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.”
Showing posts with label Rob Smart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rob Smart. Show all posts
Friday, November 14, 2008
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.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Campus Corner: An interesting controversy
There's some unusual stuff going on at the University of Ottawa these days, as Ross Prusakowski notes over at blogsketball. According to Prusakowski, Simon Cremer (the sports editor at La Rotonde, the French-language student newspaper over at the University of Ottawa) revealed on the Gee-Gees Hour radio show that Ottawa's Sports Information Coordinator, Dan Carle, apparently let too many details slip for coach David DeAveiro's liking on the injury star point guard Josh Gibson-Bascombe suffered against Toronto. Carle's press release updating Gibson-Bascombe's status contained the following:
"The Gee-Gees are without their leading scorer this weekend. Third-year point guard Josh Gibson-Bascombe (Toronto, Social Science) suffered a partial tear of his right MCL knee ligament and sprained ankle following a awkward fall off a rebound attempt with three minutes left in the fourth quarter of last Saturday’s 78-69 home loss to Toronto." According to Cremer, this was part of a private conversation between Carle and DeAveiro that wasn't supposed to be published. Cremer also said other coaches have apparently called DeAveiro and insinuated that they'll target Gibson-Bascombe's weakened leg now, which obviously concerns DeAveiro.
Assuming the particulars are correct, as this has gone through several people before me, this is a bit of a tough situation for all parties involved. First, it's obviously painful for Carle. Carle is a good guy: I met him at the Queen's-Ottawa football game at Frank Clair Stadium this fall, and he was very accomodating. He didn't have even a hint of the snobbery towards university journalists many press relations types often have, which I was quite impressed by. This has to be hard on him, as it's an internal department matter: at least in the more normal situation where a coach disagrees with a journalist over what was published (which I'm all too familiar with), the journalist usually has the backing of their media outlet. Also, journalists are under no obligation to only print what's in the team's or coach's best interests. This is a far more convoluted matter, as both Carle and DeAveiro work in the same organization, and theoretically are working towards the same goals.
This also illustrates the tough nature of a sports media relations officer's job. Unlike many journalists who see them as hacks who have sold out, I have a lot of respect for these guys, particularly at the university level: they face the incredibly difficult job of coordinating stats, hammering out quick game reports for their websites and press releases, being up-to-date on the many different sports their institution competes in, making sure the local journalists can get the interviews they need and keeping their bosses happy, all often at the same time. In addition, many of them have journalistic backgrounds, so they probably often run into conflicts between their instincts for a story and their job description of promoting their department. They also have to balance the need to give journalists the stats and the information they need to do their job with the desire to make their department look as good as possible. That's not an easy line to walk, especially when you have to write tremendous amounts of copy every day.
It's also not a great situation for DeAveiro, and I can understand why he's upset. Providing that Cremer's story is correct, it must be tough for him to think that he's given out information that could hurt the team down the road, and the natural reaction is probably to blame the messenger who put the information out. This is not a minor player we're talking about: Gibson-Bascombe is a key cog in the Ottawa machine. He had 20 points and 12 rebounds in Ottawa's Jan. 29 74-70 win over Queen's, and his absence in the return leg likely led to the Gaels' 64-48 win.
Overall, though, I don't think Carle was wrong. I obviously don't know the particulars of the conversation, but if he felt confident enough to publish said material as a sports information officer, it probably wasn't explicitly said that it was to be kept confidential. If it was a journalist this happened to, I could see who was right being more of a grey area, as then you have competing mandates: the journalist's job is to provide information, whereas the coach's job is generally to promote his team in the media. I'd still probably wind up believing the journalist, partly due to my own media bias and partly because coaches and athletes in every sport have been known to try and retract or change things they let slip without thinking. When it's a sports information officer, you can bet he isn't too likely to publish something a coach makes clear he doesn't want out there. Thus, in my view, it's probably a case of attempted retroactive editing: as mentioned above though, I definitely don't have all the details. What's unfortunate is Carle will probably bear the brunt of the fallout: coaches have a hallowed status at most post-secondary institutions, while sports media types tend to be very much at the other end of the spectrum.
I also think DeAveiro doesn't have all that much to worry about. Sure, the exact nature of Gibson-Bascombe's injury is out there, but which leg it was that was hurt and the relative seriousness of the problem could probably be figured out from the game videotape, which is made available to all OUA coaches. All this does is clarify exactly what the problem is, which is great for the media and the fans who want to know what's going on. It's far better than the "upper-body" or "lower-body" stuff that infects the NHL. Unfortunately, stories like this probably mean that the days of actually finding out about injuries at the CIS level are numbered.
A few notes on the Queen's - RMC game last night: full story to come in the Journal tomorrow.
- This game really didn't mean anything, except if RMC would have somehow been able to pull off a miracle to avoid going winless. Unlike the Patriots-Giants, the expected happened, which meant that the game was a pretty dull affair and resulted in a 75-53 Gaels' victory. RMC scored the first four points, but fell behind soon after and never regained the lead, trailing 48-19 by halftime.
