The top-ranked UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball squad rebounded well from their Thursday loss to No. 7 SFU, finishing with a 77-68 victory in today's rematch against the Clan. The two teams were pretty close throughout, with SFU leading 35-30 at the half, but UBC turned it up a notch in the third quarter. They outscored SFU 25-15 in the frame and finished strong down the stretch.
UBC's shooting improved significantly after the half, boosting their field goal percentage from 42.3 per cent in the first half to 46.7 per cent after the break. They also got stingier on defence, and SFU's shots stopped falling; the Clan shot 40.6 per cent in the first half, but only hit 30.4 per cent of their field goals in the final quarters. Part of that came from the Thunderbirds' transition to a higher-tempo game; SFU didn't have anyone who could run with Josh Whyte, Blaine LaBranche and Nathan Yu. Whyte finished with 16 points, while LaBranche had 21 and Yu chipped in seven. The fast-paced offence seemed to knock SFU off guard and created lots of second chances for the Thunderbirds off rebounds; they picked up eight offensive rebounds to the Clan's five, and outrebounded SFU 41-34 over the course of the game.
SFU guard Chas Kok, who led the Clan with 18 points, said afterwards their failure to control the glass cost them the game.
"Defensively, we didn't really do what we wanted to," he said. "We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds, and that's what killed us."
Kok said the Clan weren't able to keep up with UBC late in the game.
"In the second half, we just played one speed," he said.
He said it was disappointing to lose their final CIS regular-season home game.
"I wanted to win that one for the seniors," he said.
Kok said the team still has plenty of work to do going into the playoffs despite impressive play this week.
"Defensively, we need to get better," he said. "Offensively, we need to get better. We just need to get better overall."
[Cross-posted to The CIS Blog]
Showing posts with label CIS hoops. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CIS hoops. Show all posts
Saturday, January 30, 2010
CIS: Final league showdown for UBC and SFU
It's a special day for Simon Fraser University's basketball teams. They're hosting the archrival UBC Thunderbirds in a pair of rather important games. On the women's side, the No. 1 Clan are coming off thumpings of the Winnipeg Wesmen and Manitoba Bisons last weekend. They're looking to maintain their perfect 13-0 record in conference play, but they'll face a tough opponent in 10-4 UBC, as the Thunderbirds are tied for second in the Canada West Pacific division. It's also the last home league game for their seniors, including popular blogger Kate Hole, and the team's also raising funds for breast cancer research.
On the men's side, the 12-2 Clan (ranked No. 7) are flying high after knocking off No. 1 UBC 82-79Wednesday Thursday (thanks, Peter!). That was the 13-1 Thunderbirds' first conference loss. They'll be out for revenge in today's rematch.
The other interesting subplot to these games is that they're the final regular-season CIS home games SFU's basketball teams will play, as the school's planned move to the NCAA in 2011 got bumped up to this coming year after Canada West put them on probation earlier this year. As Rob wrote, that also could mean that SFU's fourth-year players either end their careers here (thanks to the NCAA's four-year eligibility window, as compared to the five years in CIS) or wind up moving to another school. This adds another dimension to what's already a compelling pair of contests. I'll be covering both games today (the men's game is at 3 p.m. Pacific, with the women's game to follow) and live-blogging both if I'm able to get an Internet connection; feel free to stop by! I'll have a post-game piece later tonight as well.
[Cross-posted to The CIS Blog]
On the men's side, the 12-2 Clan (ranked No. 7) are flying high after knocking off No. 1 UBC 82-79
The other interesting subplot to these games is that they're the final regular-season CIS home games SFU's basketball teams will play, as the school's planned move to the NCAA in 2011 got bumped up to this coming year after Canada West put them on probation earlier this year. As Rob wrote, that also could mean that SFU's fourth-year players either end their careers here (thanks to the NCAA's four-year eligibility window, as compared to the five years in CIS) or wind up moving to another school. This adds another dimension to what's already a compelling pair of contests. I'll be covering both games today (the men's game is at 3 p.m. Pacific, with the women's game to follow) and live-blogging both if I'm able to get an Internet connection; feel free to stop by! I'll have a post-game piece later tonight as well.
[Cross-posted to The CIS Blog]
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Final 8: Carleton - UBC live blog
This one's for all the marbles! It's the national championship game, live from Scotiabank Place. The top-ranked Carleton Ravens are taking on the third-seeded UBC Thunderbirds. Join in the live blog below!
Final 8: Ottawa - Concordia live blog
Live from Scotiabank Place, it's the consolation final of the Final 8! The Concordia Stingers are taking on the Ottawa Gee-Gees. Join in the live blog below!
Friday, March 13, 2009
Final 8: Carleton - St. FX live blog
The final game of the day sees the top-seeded Carleton Ravens take on the wild-card St. Francis Xavier X-Men. Join the live blog below!
Final 8: Western - Ottawa live blog
It's the Battle of Ontario, CIS hoops-style! The Western Mustangs take on the Ottawa Gee-Gees at 6 p.m. tonight, live on The Score. The winner will play whoever comes out of tonight's late game between Carleton and St. FX. Join in the live blog below starting at 6!
Calgary - Concordia live blog
And here's the promised live blog of Calgary-Concordia Final 8 men's basketball! Sorry it took so long; had to fight a vast horde of technical gremlins. Join me and the other CIS Blog guys below.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Upcoming CIS basketball live blogs
I'm off to Ottawa later this morning for the men's basketball nationals, the Final 8. It should be a great tournament. Four of the five of us from The CIS Blog are going to be in attendance and will be providing wall-to-wall coverage there, but I'm also planning to do some stuff at this site. In particular, I'll be involved in the live-blogging of all the Friday and Sunday games, and thanks to the magic of CoverItLive, you should be able to access those live blogs here, through Out of Left Field or through The CIS Blog. I have to return to Kingston for some Journal meetings on Saturday, so I won't likely be in on those live blogs (I think the guys are still planning to do them), but you can access those at The CIS Blog. Here's tomorrow's slate of games:
#2 Calgary vs. #7 Concordia: 12:30 p.m. Eastern (SSN Canada)
#3 UBC vs. #6 Dalhousie: 2:30 p.m. Eastern (SSN Canada)
#4 Western vs. #5 Ottawa: 6:00 p.m. Eastern (Live on The Score), also webcast live at SSN Canada)
#1 Carleton vs. #8 St. FX 8:00 p.m. Eastern (Live at SSN Canada, rebroadcast at 10 p.m. Eastern on The Score)
#2 Calgary vs. #7 Concordia: 12:30 p.m. Eastern (SSN Canada)
#3 UBC vs. #6 Dalhousie: 2:30 p.m. Eastern (SSN Canada)
#4 Western vs. #5 Ottawa: 6:00 p.m. Eastern (Live on The Score), also webcast live at SSN Canada)
#1 Carleton vs. #8 St. FX 8:00 p.m. Eastern (Live at SSN Canada, rebroadcast at 10 p.m. Eastern on The Score)
Friday, November 14, 2008
Campus Corner: Stinson joins hoops Gaels
I learned this morning that football tight end Scott Stinson (famed not only for his size and great receiving numbers, but also for being one of the few athletes to crack the front page of the Journal, even in less than ideal circumstances) has officially joined the men's basketball team. There had been some rumours floating around about this earlier, but it's confirmed now: he's on the official roster and may play as early as their weekend games against Brock and Guelph.
