

Tristan Thompson, Canada's highest ever selected NBA player will take the summer off to rest his body.

Thompson has intentions on playing for Canada but will use the time to regroup after a long NCAA season that included an even tougher NBA showcase tour which led to a surprise selection from the Cavaliers.

Having Cory Joseph in the line-up will certainly help Canada as it attempts to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics Games in London England.

The Spurs and Head coach Gregg Popovich certainly will be happy to see their young point guard earn more experience and develop throughout the 2011 NBA Lockout.

Joseph will certainly make a case for a starting point guard position. Leo Rautins will have to make some tough decisions as who to start, as well as the third point guard option.

Jermaine Anderson who took over the point guard duties after Steve Nash called it quits returns for another season with the national program and is the front runner for the starting gig.

Anderson's strong play was one of the main reasons why the Canadians qualified for the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey.

The battle for the third and last PG spot will likely be between Brady Heslip (Baylor University-NCAA) and newcomer Antwi Atuahene (Leones, Mexico).

Atuahene is more a scoring guard and has a few more years of experience both at the NCAA (Arizona State) level and professionally. Heslip is also solid a contributor who can knock down outside jumpers’ consistently, which could fair better for Canada at the international play.

Joseph averaged 13.6 points in 30.0 minutes a game while shooting over 50 per cent (41-76) from three-point range at the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championships.

Team Canada opens up play with a European Tour (July 24 – August 5) against France, Italy, Czech Republic.

2011 SENIOR MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM – TRAINING CAMP ROSTER

Name Position Height Hometown School/Club (2010/11)
Jermaine Anderson Guard 6’2 Toronto, ON Panionios (Greece)
Joel Anthony Centre 6’9 Montreal, QC Miami (NBA)
Mangisto Arop Guard 6’5 Edmonton, AB Gonzaga University (NCAA)
Antwi Atuahene Guard 6’3 Mississauga, ON Leones (Mexico)
Denham Brown Guard 6’5 Toronto, ON Dnipro (Ukraine)
Murphy Burnatowski Forward 6’6 Waterloo, ON University of Maine (NCAA)
Aaron Doornekamp Forward 6’7 Odessa, ON Caserta (Italy)
Carl English Guard 6’5 St. John’s NL DKV Joventut (Spain)
Jeff Ferguson Center 6’11 Toronto, ON Edmonton (IBL)
Brady Heslip Guard 6’2 Burlington, ON Baylor University (NCAA)
Levon Kendall Forward 6’10 Vancouver, BC Obradorio (Spain)
Nemanja Mitrovic Guard 6’5 Toronto, ON University of Portland (NCAA)
Kelly Olynyk Forward 6’11 Kamloops, BC Gonzaga University (NCAA)
Andy Rautins Guard 6’5 Syracuse, NY New York (NBA)
Jevohn Shepherd Forward 6’6 Toronto, ON Frankfurt (Germany)
Jamie Vanderbeken Forward 6’11 Belleville, ON Iowa State University (NCAA)
Jesse Young Center 6’10 Peterborough, ON Banca Tercas (Italy)

2011 SENIOR MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM – STAFF
Leo Rautins Head Coach
Renato Pasquali Assistant Coach
Scott Roth Assistant Coach
Greg Francis Assistant Coach

2011 SENIOR MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM – SUMMER SCHEDULE

Phase 1
Training Camp Ryerson University, Toronto July 15 – 23
European Tour France, Italy, Czech Republic July 24 – August 5

Phase 2
Training Camp Ryerson University, Toronto August 12 – 20

2011 Jack Donohue International Classic (JDIC)
Belgium vs. Canada Ryerson University, Toronto August 13
Belgium vs. Canada McMaster University, Hamilton August 14

Tuto Marchand Cup Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil August 24 – 26
FIBA Americas Championship Mar Del Plata, Argentina August 30 – September 1