Bloggin' on The Edge

You Can't Help Yourself from Ballin'

[defendtherock]

Trades, Signings and Identity

Before the season started, I was worried about the Edge roster. We had a bunch of wings who could shoot, a few point guards, and nobody to rebound the ball or play defence in the key. Our first few games showed that when we could hit our shots we were not going to lose, but if we missed we were giving up the rebound and had no plan B. The promised speed on offence did not materialise, and there was just no chemistry.

The changes were quick in coming. Glen Davis was the obvious key addition, but Obie Oleka has made a huge difference on the boards. Despite some clear duds on the bench, the team seemed to be turning around with a pair of hefty win streaks. They did. however, coincide with the absence of Carl English from the team. His return took out a lot of the ball movement that had led to the team’s success. We’ve had that conversation though, and this is more about roster moves.

First came the mind-boggling trade of Guillaume Boucard for Brad States. While I will be the first to admit that Boucard was not living up to his hype (at least the hype I had placed on him), and his hands in the paint were particularly concerning. That said, Brad States has shown precisely nothing of value since coming on board, and Boucard at least was scoring at a decent clip off the bench. Did he ask for the trade? That’s possible, and since moving to the Island Storm he is averaging over 17 a game. We could really have done with that version of Guillaume here. On the off-chance that he wanted more playing time (his points are coming in 33 minutes per game) and therefore asked to be traded, we’ll let this one slide.

Then came the cutting of Kevin Zabo and Keith Wright. While Zabo had not seen the floor, Wright was making meaningful contributions defensively and on the glass. With Davis starting to ramp up his minutes, one of the starting bigs had to be relegated to the bench. Wright was the obvious choice, but why he couldn’t stick around at the expense of Satnam Singh is a mystery to me. Satnam is huge, slow, and largely useless. You have to be pretty bad to be that big and not on an NBA team, and he’s proven that to be true. He doesn’t rebound, he doesn’t block shots, and he’s easily beaten on defence. The rumour was that these cuts were to enable a bump to Big Baby’s salary, which I’ll admit is important, but would rather have seen come from Satnam and Carl’s pockets.

The Tad Kapita signing was next, and as yet I have seen nothing that tells me why he was signed. He doesn’t look particularly big, he looked lost on the floor, he didn’t look like a shooter and from what I can see he isn’t known as a rebounder. Time will tell here, but he saw 8 minutes of time across two games, and some of that was in garbage time. If that isn’t a sign that Coach Plumb has little faith in the new recruit, I don’t know what is.

Then came the most puzzling of these moves: trading Maurice Jones for Russell Byrd. Jones has been our most consistent player all season, carving up defences and creating opportunities at the rim that the rest of the team seemed ill-suited to create.He was fast, a great passer and a scorer. While Byrd did light us up on the Island Storm’s visit to St. John’s this year, he hardly did that last season for us. I did yell to him that we missed him when they visited, but I don’t know that I wanted him back this badly. Jones’s departure came after being relegated to the bench for the first Halifax game, and he then sat out the second game. Did he ask to be traded too? If he did, that’s two veterans in one season wanting to leave a team with a great fanbase and an excellent shot at the playoffs. That does not bode well for us. Byrd needs to be able to keep up his scoring this year, though whether that is off the bench or as a starter remains to be seen. 

Olu Ashaolu signed this weekend, and from what I could tell online he’s a big who can both take it to the rim and hit the occasional shot. He was a good scorer in the Philippines, which we sorely need. Bringing him off the bench ahead of States and Satnam will add some points to the second unit, with any luck. However, it’s another move that doesn’t seem to fit the team philosophy. What is this team? We have a lot of shooters, personified by Carl English and Jared “points totals in multiples of 3″ Nickens. We have Glen Davis as a force down low. We are now slim at the point, as Jerryn Skeete hasn’t maintained the high level of play he showed late last season. We have a parade of bigs on the bench, none of whom really seem to be offensive threats. Diego Kapelan is a nice piece but an inconsistent one. Ashaolu looks solid, but is neither a bruising rebounder nor a shooter. How exactly he fits in remains to be seen, but with the bad moves we’ve made so far he really needs to be a big difference maker. 

[defendtherock]

That's How You Recover

There really was only one way to respond to the shellacking the Edge received on Tuesday, and that was to come out firing on Thursday, washing off the sins of an awful performance with a barnstorming show. Behind some blistering early shooting, a greatly improved consistent defensive effort, and the ball movement that was lacking on Tuesday, the Edge came out to a sixteen point lead at halftime.

