It has only been about two weeks however the OUA West is quickly establishing that, top to bottom, it is likely the top conference in Canada. After 57 games played between CIS teams across the country, the OUA West has a composite record of 16-6 led by McMaster (5-0), Waterloo (3-0), Laurier (3-1), Windsor (2-1, all on the road at Canada West teams) and Lakehead (2-1). Here is the breakdown of five conferences thus far:
OUA West 16-6
AUS 11-10
OUA East 12-12
Canada West 10-13
QSSF 8-16.
Once again, OUA East appears to be weighed down by the bottom teams in the conference as, despite four teams with winning record Carleton (3-0), Queen's (2-0), Toronto (3-1), Ottawa (3-1), several other teams are winless including RMC (0-4) and Ryerson (0-3). In Canada West, UBC Thunderbirds (2-0 with both wins at home) and Saskatchewan (2-1, all games neutral site or on the road) are the only teams with winning records while in the AUS, St. FX (4-0) and Dalhousie (3-0) remain undefeated however the majority of games involving AUS teams have been intra-conference with only Dal, Acadia and UPEI playing outside the conference thus far. This will change this weekend as X and Saint Mary's travel to Southern Ontario for games against OUA West teams and Dal visits Quebec City in the Laval tournament for 3 inter-conference affairs. In the QSSF, most already know about the ambitious schedule Laval (2-5) have played already, with 5 quality losses (Ottawa neutral site, at Queen's OT, at UBC last second loss, at Fraser Valley, at Simon Fraser). Les Rouge et Or will look for their first quality win this weekend at home when Calgary, Dalhousie and Western visit. Concordia (3-2 with wins over RMC, Laurentian and York) is the only other program with a winning records vs. CIS teams in the pre-season.
Received a nice note from Frank Jette who publishes a web site www.jetsetbasket.com mission is to promote basketball in Quebec and publish basketball news. Frank is looking for anyone in Quebec who might have enough contacts and interest to write news regarding either CCAA or high school basketball in Qc. Frank is also planning to produce a basketball web.tv show in collaboration with SSN and also broadcast Quebec's University basketball game live on our website. We will lauch a contest to find the name of the show this week! If anyone is interested in writing for Frank en francais please contact me via email.
It was great to hear from Al Charters and his weekly in-season look at the Cape Breton CAPERS, coming off what Al calls a "great rebuilding season last year after losing two All-Stars to graduation". CAPERS opened the preseason with a pair of wins over the Nova Scotia Nomads, a senior men's team comprised of many former AUS veterans. In the first game, Cape Breton won 97-68 led by newcomer Cameron John-Proctor with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, followed by 1st year CAPER Jimmy Dorsey with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists. Last season's all-star and member of Canada's FISU University games team Phil Nkrumah with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Scott Jaspers-Fayer added 12 points while Tremaine Fraser had 10 points and 3 rebounds. The NS Nomads were led by ex-CAPER Jarrett Timmons with 17 points and 11 rebounds, and ex StFX star Tyler Richards with 17 points and 4 rebounds, John Bustin had 10 points and 4 boards and Ed Reynolds with 10 points and 3 boards. Game two on Sunday saw the CAPERS win by a score of 97 to 64. The CAPERS were led by Paris Carter who scored 21 points, Jimmy Dorsey added 20 points. Scott Jaspers-Fayer had 14 while Cameron John-Proctor added 10 points. Nelson Carvery and Eddie Reynolds led the Nomads with 17 points each. Cape Breton also played a pair of exhibition games this past weekend against Lee Academy at home, winning easily 93-53 and outrebounding the young visitors 42-20. Scott Jaspers-Fayer earned player of the game with 14 points and 5 rebounds while shooting a perfect 7 of 7 from the floor. Paris Carter added 12 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, while Al Alilovic also hit for double figures with 12 points and had 5 rebounds. On Saturday, the CAPERS won for the second consecutive day with a 72-52 win over Lee. The CAPERS played a strong first half leading the quarter at 25-12 and the half 44-18. Scott Jaspers-Fayer led the scoring with 13 points and 4 rebounds in 12 minutes of playing time. Al Alilovic had 10 points and 2 rebounds, Jimmy Dorsey had 9 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals, Cameron John-Proctor added 8 points, 3 rebounds and 4 steals and Chris Noddle had 7 points and 3 rebounds. This coming weekend the CAPERS will be in Ottawa to play two of Canada's upper echelon teams in Ottawa and Toronto and a program on the rise in Bishop's. The following weekend the team is in Montreal where they will face UQAM, McGill and Bishop's again.
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McGill Tribune has a piece on the Redbird Classic, specifically about the Ottawa/McGill game on Saturday
Gee-Gees run roughshod over smaller Redmen - Lack of size, experience dooms Redmen against Ottawa U
With seven new faces and a whole lot of youth on the McGill men's basketball roster, the Redmen are hoping that a trial by fire will help them prepare for the upcoming season. While the potential of the team is clear, the Redmen showed that they still have a lot of growing to do, suffering a 102-80 loss at the hands of perennial championship contenders the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday afternoon.
Playing their second game of the annual Redbird Basketball Classic, it didn't take long for McGill to succumb to Ottawa's constant pressure at both ends of the court. The Gee-Gees opened up the scoring with a corner three, then pounded the ball down low for a couple quick scores in the post. Ottawa continued mixing up their smooth perimeter play with impressive physicality in the paint all game long, and the home team simply could not match their size, skill, and tenacity.
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An article last week from the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal on the Lakehead Thunderwolves previewing Scott Morrison's team.
Finding the right parts
Greg Carter, seen during practice Wednesday at the C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse will be the Lakehead Thunderwolves‘ starting point guard. (The Chronicle-Journal/Brent Linton)
Will size, youth, and balance be Lakehead‘s recipe for success?
The last several years have been a rebuilding phase for the Thunderwolves men‘s basketball team. After losing their most dynamic offensive threat, Kiraan Posey, to graduation this off-season, head coach Scott Morrison has reshaped the team into a bigger, younger, and more balanced offensive threat. A team he hopes can still be around come playoff time, something that hasn‘t happened since 2006.
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Fraser Valley Cascades updates from Abbotsford News
Busy weekend for Cascades
UFV forward Kyle Grewal goes hard to the hoop against a Laval opponent on Saturday night.
A late surge lifted the University of the Fraser Valley men's basketball team to an 89-76 victory over the Laval Rouge et Or in preseason action on Saturday at the Envision Athletic Centre.
The Cascades held the lead for much of the game, but the scrappy Laval side battled back to take a three-point lead early in the fourth quarter. UFV finished strong, though, using a late 14-3 run to put the game away.
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