Tag: basketball

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Colour Commentary: Takeaways from the Draymond and KD interview

Dissecting the Bleacher Report interview between Draymond Green and Kevin Durant

In mid-August, Draymond Green, the eccentric power forward for the Golden State Warriors, participated in an interview with NBA superstar and former Warriors teammate Kevin Durant, who has since taken his talents to the Brooklyn Nets. The interview has amassed over three million views and has been the subject of many debates among fans since its release. 

The fact of the matter is, people love to see athletes banter among themselves because it reveals a side of the players that’s difficult to capture in a professional setting, especially with journalists they have no real personal affiliations with. 

In the 24-minute conversation that premiered on Bleacher Report’s YouTube channel with Durant, Green was the journalist-player hybrid and, for the most part, excelled as an interviewer. 

Even the best sports journalists couldn’t do what Green was able to in this interview. He does an excellent job of breaking down Durant’s walls by keeping things conversational while clearly articulating and thinking through his questions. Even Durant couldn’t help but acknowledge how excited he was for the discussion in a clip that was inserted in the final seconds of the video. 

The interview was also successful because it involved two influential people in the league with a lot of history who are extremely intriguing to basketball fans for dissimilar reasons.

Green’s confident demeanor and outgoing personality had an enormous impact on the Golden State Warriors and their championship success on the hardwood over the last decade. Off the court, Green’s exposure with the media has led many NBA fans to believe he would also prosper in sports broadcasting when he ultimately decides to retire from playing professionally. 

Durant, on the other hand, is an enigma to the media and basketball fans alike: someone who has lived and breathed basketball since he could walk, dominated the scoring aspect of the game like no one before him, all while seemingly never letting the crowd in on what he’s thinking. 

The interview dives deep into Durant’s past and the duo’s experiences as teammates. The segment that got the most attention by far was when they shared their perspective on their infamous altercation during a regular season game in 2018 — the night many fans concluded was the game Durant unofficially decided he was leaving the Warriors in free agency. 

Green and Durant hash things out and speak on how things developed behind closed doors in the interview. Most notably, they come to the consensus that the Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and general manager Bob Myers were largely to blame for not letting the dust between the two settle naturally after the incident. 

So that settles the campfire debates about their viral confrontation once and for all, right? Many fans on social media think so, but the truth is that it’s not that simple. 

It’s easy to take what the athletes said as fact, especially considering they’re discussing an event that happened nearly three years ago. And maybe their side of the story has some elements of truth to it, but as viewers we are only getting one piece of the puzzle. 

As sports journalists, it’s our job to objectively cover stories in a way that minimizes ulterior bias, to do everything in our power to find all the puzzle pieces to a story and put them all together. Frankly, covering an altercation by only referring to one frame of reference could be misleading to the public.

People who were looking for the truth about the altercation need to recognize that this interview was just one flashy piece to a story that will take years to fully understand. It was a fulfilling piece to an intriguing puzzle, but it’s far from over.  

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March Madness update

March Madness has already brought surprises to the table

One of the best sporting events of the year has finally arrived. Fans of college basketball have been waiting over 700 days for the next March Madness, as the tournament was cancelled last year due to COVID-19.

What a tournament it’s been so far. Let’s dive right in.

West Region

Let’s start off with the best team in the country. Before the tournament, there were many expectations for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. They went undefeated in the regular season, going 26-0 in the process. Needless to say they made it to the round of 16, also known as the Sweet 16.

The Creighton Blue Jays will play in the Sweet 16 after beating the 13th seed Ohio Bobcats 72-58, ending junior standout Jason Preston’s season. This will be Creighton’s first time in the Sweet 16 since 1974. Their leader, Marcus Zegarowski, led the way with 20 points in the second round matchup. A date with juggernaut Gonzaga awaits.

One first round matchup was cancelled due to the pandemic. The game between the Oregon Ducks and the VCU Rams was ruled a no-contest because of COVID-19 protocols on the VCU end. This gave Oregon an automatic win, which saw them advance to the round of 32.

The Iowa Hawkeyes, number two seed in the west, were hoping to give their star player Luka Garza, College Player of the Year favourite, one final shot at a championship. They won their first-round matchup against Grand Canyon Antelopes handily, 86-74, but the second round told a different story. They lost to Oregon by a whopping 15 points, 95-80. It will be interesting to see where Garza lands in the 2021 NBA draft.