This might work out well for the team. One of the big problems so far has been their lack of depth in the frontcourt positions; in fact, as I pointed out in my story on last weekend's games, a lot of their success came when they went to a three-guard lineup. Especially with Jon Ogden not playing (he played in the pre-season, but isn't with the team at the moment), there aren't a lot of frontcourt options on this team, and Stinson's addition should significantly help with that.
These Gaels are renowned for their speed and their outside shooting, but their main presence down low at the moment is Mitch Leger, who's better as a power forward or a small forward than a centre. Rookie Bernard Burgessen and second-year centre Patrick Beswick have shown potential, and Rob Shaw brings veteran experience, but they can't play all the time, and Stinson should be able to eat some minutes. Moreover, he's got a ton of size; he's listed as 6'6'', 250 pounds in the football media guide, but personal observations (and that aforementioned OUA roster) suggest he's at least 6'7''. More impressive still is his weight; Burgessen and Beswick (the only other 6'7'' guys on the roster) are tall, but pretty stringy, and Shaw isn't much bulkier. With his size and athleticism, Stinson should be able to make an impact.
Another point of interest is that this isn't a new game for Stinson; the aforementioned football media guide notes that he was a member of the 2003 national bronze-medal basketball team at Humber College. He also played basketball, soccer, Ultimate and rugby at Chippewa High School in North Bay in addition to football, so he's obviously got a fair bit of all-around athleticism. It will be interesting to watch and see how he does, but the feeling from this end is that he might just be a big addition to this team. Good for him for taking a risk and trying this out; it would have been much easier to rest on the laurels he earned with the football team.
Neate has more at Out of Left Field, including a look at other crossover athletes in CIS history. Oddly enough, there have been several at Queen's in recent years: Billy Burke played football and hockey until this year, when he decided to focus more on hockey, and Teddi Firmi quit women's basketball to return to rugby this year.
This might work out well for the team. One of the big problems so far has been their lack of depth in the frontcourt positions; in fact, as I pointed out in my story on last weekend's games, a lot of their success came when they went to a three-guard lineup. Especially with Jon Ogden not playing (he played in the pre-season, but isn't with the team at the moment), there aren't a lot of frontcourt options on this team, and Stinson's addition should significantly help with that.
These Gaels are renowned for their speed and their outside shooting, but their main presence down low at the moment is Mitch Leger, who's better as a power forward or a small forward than a centre. Rookie Bernard Burgessen and second-year centre Patrick Beswick have shown potential, and Rob Shaw brings veteran experience, but they can't play all the time, and Stinson should be able to eat some minutes. Moreover, he's got a ton of size; he's listed as 6'6'', 250 pounds in the football media guide, but personal observations (and that aforementioned OUA roster) suggest he's at least 6'7''. More impressive still is his weight; Burgessen and Beswick (the only other 6'7'' guys on the roster) are tall, but pretty stringy, and Shaw isn't much bulkier. With his size and athleticism, Stinson should be able to make an impact.
Another point of interest is that this isn't a new game for Stinson; the aforementioned football media guide notes that he was a member of the 2003 national bronze-medal basketball team at Humber College. He also played basketball, soccer, Ultimate and rugby at Chippewa High School in North Bay in addition to football, so he's obviously got a fair bit of all-around athleticism. It will be interesting to watch and see how he does, but the feeling from this end is that he might just be a big addition to this team. Good for him for taking a risk and trying this out; it would have been much easier to rest on the laurels he earned with the football team.
Neate has more at Out of Left Field, including a look at other crossover athletes in CIS history. Oddly enough, there have been several at Queen's in recent years: Billy Burke played football and hockey until this year, when he decided to focus more on hockey, and Teddi Firmi quit women's basketball to return to rugby this year.
Campus Corner: Basketball bonus coverage
We were pretty pressed for space in this week's Journal, so I had to cut this piece on the men's basketball team's opening weekend games down substantially for the paper. I figured I'd post it here in its entirety for anyone interested in more details on the team and their opening games. For more Gaels' hoops coverage, check out my profile of Mitch Leger in today's paper: I'll have another posts on the team up here shortly. Here's the full story:
Basketball opens with a bang
By Andrew Bucholtz
Sports Editor
The men’s basketball team’s started the season with a bang Friday. They earned a 72-67 victory against the Waterloo Warriors, a team that was 6-16 last season but had defeated the Gaels 92-62 in the preseason.
Point guard Baris Ondul poured in 19 points against Waterloo and added six assists and three rebounds.
Ondul said the team was out for revenge after their ignominious loss to the Warriors in the pre-season.
“We were motivated for redemption,” he said.
Ondul said the Gaels were spurred on by the large numbers of fans in attendance.
“I liked the turnout from the crowd,” he said. “That’s good; we’re hoping for that every single game from now on.”
Forward Mitch Leger scored a game-high 26 points Friday and added 10 rebounds.
Waterloo head coach Tom Kieswetter said the play of Leger, who missed the pre-season match thanks to injury, was the main disparity between the two games.
“Mitch didn’t play; that’s the denominator right there,” he said. “He was the difference tonight; we couldn’t get him stopped. He was hitting shots and played great, and that’s why they won.”
After the game, Leger said the Gaels were humiliated by their previous loss to Waterloo, which he missed thanks to an injury, and were looking to make sure it didn’t happen again.
“You lose by 30, it’s really embarrassing,” he said. “We knew they’d come in thinking they could beat us by 30 again, so we just played hard and grinded it out.”
Leger said he was pleased with the team’s defensive play, as they were able to hold Waterloo to 67 points.
“They had 67, last time they scored 92,” he said. “To hold a team like that under 70 is pretty good.”
Leger said there was still room for improvement, though.
“It’s just little letdowns,” he said. “The coach is always talking about dead plays, where we fall asleep. We’ve practiced for two months, we can’t really afford to do that any more, and we know better.”