- At the game, Mike Grobe (Queen's Sports Information Officer), Jeff Downie (Queen's Campus Recreation Manager) and I were comparing notes on Carleton's 113-27 win over RMC. Downie calculated that given 40 minutes in a game and a 24-second shot clock, a team that had the ball half of the time would score 100 points if they shot at the end of every possession and hit all of their shots (basically, pushing the argument that Carleton was doing all they could to keep the score down to its logical extreme to see if it holds). Thus, any team scoring over 100 points has to be running up the score. Of course, possession isn't evenly split due to rebounds, steals and how quickly the other team shoots on their own possessions, but I still think Downie has the makings of a valid point. Carleton certainly didn't do all they could to keep the score down: after watching Queen's play holding basketball against the Paladins for the entirety of the second half, I know it's certainly possible to avoid running up the score. The degree to which Carleton ran up the score is questionable, but from this, it certainly at least appears that they might have.
- A good question is why the Paladins still bother to field teams in basketball and volleyball, especially given the small nature of their school. They went 0-22 in both basketball programs this year, 0-20 in men's volleyball and 0-19 in women's volleyball (where they didn't even win a set). This isn't an unusual circumstance: these RMC programs have struggled for a while. In fact, their women's soccer team's upset of Queen's this year was the first time one of their women's teams had made the postseason in any sport. As their athletic director Darren Cates told me earlier this year, their tiny student population makes it difficult for them to recruit. In my view, though, they should shift their focus to sports where they have some success. They've already cut their programs from 30 to 11, but it might make sense to scrap basketball and volleyball and bring back some of the other ones that could have a better chance. At the moment, these programs are just bad publicity for their school, which is the opposite of the usual goal of university athletics.
- Also interesting is that Queen's is already preparing for undefeated Carleton, according to head coach Rob Smart, despite facing either Ryerson or York in the first round. This is certainly unconventional, and opposed to the usual cliche of "one game at a time". Smart told me this is because Carleton's good enough that preparing to beat them will be enough to take care of the first-round opponents. Smart also said that they need to beat the Ravens in order to accomplish anything meaningful. He certainly aims high, perhaps driven by the sibling rivalry? In contrast, men's volleyball head coach Brenda Willis refuses to look beyond Saturday night's clash with sixth-seeded Ryerson to the looming prospect of an OUA Final rematch with McMaster. Time will tell which approach works better, or if they're both valid.
"The Gee-Gees are without their leading scorer this weekend. Third-year point guard Josh Gibson-Bascombe (Toronto, Social Science) suffered a partial tear of his right MCL knee ligament and sprained ankle following a awkward fall off a rebound attempt with three minutes left in the fourth quarter of last Saturday’s 78-69 home loss to Toronto." According to Cremer, this was part of a private conversation between Carle and DeAveiro that wasn't supposed to be published. Cremer also said other coaches have apparently called DeAveiro and insinuated that they'll target Gibson-Bascombe's weakened leg now, which obviously concerns DeAveiro.
Assuming the particulars are correct, as this has gone through several people before me, this is a bit of a tough situation for all parties involved. First, it's obviously painful for Carle. Carle is a good guy: I met him at the Queen's-Ottawa football game at Frank Clair Stadium this fall, and he was very accomodating. He didn't have even a hint of the snobbery towards university journalists many press relations types often have, which I was quite impressed by. This has to be hard on him, as it's an internal department matter: at least in the more normal situation where a coach disagrees with a journalist over what was published (which I'm all too familiar with), the journalist usually has the backing of their media outlet. Also, journalists are under no obligation to only print what's in the team's or coach's best interests. This is a far more convoluted matter, as both Carle and DeAveiro work in the same organization, and theoretically are working towards the same goals.
This also illustrates the tough nature of a sports media relations officer's job. Unlike many journalists who see them as hacks who have sold out, I have a lot of respect for these guys, particularly at the university level: they face the incredibly difficult job of coordinating stats, hammering out quick game reports for their websites and press releases, being up-to-date on the many different sports their institution competes in, making sure the local journalists can get the interviews they need and keeping their bosses happy, all often at the same time. In addition, many of them have journalistic backgrounds, so they probably often run into conflicts between their instincts for a story and their job description of promoting their department. They also have to balance the need to give journalists the stats and the information they need to do their job with the desire to make their department look as good as possible. That's not an easy line to walk, especially when you have to write tremendous amounts of copy every day.
It's also not a great situation for DeAveiro, and I can understand why he's upset. Providing that Cremer's story is correct, it must be tough for him to think that he's given out information that could hurt the team down the road, and the natural reaction is probably to blame the messenger who put the information out. This is not a minor player we're talking about: Gibson-Bascombe is a key cog in the Ottawa machine. He had 20 points and 12 rebounds in Ottawa's Jan. 29 74-70 win over Queen's, and his absence in the return leg likely led to the Gaels' 64-48 win.
Overall, though, I don't think Carle was wrong. I obviously don't know the particulars of the conversation, but if he felt confident enough to publish said material as a sports information officer, it probably wasn't explicitly said that it was to be kept confidential. If it was a journalist this happened to, I could see who was right being more of a grey area, as then you have competing mandates: the journalist's job is to provide information, whereas the coach's job is generally to promote his team in the media. I'd still probably wind up believing the journalist, partly due to my own media bias and partly because coaches and athletes in every sport have been known to try and retract or change things they let slip without thinking. When it's a sports information officer, you can bet he isn't too likely to publish something a coach makes clear he doesn't want out there. Thus, in my view, it's probably a case of attempted retroactive editing: as mentioned above though, I definitely don't have all the details. What's unfortunate is Carle will probably bear the brunt of the fallout: coaches have a hallowed status at most post-secondary institutions, while sports media types tend to be very much at the other end of the spectrum.