The sixth seed in the west region, the USC Trojans, have looked phenomenal so far, and hardly anyone has been talking about them. They beat down the Drake Bulldogs in the first round 72-56 and beat an injured Kansas Jayhawks team 85-51 in the round of 32. We’ll see if they can keep it up. They match up against Oregon in the Sweet 16.

Midwest Region

All of the one seeds won their first round matchups rather comfortably. Number one seeds now own a 143-1 record against 16 seeds in the NCAA tournament. That sole win came in 2018, when the UMBC Retrievers defeated the Virginia Cavaliers 74-54.

Not all of the one seeds lasted very long though. The number one seed in the Midwest region, the Illinois Fighting Illini, lost in the second round to the Loyola Chicago Ramblers. Illinois came into this tournament as one of the favourites to win it all. The Ramblers proved they should not be taken lightly, as Cameron Krutwig showed that he is one of the most dominant big men in the country.

The Ramblers will play the Oregon State Beavers, who just beat the Oklahoma State Cowboys and top NBA recruit Cade Cunningham, 80-70. Oregon State was projected to finish last in their conference, the Pac-12. They now find themselves in the Sweet 16.

The Syracuse Orange has always been a fan favourite, but they have not garnered much attention after a slow start to the season. Everything changed for them once the calendar switched to March. They won against the sixth seed San Diego State Aztecs in the first round, and squeezed out a win versus the heavily favoured third seed West Virginia Mountaineers in the round of 32. Next up, a date with the powerhouse second seed, the Houston Cougars in the Sweet 16 of the Midwest region.

South Region

Upsets were bound to happen. But who would have expected them to be of this magnitude? This is the first time in NCAA tournament history that four teams seeded 13 or higher have reached the round of 32.

The most shocking upset of the tournament happened early on in the South region in the round of 64. The 15th seed Oral Roberts Golden Eagles defeated the number two seed Ohio State Buckeyes 75-72 in overtime. Kevin Obanor and Max Abmas led the way for Oral Roberts, scoring an outstanding 59 points combined. It’s going to be a long off-season for an Ohio State group that had championship aspirations.

Oral Roberts wasn’t done there. They came into the round of 32 with as much confidence as anyone. They shocked the basketball world once again, defeating the Florida Gators 81-78. They are the second 15th seed to ever make the Sweet 16. Could they be the first 15th seed to ever make the Elite Eight? They will be facing off against the heavily favoured third seed Arkansas Razorbacks.

Number one seed in the South region, the Baylor Bears will take on the fifth seed Villanova Wildcats in the Sweet 16 after both teams won their second-round matchups easily.

East Region

One 14th seed made it out of the first round of the tournament this year, and that team was the Abilene Christian Wildcats. It was a complete team effort, as the defence stepped up and no player scored more than 11 points in the victory. Sadly, that’s as far as they would go, as another underdog, the UCLA Bruins, defeated them in the second round. Alabama Crimson Tide and their high-flying offence is next on the agenda for UCLA.

Last, but certainly not least, we have the number four seed in the East region, the Florida State Seminoles. They survived a small scare in the first round against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, but bounced back in a big way, blowing out the Colorado Buffaloes 71-53. They face the first seed Michigan Wolverines in the Sweet 16 after they beat the LSU Tigers 86-78. Eli Brooks was clutch down the stretch when LSU made it a close game. He poured in 21 points and seven assists.

There you have it, everything to get you up to date and ready for the next round. Buckle up for the Sweet 16, because the madness is just beginning.

 

Graphic by Rose-Marie Dion

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LeBron James reaches another career milestone

LeBron James scored his 35,000th career point on Feb. 18

On Feb. 18, LeBron James became the third player ever to reach 35,000 points in the National Basketball Association (NBA), joining Karl Malone and fellow Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. James reached the milestone in a 109-98 loss to the Brooklyn Nets.

“For me to be linked with some of the greatest to have played this game is an honour,” James told reporters after the game.

Joining the league as a teenager in the 2003–04 season, James took the NBA by storm with his superb athleticism. Nearly two decades later, he continues to dominate the sport by consistently adding to his already elite game. The Lakers, led by James, are the third seed in the Western conference, trailing only their California rival Los Angeles Clippers and the rising Utah Jazz.

Over the course of his career, The Lakers’ superstar has epitomized longevity. This season, James has yet to miss a game, logging 1148 minutes in his 33 games played. At 36-years-old, he was selected by fans, current players, and media analysts to start in the 2021 NBA All-Star Game. James’ 17 All-Star selections only trail Kobe Bryant (18) and Abdul-Jabbar (19) for the most in the NBA’s history.