Head coach Rob Smart said after the game the difference between the two clashes with Waterloo was the Gaels’ defensive intensity.
“We defended,” he said. “They can really score, but we defended and they’ve scored against everybody but Carleton and us tonight. Every other game they’ve played, they’ve scored a bunch.”
Smart said he was pleased with the team’s performance.
“I don’t think we could have played a whole bunch better tonight,” he said.
The Gaels finished strong, outscoring Waterloo 17-13 in the final quarter where they went to a three-guard lineup that featured their smaller players. Smart said 6’7’’ rookie Bernard Burgessen’s rebounding performance enabled him to go to a quicker lineup. Burgessen finished the night with six rebounds, behind only Leger for the team lead.
“Bernard rebounded so well he let us go small,” Smart said. “It’s nice to go small if you can get rebounds. On the defensive end, he was just a vacuum. He got every one, he went up the ladder and took it down.”
Smart said he wasn’t pleased with the team’s 67 per cent success rate on free-throw attempts, but he doesn’t see an easy cure.
“It’s one of those things that the more you talk about it the worse it gets, usually.”
Smart said he was pleased Queen’s was able to knock off the Warriors, who he said are much stronger than last year’s record shows.
“They’re a good team,” he said. “Of the teams I’ve seen in the country, I think they’re a top ten team. They’ve beaten a lot of teams.”
Smart said there’s still a lot of work to do, though.
“I always expect a whole bunch,” he said. “The win tonight isn’t very big if we lose tomorrow.”
Those words came true, and the Gaels suffered a 97-84 loss on Saturday to the lightly-regarded Laurier Golden Hawks, who were 8-14 last year. Leger, who again scored 26 points and added 10 rebounds, said the loss nullified the euphoria from the win over Waterloo.
“By the end of the weekend we felt pretty bad,” he said.
Leger said the defensive effort, which was a strength on Friday, was absent Saturday.
“The performance we had Saturday was just a complete defensive meltdown by the entire team, and I was one of the major problems with that too,” he said. “It was a lot of fundamental defensive breakdowns, things that we just kind of took for granted, defensive things we didn’t feel like doing hard in that game.”
Leger said the loss will fire the Gaels up for their upcoming road games against the Guelph Gryphons and the Brock Badgers, though.
“It’s pretty disappointing, but it gives us some motivation for practice this week and going into this weekend.”
Basketball opens with a bang
By Andrew Bucholtz
Sports Editor
The men’s basketball team’s started the season with a bang Friday. They earned a 72-67 victory against the Waterloo Warriors, a team that was 6-16 last season but had defeated the Gaels 92-62 in the preseason.
Point guard Baris Ondul poured in 19 points against Waterloo and added six assists and three rebounds.
Ondul said the team was out for revenge after their ignominious loss to the Warriors in the pre-season.
“We were motivated for redemption,” he said.
Ondul said the Gaels were spurred on by the large numbers of fans in attendance.
“I liked the turnout from the crowd,” he said. “That’s good; we’re hoping for that every single game from now on.”
Forward Mitch Leger scored a game-high 26 points Friday and added 10 rebounds.
Waterloo head coach Tom Kieswetter said the play of Leger, who missed the pre-season match thanks to injury, was the main disparity between the two games.
“Mitch didn’t play; that’s the denominator right there,” he said. “He was the difference tonight; we couldn’t get him stopped. He was hitting shots and played great, and that’s why they won.”
After the game, Leger said the Gaels were humiliated by their previous loss to Waterloo, which he missed thanks to an injury, and were looking to make sure it didn’t happen again.
“You lose by 30, it’s really embarrassing,” he said. “We knew they’d come in thinking they could beat us by 30 again, so we just played hard and grinded it out.”
Leger said he was pleased with the team’s defensive play, as they were able to hold Waterloo to 67 points.
“They had 67, last time they scored 92,” he said. “To hold a team like that under 70 is pretty good.”
Leger said there was still room for improvement, though.
“It’s just little letdowns,” he said. “The coach is always talking about dead plays, where we fall asleep. We’ve practiced for two months, we can’t really afford to do that any more, and we know better.”
Head coach Rob Smart said after the game the difference between the two clashes with Waterloo was the Gaels’ defensive intensity.
“We defended,” he said. “They can really score, but we defended and they’ve scored against everybody but Carleton and us tonight. Every other game they’ve played, they’ve scored a bunch.”
Smart said he was pleased with the team’s performance.
“I don’t think we could have played a whole bunch better tonight,” he said.
The Gaels finished strong, outscoring Waterloo 17-13 in the final quarter where they went to a three-guard lineup that featured their smaller players. Smart said 6’7’’ rookie Bernard Burgessen’s rebounding performance enabled him to go to a quicker lineup. Burgessen finished the night with six rebounds, behind only Leger for the team lead.
“Bernard rebounded so well he let us go small,” Smart said. “It’s nice to go small if you can get rebounds. On the defensive end, he was just a vacuum. He got every one, he went up the ladder and took it down.”
Smart said he wasn’t pleased with the team’s 67 per cent success rate on free-throw attempts, but he doesn’t see an easy cure.
“It’s one of those things that the more you talk about it the worse it gets, usually.”
Smart said he was pleased Queen’s was able to knock off the Warriors, who he said are much stronger than last year’s record shows.
“They’re a good team,” he said. “Of the teams I’ve seen in the country, I think they’re a top ten team. They’ve beaten a lot of teams.”
Smart said there’s still a lot of work to do, though.
“I always expect a whole bunch,” he said. “The win tonight isn’t very big if we lose tomorrow.”
Those words came true, and the Gaels suffered a 97-84 loss on Saturday to the lightly-regarded Laurier Golden Hawks, who were 8-14 last year. Leger, who again scored 26 points and added 10 rebounds, said the loss nullified the euphoria from the win over Waterloo.
“By the end of the weekend we felt pretty bad,” he said.
Leger said the defensive effort, which was a strength on Friday, was absent Saturday.
“The performance we had Saturday was just a complete defensive meltdown by the entire team, and I was one of the major problems with that too,” he said. “It was a lot of fundamental defensive breakdowns, things that we just kind of took for granted, defensive things we didn’t feel like doing hard in that game.”
Leger said the loss will fire the Gaels up for their upcoming road games against the Guelph Gryphons and the Brock Badgers, though.
“It’s pretty disappointing, but it gives us some motivation for practice this week and going into this weekend.”
Friday, September 26, 2008
Breaking news: Hoops Gaels lose Firmi
I learned just this afternoon that Teddi Firmi, the star point guard for the Queen's women's basketball team and last year's OUA East Defensive Player of the Year ["Women's teams exit early," myself, Queen's Journal, February 29, 2008], has decided to quit basketball and join the women's rugby team. She'll be playing her first match with them tomorrow on the road against the McMaster Marauders.