I also think DeAveiro doesn't have all that much to worry about. Sure, the exact nature of Gibson-Bascombe's injury is out there, but which leg it was that was hurt and the relative seriousness of the problem could probably be figured out from the game videotape, which is made available to all OUA coaches. All this does is clarify exactly what the problem is, which is great for the media and the fans who want to know what's going on. It's far better than the "upper-body" or "lower-body" stuff that infects the NHL. Unfortunately, stories like this probably mean that the days of actually finding out about injuries at the CIS level are numbered.
A few notes on the Queen's - RMC game last night: full story to come in the Journal tomorrow.
- This game really didn't mean anything, except if RMC would have somehow been able to pull off a miracle to avoid going winless. Unlike the Patriots-Giants, the expected happened, which meant that the game was a pretty dull affair and resulted in a 75-53 Gaels' victory. RMC scored the first four points, but fell behind soon after and never regained the lead, trailing 48-19 by halftime.
- At the game, Mike Grobe (Queen's Sports Information Officer), Jeff Downie (Queen's Campus Recreation Manager) and I were comparing notes on Carleton's 113-27 win over RMC. Downie calculated that given 40 minutes in a game and a 24-second shot clock, a team that had the ball half of the time would score 100 points if they shot at the end of every possession and hit all of their shots (basically, pushing the argument that Carleton was doing all they could to keep the score down to its logical extreme to see if it holds). Thus, any team scoring over 100 points has to be running up the score. Of course, possession isn't evenly split due to rebounds, steals and how quickly the other team shoots on their own possessions, but I still think Downie has the makings of a valid point. Carleton certainly didn't do all they could to keep the score down: after watching Queen's play holding basketball against the Paladins for the entirety of the second half, I know it's certainly possible to avoid running up the score. The degree to which Carleton ran up the score is questionable, but from this, it certainly at least appears that they might have.
- A good question is why the Paladins still bother to field teams in basketball and volleyball, especially given the small nature of their school. They went 0-22 in both basketball programs this year, 0-20 in men's volleyball and 0-19 in women's volleyball (where they didn't even win a set). This isn't an unusual circumstance: these RMC programs have struggled for a while. In fact, their women's soccer team's upset of Queen's this year was the first time one of their women's teams had made the postseason in any sport. As their athletic director Darren Cates told me earlier this year, their tiny student population makes it difficult for them to recruit. In my view, though, they should shift their focus to sports where they have some success. They've already cut their programs from 30 to 11, but it might make sense to scrap basketball and volleyball and bring back some of the other ones that could have a better chance. At the moment, these programs are just bad publicity for their school, which is the opposite of the usual goal of university athletics.
- Also interesting is that Queen's is already preparing for undefeated Carleton, according to head coach Rob Smart, despite facing either Ryerson or York in the first round. This is certainly unconventional, and opposed to the usual cliche of "one game at a time". Smart told me this is because Carleton's good enough that preparing to beat them will be enough to take care of the first-round opponents. Smart also said that they need to beat the Ravens in order to accomplish anything meaningful. He certainly aims high, perhaps driven by the sibling rivalry? In contrast, men's volleyball head coach Brenda Willis refuses to look beyond Saturday night's clash with sixth-seeded Ryerson to the looming prospect of an OUA Final rematch with McMaster. Time will tell which approach works better, or if they're both valid.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Campus Corner: Saturday night's all right for b-ball
The 8-11 women's team, fresh off an upset of the 13-6 Laurentian Voyageurs, almost made it two in a row against the OUA East-leading York Lions (16-3 heading in to tonight's game), but came up just short, losing 71-66 in overtime. Queen's trailed 29-21 at the half, but outscored York 22-14 in the third and held them even in the fourth to force the extra frame.
It really didn't need to go that far, though. With less than a minute to go and the score knotted at 60, Queen's star forward Sarah Barnes hauled down a defensive rebound and started a fast break, but point guard Teddi Firmi missed a tightly contested layup that could have given the Gaels the lead. On the ensuing Lions drive, Queen's forward Anne Murphy fouled York's Emily Van Hoof, who led York with 21points on the night. Van Hoof went to the line, but missed both shots, perhaps thrown off by the noise from the stands. They were the only foul shots she missed all night in a 9-for-11 effort from the line. Queen's then took the ball with 18.9 seconds left and drove down the court, but couldn't crack York's defense for a
game-winning basket. Barnes eventually launched a three, but it fell short and the teams headed to overtime.
In overtime, Queen's had plenty of chances. Barnes was outstanding early, making a steal and hitting a layup. She then sunk two free throws after being fouled on the Gaels' next possession, part of her 22 points on the night. Queen's hung with York for a while, but conceded too many free throws, and York went an astonishing 11 for 12 from the line in extra time to clinch the victory.
Barnes, who was playing her final regular-season home game for the Gaels, and head coach Dave Wilson both said they were disappointed not to get the win, but took some comfort from sticking with a top team like the Lions for so long. Looking at their performances this weekend, it's tough not to agree: they've shown they can play with the best in the league. However, the issue now is finding consistency: this is, after all, the team that lost to the 2-18 Ottawa Gee-Gees only last Tuesday. Interestingly enough, the Gaels play Ottawa and 6-14 Carleton again on the road next weekend. A pair of wins would give them some solid momentum heading into the playoffs, especially as there's a good chance they'll face the Ravens in the first round. Wilson, Barnes and Anne Murphy all mentioned that they'd like to avenge Tuesday's defeat to Ottawa, so the Gaels seem to have some extra motivation for that clash on Friday.
