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!