This is a big loss for the basketball team. Firmi was their starting point guard last year, and demonstrated a tremendous ability to control the flow of the game and find the open player. She could score as well, but her greatest talent was on defence, where she was an almost-unparalled stopper. The team has a lot of promising young players, though, so it will be interesting to see if any of them can step up and fill her shoes. It's going to be a very different women's hoops squad this year, as they've lost their best defensive player in Firmi and their best offensive player in Sarah Barnes, who's actually still doing graduate studies at Queen's but has used up all of her eligibility.
Basketball's loss could be a big gain for the rugby team, though. Firmi has quite a reputation as a rugby player, and played internationally for Canada at the U19 level [Alex Goff, Goff on Rugby, erugbynews.com, July 1, 2004]. If she's still got those skills, she might be a tremendous addition to the 2-1 rugby Gaels. It's a short season, though, so there's no room for a learning curve: after Saturday's tilt, Queen's only plays one more regular-season game at Guelph on October 4 before the playoffs.
According to my source, Firmi decided to switch sports because of the shorter season: she's in her fourth year, and apparently wants to spend more time on volunteer projects. Rugby wraps up by the end of October, whereas basketball goes until at least February and possibly March if you make the nationals.
Firmi isn't the only Gael to switch sports this year: Karlye Wong, who played libero for the women's volleyball team last season, has also transferred to the rugby team and has been doing well thus far.
I'll hopefully have more details on this in next Friday's Journal.
This is a big loss for the basketball team. Firmi was their starting point guard last year, and demonstrated a tremendous ability to control the flow of the game and find the open player. She could score as well, but her greatest talent was on defence, where she was an almost-unparalled stopper. The team has a lot of promising young players, though, so it will be interesting to see if any of them can step up and fill her shoes. It's going to be a very different women's hoops squad this year, as they've lost their best defensive player in Firmi and their best offensive player in Sarah Barnes, who's actually still doing graduate studies at Queen's but has used up all of her eligibility.
Basketball's loss could be a big gain for the rugby team, though. Firmi has quite a reputation as a rugby player, and played internationally for Canada at the U19 level [Alex Goff, Goff on Rugby, erugbynews.com, July 1, 2004]. If she's still got those skills, she might be a tremendous addition to the 2-1 rugby Gaels. It's a short season, though, so there's no room for a learning curve: after Saturday's tilt, Queen's only plays one more regular-season game at Guelph on October 4 before the playoffs.
According to my source, Firmi decided to switch sports because of the shorter season: she's in her fourth year, and apparently wants to spend more time on volunteer projects. Rugby wraps up by the end of October, whereas basketball goes until at least February and possibly March if you make the nationals.
Firmi isn't the only Gael to switch sports this year: Karlye Wong, who played libero for the women's volleyball team last season, has also transferred to the rugby team and has been doing well thus far.
I'll hopefully have more details on this in next Friday's Journal.
Monday, September 01, 2008
The GBU: Queen's vs Buffalo (hoops)
Breaking down Sunday night's basketball game between the Gaels and the University at Buffalo Bulls (who have a surprisingly close name to that other Buffalo team invading Canada for pre-season games)...
The score: 88-61, Buffalo.
How I saw it: In person.
The Good:
Mitch Leger: Leger had his fourth consecutive game with over 20 points, racking up 23 points (on 10 of 15 shooting from the field) and nine rebounds (two offensive) in 28 minutes of action. He scored nine of Queen's first 11 points, but his effectiveness went down after Buffalo started to double-team him. I talked with Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon afterwards, and he said he didn't have much information on individual Queen's players before the match, so they weren't particularly prepared for Leger. Once he started lighting them up, though, Buffalo made the adjustment to a double-team on Leger in the post and challenged the Gaels' other shooters to beat them. Leger was still somewhat effective while double-teamed, but he picked up two quick fouls and had to ride the pine for a while. He still had a decent second half, but only put up eight points to the 15 he got in the first and earned himself two technicals and an ejection. Leger was vital to Queen's play: while he was on the floor, they were keeping it close, but Buffalo went on a run whenever he left.
Dan Bannister: The second-year guard had a pretty good game for the Gaels, suggesting that he might provide some of the secondary scoring this team certainly needs. He put up 16 points on seven-of-12 shooting, and made two of his three three-point shots. However, this comes with a qualification: see The Ugly below.
(By the way, people really should get together on how to spell his name. The roster I was given has it as Bannister, but the stat sheet has Banister, which is also how he's listed on queensbasketball.net. His Facebook page has the two N version, so that's what I'm using until further notice, but it's stuff like this that leads to stat mixups: I remember looking at one OUA box score last year that featured Dan Banister, Dan Bannister and Daniel Bannister, with all three having different stats.)
Baris Ondul: Perhaps Baris is reading this blog. After I mentioned his horrible three-point shooting performance against Anderson, he came back with a tremendous performance against Buffalo. This time around, he was mostly taking good shots, and made four out of his nine field goal attemps (including three of his five three-point attempts). He also distributed the ball effectively, racking up five assists and only turning it over once.
Tim Boyle: Boyle didn't put up an impressive stat line (three points on one-of-three shooting and three rebounds), but he did a great job in his defensive stopper role. He also played with a ton of heart: it was quite something to see the 6'3'' Boyle battling in the post against Buffalo's 6'8'' or 6'9'' guys, and often coming up with the rebound himself or tipping it to a teammate.
Rob Shaw: I'm somewhat conflicted on this one, as Shaw didn't make a single one of his five shots from the field. Four of those were three-point attempts, and the majority of them were poor decisions. However, Shaw proved an excellent playmaker and racked up eight assists to just one turnover: highly unusual stats for a big man, but still effective. He also added two blocks and five rebounds. I would have preferred to see him use his size more to drive the lane, but he turned in a strong overall performance.
The Bad:
Rodney Pierce: His name suggests a combination of Rodney Stuckey and Paul Pierce, and that isn't a bad description of the Buffalo guard. Pierce isn't the tallest guy on Buffalo's roster (6'2''), but he's got a lot of muscle, and he was able to both drive effectively and shoot from the outside. He went 10 for 19 from the field (as well as five for eight from beyond the arc) and put up 25 points and five rebounds.
Calvin Betts: This game's a prime example of impressions deceiving. From watching, you'd think that most of Buffalo's points were from their numerous big men who dominated the paint. What was working even better for them, though, was driving the lane and then kicking it out to the guards, who would either drain the shot or drive the lane themselves for a layup. Betts is another short guard (6'3''), and he put up Buffalo's second-best stat line of the night: 16 points on six-for-eight shooting (including a two-of-three from downtown effort).