One final note from this game: Firmi again had a solid game with five assists, five points and eight rebounds, third-best in the game (behind only Van Hoof's 13 boards and Barnes' nine). However, she fouled out for the third game in a row. Granted, this time it wasn't until overtime, but I'm sure Wilson will be bugging her about that: the Gaels are a better team with her on the floor, so it's important for her to be more careful about fouls.
The men's game was pretty much as expected, as Queen's beat 5-13 York 74-67 to improve their own conference play record to 12-7. As I predicted yesterday, it was closer than the team's records would suggest. This time, however, the prediction worked out but the reasoning didn't. By all logic, Queen's should have run away with this game: they thoroughly outplayed York for most of the game, and they were getting ridiculously good looks at three-point shots, which normally spells disaster for the opposition. This time, though, Queen's couldn't hit a three for love or money in the first half: they were a lousy 3of 17 (18%) from deep in the first two quarters, and were even outscored 16-9 in the second frame, which meant that they held a slender 27-25 lead at the half.
The Gaels turned it around in the second though, and their shots started falling. The outcome was never really in question after Queen's went on a 9-0 run to start the third quarter. Their field goal percentage jumped from 30% to 57%, and they hit eight out of 16 threes for an astonishingly high 50% success rate. They outscored York 21-14 in the third, and only lost the fourth quarter by two points (28-26) despite some horrible turnovers and fouls near the end.
As expected, star forward Mitch Leger led the Gaels with 18 points, but it wasn't one of his greatest nights: he went six for 20 from the field, and hit just one of nine from downtown. He did add seven rebounds, though, which tied him for the team lead with rookie Nick DiDonato. The Mitchell brothers both had solid games: Travis put up 14 points and added five rebounds and three steals, while Simon recorded eight points, four rebounds and three assists. Rookie forward Jon Ogden also played well, notching 14 points and adding five rebounds. Guard Tut Rauch was the story for the Lions, as he recorded 29 points, almost half of their total offensive output. The Lions also went 21-24 from the foul line, which helped them keep it close.
Interestingly enough, Smart, Ogden and Simon Mitchell all agreed that nothing really changed from the first to the second half. They were getting similar looks, but the shots they missed in the first just started to drop in after the break. What I found particularly interesting was the difference in Smart's reactions after tonight's game and last night's thumping of Laurentian. Last night, they had a much bigger halftime lead (40-27 as opposed to 27-25), but Smart was really unhappy with their play in the first half. Tonight, with only a two-point margin, he wasn't all that disappointed in the team's early play: he recognized that they were playing well, but the shots just weren't falling. That's good coaching, if you ask me: knowing when to fume and knowing when your guys are already doing well, but it just isn't working. There's more to sports than the scoreline, as the piece I wrote for my Journal blog on today's Tottenham-Manchester United clash shows.
Next weekend, the Gaels face Ottawa and Carleton in a pair of tough matches. 15-4 Ottawa may be vulnerable, though: they dropped a 78-69 decision to Toronto tonight, and lost star guard Josh Gibson-Bascombe in the process. Sean Peter also didn't dress for the Gee-Gees, and it will be good news for the Gaels if one or both of them can't play Friday night: the duo combined for 31 points in Ottawa's close win over Queen's Tuesday night. Carleton looked invincible as always with a 100-77 win over Ryerson, but as I'm hoping is the case tomorrow, it's not always possible to maintain perfection. Simon Mitchell said the Gaels want to come out of next weekend with at least one win: that would certainly be an impressive outcome, regardless of which side they beat.
Related:
- Mark Wacyk's piece at cishoops.ca on the men's game.
- I'll have full stories on both games in Tuesday's Journal.
- Met up with Brock Harrison from the Kingston Whig-Standard at tonight's games: he should have pieces on both in Monday's paper.
It really didn't need to go that far, though. With less than a minute to go and the score knotted at 60, Queen's star forward Sarah Barnes hauled down a defensive rebound and started a fast break, but point guard Teddi Firmi missed a tightly contested layup that could have given the Gaels the lead. On the ensuing Lions drive, Queen's forward Anne Murphy fouled York's Emily Van Hoof, who led York with 21points on the night. Van Hoof went to the line, but missed both shots, perhaps thrown off by the noise from the stands. They were the only foul shots she missed all night in a 9-for-11 effort from the line. Queen's then took the ball with 18.9 seconds left and drove down the court, but couldn't crack York's defense for a
game-winning basket. Barnes eventually launched a three, but it fell short and the teams headed to overtime.
In overtime, Queen's had plenty of chances. Barnes was outstanding early, making a steal and hitting a layup. She then sunk two free throws after being fouled on the Gaels' next possession, part of her 22 points on the night. Queen's hung with York for a while, but conceded too many free throws, and York went an astonishing 11 for 12 from the line in extra time to clinch the victory.
Barnes, who was playing her final regular-season home game for the Gaels, and head coach Dave Wilson both said they were disappointed not to get the win, but took some comfort from sticking with a top team like the Lions for so long. Looking at their performances this weekend, it's tough not to agree: they've shown they can play with the best in the league. However, the issue now is finding consistency: this is, after all, the team that lost to the 2-18 Ottawa Gee-Gees only last Tuesday. Interestingly enough, the Gaels play Ottawa and 6-14 Carleton again on the road next weekend. A pair of wins would give them some solid momentum heading into the playoffs, especially as there's a good chance they'll face the Ravens in the first round. Wilson, Barnes and Anne Murphy all mentioned that they'd like to avenge Tuesday's defeat to Ottawa, so the Gaels seem to have some extra motivation for that clash on Friday.
