Our first look at the CISHOOPS.CA Top 10 after about three full weeks of pre-season/tournament basketball.
#1 Carleton (6-0) The Ravens have looked dominant in spurts but struggled at points this weekend in Victoria still coming away with another tournament championship. Replacing two All-Canadians and the Defensive POY is difficult however the Ravens can still throw eight or nine very good CIS players at opponents and continue to defend and rebound. 6'3" Elliott Thompson may be the toughest Raven pound for pound and he was excellent against Vic on Sunday while 6'8" Kevin McCleery continues to be a consistent scorer and rebounder. #1 until someone beats them.
#2 UBC (3-0) With three home wins against quality opponents (Windsor, Laval and Waterloo), the T-Birds have not looked dominant, having to come from behind late in the Laval and Waterloo games but they remain undefeated. Much like Carleton having to plug in new talent after losing their two best post players and best scorer to graduation, the T-Birds remain deep and are led by a Moser Award candidate 6'1" Josh Whyte. #2 until someone beats them.
#3 Calgary (3-0) Playing in arguably the toughest pre-season tournament in the CIS this season, the Dinos rolled to three victories with only Dal providing a strong test however Calgary turned it on late in that game. With a tremendous front line and an emerging gem in the backcourt in 5'9" freshman guard Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, who showed on the weekend that his ability to guard the ball and get the Big 3 of 6'9" Tyler Fidler, 6'6" Robbie Sihota and 6'8" Ross Bekkering involved, will be key going forward, the Dinos deserve to be ranked at or near the top of the CIS currently.
#4 McMaster (7-0) It is reasonably clear that 6'6" Keenan Jeppesen is the most important and influential transfer of the young season, as he has led the Marauders with some dominating performances in their 7 victories vs. CIS teams thus far. With plenty of depth, the strong play of veteran guard Jermaine DeCosta and one of Canada's finest freshmen in 6'8" Ryan Christie, Mac comes at teams in waves defensively and has shown a great ability to score in transition.
#5 Dalhousie (5-1) The Tigers first five have been as good as virtually any in the CIS thus far and Dal's only loss was to Calgary on Saturday in a game that was tied very late. Dal has ridden 6'1" Simon Farine with good reason as he has shown he is one of Canada's top players and 6'9" transfer Joe Schow and 6'7" Sandy Viet gives the Tigers important low post presence at both ends. Dal has also continued to play usually-stifling half court "d" after last season's emergence at that end of the floor.
#6 Toronto (6-1) An impressive victory Sunday over a very strong Cape Breton Capers team, despite missing their top scorer in 6'2" Rob Paris (shoulder) and 6'8" Nick Snow (ankle) shows that strong systems do work. In the case of the Varsity Blues, having intelligent offensive systems and the players in place to execute will keep teams in every game. A very strong start for Coach Mike Katz's group despite having to deal with several injuries more than justifies this ranking.
#7 Trinity Western (1-0) A team that finished last season very strong before finishing fourth in the CW Final Four, the Spartans have added some very good talent to an already strong core. In their only win, TWU was impressive in defeating visiting Waterloo Warriors who went winless out west this weekend. This team has much promise and with more action vs. CIS teams other than the one game, expect TWU to push to show the country they can push for an even higher ranking.
#8 Cape Breton (2-1) A very deep, athletic and talented team led by 6'4" Phil Nkrumah and 6'3" newcomer Paris Carter, a U.S. import (who may have broken his hand today against Toronto), the Capers can go 11 or 12 deep with virtually no drop off in talent and were dominating in their first two games in Ottawa before stumbling in the face of Toronto's zone and precision sets offensively. Along with Dalhousie, the Capers appear to be good enough to finish at the top of the AUS.
#9 Windsor (2-1) The young Lancers, who likely had Canada's top overall recruiting class went out west and took 2 of 3 games against solid CW sides. How their young guys, especially in the backcourt, adjust to playing in a long season will determine how well Windsor does. However, the group is talented enough and showed out west that they are worthy of Top 10 consideration.
#10 Saskatchewan (5-1) POY candidate 5'10" Showron Glover has already put up some big numbers and with veteran 6'8" Troy Gottselig up front the Huskies look poised to compete with the top teams in Canada West.
Honourable Mention: Queen's (4-0); St. FX (5-2); Laurier (4-1).
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Composite Division/Conference Standings: 98 games played (through Sunday Oct 25th)
OUA West 21-13 (+8)
OUA East 22-17 (+5)
Canada West Prairie 16-16 (even)
AUS 17-18 (-1)
Canada West Pacific 9-10 (-1)
QSSF 13-24 (-11)
2 comments:
Have to respectfully disagree with some choices on this list.
First, ranking UBC second at this point seems more of a nod to last year's team than reflects the play of the current one.
Three wins at home and not dominant in any one of them, it appears UBC is missing Chris Dyck already.
On the other hand, Calgary hardly seems affected at all by the departure of Henry Bekkering, as they are not only unbeaten, but have mauled a number of opponents along the way.
They are my #2.
Number three is Mac, unbeaten at 8-0 and like Calgary are pounding teams convincingly.
Only two teams east of Ottawa merit top 10 status and neither are from Quebec.
I'm afraid this will be a very poor year for the Q as none of the 5 teams in this small league have distinguished themselves thus far.
In the AUS, defending champ Dalhousie has clearly improved and Cape Breton will be a serious challenger to the Tigers because of their overall athleticism.
Toronto impressed me this weekend because they simply play the game as it should be played.
Even without Nick Snow and now Rob Paris, the Blues frustrated the more talented Capers with solid positional play and great team defence.
Mark are you manually compiling the team W-L records? Or is there a public source for these records? Bob Adam's site has been inactive this season.
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