The Gaels' fourth quarter:
Queen's kept it pretty close through three quarters of the game. They were outscored 14-11, 25-20 and 19-16 in those quarters, which created a not insurmountable eleven-point deficit going into the fourth. They were dominated in the fourth, though, and only put up 14 points against Buffalo's 30.
The Ugly:
The late technicals: Queen's managed to pick up five technical fouls in the dying moments of the game to Buffalo's one. Two of the technicals were assessed to Leger, two to the bench, and one to Shaw. Passion is good, but that lack of discipline isn't particularly something you want to see in an exhibition game.
The turnovers: Queen's turned over the ball 24 times in total, compared to Buffalo's 13 turnover. The chief culprit was Bannister, who only recorded three assists and turned the ball over 10 times, which is pretty ugly. Leger and Boyle also had four turnovers each.
Buffalo's pressure: It was the Bulls' high-intensity full-court press that created many of those turnovers, several of which came when the Gaels were moving the ball up the court. There were even quite a few off inbounds passes, which really shouldn't be happening at this level.
Buffalo's size advantage: The Bulls had three players listed as 6'9'', two more listed as 6'8'' and two more at 6'7''. By comparision, Queen's tallest players are Leger and Patrick Beswick, who are both only listed at 6'7''. Buffalo's players were also solidly-built packages of muscle, while the Gaels tend to be skinnier. As a comparision, Buffalo guard Betts, who's 6'3'', weighs 225 pounds. That's the same as both Shaw and Leger, Queen's two most muscular players.
One play from Ryan Hairsine: Hairsine was all right on the night, but one play of his summed up the Gaels' night. He beat his defender on the dribble and pulled up to launch an open three-pointer, but the ball slipped out of his hands and only flew about three feet. There were plenty of times when the Gaels would do the right thing initially, but couldn't finish the deal.
Post-game reaction:
Queen's guard Dan Bannister:
- On the loss as a letdown, given their long upcoming break before the regular season: "It was our last game going into a month-long break. We really wanted to have a better showing."
- On Buffalo's size advantage:"They kind of beat us up a little. They're bigger than us, but that's no excuse."
- On where things went wrong:"We played a strong first half, but we let it get away in the second half."
- On the upcoming break:"We've got a month now to do everything right that we did wrong."
Queen's head coach Rob Smart:
- On how the main problem was Queen's being tired after their 102-94 win[goldengaels.com] over the University of South Alabama the previous day(it was on the road, and I was tied up in Journal meetings, so I wasn't there to cover it): "We played three overtimes yesterday, so I think that's what went wrong. I think we were exhausted. ... Every step, you're a little slower and that just hurts you."
- On how important the win over Alabama was: "I don't think you can explain how big beating South Alabama is. Their coach is probably making half a million a year!"
- On how he was only able to utilize Patrick Beswick briefly due to his shin splints: "He goes for a couple minutes and he just can't go any more."
- On what led to the technical fouls: "I got really upset because we run a cutter off the high post almost every play. ... What bothers me is when one of their guys doesn't read the screen at all, gets hit, and then they call us for a charge."
Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon:
- On his team's play: "We're still a little ragged at times. It's that time of the year."
- On what changed in the second half: "I think we had a bit better pressure on defence, forcing them into some turnovers."
- On how his main goal was to stop Queen's outside shooting: "They shoot the ball so well from the arc. ... We wanted to do a better job of stopping that [in the second half]."
- On how Queen's compared to the other teams they had faced on this tour, the defending CIS champion Brock Badgers and the McMaster Marauders: "This is the best opposition we've played."
[That was a pretty surprising comment in my mind, given how one-sided the game turned out. Still, Queen's did stick with Buffalo pretty well, except in the fourth. For reference, the Bulls beat the Badgers 109-67 [Brock Athletics]. McMaster doesn't seem to have a release posted on their game and neither does Buffalo, so that might have just been a scrimmage. Carleton beat Buffalo 84-74 [David Kent, Carleton Athletics] in the final game of the Bulls' tour Monday.]
- On the level of CIS basketball as a whole: "I think the quality of competition is really underrated. It presents us with a challenge. These teams are well-coached. ... It's tremendous preparation for us."
- On if the Bulls will be back in future seasons: "The [NCAA] rules only allow us to do it [make a trip to Canada] once every four years. We'd love to do it every year."
The score: 88-61, Buffalo.
How I saw it: In person.
The Good:
Mitch Leger: Leger had his fourth consecutive game with over 20 points, racking up 23 points (on 10 of 15 shooting from the field) and nine rebounds (two offensive) in 28 minutes of action. He scored nine of Queen's first 11 points, but his effectiveness went down after Buffalo started to double-team him. I talked with Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon afterwards, and he said he didn't have much information on individual Queen's players before the match, so they weren't particularly prepared for Leger. Once he started lighting them up, though, Buffalo made the adjustment to a double-team on Leger in the post and challenged the Gaels' other shooters to beat them. Leger was still somewhat effective while double-teamed, but he picked up two quick fouls and had to ride the pine for a while. He still had a decent second half, but only put up eight points to the 15 he got in the first and earned himself two technicals and an ejection. Leger was vital to Queen's play: while he was on the floor, they were keeping it close, but Buffalo went on a run whenever he left.
Dan Bannister: The second-year guard had a pretty good game for the Gaels, suggesting that he might provide some of the secondary scoring this team certainly needs. He put up 16 points on seven-of-12 shooting, and made two of his three three-point shots. However, this comes with a qualification: see The Ugly below.
(By the way, people really should get together on how to spell his name. The roster I was given has it as Bannister, but the stat sheet has Banister, which is also how he's listed on queensbasketball.net. His Facebook page has the two N version, so that's what I'm using until further notice, but it's stuff like this that leads to stat mixups: I remember looking at one OUA box score last year that featured Dan Banister, Dan Bannister and Daniel Bannister, with all three having different stats.)
Baris Ondul: Perhaps Baris is reading this blog. After I mentioned his horrible three-point shooting performance against Anderson, he came back with a tremendous performance against Buffalo. This time around, he was mostly taking good shots, and made four out of his nine field goal attemps (including three of his five three-point attempts). He also distributed the ball effectively, racking up five assists and only turning it over once.
Tim Boyle: Boyle didn't put up an impressive stat line (three points on one-of-three shooting and three rebounds), but he did a great job in his defensive stopper role. He also played with a ton of heart: it was quite something to see the 6'3'' Boyle battling in the post against Buffalo's 6'8'' or 6'9'' guys, and often coming up with the rebound himself or tipping it to a teammate.