Although the shooting cooled off notably by the end of the half, there was a notable lack of forced Carl English...perhaps because he was in foul trouble for much of the half. Similarly the fact that all three refs were different for this game was likely not inconsequential in the turnaround. The big difference though was in the way the team played - as a team, not as individuals.

Halifax has a pair of quality scorers in Mike Poole and Terry Thomas, and solid playmaking and leadership from Cliff Clinkscales. The play of these three, and sharp shooting from the former two, brought Halifax back strong and within nine at one point, but the game completely lacked any sort of flow as the refs were whistle-happy all night.

As the fourth quarter closed both teams looked to be spent and neither could buy a bucket. The old nemesis of defensive rebounding reared its head again, but Halifax couldn't make the extra chances count. Even with a parade to the foul line on both ends (and questionable calls both ways), a spirited and effective full court press and too many missed free throws from the Edge, Halifax just ran out of time.

Don't let this result fool you. This is still a deeply flawed team that turned a dominant first half into a game that was way too close. Bad turnovers, sloppy interior passing, missed bunnies...these are not mistakes that pro ball players should be making this often. Brad States seems to bring nothing of value to this team, making the Boucard trade all the more confusing. Take this win and be happy you improved, but don't for a second think that we've turned the corner.

[defendtherock]

Have We Seen Enough Yet?

It’s been on my mind for a while, but last night’s humiliating spanking at the hands of the Halifax Hurricanes was all the proof I needed to confirm my suspicions. The method and depth of the capitulation of the team combined with the obvious shortcomings told me everything I needed to know.

The problem with this team is Carl English.

In these parts, that sentence is almost treasonous. You do not attack Newfoundland sportsmen in front of Newfoundlanders, especially not when they are playing for their hometown team. Last season, Carl was the driving force behind much of the success of the Edge and carried us (with help from a very strong supporting cast) to the playoffs. 

We don’t have last year’s Carl. Despite saying in the off-season that he was in the best shape of his life, Carl has not found his shot all year. Worse yet, he has forced shot after shot and been the ball stop that he was all last season, without the points to mitigate it. Worst of all though, the Edge is just a better team when he is not on the floor. That’s the most damning thing here: our former star player is actively hurting his team. 

Carl is no longer the star on this team, Glen Davis is. He’s not the best shooter, Jared Nickens is. Dez Lee has been consistent and a creator, Maurice Jones more dynamic, Jerryn Skeete and Glen Davis as popular if not more so. There will always be a place for the hometown hero on this team, but the time has come for him to realise that it might not be as the starter and primary focus right now. At least not until his prodigal shot stops being profligate.

Last night was not his fault. Not entirely, at least. As a team the Edge was cold from deep, but kept firing away. The refereeing was abysmal. Tempers flared. The team fought valiantly in the third quarter with some of the best defence I have seen at any level, but an inability to do that at literally any other time was their downfall. That and woeful rebounding and shot selection. 

Perhaps the most unforgiveable crime was the performance in the last five minutes of the game. Elsewhere on social media, I called it a shameful performance. After Halifax went on their run in the early 4th the Edge just looked like they wanted to go home. Fans know we're going to lose games. We know we're going to get blown out. That's ok. Those games happen. What isn't ok is playing like you don't care. You can't give up. That's not what the fans pay to see. Frustration, anger, disappointment...all valid. Show some passion, show some pride! The letters on your chest MEAN something to the fans, and if nothing else they mean a paycheck to you. At least play like you care.

And for heaven’s sake, don’t force-feed us more Carl English pull-ups. I know English Paving is a sponsor, but we don’t need to provide them with bricks as well as advertising. 

[defendtherock]

Edge 118 Five 98, 18 December

Ah, the classic trap game. With Carl English out (DNP - OLD) after an emotional weekend series and another game tomorrow night, facing a team playing well, a loss would have shocked nobody. Instead the Edge came out firing; essentially everything they tried offensively worked and the shots were falling early. The final score actually did not reflect how dominant the Edge was, jumping out to an early lead and slowly building on their advantage to lead by over 30 at one point. A flurry of garbage-time threes from the Five made this look closer than it was.

Dez Lee is still on fire - I don’t know what Dez has been eating over the past couple of days, but I hope he has a lot of it. At times he looks like he can score at will, hitting from outside and cutting through defenders with ease. As great as the offensive explosion has been, he has not slacked off on the other end of the court. Long may it continue.

We rebounded! - At the start of the second half I noticed Dez Lee and Obi Oleka stretching on the court, possibly doing yoga. Dez exploded as we know, but Obi had sixteen rebounds tonight for the double-double. Keith Wright also had the double double on a night where everything went right in the paint.