One final note from this game: Firmi again had a solid game with five assists, five points and eight rebounds, third-best in the game (behind only Van Hoof's 13 boards and Barnes' nine). However, she fouled out for the third game in a row. Granted, this time it wasn't until overtime, but I'm sure Wilson will be bugging her about that: the Gaels are a better team with her on the floor, so it's important for her to be more careful about fouls.
The men's game was pretty much as expected, as Queen's beat 5-13 York 74-67 to improve their own conference play record to 12-7. As I predicted yesterday, it was closer than the team's records would suggest. This time, however, the prediction worked out but the reasoning didn't. By all logic, Queen's should have run away with this game: they thoroughly outplayed York for most of the game, and they were getting ridiculously good looks at three-point shots, which normally spells disaster for the opposition. This time, though, Queen's couldn't hit a three for love or money in the first half: they were a lousy 3of 17 (18%) from deep in the first two quarters, and were even outscored 16-9 in the second frame, which meant that they held a slender 27-25 lead at the half.
The Gaels turned it around in the second though, and their shots started falling. The outcome was never really in question after Queen's went on a 9-0 run to start the third quarter. Their field goal percentage jumped from 30% to 57%, and they hit eight out of 16 threes for an astonishingly high 50% success rate. They outscored York 21-14 in the third, and only lost the fourth quarter by two points (28-26) despite some horrible turnovers and fouls near the end.
As expected, star forward Mitch Leger led the Gaels with 18 points, but it wasn't one of his greatest nights: he went six for 20 from the field, and hit just one of nine from downtown. He did add seven rebounds, though, which tied him for the team lead with rookie Nick DiDonato. The Mitchell brothers both had solid games: Travis put up 14 points and added five rebounds and three steals, while Simon recorded eight points, four rebounds and three assists. Rookie forward Jon Ogden also played well, notching 14 points and adding five rebounds. Guard Tut Rauch was the story for the Lions, as he recorded 29 points, almost half of their total offensive output. The Lions also went 21-24 from the foul line, which helped them keep it close.
Interestingly enough, Smart, Ogden and Simon Mitchell all agreed that nothing really changed from the first to the second half. They were getting similar looks, but the shots they missed in the first just started to drop in after the break. What I found particularly interesting was the difference in Smart's reactions after tonight's game and last night's thumping of Laurentian. Last night, they had a much bigger halftime lead (40-27 as opposed to 27-25), but Smart was really unhappy with their play in the first half. Tonight, with only a two-point margin, he wasn't all that disappointed in the team's early play: he recognized that they were playing well, but the shots just weren't falling. That's good coaching, if you ask me: knowing when to fume and knowing when your guys are already doing well, but it just isn't working. There's more to sports than the scoreline, as the piece I wrote for my Journal blog on today's Tottenham-Manchester United clash shows.
Next weekend, the Gaels face Ottawa and Carleton in a pair of tough matches. 15-4 Ottawa may be vulnerable, though: they dropped a 78-69 decision to Toronto tonight, and lost star guard Josh Gibson-Bascombe in the process. Sean Peter also didn't dress for the Gee-Gees, and it will be good news for the Gaels if one or both of them can't play Friday night: the duo combined for 31 points in Ottawa's close win over Queen's Tuesday night. Carleton looked invincible as always with a 100-77 win over Ryerson, but as I'm hoping is the case tomorrow, it's not always possible to maintain perfection. Simon Mitchell said the Gaels want to come out of next weekend with at least one win: that would certainly be an impressive outcome, regardless of which side they beat.
Related:
- Mark Wacyk's piece at cishoops.ca on the men's game.
- I'll have full stories on both games in Tuesday's Journal.
- Met up with Brock Harrison from the Kingston Whig-Standard at tonight's games: he should have pieces on both in Monday's paper.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Campus Corner: Friday night, time to shoot out the lights
The men's basketball team has been getting a fair amount of coverage lately, but they were upstaged by the women tonight. Only three days after their surprising loss to the 2-16 Ottawa Gee-Gees, the women rebounded with a huge 75-69 upset of the 13-5 Laurentian Voyageurs. They held highly-regarded All-Canadian Cassandra Carpenter to just 16 points, and only two in the first half. Nicely enough, this prevented Carpenter from breaking the CIS record for career points against Queen's. She'll almost certainly attain the record tomorrow night against the hapless Royal Military College Paladins (still winless!), but at least it won't have happened against the Gaels. Laurentian came on towards the end when the Gaels got into foul trouble, but Queen's led for most of the game after the first quarter (aided by outscoring the Voyageurs 32-15 in the second frame).
By the way, Carpenter didn't really impress me. Sure, she's got a good shot and sees the court well, but she flops around more than the Italian national soccer team. There were several times during the game where she'd run into a defender (usually Maddie Soye, Alaina Porter or Sarah Barnes), fall to the ground, and writhe around in mortal agony, only to get up and drain a couple foul shots as if nothing had happened (8 of her points were from the line by the way, as she shot a poor 4/13 from the field). She also had only four assists to go with her atrocious seven turnovers. It might have just been an off-night for her, but on tonight's performance alone, I won't be joining the fan club.
The Gaels also got some help from an unexpected source. The men's volleyball team had tonight's road game against Laurier moved to Sunday due to the storm (for anyone not in Ontario, it's pretty crazy here at the moment), so they showed up en masse at the gym to cheer on the women's basketball team despite their own 8 A.M. departure tomorrow. They were effective hecklers from the front row, and particularly got into Carpenter's head (she turned and gave them the finger at one point). In fact, both Barnes and Porter made special mention of the help from the volleyball guys in my post-game interviews with them. Queen's could use more fans like that.