Since entering the league, James has charted 49,699 total regular season minutes to go along with his 10,811 minutes in the playoffs, the latter of which roughly equates to three additional full seasons played.

Despite having an illustrious career that has thus far not been jeopardized by injury, history has shown that Father Time is undefeated when it comes to sports.

In the 2012–13 NBA season, a 34-year-old Bryant led his injury-ravaged and floundering Lakers squad to a winning season, showing no signs of his old age before his body suddenly broke down on him when he tore his Achilles tendon.

Eight years later, the Lakers find themselves in a similar situation with James. And yet, the generational superstar has pushed back on the notion of resting while he is healthy and available to play.

“I’m resting now, sitting here talking to you guys,” James said during his postgame Zoom conference with reporters. “I’m resting when I get in my car and head home. I’m resting when I get home. I’m going to rest tomorrow.”

The Lakers have lost four straight games and five of their previous six since Anthony Davis’ lower-leg injury. Since James’ arrival in Los Angeles in the 2018 offseason, the team has struggled in producing quality offence when he sits, including when Davis is in the starting lineup and healthy. With Davis expected to be out at least until the All-Star break, the team needs their leader in James to overcome this rough stretch in the season.

The greatest player of all-time is a heavily debated subject among basketball fans. While it has no definitive conclusion, it commonly narrows down to James, Abdul-Jabbar, and Michael Jordan.

As it currently stands, James has won four NBA championships to go along with four Finals MVP awards and four regular-season MVP awards. He also ranks remarkably in almost every statistical category in the sport.

Perhaps most notably, by riding out seemingly inconsequential regular season games, James inches his way closer to surpassing Abdul-Jabbar’s career scoring record set at 38,387 total points. James is currently 3,101 points shy of the record that was once deemed unbreakable and has expressed a desire to sit atop the list when his career is all said and done.

On his pursuit of a fifth championship ring, James has chosen to lead his teammates by example amid a rough patch in the season, while paving his unique path towards individual greatness along the way.

 

Graphic by Rose-Marie Dion

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Should the NBA postpone the 2020–21 season?

From safety to finances, fans wonder about the fate of the NBA’s season

A hotly contested topic among National Basketball Association (NBA) fans is whether or not the season should be postponed due to the large number of players being infected with COVID-19. Pushing through the remainder of the season will result in the league generating more income, allowing its players to continue as normal. However, there are safety concerns, as many players have caught the virus on and off the court.

First, one must consider the health implications this may have on the players. Players have caught COVID-19 from other teams across the league, and eventually one of these cases may lead to a player getting really sick. Also, due to the condensed season schedule, more players are playing back-to-back sets, meaning players are getting injured more frequently.

Some matches have also been completely one-sided since some teams had to play with less players due to quarantine protocols and an increase in injuries. Notably, the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, and Miami Heat have recently played games with only eight players instead of the usual 15 that teams can dress on any given night due to a combination of injuries and COVID-19 protocols. The 76ers in particular only had seven players because they activated Mike Scott from the injured reserve a game early in order to have the minimum requirement of eight players in their game.

It is unfair to teams who just so happened to have a player catch the virus, especially if all their players were following the NBA protocols correctly. The league should consider postponing games more often to level the playing field, because being unlucky with COVID-19 cases for a small period could derail a team’s playoff hopes.

Oftentimes, a player tests positive for the virus, and since they have been in contact with the other players on the roster, some of those contacts must also enter a mandatory quarantine.

The Heat, for example, had an even record before losing a large portion of their roster to the pandemic protocols and since have had a record of 2-3, including a devastating 120-100 loss to the last-place Detroit Pistons. Some games were postponed for the team, but they are still missing some of their most important players and have had to go into some games shorthanded.

Financially, however, it makes sense to push through the season. By doing so, the league may be able to recuperate some of the lost income they accrued by not being able to have fans in most arenas.

A significant portion of the league’s revenue is generated through hosting games in arenas around North America, which means the league is now relying on television ratings and NBA League Pass subscriptions for their revenues. Television revenues in all sports have been in decline for various reasons; for example, some leagues chose to have some early kickoff times while the majority of at-home spectators had work. As well, during prime time this year due to the pandemic, there was a period of time when the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL all had games. Usually, only two or three of these leagues are occurring at the same time, therefore people had to pick and choose which sport to watch on a given night.