Glen Davis rounding into form - Fifteen minutes tonight for Big Baby, along with the leadership and cheerleading we need from him. He has amazing court vision for a big man too. Davis is several levels above anyone he will face in this league, and once he is in game shape this team will be hard to beat. 

Better flow - With Carl English out, the team had a totally different feel to it. As good as Carl can be on his night, he is a ball stop. Without him in the game the team is more of an “everybody eats” offence, which better allows us to find the man with the hot hand. I don’t want to say the team is better with Carl sitting, but tonight they looked unbeatable.

Shooting touches returning - Dez Lee might be grabbing the attention right now, but it’s important to note that Diego Kaplan is also on fire right now, He had 16 tonight, going 4-6 from long distance. Jared Nickens also got out of his shooting slump, albeit in garbage time, which will be important going forward.

Sat-nah - Sorry big man, but you need a lot more work to be effective even at this level. Satnam got extended minutes tonight and was able to show some flashes of offensive aptitude, but he is still lumbering on defence and almost completely immobile. He can’t rebound and doesn’t even get the “pylon effect” rebounds you would expect from a man who is 7′3 and bulky. Glen Davis is always talking to him, and at times the whole bench was yelling at him to get a hand up, but still these rookie mistakes continue.

Good win tonight against the Central-leading Five. Let’s run it back tomorrow!

[defendtherock]

Home Double-Header vs Island Storm

Back in the win column this weekend with two solid performances against a very game PEI outfit. Of course most people will remember this series for the debut of Glen Davis, but there was a lot more to see.

We found an inside game...kind of - Losing Todd Brown Jr seemed like a strange decision at the time, especially with Jared Nickens seeing such little time and TBJ being able to score so well. Obie Oleka had a solid weekend on the glass (9.0 RPG on the weekend) and we had some scoring in the paint, but we still cannot grab a defensive rebound on opposition shots in the paint. The Storm had multiple third and fourth chances inside, which cannot happen. Davis should help there, but he needs to get in playing shape first.

Dez Lee had himself a weekend - Dez Lee’s main role on this team is to be the defensive leader, a phenomenal rebounder for his size, and the effort-and-energy guy who can give you a dozen points or so. On Friday he played above expectations, but on Sunday he looked nigh unstoppable in the second half. He routinely beat his man off the dribble, took the ball strong to the rim and completed on his free throws. He did this while also still diving for the loose balls and grabbing every board within reach. Carl English might be the face of the team, and Davis and Skeete might be the darlings of the fans, but Dez Lee is the engine room. 

We messed up last year - Russell Byrd came in to Mile One with a point to prove, and he proved it in spades. He hit seemingly every shot, got in Carl English’s head (Carl was lucky not to get a technical foul on Sunday and did get one on Friday) and on several occasions led me to ask my partner where this player was last year. “The end of the bench,” was her reply, and she’s right. When playing for the Titans before coming to us and in these two games for the Storm, Byrd has been a potent scorer who we just ignored to give minutes to Xavier freaking Ford.

This team has leaders - For all his strengths, Carl English has not really shown an on-floor leadership tendency. He leads by example and could certainly be vocal in the dressing room, but one thing I did not see in the home opening series was anyone taking the time to talk to each other. On this home stand I saw two very encouraging things: Junior Cadougan acting as an extra assistant coach to the guards (especially Diego Kapelan) and Glen Davis talking to everyone, both from the bench and when on the floor. Constant communication on defence, encouragement from the bench, mentoring Satnam in shootaround, and playing to the fans to get them involved. Satnam was even getting in on the act, as the other player with NBA experience, which can only help.

Still porous on defence - I could have taken this last point to complain about the continued awful refereeing, but that’s a constant in this league apparently. What is scarier is our continued inability to shut down penetration. We have no shot-blocking and our perimeter defense is non-existent to the point that I expect the opponent to score every time down.The team is better-positioned now than it was a week ago to address this, but we are just too slow to adapt to even the simplest of moves to get to the rim, and our help defence is awful. 

Despite the improvement in our shooting this weekend, there is enough to worry about with this team going forward. Hopefully Carl and Diego’s performances from Sunday are a sign of what’s to come and not a flash in the pan, because we will need to shoot like that going forward to make up for that defence.

[defendtherock]

Edge 100, Magic 112

Edge Drops Second Straight at Home - And It Was Ugly

Well if they weren’t watching before, they certainly are now. Moncton came to our house, trashed the basement, drank our parents’ booze and snuck out the back door when the cops showed up. For our part the Edge looked confused on offence and lost on defence, could not adapt to Moncton’s style of play, and could not find any consistent scoring.