Tomorrow night, the women face league-leading York (16-3). They'll be trying for two upsets in a row, but it will certainly be a difficult task. Frankly, coming out of this weekend with the two points they've already got is a huge victory on its own.
As an aside, the women's game featured some questionable officiating towards both sides. The Gaels were getting called for absolutely nothing most of the game (one of my favorites was where Carpenter absolutely bowled over Barnes with an elbow and still picked up the foul), which led to head coach Dave Wilson getting a technical partway through for his opinions on the quality of the refereeing. However, partway through the fourth quarter, it was if the officials flipped a switch and went for the even-up calls: they started calling phantom fouls on Laurentian and ignoring real ones by the Gaels. Both coaches wound up criticizing the referees in my interviews, which shows balance, but also that there might be a problem with the quality of the calls. Even though the poor officiating wound up helping both sides, it still wasn't a good showing for the refs, especially in front of a knowledgeable basketball audience. They interfered with the flow of the game far too much, and called too many fouls in general (both Sarah Barnes and Teddi Firmi fouled out, along with a couple of Voyageurs, and there were at least four or five more players sitting on four fouls by the end). This doesn't help a league that struggles for credibility at times.
The men's game produced pretty much what everyone expected, as the Gaels gave the Voyageurs a 81-57 drubbing. Star forward Mitch Leger proved that my injury worries were unfounded, pouring in 24 points in only 25 minutes. He also added 12 boards, 2 steals and an assist to claim the double-double. Travis Mitchell chipped in 17 points, while Rob Shaw and Dan Banister both had 11, and the team as a whole shot an impressive 50 per cent from the field and 43.5 per cent from deep.
Things were closer than head coach Rob Smart would have liked in the first half (40-27 lead at the break), but the Gaels stepped it up in the second and never looked back. The game gave Smart an opportunity to work in more of his rookies than normal, expanding the playing time of those who already feature (like Nick DiDonato and Jon Ogden) while allowing other rookies who normally sit on the bench (Alex Murphy and Patrick Beswick) to get some valuable minutes.
The team's looking pretty healthy at present, too, which can only be a good thing going forward. Point guard Baris Ondul put in 25 minutes, notching six points, four steals, three assists and a rebound, which shows that he's close to 100 per cent. Smart said Beswick's fully recovered from his concussion, and the Gaels were able to dress 11 guys (a far cry from the eight who featured against Ryerson a couple weeks ago). That can only bode well for a stretch run.
The men are in an odd position at the moment. Their 11-7 record means there isn't too much hope of them catching Toronto (13-4) for the third playoff spot, but there's no way 5-12 Ryerson can edge them out of fourth. Thus, it's important for them to keep the pressure on in case the Blues tank, but there's also that sense of meaningless games. Smart and Leger both told me it can be a bit of a challenge to stay focused, which should make tomorrow night's match with York interesting. The 5-13 Lions have been hot lately, demolishing Laurentian and Ryerson by scores of 96-65 and 72-53 respectively, and only losing to No. 7 Toronto by six last weekend. Smart said the Gaels can't afford to take them lightly. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Related: Mark Wacyk's take and news from around the league over at cishoops.ca.
By the way, Carpenter didn't really impress me. Sure, she's got a good shot and sees the court well, but she flops around more than the Italian national soccer team. There were several times during the game where she'd run into a defender (usually Maddie Soye, Alaina Porter or Sarah Barnes), fall to the ground, and writhe around in mortal agony, only to get up and drain a couple foul shots as if nothing had happened (8 of her points were from the line by the way, as she shot a poor 4/13 from the field). She also had only four assists to go with her atrocious seven turnovers. It might have just been an off-night for her, but on tonight's performance alone, I won't be joining the fan club.
The Gaels also got some help from an unexpected source. The men's volleyball team had tonight's road game against Laurier moved to Sunday due to the storm (for anyone not in Ontario, it's pretty crazy here at the moment), so they showed up en masse at the gym to cheer on the women's basketball team despite their own 8 A.M. departure tomorrow. They were effective hecklers from the front row, and particularly got into Carpenter's head (she turned and gave them the finger at one point). In fact, both Barnes and Porter made special mention of the help from the volleyball guys in my post-game interviews with them. Queen's could use more fans like that.
Tomorrow night, the women face league-leading York (16-3). They'll be trying for two upsets in a row, but it will certainly be a difficult task. Frankly, coming out of this weekend with the two points they've already got is a huge victory on its own.
As an aside, the women's game featured some questionable officiating towards both sides. The Gaels were getting called for absolutely nothing most of the game (one of my favorites was where Carpenter absolutely bowled over Barnes with an elbow and still picked up the foul), which led to head coach Dave Wilson getting a technical partway through for his opinions on the quality of the refereeing. However, partway through the fourth quarter, it was if the officials flipped a switch and went for the even-up calls: they started calling phantom fouls on Laurentian and ignoring real ones by the Gaels. Both coaches wound up criticizing the referees in my interviews, which shows balance, but also that there might be a problem with the quality of the calls. Even though the poor officiating wound up helping both sides, it still wasn't a good showing for the refs, especially in front of a knowledgeable basketball audience. They interfered with the flow of the game far too much, and called too many fouls in general (both Sarah Barnes and Teddi Firmi fouled out, along with a couple of Voyageurs, and there were at least four or five more players sitting on four fouls by the end). This doesn't help a league that struggles for credibility at times.