Rob Shaw: I'm somewhat conflicted on this one, as Shaw didn't make a single one of his five shots from the field. Four of those were three-point attempts, and the majority of them were poor decisions. However, Shaw proved an excellent playmaker and racked up eight assists to just one turnover: highly unusual stats for a big man, but still effective. He also added two blocks and five rebounds. I would have preferred to see him use his size more to drive the lane, but he turned in a strong overall performance.
The Bad:
Rodney Pierce: His name suggests a combination of Rodney Stuckey and Paul Pierce, and that isn't a bad description of the Buffalo guard. Pierce isn't the tallest guy on Buffalo's roster (6'2''), but he's got a lot of muscle, and he was able to both drive effectively and shoot from the outside. He went 10 for 19 from the field (as well as five for eight from beyond the arc) and put up 25 points and five rebounds.
Calvin Betts: This game's a prime example of impressions deceiving. From watching, you'd think that most of Buffalo's points were from their numerous big men who dominated the paint. What was working even better for them, though, was driving the lane and then kicking it out to the guards, who would either drain the shot or drive the lane themselves for a layup. Betts is another short guard (6'3''), and he put up Buffalo's second-best stat line of the night: 16 points on six-for-eight shooting (including a two-of-three from downtown effort).
The Gaels' fourth quarter:
Queen's kept it pretty close through three quarters of the game. They were outscored 14-11, 25-20 and 19-16 in those quarters, which created a not insurmountable eleven-point deficit going into the fourth. They were dominated in the fourth, though, and only put up 14 points against Buffalo's 30.
The Ugly:
The late technicals: Queen's managed to pick up five technical fouls in the dying moments of the game to Buffalo's one. Two of the technicals were assessed to Leger, two to the bench, and one to Shaw. Passion is good, but that lack of discipline isn't particularly something you want to see in an exhibition game.
The turnovers: Queen's turned over the ball 24 times in total, compared to Buffalo's 13 turnover. The chief culprit was Bannister, who only recorded three assists and turned the ball over 10 times, which is pretty ugly. Leger and Boyle also had four turnovers each.
Buffalo's pressure: It was the Bulls' high-intensity full-court press that created many of those turnovers, several of which came when the Gaels were moving the ball up the court. There were even quite a few off inbounds passes, which really shouldn't be happening at this level.
Buffalo's size advantage: The Bulls had three players listed as 6'9'', two more listed as 6'8'' and two more at 6'7''. By comparision, Queen's tallest players are Leger and Patrick Beswick, who are both only listed at 6'7''. Buffalo's players were also solidly-built packages of muscle, while the Gaels tend to be skinnier. As a comparision, Buffalo guard Betts, who's 6'3'', weighs 225 pounds. That's the same as both Shaw and Leger, Queen's two most muscular players.
One play from Ryan Hairsine: Hairsine was all right on the night, but one play of his summed up the Gaels' night. He beat his defender on the dribble and pulled up to launch an open three-pointer, but the ball slipped out of his hands and only flew about three feet. There were plenty of times when the Gaels would do the right thing initially, but couldn't finish the deal.
Post-game reaction:
Queen's guard Dan Bannister:
- On the loss as a letdown, given their long upcoming break before the regular season: "It was our last game going into a month-long break. We really wanted to have a better showing."
- On Buffalo's size advantage:"They kind of beat us up a little. They're bigger than us, but that's no excuse."
- On where things went wrong:"We played a strong first half, but we let it get away in the second half."
- On the upcoming break:"We've got a month now to do everything right that we did wrong."
Queen's head coach Rob Smart:
- On how the main problem was Queen's being tired after their 102-94 win[goldengaels.com] over the University of South Alabama the previous day(it was on the road, and I was tied up in Journal meetings, so I wasn't there to cover it): "We played three overtimes yesterday, so I think that's what went wrong. I think we were exhausted. ... Every step, you're a little slower and that just hurts you."
- On how important the win over Alabama was: "I don't think you can explain how big beating South Alabama is. Their coach is probably making half a million a year!"
- On how he was only able to utilize Patrick Beswick briefly due to his shin splints: "He goes for a couple minutes and he just can't go any more."
- On what led to the technical fouls: "I got really upset because we run a cutter off the high post almost every play. ... What bothers me is when one of their guys doesn't read the screen at all, gets hit, and then they call us for a charge."
Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon:
- On his team's play: "We're still a little ragged at times. It's that time of the year."
- On what changed in the second half: "I think we had a bit better pressure on defence, forcing them into some turnovers."
- On how his main goal was to stop Queen's outside shooting: "They shoot the ball so well from the arc. ... We wanted to do a better job of stopping that [in the second half]."
- On how Queen's compared to the other teams they had faced on this tour, the defending CIS champion Brock Badgers and the McMaster Marauders: "This is the best opposition we've played."
[That was a pretty surprising comment in my mind, given how one-sided the game turned out. Still, Queen's did stick with Buffalo pretty well, except in the fourth. For reference, the Bulls beat the Badgers 109-67 [Brock Athletics]. McMaster doesn't seem to have a release posted on their game and neither does Buffalo, so that might have just been a scrimmage. Carleton beat Buffalo 84-74 [David Kent, Carleton Athletics] in the final game of the Bulls' tour Monday.]
- On the level of CIS basketball as a whole: "I think the quality of competition is really underrated. It presents us with a challenge. These teams are well-coached. ... It's tremendous preparation for us."
- On if the Bulls will be back in future seasons: "The [NCAA] rules only allow us to do it [make a trip to Canada] once every four years. We'd love to do it every year."
Thursday, August 28, 2008
The GBU: Queen's versus Anderson
Breaking down tonight's men exhibition basketball match between Queen's and the Anderson University Ravens, a Division I NCAA school from Anderson, Indiana...
The score: 91-72, Anderson.
How I saw it: In person, at Bartlett Gym on the Queen's campus.
The Good:
- Mitch Leger: Leger starred for Queen's in their first exhibition match against Northeastern University on Monday night, pouring in 20 points and adding five rebounds in a close 69-59 defeat to a strong Huskies' squad. He delivered an even better performance tonight, notching 28 points (12-19 from the field, four of eight from the line) and ten rebounds (five offensive, five defensive). The 6'7'' Leger looks to be in strong form again this season, and he'll be a key component of this year's Gaels' team. He was named Player of the Game for his efforts.
- Rob Shaw: The Gaels' veteran big man was in fine form, grabbing seven rebounds (four on the offensive glass) and notching six points in only 16 minutes of playing time.