As bad as last night was, tonight we saw what happens when Moncton keep defending well and their shots drop. We had no answer for anything they tried, even though two of their starters and best scorers from Friday (Billy White and Nick Evans) were in foul trouble all night. The stifling, hands-everywhere defence was still there, and they seem bought in enough that I fully expect to see Moncton in the finals on this form. 

Again today Coach Plumb could not get his team through the stifling perimeter defence. With three point guard capable of giving you minutes, he didn’t go to the two-PG lineup anywhere near enough to try and penetrate through and beat them off the dribble. On the few occasions we did go to the hole, we had success...assuming we didn’t miss the layup, which happened on at least four trips. Carl English however had precious little of that, going 2-11 on the night and being shut down by two defenders most of the time he sniffed the ball. There was no adaptation, no recognition, no experimentation. Moncton gradually pulled away and never seemed like losing the lead they built even with the foul trouble. 

One factor we cannot control is the officiating. A whopping 66 fouls were called today, and both teams were in the bonus before the six-minute mark of the third quarter. There was even less flow to this game than Friday’s outing, and that was in part due to the ticky-tack calls with which the officials seemed so enamored. Poor refereeing has been a familiar problem with our home games, and sadly nothing has changed this season.

Meanwhile, this St. John’s team needs a real wakeup. Coach Plumb’s promised ultra-fast offence is not happening. Moncton had one more shot than the Edge, but four more offensive boards, and a fast offence should have left the Edge with far more shots. Being at the game I can tell you that many of the Edge’s shots were in the last five seconds of the shot clock, normally after several head fakes and extra passes that really didn’t need to happen. Of the 15 turnovers we had on the night, I would estimate at least nine of them were due to passes that were too fancy or moves that were too pretty and got nowhere. Some of that will go away as the team learns about itself and the players learn where their teammates will be and where they like getting the ball, but for now they need to simplify on offence and take the good shot instead of looking for the perfect one.

The style of offence we have tried to play so far really only works when you have reliable rebounders. With the exception of Dez Lee, so far we have not had that. Boucard has been spending a lot of time on the perimeter, Wright has been inconsistent, Satnam has been too slow getting in position. I expect to lose the battle on the glass most nights, but the shooters need to realise that. Doing things like not even putting players on the blocks for our own free throws is not helping the cause. Maverick Morgan was MIA all weekend, and Kevin Zabo did not dress, but neither of those players figures to be a major rotation piece and cannot be to blame for the woeful performance today. It’s too early to say that the team isn’t good, but something needs to change 

[defendtherock]

Edge 91, Magic 95

Edge Drop Home Opener as Magic Exploit Every Weakness

Box Score

I really, really hope the rest of the league was not watching. 

In front of over 6000 fans just aching for a reason to blow the roof off, the Edge fell behind early in the second half and, despite a spirited fourth-quarter run never really looked like a team that deserved to win. Moncton game out with an aggressive, handsy defensive scheme that put pressure on perimeter handlers, switched on every screen and denied good looks to the Edge, a team built to shoot from outside. Only woeful first-half shooting by the Magic prevented this from becoming a blowout. As it was, it was an ugly and largely forgettable game that would have done little to persuade first-time spectators from becoming long-term fans. 

There was a lot that didn’t work for the Edge. Carl English showed a lot of rust, hitting his first shot (and the game’s first points) but then having an awful night, shooting 25% from the floor and 20% from outside. He realised too late that his shot was not falling, and forced too much in the early going. He did finish with 5 assists but could have doubled that had he switched to creator mode a little earlier. 

Dez Lee somehow only saw 21 minutes in this one, despite a pretty nasty nose injury to Junior Cadougan and the off-night for Carl and Jared Nickens. The defence and ability to challenge shots that Dez provides would have been a welcome boon to a team that struggled to contain Moncton’s penetration in the third quarter, and seemingly had no answer to the dribble-kick schemes that Magic head coach Joe Salerno employed. Dez has the versatility to switch on to the Magic bigs (especially Billy White, who killed them all night) and at least hold them at bay long enough for help to arrive.As it was our interior defence got carved up as Satnam Singh and (to a lesser extent) Keith Wright flashed help to the perimeter shooters far too often and got beaten off the dribble. 

Diego Kapelan needed more run, and more shots. Coming off a 21-point outing against Windsor and showing why he has been so respected around the world as a scorer, Kapelan took 5 shots in 18 minutes and was largely invisible all night. Coach Plumb went to him over Jarryn Skeete at the point when Cadougan went down, and it didn’t work at all. Skeete finally got some minutes and immediately got both the crowd and the team to lift their heads, leading to the run that made this game closer than it deserved to be.