Also, doing this would allow the league to keep player salaries and the salary cap consistent. If players’ salaries end up being affected by the pandemic, players may go on strike and a lockout situation may be initiated, like we have seen previously in the NHL and other sports leagues.

The NBA has rules in place which should be able to mitigate the spread of the virus amongst its players. However, there have been issues with players obeying the rules. Players such as James Harden and Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets have been known to go to bars and clubs, even though league rules specifically state to avoid these locations.

Postponing the NBA season would create more complications in terms of league finances and player salaries, but perhaps postponement is still the best option, as it might save some upcoming problems. There are strong cases on either side of the issue, and it is important to weigh the costs versus the benefits of such a move.

A small shutdown for a couple of weeks may help to get the players who are currently quarantined under the NBA’s health and safety protocols virus-free, but as long as COVID-19 is still impacting North America, the league will likely not be able to get back to normal.

 

Graphic by Taylor Reddam

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A unique 2020 NBA Draft for a unique year

This year’s NBA Draft was exciting, eventful, and packed with surprises at every turn

After a long hiatus in the NBA, draft night is upon us. Fans will finally get to find out which of the exciting young prospects their team will add on from colleges, overseas professional teams, or perhaps even from Quebec CEGEPs. Tonight is very important for many teams, and it will shape franchises for years to come.

Before the draft, a few picks had already traded hands; the Portland Trail Blazers traded the 16th overall pick to the Houston Rockets, and their 2022 first round pick along with Trevor Ariza in exchange for Robert Covington. This year’s Trailblazers’ pick was eventually traded to the Detroit Pistons, who selected 6-foot-9 centre Isaiah Stewart.

One interesting change in this year’s draft is the change in the hat tradition. In previous years, players and their families have been handed caps of the team that drafts them. This year, they were given one of every team’s hats, to be ready for anything. Players held small draft parties with their families from the comfort of their homes, and when a player was drafted, their home and families were displayed on television.

This was emotional for many players, especially for Anthony Edwards, whose home had portraits of his mother and grandmother displayed since they had unfortunately passed away while Edwards was young.

Some very interesting selections were made during the draft, and there was plenty of excitement and drama surrounding them. Edwards was taken with the first overall selection by the Minnesota Timberwolves, and — despite a few flaws in his game, such as below average defense — is projected to be an excellent shooting guard to pair alongside D’Angelo Russell.

James Wiseman, the seven-foot tall centre from the University of Memphis Tigers was selected second overall, and should be able to help push a star-studded Warriors lineup back into finals contention. The infamous Lamelo Ball was selected third overall by the Charlotte Hornets.

Some players were drafted far higher than expected, and others fell down general managers’ draft boards. Patrick Williams, a combo forward who was expected to go around ninth overall, ended up being selected fourth overall by the Chicago Bulls, ahead of players projected to go much farther ahead, such as Obi Toppin (eighth overall) and Deni Avdija (ninth overall). Many Raptors fans were hoping that Isaiah Stewart would be available at pick 29, due to the team’s lack of centre depth, but the Pistons selected him with the 16th pick.

The Raptors selected two interesting guards. Malachi Flynn, a 6-foot-2 guard from the University of San Diego, has excellent playmaking ability reminiscent of Fred VanVleet, who just signed a four-year contract extension with the Raptors worth $85 million. Jalen Harris was selected at pick 59, and is projected to be a scoring machine. However, Harris is a very raw prospect and can use some time to develop in the G League before coming to the NBA.

This draft was very interesting, as there was a lot of fluctuation in people’s draft rankings. This draft projects to have a lot of excellent role players, but there was a distinct lack of star power, like Zion Williamson last season. Some more trades were finalized later on, due to the league’s various rules about trading such as the Stepien Rule, which states that no team can trade their first-round selections in two consecutive years.

The NBA implemented the rule after Cleveland Cavaliers owner Ted Stepien attempted to trade all of his first round draft picks, and succeeded in trading his first round picks from 1982 to 1986 in trades that ended up having poor returns. The league eventually had to step in, as he was actively ruining his franchise by doing so.

The main blockbuster trade of the night was a four-team trade which sent  Steven Adams from the Oklahoma City Thunder over to the New Orleans Pelicans, Jrue Holiday from the Pelicans to the Milwaukee Bucks, and had the Denver Nuggets exchanging a draft pick in 2023 in order to secure the draft rights to R.J. Hampton.