- Bernard Burgessen: The highly-touted Gaels' recruit from Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia showed plenty of promise against the Ravens. He played 13 minutes and only put up one point, but demonstrated plenty of defensive talent.
- The Gaels' second-half shooting: The Queen's squad couldn't hit a basket in the first half for love or money, going 11 for 35 from the field (31.4 per cent), but their shooting improved dramatically in the second half, where they were 18 for 32 from the field (56.3 per cent), pulling their overall field goal percentage up to 43.3 percent for the game.
- The Bad:
- Mike Russell:The 5'10'' guard from Indianapolis lit up his taller opponents for 26 points, 17 of which came in the first half. Interestingly, plenty of Russell's points came off drives and layups deep inside the paint against Queen's big men, unusual for a small guard. He was also five-for-eight from beyond the ark and five-for-six from the line. The Ravens pulled him later in the game once it was comfortably in hand, so he achieved his stellar totals in only 23 minutes of action.
- Anderson's shooting: The Ravens absolutely torched the Gaels in all shooting categories, beating them from the field (50.0 per cent to 43.3 per cent), from downtown (46.7 per cent to 31.6 per cent) and from the line (80.8 per cent to 44.4 per cent). They did a terrific job of executing the pick-and-roll to create stellar looks for their shooters, who often were wide open for three-point attempts. The Ravens were especially lights-out in the second half, where they shot 69.6 per cent from the field, 66.7 per cent from beyond the arc and 83.3 per cent from the charity stripe.
- Queen's secondary scoring: With Queen's basketball last year, Leger was almost guaranteed to put up 15 or more points every night and close to ten rebounds. As other teams usually had a star to match him, the Gaels' success or failure frequently depended on the efforts they got from their supporting cast. Those numbers may drop off this year, though, with the departures of Simon Mitchell and Travis Mitchell, two of the Gaels' better scorers from last year. Certainly, the Gaels' secondary cast didn't impress tonight: after Leger's 28 points, the team's next-highest scorer was Ondul, and he had to take 13 shots in 31 minutes to put up 13 points. No other Gael even hit double digits. Tonight's performance may not be entirely reflective of the coming season, as head coach Rob Smart spread the minutes around quite a bit due to it being an exhibition, but there is potential cause for concern about who will step up.
The Ugly:
- Queen's foul shooting and three-point percentages: The Gaels were pretty awful from beyond the arc, especially in the first half, where they only made one of their six three-point attempts (a 16.7 per cent success rate). They improved slightly in the second, sinking five of 13 attempts (a 38.5 per cent success rate), but their three-point percentage for the match was still a pretty awful 31.6. The chief culprit was guard Baris Ondul, who had a reasonably good match overall, but only sunk two of his eight shots from downtown. They also struggled at the line, sinking only eight of their 18 foul shots (44.4 per cent).
The size mismatch: Queen's had a huge advantage in size, as Anderson only had two players above 6'4'' (6'5'' forward Ryan Fultz and 6'6'' forward Andrew Jones), while the Gaels had six dressed players above that mark (the 6'7'' Leger and Patrick Beswick, the 6'6'' Shaw, Burgessen and Oliver Friesen (a new recruit from my hometown of Surrey, B.C.) and the 6'5'' Nick DiDonato). The Gaels didn't seem to use their size too effectively, however: they frequently scored off possessions in close, but took far too many shots from outside and wasted their height advantage. As Leger said afterwards, "Most of the time we got the ball in the post, good things happened." The Gaels did outrebound the Ravens 41-28, but it made little difference in the end.
- Rob Shaw's struggle for a rebound: Shaw had a good night overall, but his difficulty with one rebound seemed to represent the team's night overall. Shaw missed a layup, and went up for the rebound against a shorter Anderson forward. He couldn't pull it in, though, and only knocked the ball up in the air, where he went for it again. This repeated itself four times before he finally knocked the ball out of bounds, giving the Ravens possession.
Post-game reaction:
- Head coach Rob Smart:
- On the game overall:"We just didn't come out to play. ... We looked so good against Northeastern, so this is disappointing."
- On what went wrong:"We just had a bunch of guys not show up."
- On the team's defensive efforts: "We were awful defensively. If you let them score 90 points, you're in trouble. ... We can score and hit as many three-pointers as we want, but we can’t win without a solid defence."
- On Burgesson's showing: "Bernard went in and played some pretty good defence."
- On how he'd hoped these exhibition games would increase Queen's basketball credentials, perhaps paving the way for trips to the States or exhibitions against higher-profile programs in the future: "From a credentials point of view, it's pretty important. We played Northeastern pretty close, and Northeastern's a good Division I program. ... We climbed to the top of the hill, and fell halfway down [tonight].
- Forward Mitch Leger:
- On Anderson's team: "They ran their offence pretty well. I don't think they defended well, but you don't need to defend well when you score 90 points."
- On the importance of these exhibitions: "They're games that don't mean anything in the standings, but if they mean a lot to us, we'll do well in the season."
- On how CIS basketball in general and the Queen's program in particular compare to the NCAA: "Obviously, we're not going to beat the UNCs and Kansases of this world, but there's teams we can get close to."
Overall thoughts: It wasn't a dismal showing for Queen's, given that it's still early and was only an exhibition. There were a couple lessons to be learned, though. One key message to take away is shot selection: there were plenty of times when the Gaels could have pounded Anderson in the paint, but elected to go for the long jump shots instead, and that didn't work out very well. That leads to the second lesson, on the importance of in-game adjustments. The team did put up better numbers on offence in the second half, but they were still essentially trying the same shots: these ones just went in. They might have done better with a shift in the offensive focus. Obviously, that's tough when you're using a lot of rookies who haven't fully learned the offensive sets, but the Gaels will need to be adaptable once the season rolls around. They also need to find scoring depth: Leger is likely good for close to 20 points a night, but he can't win the game on his own. Finally, they need to find a way to defend against the high screens: time after time, an Anderson player would cut across the top of the key with the ball and kick it out to an open guard, who would bomb away from three-point range while the Queen's defender was still trapped behind the screen set by the first player. That can't happen if the Gaels are to have CIS success this year.
On tap: A 10:00 a.m. game in Ottawa Saturday against the University of South Alabama, and a home game Sunday night at 6:00 p.m. against the University of Buffalo.
The score: 91-72, Anderson.
How I saw it: In person, at Bartlett Gym on the Queen's campus.
The Good:
- Mitch Leger: Leger starred for Queen's in their first exhibition match against Northeastern University on Monday night, pouring in 20 points and adding five rebounds in a close 69-59 defeat to a strong Huskies' squad. He delivered an even better performance tonight, notching 28 points (12-19 from the field, four of eight from the line) and ten rebounds (five offensive, five defensive). The 6'7'' Leger looks to be in strong form again this season, and he'll be a key component of this year's Gaels' team. He was named Player of the Game for his efforts.