The real key to that run was another guy who had an overall bad night, Guillaume Boucard. I really like his game, but last night he had so many fumbles and lost balls (five turnovers, but that number ignores the dropped passes that he was able to recover) that I wondered if he was using a new moisturizer on his hands. Nonetheless, his one-handed posterization of Wayne McCullough was the sole true highlight of the game for the Mile One crowd, and sparked a run that brought the Edge within 3 at one point. Unfortunately some clutch time turnovers and an inability to find the basket put an end to that idea.

One major discrepancy that needs to be addressed is the paint. With only a couple of true bigs we can expect to get outrebounded most nights, but a 4-13 shortfall on the offensive boards and 17 fewer shot attempts cannot continue. The promised up-tempo offence did not materialize, largely due to Moncton’s defence, but also because it’s hard to break out when the opposing team has the ball! For further proof, the Magic outscored us 56-32 in the paint. Again, a stat we expect to lose on nightly but one that needs to be closer. 

I hope it was a question of learning his team still, but Coach Salerno severely outcoached Doug Plumb last night. Every substitution the Edge made, Moncton knew what changes to make to their game to adapt. At one point I saw McCullough call out to his coach “big man’s in, do we want to five up?” as soon as Satnam hit the floor. The preparation was clearly there, and it showed.

If the Moncton team we saw last night is indicative of the league’s approach to playing us this season, we are in trouble. If the Magic are one of the league’s best teams (and if that defence can be sustained for 40 games, they likely will be), then the loss is nothing of which to be ashamed.

[defendtherock]

2018-19 Season Primer, part 2

The countdown is on! In about a week, game 1 will tip off as we face our arch-rivals in London. With nine new faces on the roster, fans of the Edge will have essentially an entire new team with whom to fall in love. So who are they? 

The Front Court

Satnam Singh - Let’s start with the Big Guy from India. At 7′2 Satnam will be the biggest player on the floor all night, every night. His personality and ready smile are sure to make him an early fan favourite, and with any luck he will be able to keep that affection by contributing on both ends. The knocks on Satnam in the NBA and the G-League were his age, weight and lack of mobility. He has dropped over 50 pounds since then, and has gained experience playing in the Indian league and for the Indian national team, so it remains to be seen if he can make use of his prodigious size to grab more rebounds than the figurative pylon. Scoring is something we have in spades, so I can forgive Satnam for not contributing on that end if it happens. He needs to rebound, block shots and dissuade opponents from getting in the lane. Anything on top of that is pure gravy.

Todd Brown - This guy is going to surprise some people. Entering his 9th year of pro ball, Brown is a SG/SF swing player with strong ball handling and defensive skills. He shoots around 35% from three and is good for a dozen points a night, but is not known as a stat-sheet stuffer. As it stands, the Edge has a small lineup (though the roster is not yet full) and may well play Brown out of position, which doesn’t seem to play into his strengths. On the other hand, he played some spot minutes at the point in Argentina, and could form a formidable defensive pairing with Dez Lee, so the versatility is something to look forward to. Just don’t expect to see him with English and Lee too often.

Gabe Freeman - I fully expect Gabe to start at the power forward spot to start the season, mimicking last year’s lineup with 3 wings alongside a point guard and a centre-ish guy. Gabe is a former NBL Canada MVP and was averaging 20 a game last season...before taking off for Baghdad. That’s not a figure of speech, he literally went to play basketball in Iraq. That has to be the biggest concern with Gabe; his talent is not in question and he can both score and rebound with the best of them (he pulled down over 9 boards a game in the half a season he played in the NBL last year), but he could leave again. Edge management has to have that in the back of their minds as they build this roster (I would expect a couple more players to be added to the team before the home opener), but if the gamble pays off then this is an excellent addition who could well leave fans saying “Charles who?”

Jared Nickens - This guy is a bit of an unknown quantity. Every bit of video I could find on Nickens suggests he’s a shooter, likely a volume shooter at that. We already have one of those in Carl English, and I have bad visions of Xavier Ford’s itchy trigger finger from last season, so I hope he has a little more self-control. He does appear to have a sudden first step and a very quick release, which in this league can be immensely useful to create shots against the less-than-committed defenses we see in the NBL. I don’t know if he can be a spot shooter for the passes out of double teams that we should be creating, but if he can play that role he could be a potent threat. One thing to mention: he’s not a rebounder. At all.

Guillaume Boucard - I am very, very excited to have Boucard on the roster. We didn’t get to see much of the River Lions last season, but I was impressed by what I did see from him. Solid rebounder, potentially prolific scorer and good vision to boot. It’s not immediately clear what his role will be with the team, but I get the feeling that he will play his way into more and more minutes as he shows just how much he can contribute on the offensive end. His defensive abilities are my only question, not because he doesn’t have them but because I just haven’t seen them. My early pick for my favourite player on the team.