 

Graphic by @ariannasiviria

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The RSEQ cancels winter sports’ seasons

For sports like basketball, having no season will be a challenging first experience

Student-athletes face a new challenge due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it will be a tough one to overcome: they cannot play.

The government announced in early October that all team sports were cancelled in the province of Quebec. The cancellation came right in the heat of and in response to the pandemic’s second wave. Then, the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) announced that it was cancelling winter sports until at least Jan. 15, affecting Concordia’s teams directly.

When the Stingers men’s basketball team head coach Rastko Popovic initially heard the RSEQ announcement, he said wasn’t surprised, especially with similar situations going on everywhere else across Canada.

“I think Quebec is still delaying it just to give it a chance in case the situation cools,” Popovic said. “As sad as I am for our student-athletes and for everybody not being able to have a league, it probably is the best decision.”

Without CEGEP games to watch, coaches have had to find new ways to find, attract and recruit new players. The team is using video calls, text messages, emails and even PowerPoint presentations to recruit players while no game or sports activity is allowed.

Another issue often forgotten with the pandemic is academic repercussions. A lot of athletes use the thought of playing basketball as motivation for their classes, especially as they have to maintain certain academic standards in order to remain on their team. Now this motivation is harder to come by, as they are stuck doing online classes just like every other student.

“I think all the coaches will be concerned with that, it’s just not easy,” Popovic said. “I follow up with my players on a weekly basis. We have online tutoring available also.”

This kind of improvisation has been a key part of keeping the athletes on the right track academically, but Popovic recognizes that athletes aren’t the only ones suffering from remote learning, as it hasn’t been easy for all students.

Popovic was very clear about the impact the situation could have on his team’s chemistry. He said he teaches his players to compete for every playing minute, so if his players are competitors, chemistry will come quickly and won’t be that big of an issue. By competing at a high level, chemistry usually sets in really quickly, because you get to understand the playing style of your teammates in a very short time.

“It’s going to be affecting everybody and take a little bit of time, but we have veteran players returning and other experienced guys coming in from transfers,” Popovic said. “That will help us once we get back together. We have a very good team culture and our veterans are very good at setting the example.”

 

Graphic by Taylor Reddam

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The Los Angeles Lakers win it again

The Lakers win their 17th title in franchise history

On Oct. 11, the Los Angeles Lakers won their 17th National Basketball Association (NBA) championship, tying the Boston Celtics for the most in the league’s history.

The Lakers defeated the Miami Heat 106-93 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals and raised the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the first time since 2010. Lakers superstar LeBron James, appearing in his 10th NBA Finals, received the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP award for the fourth time in his career.

This title meant a lot for the Lakers, during a year beset by hardship. The year started with the tragic death of sport legend Kobe Bryant, who played his whole career in the Lakers uniform and won five NBA championships with them, and continued with the appearance of COVID-19 in America, forcing the league to postpone play.

Yet, it didn’t stop the Lakers from performing when the NBA resumed action. The league proceeded with a bubble format, cancelling the remaining regular season games and going directly into the playoffs. The Lakers won each of their first three rounds in five games, clinching their spot in the finals in just 15 games.

Despite great opposition from the Heat, superstars James and Anthony Davis simply dominated the court in every game, averaging 29.8 and 25.0 points respectively.

In today’s NBA, it’s almost a necessity to have one or two superstar players on your team in order to win championships. Yet, it feels like having James in your team automatically makes you a top contender every year because of his exceptional talent. The way James has led the Heat, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and now the Lakers, is unique.

He’s not doing the work alone, that’s for sure, but considering he has played in eight consecutive NBA Finals before this year’s; four with the Heat and then four with the Cavaliers, and is now at 10 finals and four titles, James’ consistent leadership and talent cannot be ignored.

Without a doubt, the Lakers will surely be a threat once again next season if James and Davis play the way they did these playoffs.

 

Graphic by Rose-Marie Dion

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Blaming a team loss on one individual isn’t fair

Toronto Raptors Pascal Siakam faced criticism following his team’s playoff elimination

The dream of back-to-back championships for the Toronto Raptors was shattered when they were eliminated from the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs during the Eastern Conference semifinals.

After sweeping their first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets, the Raptors lost a heartbreaking Game 7 to the Boston Celtics by a score of 92-87, and were eliminated from the playoffs.

Following the elimination, Raptors player Pascal Siakam was at the centre of discussion and criticism. United States media and Celtics reporters were hard on him, with Siakam even being asked how it feels to be responsible for his team’s loss.

