Among the ingredients needed to play in a professional basketball game are superior skill, strength and athleticism. A little luck along the way, and some height never hurt either. But in the case of former Concordia Stinger Jon Dresner, simply being in the right place at the right time helped lead him to the most unorthodox of professional debuts.
On the last day of 2005, Dresner played his first minutes of pro ball for the American Basketball Association’s Boston Frenzy, who were in town to face the expansion Montreal Matrix. The Frenzy was 0-9 at the time, and arrived in Montreal with only five players, after two members of their already shorthanded roster failed to clear customs.
The visitors needed extra bodies and were fortunate to be playing the Matrix on the same afternoon that a local Qball exhibition game had been scheduled to precede the ABA tip-off. Dresner, 25, helped organize the Qball game, and was asked shortly after the exhibition if he could play a second game, this time for the Frenzy.
“I didn’t have much time to think about it,” Dresner said. “I was just hanging around the locker room when Pascal Jobin (former Matrix coach) asked if I could play for Boston. They gave me a uniform, and I was on the team. It happened pretty quickly.”
The former Stinger found himself in the unique situation of being more familiar with the opposition than with his own teammates, who he was meeting for the first time.
“Playing against Montreal, it was just like playing pickup ball in the summer for me,” Dresner said. “Guys like (former Stinger) Phil (Langlois), Denburk Reid, and Shawne Brown, we always play together in the summer, so it didn’t feel much different than what I’m used to.”
Dresner lost in his ABA cameo appearance, but not before contributing seven points and nine rebounds in 16 minutes. Following the game, Dresner returned his uniform and said goodbye to a Boston basketball team he will likely never play for again.
“You have to realize, the ABA is not the best of leagues,” Dresner admitted. “In Montreal they’re trying to take it seriously and they’ve been getting some good crowds, but the Boston team doesn’t even practice. The guys just get paid a few hundred bucks to play on the weekends.”
Dresner says he does not expect his one professional game to escalate into anything bigger. The Concordia grad who completed a degree in commerce and a specialization program in psychology, keeps busy working fulltime in the sporting goods industry on weekdays, and working at the Jewish General Hospital on weekends. In addition, he finds two hours a day to work on Qball.ca, a web site he created last year to help promote basketball in Quebec.
The touring Qball basketball team he has put together with experienced provincial players, has already played nine games this season against CEGEP and University programs.
For more information, visit www.qball.ca.
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BISHOP’S 82
CONCORDIA 77
Concordia’s 13-game regular season home winning streak came to an end last Friday, with an 82-77 loss to Bishop’s. The Stingers shot only 50 per cent from the foul line and were unable to contain 6’8″ centre Jeff Szita who had 25 points for the visiting Gaiters.
“He’s the Shaq of the Quebec conference, and we couldn’t stop him,” said Stinger point guard Chris Blackwood.
“The good thing is that we get the rematch real soon,” said Andre Johnny referring to this Saturday’s home game. “It’s so important to win these home games. We need the home court advantage come playoff time. We don’t want to go to Bishop’s. We don’t want to go to Laval. We want them coming to our gym.”
Bishop’s is off to its best start since eight years and sits in sole possession of first place in the QUBL with a 5-1 record. Tip-off for Saturday’s men’s game is at 4 p.m.
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CONCORDIA 88
McGILL 63
Less than 24 hours after a miserable shooting effort against Bishop’s, the Stingers had one of their best shooting games of the season in an 88-63 win at McGill last Saturday.
Freshman Damian Buckley scored a career-high 29 points, while Patrick Perrotte also reached double digits with 16 points. Buckley and Perrotte combined with Ben McCarthy and Pierre Thompson to put on a near-perfect shooting clinic. The foursome was a combined 21/22 from the field including 4/4 on three-pointers. They also went 18/20 from the foul line while accounting for over 70 per cent of the team’s total points.
“What more can we say about Deon?” Blackwood asked of Damian Buckley. “This is an all-Canadian in the making. He’s getting better every game.”
With the win, Concordia (4-2) remains in a second place tie with Laval. The Stingers are 3-0 against McGill this season, and just 1-2 against the rest of the division.