[defendtherock]

2018-19 Season Primer part 1

It’s getting closer! As the flurry of signings slows down and November 18 creeps closer and closer, we are left to try and figure out what we have with this version of the team and what we still need to find. One thing I don’t need to find is tickets; you can bet I locked in my season ticket renewal as soon as I could last season. Look for me in row 5 behind center court all season long!

Returning players

Carl English - The team begins and ends with Carl. Reports from the off-season say that he is feeling better than he has in years, having had his first extended time off in several years. The reality of basketball in Europe is that you often go from team to team to play ball as long as possible in the year. Carl had the better part of 8 months to recuperate and rest his body, and he’s laser-focused on taking the extra steps that eluded him and the team last year. The success of the Edge will in large part be driven by Carl’s success and his ability to find the balance between leading the team and dominating the ball.

The team looked its best last year when Carl was option one but the ball moved around and found options two thru five with regularity. At the end of the clock he was there if needed to create his own shot. Where the team struggled was when Carl was not feeling it or was being stymied, and the plan did not change. He needs to be better at passing out of the double-team and at anticipating the trap this season, and with the names around him who can score he also needs to spread the love a lot more. I fully expect him to lead the team, if not the league, in scoring this year, but he needs to be getting more than 3.6 assists per game. That said, only Alex Johnson averaged more at 4.9 APG for a team that did not specialise in ball movement last year.

Desmond Lee - To the new basketball fan, Des Lee’s impact might not have been obvious last season. He scored at a decent rate, rebounded pretty well for his size, and generally didn’t provide much flash. To leave it there would be to ignore the biggest benefits that Lee brings to the team: effort. In a league where true big men are rare, Lee can guard one thru four effectively from the shooting guard position. His hops and energy level make him a solid rebounder, and he has both a willingness to get dirty and busy hands. Lee averaged 6.1 rebounds and a steal per game while also chipping in for 10.7 PPG. His game is the kind that doesn’t always transfer to the stat sheet though, and he will be needed to provide that situational contribution this season as well. 

Two things about Lee really seemed to improve over the course of last year: his three-point shooting and his off-ball movement. His ability to get himself open is obviously valuable, but those movement skills are even more important on the defensive end to get around screens and stay with his man. Watch him on defensive sets and see his ability to quickly adapt to what the opposition is running. The only player in the league who I saw do more talking to his teammates on D was Shaquille Keith, a player I would dearly love to have here. 

Jarryn Skeete - If ever a player was made for this city, it’s Jarryn Skeete. A fan favourite from early in the season, Skeete will be back to provide the shooting (an impressive 41% from 3 last season, which improved greatly in the back half), court vision and highlight reel plays that he gave us last season. Nobody who was in the building for this ridiculous layup against the River Lions will ever forget it (skip to 1:58 to see it)

Skeete is very likely to see his minutes diminshed from where they were to end the season. Alex Johnson and Coron Williams are gone, but Maurice Jones is all but certain to start at the point and youngster Drew Cushingberry looks to be exactly the kind of point guard you want on a team with Carl English camping on the three-point line. Skeete could see some play in two-guard lineups at the off-guard if that’s something Coach Plumb decides to try at some point, but otherwise We may well see less of the crowd favourite. 

Will they or won’t they?

The talk of the town right now (or at least, the Edge fans in town) is whether or not Charles Hinkle is returning to the Edge. 

Hinkle was essential to the team last season, forming a potent two-edged threat with Carl English that made our team the most dangerous three-point threat in the league. The fans loved him, the talent was definitely there, but Hinkle’s play dropped off a cliff in the playoffs and his inability to adapt to the defensive schemes that London threw at him was a large factor in the series loss. 

Before signing Guillaume Boucard, the interest in bringing Hinkle back was high within the team. However the price he wanted was higher, and an agreement was not reached. I understand another conversation has happened, and a decision from Hinkle is imminent, but by all accounts the dollar value has dropped since the initial offer. Hinkle is a volume shooter who can go off, but showed a tendency to rely on that shot even when it wasn’t falling and at the expense of his solid slashing game. When he did take the ball to the hole he was effective, but those times were generally when his shot was already falling. From the looks of the roster as of today, Hinkle would see a decrease in time were he to come back. That seems unlikely to sit well with someone who was a bona fide star last season, so I fear we may have seen the last of Hinkle Hoops on the Rock.