Siakam’s field goal percentage (FG%) this postseason decreased by 7.4 per cent compared to last year’s playoffs where he finished with 47 FG%. He also averaged fewer points per game despite averaging more playing time.

However, he isn’t the only Raptor whose statistics dropped. Team star Kyle Lowry also saw a decrease in his FG%, while Marc Gasol couldn’t match his playing time, points per game or FG% from 2018–19.

Basketball requires passing plays, communication, and a good defensive game to support the offence. It’s fair to mention that a player missed important or even easy shots in key moments. Yet, those failed opportunities are part of a whole.

Siakam isn’t responsible for the Raptors in its entirety, just like Montreal Canadiens superstar Carey Price isn’t necessarily the only reason for a loss.

It would be unfair to blame Siakam’s missed shots, and act like all other Raptors errors didn’t affect the outcome of the game. The point is simple: it’s unfair to say that one person is responsible for all, no matter which sport.

 

Graphic by Rose-Marie Dion

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Stingers preparing for an uncertain season

Olivier Simon is among the Stingers athletes who changed his university plans for 2020–21 because of COVID-19

When Concordia University announced its closure from March 16 to 30, 2020 as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19 in Quebec, we were far from where we are today.

We’ve known since Sept. 14 that university football and rugby won’t have a season this year. As other winter and indoor sports are still waiting for their fate with a Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec’s (RSEQ) announcement expected Oct. 15, athletes have been training and preparing for an uncertain 2020–21 season.

With COVID-19 cases steadily increasing, and with the fall semester proceeding online, some Concordia Stingers players have changed their plans for the upcoming school year.

Olivier Simon of the men’s basketball team is one of them. Simon, one of the team’s few fifth-year players for 2020–21, was accepted in a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration, and decided to complete just two courses per semester for fall and winter.

“We need to be full-time students to play with the Stingers,” Simon said. “I’ll therefore be full-time for the 2021–22 school year, and will be eligible to play my last season next year. I thought it was the best decision I could [make], and still think it is.”

Simon described his choice to take fewer courses now in order to possibly play later as difficult.

“It’s a big decision because I don’t want to end my career with perhaps a half-season and no tournaments,” Simon said. “Yet, it’s also a tough one, as we don’t know what the future is going to be like right now.”

It took time before the Stingers teams could start training together again in person. Simon said it’s been rough these past few months not knowing if and when they would be able to go back to the gym as a team. He said the team has been training in many places recently, without necessarily knowing what would happen with their season.

“We had workouts with our coach on Zoom throughout the [quarantine],” Simon said. “We’ve been training at the Stinger Dome for two weeks, and had the court of a high school in Saint-Laurent for about a month.”

Despite some return to normality, Simon said it’s been rough to train and keep the motivation high.

“It was difficult at first, especially not knowing when we could play again, or simply just be in the gym,” Simon said. “We now understand better that we can’t do much about it, and don’t have control over [what’s going to happen].”

 

Photo by @cmarsh.photos

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Stingers men’s basketball team’s season ends in disappointment

The Concordia Stingers men’s basketball team started this 2019-20 Réseau du Sport Étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) season as league’s defending champions.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t defend their title.

Head coach Rastko Popovic described last year’s championship as the result of years of hard work.There’s never a guarantee of winning in sports, he said at the beginning of 2019-20, and each season is a new start and a new challenge.

After losing 78-71 to the Bishop’s University Gaiters in the RSEQ semi-finals last month, Popovic described the 2019-20 season as a “challenging” one.

“It was obviously disappointing at the end with the result,” said Popovic. “Yet, with the injuries we had, we were forced to do some things differently. We were still able, after losing Adrian Armstrong almost half of the season and Cedrick Bryan Coriolan almost a quarter of the season, to adjust with the younger guys.”

Despite those challenges, the head coach said it helped watching the team’s younger players develop throughout the season.

“Yes, we wanted to win a championship, but we understand we still got a good season where guys got better and improved in many areas. I think we proved a lot,” said Popovic.

Armstrong and Coriolan played their fifth and final seasons with the Stingers. Both were a huge part of the team’s success over the past couple years, including their 2019 championship year.

Armstrong finished 2019-20 as the RSEQ top-10 in a lot of the division’s individual university basketball statistics categories, including for scoring, steals and assists. Coriolan was named in the second all-star team in the RSEQ last season.

Popovic said a mix of everything in the Stingers’ season made things tough for the team. Although he said the team wasn’t bad, he pointed out they often had to deal with different lineups because of injuries.