- Rob Shaw: The Gaels' veteran big man was in fine form, grabbing seven rebounds (four on the offensive glass) and notching six points in only 16 minutes of playing time.
- Bernard Burgessen: The highly-touted Gaels' recruit from Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia showed plenty of promise against the Ravens. He played 13 minutes and only put up one point, but demonstrated plenty of defensive talent.
- The Gaels' second-half shooting: The Queen's squad couldn't hit a basket in the first half for love or money, going 11 for 35 from the field (31.4 per cent), but their shooting improved dramatically in the second half, where they were 18 for 32 from the field (56.3 per cent), pulling their overall field goal percentage up to 43.3 percent for the game.
- The Bad:
- Mike Russell:The 5'10'' guard from Indianapolis lit up his taller opponents for 26 points, 17 of which came in the first half. Interestingly, plenty of Russell's points came off drives and layups deep inside the paint against Queen's big men, unusual for a small guard. He was also five-for-eight from beyond the ark and five-for-six from the line. The Ravens pulled him later in the game once it was comfortably in hand, so he achieved his stellar totals in only 23 minutes of action.
- Anderson's shooting: The Ravens absolutely torched the Gaels in all shooting categories, beating them from the field (50.0 per cent to 43.3 per cent), from downtown (46.7 per cent to 31.6 per cent) and from the line (80.8 per cent to 44.4 per cent). They did a terrific job of executing the pick-and-roll to create stellar looks for their shooters, who often were wide open for three-point attempts. The Ravens were especially lights-out in the second half, where they shot 69.6 per cent from the field, 66.7 per cent from beyond the arc and 83.3 per cent from the charity stripe.
- Queen's secondary scoring: With Queen's basketball last year, Leger was almost guaranteed to put up 15 or more points every night and close to ten rebounds. As other teams usually had a star to match him, the Gaels' success or failure frequently depended on the efforts they got from their supporting cast. Those numbers may drop off this year, though, with the departures of Simon Mitchell and Travis Mitchell, two of the Gaels' better scorers from last year. Certainly, the Gaels' secondary cast didn't impress tonight: after Leger's 28 points, the team's next-highest scorer was Ondul, and he had to take 13 shots in 31 minutes to put up 13 points. No other Gael even hit double digits. Tonight's performance may not be entirely reflective of the coming season, as head coach Rob Smart spread the minutes around quite a bit due to it being an exhibition, but there is potential cause for concern about who will step up.
The Ugly:
- Queen's foul shooting and three-point percentages: The Gaels were pretty awful from beyond the arc, especially in the first half, where they only made one of their six three-point attempts (a 16.7 per cent success rate). They improved slightly in the second, sinking five of 13 attempts (a 38.5 per cent success rate), but their three-point percentage for the match was still a pretty awful 31.6. The chief culprit was guard Baris Ondul, who had a reasonably good match overall, but only sunk two of his eight shots from downtown. They also struggled at the line, sinking only eight of their 18 foul shots (44.4 per cent).
The size mismatch: Queen's had a huge advantage in size, as Anderson only had two players above 6'4'' (6'5'' forward Ryan Fultz and 6'6'' forward Andrew Jones), while the Gaels had six dressed players above that mark (the 6'7'' Leger and Patrick Beswick, the 6'6'' Shaw, Burgessen and Oliver Friesen (a new recruit from my hometown of Surrey, B.C.) and the 6'5'' Nick DiDonato). The Gaels didn't seem to use their size too effectively, however: they frequently scored off possessions in close, but took far too many shots from outside and wasted their height advantage. As Leger said afterwards, "Most of the time we got the ball in the post, good things happened." The Gaels did outrebound the Ravens 41-28, but it made little difference in the end.
- Rob Shaw's struggle for a rebound: Shaw had a good night overall, but his difficulty with one rebound seemed to represent the team's night overall. Shaw missed a layup, and went up for the rebound against a shorter Anderson forward. He couldn't pull it in, though, and only knocked the ball up in the air, where he went for it again. This repeated itself four times before he finally knocked the ball out of bounds, giving the Ravens possession.
Post-game reaction:
- Head coach Rob Smart:
- On the game overall:"We just didn't come out to play. ... We looked so good against Northeastern, so this is disappointing."
- On what went wrong:"We just had a bunch of guys not show up."
- On the team's defensive efforts: "We were awful defensively. If you let them score 90 points, you're in trouble. ... We can score and hit as many three-pointers as we want, but we can’t win without a solid defence."
- On Burgesson's showing: "Bernard went in and played some pretty good defence."
- On how he'd hoped these exhibition games would increase Queen's basketball credentials, perhaps paving the way for trips to the States or exhibitions against higher-profile programs in the future: "From a credentials point of view, it's pretty important. We played Northeastern pretty close, and Northeastern's a good Division I program. ... We climbed to the top of the hill, and fell halfway down [tonight].
- Forward Mitch Leger:
- On Anderson's team: "They ran their offence pretty well. I don't think they defended well, but you don't need to defend well when you score 90 points."
- On the importance of these exhibitions: "They're games that don't mean anything in the standings, but if they mean a lot to us, we'll do well in the season."
- On how CIS basketball in general and the Queen's program in particular compare to the NCAA: "Obviously, we're not going to beat the UNCs and Kansases of this world, but there's teams we can get close to."
Overall thoughts: It wasn't a dismal showing for Queen's, given that it's still early and was only an exhibition. There were a couple lessons to be learned, though. One key message to take away is shot selection: there were plenty of times when the Gaels could have pounded Anderson in the paint, but elected to go for the long jump shots instead, and that didn't work out very well. That leads to the second lesson, on the importance of in-game adjustments. The team did put up better numbers on offence in the second half, but they were still essentially trying the same shots: these ones just went in. They might have done better with a shift in the offensive focus. Obviously, that's tough when you're using a lot of rookies who haven't fully learned the offensive sets, but the Gaels will need to be adaptable once the season rolls around. They also need to find scoring depth: Leger is likely good for close to 20 points a night, but he can't win the game on his own. Finally, they need to find a way to defend against the high screens: time after time, an Anderson player would cut across the top of the key with the ball and kick it out to an open guard, who would bomb away from three-point range while the Queen's defender was still trapped behind the screen set by the first player. That can't happen if the Gaels are to have CIS success this year.
On tap: A 10:00 a.m. game in Ottawa Saturday against the University of South Alabama, and a home game Sunday night at 6:00 p.m. against the University of Buffalo.
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