With Coron Williams and Ryan Reid signing elsewhere in the world and Alex Johnson’s rights being traded, the player I most want to see back in St. John’s is Wally Ellenson. Wally did it all last season, and was my favourite player by the time the playoffs ended. A former high jumper of some renown, Wally contributed shooting, rebounding, and that ever-popular “intangibles” thing that saw him diving on the floor for loose balls and changing shots with his insane vertical. He wasn’t the best player on the team, but for me he was the sort of glue guy off the bench that every championship team needs. 

Part two should be up this weekend as we look at the new front court signings. Let’s Go Edge!

[defendtherock]

That’s the season then

I’ve tried to write this post many times since Sunday. I’ve never been able to find the words to express the sadness and disappointment at the way our inaugural season petered out in London, so I won’t try and recap game 6. Suffice it to say that Joel Friesen-Latty was a huge difference maker, and the Lightning proved my fears of them being a better team without Royce White were justified. 

I attended the meet and greet last night at Mile One Center and I was struck by how somber the mood was. Many of the players seemed noticeably down and withdrawn, though everyone was willing to chat, sign autographs and pose for photos. Not a single person, including coach Jeff Dunlap, was willing to say even that they hoped to be back next year. This is all new to us here on The Rock, but from what I’ve been able to glean this is a real and normal thing. Multi-year contracts are very rare at this level of basketball (that’s a quote from Coach Dunlap), and the Edge might well end up with more new players than returning ones as we tip off in November. 

I really hope that’s not the case. I for one like to get to know the players on the team I support, and if they keep rotating out that becomes a challenge. This season was a very weird one, with the Edge being in (arguably) the wrong conference and having a compressed schedule out of necessity, which may well have led to some of the fatigue we saw at the end of the season. 

I already have my season tickets for next year, and no matter what the team looks like I won’t regret that choice. Of course I would prefer to see Carl English playing, but if he is instead coaching I will still be yelling from Section 109. I’d love to have Hinkle and Reid back, but if they get a shot in the G League I will be ecstatic for them. 

The reality is that this was the first season for the Edge, a team thrown together at the last minute and one that continued to develop over the season, playing a compacted schedule with more travel than any other team. Getting to the point we did was a phenomenal effort, and we should be proud. 

[defendtherock]

That One Hurt

“Pivotal game 5.”

It’s the kind of cliché that will probably get you insta-muted on ESPN’s Around the Horn, but it’s also a very accurate description. In a seven-game series with the teams tied 2-2, the winner of game 5 has advanced in around 82% of NBA series. That we lost it at home was an even bigger cut, and that we lost it with Royce White fouling out with plenty of time left in the fourth quarter was salt on that bigger cut. In fact, losing to Royce White and his loud, obnoxious, offensive mouth is a bad feeling at any time. More on that another time.

The Edge did not fall in to the game 3 trap in this one. They spread the minutes, they tried to find the right players to take the shots, they moved the ball and they did play pretty good defence most of the night. The biggest shortcomings were (once again) not playing inside-out ball, too much mindless perimeter passing without trying to get inside, and not adapting to the aggressive defence the Lightning were playing every time the Edge went on a run.

We have a very good shooting team, no question. With Ford not dressing and Lee focusing on the defensive end (though he was a good scorer this game), the highlight-reel dunks were always going to be unlikely. Most of the points are going to come from outside, and that’s the way the team is built. How the team gets those points however is an issue that they have yet to address. Success in game 4 came mostly because possessions started in the post and came back outside for a shot. Ryan Reid is still unstoppable, but for some reason in game 5 they stopped going to him. Hinkle got very few post touches. It was late in the game before Coron Williams (who has been phenomenal) started penetrating and scoring seemingly at will, but by then the Lightning had forgotten how to miss and were hitting 30-foot threes. Not much you can do when that happens.

Passing between the guards on the perimeter isn’t working. The Lightning are so balanced on defence that they can switch on many pick and roll plays, leaving poor Carl English with very little room to get off a shot. Despite having had some good performances in the series, English has not been the dominant force that the Edge need him to be in order to win. Getting Carl open is going to require more than perimeter pass weaves and one pick, and the Edge need to come up with a better plan. Going inside, especially with Reid being so dominant, would be my primary option here.

Maybe the most painful thing is that it’s hard to point to any one thing that the Edge did wrong that cost them this game. To come so close at the end and just run out of time is the most painful way to lose, if indeed there is a less painful way. Consistency has been the issue in the Edge’s losses this season, and that is the bugbear going forward.

This team is capable of winning one game in London. Winning two will be a big ask, but I for one am not ready to stop watching basketball this season. Let’s go Edge!

[defendtherock]

Game five. Let's do this.