“I think defensively we were good enough to have a chance to win the [championship], but offensively we didn’t play well enough,” said Popovic. “I think the inconsistency on the offensive end ended us losing our playoff game,” he said.

In 11 games played in his rookie season, Sami Jahan registered impressive numbers, scoring 147 points, 61 rebounds and 33 assists. Popovic thought Jahan played good games as a rookie and really was a positive this season despite not winning the championship. He said the team has many rookies who improved and will continue to be a big part of the Stingers in the future.

“Jahan had a huge progression from Christmas to the end of the season,” said Popovic. “He showed he can be a potential starter for us next year with the way he played. Aleksa Popadic was starting to have a good rookie year as well before he got hurt. I think those guys really improved as rookies. Ali White showed good flashes as well. I think the progression there was good.”

Yet, Jahan’s improvement in his first year really stood out for Popovic. For the head coach, it’s the most positive aspect to take out of the season.

“He showed that he belongs at this level of competition and that he can compete [in this league],” Popovic said. “He was able to do things that are required to compete here and have success at this level.”

Next season should be an interesting one for the Stingers. After going through the 2019-20 season with a fairly young group, the 2020-21 edition of the Stingers should boast an older squad, filled with second and third-year players.

Popovic said that his coaching staff will reevaluate their offensive and defensive schemes once they’ve completed their recruiting rounds.

“We’ll probably [bring some changes] in our plays, and Jahan will probably get more minutes, but right now it’s too early to tell,” Popovic said. “We’ll probably be faster with him. We’ll still have Olivier Simon and Sami Ghandour. We’ll need to make sure those guys will be the leaders of our team.”

Simon and Ghandour will be the only two fifth-year players in the lineup next season. Simon finished the season sixth in the league for points with 244, fourth in rebounds with 114 and third in blocks with 12. Ghandour finished third in rebounds with 116 and tenth in blocks with seven. Both have played a huge role in the team since joining it.

Photos by Laurence Brisson Dubreuil

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A challenging season for Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team

It’s been a tough season for the Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team.

After appearing in the Réseau du Sport Étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) final in 2018-19, as well as going to Nationals, the team finished 2019-20 last place with a 4-12 record.

The Stingers faced adversity all season long. The team dealt with many injuries, which made things complicated for head coach Tenicha Gittens. Despite disappointing results, Gittens said she’s proud of the way her team competed this season.

“I don’t think I had one player who was 100 per cent healthy [this season],” Gittens said. “They still went out there and battled. I always want more of them, so as a coach you’re never really satisfied. Yet, overall, they showed a lot of [effort and character]. It would have been easy, and not just for the last games of the season but many, to give up.”

Photo by Laurence Brisson Dubreuil

Even during preseason tournaments and exhibition games, the Stingers had some of their starting players injured. Teams usually take advantage of preseason games to build chemistry between their players, and work on their system to make the last adjustments before the regular season.

However, the Stingers could barely do so because of injuries that occured to some key players before the start of the 2019-20 RSEQ season. The team showed chemistry towards the end of the season, but it was too late for a playoff push. Gittens said the chemistry was still a good point to retain from this year.

I think it started to get better,” Gittens said. “At the beginning of the season we were [dealing with injuries and had rookies]. Nelly Owusu and Myriam Leclerc were still out at that point. Sometimes, establishing a chemistry takes a little bit longer than you’d like. I think if we played like in this last game, but in January, it would have been a much different outcome. It just took us too long.”

Gittens said she talked with her players about not waiting for things to happen, and taking advantage of what you can control. She explained that building chemistry, and having success isn’t just always about things happening on the court.

“We went to Nationals and competed for the RSEQ championship last year, so of course we looked for the same kind of success,” Gittens said. “We have the understanding that we had no depth. We had players who were expected to join our program and ended up not coming. We just dealt with a lot. People don’t see that, as they see us in games or in the gym, but there’s much more than that. It’s an unfortunate thing, and it happens sometimes. We will be championship contenders again, and that’s the focus. You have to take it one day at a time sometimes.”

Photo by Alex Hutchins

Rookie point-guard Owusu also had a challenging season, coming back from her second ACL injury and a shoulder injury. Owusu played for Dawson College in division 1 of the RSEQ before joining the Stingers. She was one of the best players in division 1, especially defensively where she finished the 2017-18 season first in steals.