The men's game produced pretty much what everyone expected, as the Gaels gave the Voyageurs a 81-57 drubbing. Star forward Mitch Leger proved that my injury worries were unfounded, pouring in 24 points in only 25 minutes. He also added 12 boards, 2 steals and an assist to claim the double-double. Travis Mitchell chipped in 17 points, while Rob Shaw and Dan Banister both had 11, and the team as a whole shot an impressive 50 per cent from the field and 43.5 per cent from deep.
Things were closer than head coach Rob Smart would have liked in the first half (40-27 lead at the break), but the Gaels stepped it up in the second and never looked back. The game gave Smart an opportunity to work in more of his rookies than normal, expanding the playing time of those who already feature (like Nick DiDonato and Jon Ogden) while allowing other rookies who normally sit on the bench (Alex Murphy and Patrick Beswick) to get some valuable minutes.
The team's looking pretty healthy at present, too, which can only be a good thing going forward. Point guard Baris Ondul put in 25 minutes, notching six points, four steals, three assists and a rebound, which shows that he's close to 100 per cent. Smart said Beswick's fully recovered from his concussion, and the Gaels were able to dress 11 guys (a far cry from the eight who featured against Ryerson a couple weeks ago). That can only bode well for a stretch run.
The men are in an odd position at the moment. Their 11-7 record means there isn't too much hope of them catching Toronto (13-4) for the third playoff spot, but there's no way 5-12 Ryerson can edge them out of fourth. Thus, it's important for them to keep the pressure on in case the Blues tank, but there's also that sense of meaningless games. Smart and Leger both told me it can be a bit of a challenge to stay focused, which should make tomorrow night's match with York interesting. The 5-13 Lions have been hot lately, demolishing Laurentian and Ryerson by scores of 96-65 and 72-53 respectively, and only losing to No. 7 Toronto by six last weekend. Smart said the Gaels can't afford to take them lightly. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Related: Mark Wacyk's take and news from around the league over at cishoops.ca.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Campus Corner: A sibling rivalry, or lack thereof?
The men's basketball team faces a sharp contrast this weekend. Tonight, they play 14-0 Carleton, the consensus No.1 team in the country (according to the CIS poll, cishoops.ca, and the RPI rankings, which agree on very little apart from Carleton). Tomorrow night, they play a polar opposite team in the 0-14 RMC Paladins (as an aside, why does RMC even bother keeping volleyball and basketball teams? They haven't won a game in either gender in either sport this year, so they're worse than the Miami Dolphins, which is pretty sad).
Tonight's Carleton game should be quite interesting. As Neate Sager noted on The CIS Blog, Carleton's suffering from a flu bug. That, combined with the possibility that the Ravens might overlook tonight's match in preparation for tomorrow's Capital Hoops Classic against Ottawa before 10,000 fans at Scotiabank Place, should at least give the Gaels a slim chance to my way of thinking.
Unfortunately, head coach Rob Smart doesn't seem to agree. Smart told me that the game means "almost nothing" for his team, as they've pretty much already written it off. While certainly a pragmatic and realistic attitude, I'm not entirely convinced that it's the proper one for a coach to take before such a clash. As earlier mentioned, there's a reason we still actually play the games rather than just simulating them on computers. If both the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens can almost knock off the New England Patriots, there's certainly a chance that Queen's can hang in there with Carleton, and maybe even take the match if they channel the kind of shooting (71% from three-point land!) the Raptors put
up against the Celtics in their upset the other day. Perhaps I'm just a huge fan of underdogs, but I like to believe that there's always some hope. If Queen's can hit 71 per cent of their threes, I'm pretty sure they'll pull off the win: otherwise, it's still a slim chance, but it's definitely there. In any case, the battle of the Smarts (Rob and his younger brother, Carleton coach Dave) alone makes this game worth watching.
By the way, to keep from coming down on Smart too hard: he also made a good point about how Queen's young guys (i.e. Mitch Leger, Jon Ogden) are right up there with, if not better than, Carleton's equivalent young guys. The difference is Queen's relies on its young stars, while Carleton uses them primarily as fill-ins. It's also possible that he's saying one thing to the media to keep expectations low while secretly pumping his guys up for battle. The other alternative is that he's just sick of the inevitable questions about the success his brother's having with Carleton. In fairness, these games don't really mean a ton in terms of playoff positioning either: the 9-5 Gaels are currently fourth in the OUA East, and there doesn't seem to be too much likelihood of them catching Toronto given the Blues' recent success: however, there are still a lot of games to play. They should be able to finish ahead of fifth-place Ryerson, though, as the Rams are currently 5-9. Thus, barring an unexpected run or Jean Van de Velde-esque collapse by the Gaels (or a Phil Mickelson-esque choke-job by the Blues), they should be set to host Ryerson in the first round, a very winnable game.
(Hilarious response by Smart when I asked him if there's a sibling rivalry: "A rivalry involves being close.")
It will also be interesting to see if Queen's can keep any intensity for Saturday night's game against RMC, or if it will all have been drained from them in the Carleton game. Smart said he isn't worried about overconfidence, but you have to think that there might be some going from playing a 14-0 team to matching up against an 0-14 team. RMC's certainly going to pull out all the stops against their cross-town rivals in an attempt to avoid a winless season, and the schedule should help them a bit. I don't think Queen's will let down far enough that RMC will take the game, but it might be closer than you'd think, and the improbable does occur from time to time.