[defendtherock]

What went right on the night

It’s a weird time of year to start a blog about a basketball team, isn’t it? As I write this my beloved St. John’s Edge tied up their Central Division finals series with the (defending champion) London Lightning last night, with a maximum of nine games left in the season. So...why now?

Simply put, nobody else is doing this. And I not only love this team, I love writing. Having lived in the province for almost 20 years, I was dying for something other than hockey to try and establish a foothold here. The moment I heard there was a basketball team coming, I resolved to buy season tickets. I have already renewed them for next season. If you’ve been to a game, you may have seen and heard me bellowing at the referees at some point this season; passion sometimes overrides good manners, I’m afraid.

Nonetheless, the Edge last night picked up a very impressive win over the Lightning just two days after losing a tough one at home in game three. The differences between the two performances were stark, and we need far more of the game two and four Edge than the game three Edge to show up for the remainder of the series. 

Step One: Neuter Royce White

It’s asking a lot for a third-tier pro basketball team to contain a top-20 NBA draft pick, but that’s one of the realities we have to face. Fortunately this particular pick is mercurial at best, and temperamental and moody at worst. Watching Royce White play can be sublime - the game seems so easy to him, he moves at such a deliberate pace and yet always seems to be able to find his way to the hoop or to hit the open man. 

One thing we’ve learned is that stopping White isn’t going to happen. He’s too good at finding ways to score. What we can, and in fact have to do, is frustrate him. Harry the passing lanes, stifle his movement, make him work on defence, get in his head. A complaining White is a great sign for the Edge. It’s tempting to put him on the line, but I am not confident that his somewhat tepid shooting from the charity stripe will continue.

Step Two: Keep going to Reid and Hinkle

As much as the Edge have shown they cannot stop White, the Lightning seem to have no answer for the burly post play of Ryan Reid. The man is just a load down low, and he has an ease of movement that belies his solid physique, White and Mo Bolden are so important to the Lightning, and one of them almost always starts the game on Reid. Ryan has also shown that he can score enough to carry the team’s effort, so the fear of not scoring enough should not be there. 

The surprising part of last night’s win was the revelation of Charles Hinkle’s post game. The man who shoots the lights out actually has a very solid, very effective low post game that was on display early on Monday night. As the Lightning switched up that matchup Coach Dunlap was smart enough to adapt and try another plan, but it’s a weapon the team needs to remember they have at their disposal. 

Step Three: Inside-Out Ball

With both Reid and Hinkle going to work down low, we saw plenty of double teams coming from the Lightning. This led unsurprisingly to a lot of kick-outs into open threes for Coron Williams, Carl English and Hinkle himself. With English being the primary focus for London defensively, any way the team can get him an open shot should be considered an early option. 

The focus of professional basketball these days is almost universally the three-point shot. While the Edge can knock those down with the best of them (the Edge shot a league-bet 37.8% this season), those shots are best created by ball movement. The Edge’s rank in assists? Eighth of ten teams. A lot of the reason for that is the nature of our scoring, with English and Hinkle averaging almost 45 points a game of largely self-made shots. On Monday that looked completely different, with the ball zipping around and finding the hot hand. The Edge still have a tendency to pass up open shots in favour of pretty passes, but in general the inside-out game is a key to victory.

Step Four: Keep using the bench

The Edge has the deepest bench in the league, with the possible exception of the Halifax Hurricanes. Throwing out game one’s double-OT heartbreaker, which could easily have been an Edge win with a couple of luckier bounces (or better refereeing calls...), the Edge’s one loss in the series came when Coach Dunlap tried to tighten to an eight-person rotation. The result was a team that looked completely gassed in the late fourth quarter, especially Des Lee who is so important defensively. 

In Monday’s game 4, Dunlap went 11 deep. Wally Ellenson and Grandy Glaze, both of whom had been so important this postseason, played greatly reduced minutes as others were able to step up. Russel Byrd and in particular Anthony Stover made the most of their opportunities, both showing why they were signed to the team in the first place. Alex Johnson got the start in place of Jerryn Skeete (whose hot streak had cooled slightly) and instantly made a difference with his ball movement and penetration. Side note, I hope Johnson’s scary bump and sideline collapse are not serious, because it looked terrifying from the stands.

London plays a much tighter rotation, but they are also a younger team. The Edge cannot play that game with them. Instead they need to focus on what got them here: twelve men who are all threats to control a game, and finding the ones who are hot on the night.

If you are at all able, try to get down to Mile One Center on Thursday night for Game 5. If the Edge can win this, they go to London just needing to win one game to advance. We know they can do that, they did it last week. The team needs our voices to be loud and strong. Let’s Go Edge!