‘Anyone’s Game’ Canadian Ballers Fight For Their Respect

‘Anyone’s Game’ Canadian Ballers Fight For Their Respect

CBC’s docuseries, ‘Anyone’s Game,’ gives us a behind the scenes look at one of the most successful basketball prep schools in Canada.

Within a hours drive from Toronto, in the town of Orangeville there is a very special prep school developing high caliber athletes.

The Athlete Institute (AI) is a Canadian sports venue and facility which operates several fitness, sports and entertainment properties.

Under the Athlete Institute’s umbrella is Orangeville Prep.

Orangeville Prep & NBA Ties

The six part docuseries gives us a true depiction of what goes into creating a high caliber basketball program.

Furthermore, the docuseries showcases the 2019-2020 Orangeville Prep team journey. Viewers are able to see the highs, lows, successes and frustrations that athletes encounter.

For example, we see the team play at the invite-only ‘The Grind Session,’ a tournament that brings the top highschool basketball teams in North America together.

To put it in perspective, close to twenty-five percent of NBA players have played in The Grind Session.

Orangeville Prep is the only Canadian high school prep team to be invited to this prestigious tournament.

What’s exciting about the docuseries is the behind the scenes look at past players who currently are signed with NCAA Division 1 schools.

There’s a lot of buzz around Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe who currently plays for Oklahoma State University. He plays alongside Cade Cunningham, who’s considered a top recruit in the U.S.

Furthermore, Jeff Ngandu from the Democratic Republic of Congo recently signed with the Seton Hall Pirates.

The program has close NBA ties producing several NBA alumni such as: Jamal Murray (Denver Nuggets), Thon Maker (Cleveland Cavaliers), Lugentz Dort (Oklahoma City Thunder), Oshae Brissett (Fort Wayne Mad Ants, NBA G-League) and Iggy Brazdeikis (New York Knicks).

The Coach – Heart Of The Team

The coach is the foundation of stability behind any great sports team.

Head Coach Tony McIntyre admired by many within Canada and across the border, exemplifies the characteristics of a successful coach.

Also, viewers see glimpses of McIntyre’s basketball family. Two of his sons, Tyler and Dylan Innis both play basketball in Europe. Both his sons played in NCAA Division 1 universities.

McIntyre’s wife, Suzette Ennis aka ‘mom’ plays an important part not only in her family’s life but, in the lives of the players on the team.

Moreover, the documentary series is produced by Game Seven Media and BestCrosses Studio.

Written and directed by Michael Hamilton. He directed other documentaries such as, Facing Schwarzenegger and Nash (documenting the journey of Canadian basketball player, Steve Nash).

Kyle McCutcheon of Game Seven Media and Jack Sussman of BestCrosses Studios were the executive producers the documentary.

CBC’s Sally Gato was the General Manager, Entertainment, Factual & Sports; Jennifer Dettman is the Executive Director, Unscripted Content and Michelle McCree is the Executive in Charge of Production.