The women's matches should also be interesting. Tonight, 5-10 Queen's takes on 3-12 Carleton. The Gaels then play the winless Paladins Saturday night. These are key games for playoff positioning. Queen's is currently fourth in the OUA East, and has no chance of moving up (third-place Laurentian is 12-4). However, they need to hang on to the fourth seed to host a first-round matchup. They definitely don't want to slip any further than fifth, as the sixth and final playoff seed earns a doomed matchup against the third-place team. Carleton currently occupies sixth place, and will be desperate to try and move up. As Gaels' head coach Dave Wilson noted, it really is a four-point game. The RMC game will also be key: Wilson pointed out that the Paladins have been playing good basketball without getting results, and you know they'll be fired up against a crosstown team that has also struggled.
(By the way, Wilson is one of my favorite coaches: he always has time for the media, and he's one of the most quotable people I've ever interviewed.)
Related:
- Neate Sager's piece setting up the weekend at Out of Left Field: he also threw a link my way, which was completely unexpected and very nice of him
- Neate's other piece on basketball at The CIS Blog, referenced above
- The CIShoops.ca weekend preview (By the way, Mark Wacyk got some nice recognition for his work from Michael Grange of the Globe and Mail, my favorite basketball reporter).
Tonight's Carleton game should be quite interesting. As Neate Sager noted on The CIS Blog, Carleton's suffering from a flu bug. That, combined with the possibility that the Ravens might overlook tonight's match in preparation for tomorrow's Capital Hoops Classic against Ottawa before 10,000 fans at Scotiabank Place, should at least give the Gaels a slim chance to my way of thinking.
Unfortunately, head coach Rob Smart doesn't seem to agree. Smart told me that the game means "almost nothing" for his team, as they've pretty much already written it off. While certainly a pragmatic and realistic attitude, I'm not entirely convinced that it's the proper one for a coach to take before such a clash. As earlier mentioned, there's a reason we still actually play the games rather than just simulating them on computers. If both the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens can almost knock off the New England Patriots, there's certainly a chance that Queen's can hang in there with Carleton, and maybe even take the match if they channel the kind of shooting (71% from three-point land!) the Raptors put
up against the Celtics in their upset the other day. Perhaps I'm just a huge fan of underdogs, but I like to believe that there's always some hope. If Queen's can hit 71 per cent of their threes, I'm pretty sure they'll pull off the win: otherwise, it's still a slim chance, but it's definitely there. In any case, the battle of the Smarts (Rob and his younger brother, Carleton coach Dave) alone makes this game worth watching.
By the way, to keep from coming down on Smart too hard: he also made a good point about how Queen's young guys (i.e. Mitch Leger, Jon Ogden) are right up there with, if not better than, Carleton's equivalent young guys. The difference is Queen's relies on its young stars, while Carleton uses them primarily as fill-ins. It's also possible that he's saying one thing to the media to keep expectations low while secretly pumping his guys up for battle. The other alternative is that he's just sick of the inevitable questions about the success his brother's having with Carleton. In fairness, these games don't really mean a ton in terms of playoff positioning either: the 9-5 Gaels are currently fourth in the OUA East, and there doesn't seem to be too much likelihood of them catching Toronto given the Blues' recent success: however, there are still a lot of games to play. They should be able to finish ahead of fifth-place Ryerson, though, as the Rams are currently 5-9. Thus, barring an unexpected run or Jean Van de Velde-esque collapse by the Gaels (or a Phil Mickelson-esque choke-job by the Blues), they should be set to host Ryerson in the first round, a very winnable game.
(Hilarious response by Smart when I asked him if there's a sibling rivalry: "A rivalry involves being close.")
It will also be interesting to see if Queen's can keep any intensity for Saturday night's game against RMC, or if it will all have been drained from them in the Carleton game. Smart said he isn't worried about overconfidence, but you have to think that there might be some going from playing a 14-0 team to matching up against an 0-14 team. RMC's certainly going to pull out all the stops against their cross-town rivals in an attempt to avoid a winless season, and the schedule should help them a bit. I don't think Queen's will let down far enough that RMC will take the game, but it might be closer than you'd think, and the improbable does occur from time to time.
The women's matches should also be interesting. Tonight, 5-10 Queen's takes on 3-12 Carleton. The Gaels then play the winless Paladins Saturday night. These are key games for playoff positioning. Queen's is currently fourth in the OUA East, and has no chance of moving up (third-place Laurentian is 12-4). However, they need to hang on to the fourth seed to host a first-round matchup. They definitely don't want to slip any further than fifth, as the sixth and final playoff seed earns a doomed matchup against the third-place team. Carleton currently occupies sixth place, and will be desperate to try and move up. As Gaels' head coach Dave Wilson noted, it really is a four-point game. The RMC game will also be key: Wilson pointed out that the Paladins have been playing good basketball without getting results, and you know they'll be fired up against a crosstown team that has also struggled.
(By the way, Wilson is one of my favorite coaches: he always has time for the media, and he's one of the most quotable people I've ever interviewed.)
Related:
- Neate Sager's piece setting up the weekend at Out of Left Field: he also threw a link my way, which was completely unexpected and very nice of him
- Neate's other piece on basketball at The CIS Blog, referenced above
- The CIShoops.ca weekend preview (By the way, Mark Wacyk got some nice recognition for his work from Michael Grange of the Globe and Mail, my favorite basketball reporter).
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