Gittens said the coaching staff knew what they were adding to the team when recruiting Owusu, but it’s still hard to describe her rookie season because just like other teammates, she wasn’t healthy from start to finish.

“Owusu played at like 65 per cent, and still doesn’t have feeling in her arm because of her shoulder,” Gittens said. “She’s incredibly hard on herself. She’s a great example for the other players. We didn’t really have [a healthy] Owusu this season. The focus now is just to have her back healthy. We’re going to take time off, and rehabilitate those injuries we have in the group for next year.”

Gittens described the season as mentally tough, including for herself. She said it’s been hard to try figuring out how to manage the team with all the injuries.

“I expect things of my players, but not anything I’m not going to expect out of myself first,” Gittens said. “There were so many things we wanted to do, but unfortunately couldn’t because we had six or perhaps seven depth players [in the lineup]. It’s part of the sport and the job, and I have to know how to manage those things and put us in a position to win.”

Despite finishing the season with just four wins, there are still things Gittens thought were good. She pointed out to the character her team showed in some moments this season, which is certainly a positive to keep for next year.

“I think that when we played McGill, and that Leclerc went down [because of an injury], our players offered a phenomenal fight,” Gittens said. “To me, it showed their character and ability to respond to adversity. They proved they had each other’s back. It was the same in the last game of the season, as it would have been to just give up and [accept the fact] we’re already eliminated. However, we were at home, and gave us a chance to win the game. Our players played until the very end and cared.”

 

Feature photo by Alex Hutchins

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Bishop’s 78, Concordia 71: Stingers Men’s Basketball team lose in semi-finals

The Concordia Stingers Men’s Basketball team suffered a 78-71 loss against Bishop’s University at the RSEQ semi-finals on Wednesday night, Feb. 26.

Both teams fought tooth-and-nail, with non-stop action at both ends of the court. It was a roller-coaster of a game, each side taking the lead at different times. Ultimately, the last few minutes saw the Gaiters edge the Stingers to a seven-point win.

“It’s one game, it doesn’t mean they’re a better team than us, they were a better team today,” said Stingers head coach Rastko Popovic. “Our guys fought, we competed, it was a close game, back and forth like a playoff game should be.”

The Stingers and Gaiters had come into the semi-finals after splitting four intense regular season games—both teams won twice at their respective home courts. The odds were pretty even coming in, and the determination from both teams was reflected in the scoreline.

“We had a couple of big shots down the stretch,” said Popovic. “I’m more disappointed for our seniors. I’ve been around, I’ve won a lot of games, I’ve lost a lot of games, it’s part of coaching, but this was their last year, their last game, it sucks to lose like this.”

Cedrick Bryan Coriolan and Adrian Armstrong are graduating this year, and although their last game did not pan out the way any Stinger had hoped, they are leaving the team with an impressive repertoire.

Coriolan was named in the RSEQ university men’s basketball honour roll as a second team all-star for his outstanding play in the 2019-20 season. The Stingers guard played 12 games, averaging 11.3 points, 1.3 steals, and 3.1 assists.

During the 2019-20 season, Armstrong made the top-10 list in RSEQ individual university basketball statistics for scoring (average of 13.7), assists, (average 2.9), steals (average 1.4), and three-point percentage (average .326).

“I thank those guys for everything they’ve done, to Concordia University, to Concordia basketball, they came in as boys now they’re leaving as men with their degrees, and at the end of the day that’s what I’m most proud of for them, they’re ready for real life,” said Popovic. “I appreciate their competitiveness, every single day they showed up and really represented what Concordia basketball is, and I’ll love those guys for the rest of my life. This one game doesn’t define their careers, it’s sports, at the end of the game it’s a game. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. These guys will become alumna now, the reason we’ve had so much success till now is that they were on the team, and I’m so proud of them.”

As for the rest of the squad, as it goes with sports (and Nelson Mandela), you either win or you learn.

“There are guys coming back, we’ll have new recruits, it’s a cycle that restarts,” said Popovic. “This loss stings and [our team has] got to use that as motivation, everybody can get better.”

With new recruits, as well as the remaining players on the team, the Stingers coach believes the team has a lot to offer, especially with talents that are just starting—like rookie Sami Jahan, who had an incredible first-run with the team, having also been nominated in the RSEQ basketball men’s honour roll.

That’s the joy of coaching, next season starts tomorrow for us, we gotta get ready, and start building towards the summer when we start playing our games,” said Popovic.

 

Photos by Kyran Thicke

 

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