It is a daunting task to face the Carleton Ravens not only because of their physical abilities but due to their mental tenacity. Recovering loose balls. Taking charges. Tipping passes. Boxing out. Hitting the floor. Following shots. Talking. Refusing to give up. A post player following his own miss. A point guard stepping in front of a forward to protect the basket. The team is technically skilled and obviously practices diligently. They can take a small opening and use it to break down the door. The game may be close for one moment and a blowout minutes later. The opponent …
Why Did Carleton Lose?
A C.I.S. observer suggested that the premature defeat of the Carleton Ravens at the Final 8 Tournament was partially due to the absence of tight games on the Ravens’ schedule. I disagree, specifically and generally speaking. Although Carleton did not execute well during the last possessions of both regulation and overtime, inexperience did not lead to this poor performance. The team was comprised of largely juniors and seniors who had played close games together throughout the previous seasons. During their run of five consecutive championships, the Ravens had defeated Brandon, U.P.E.I., Guelph, St. F.X., and Ottawa by five points or …
Carpe Diem
Brock University’s C.I.S. Men’s Basketball National Title victory on Sunday – following Acadia’s 82-80 double-overtime defeat of five-time defending champions Carleton in the semi-finals – proved again how anything is possible, in sport and life. Any Canadian team would have won out and claimed the W.P. McGee trophy. In fact, the dark jerseys won seventy percent of games played at the Final 8 Tournament. The odds finally caught up to the Ravens. At once they faced an intransigent opponent, shot poorly, saw calls go against them, and did not recover every lucky bounce. A team can often overcome one or …
Watching the Association on ESPN
“How can you give up a wide open three followed by an offensive rebound on the other side of the court?”– Bill Walton, during the Spurs-Rockets game on 24 January 2007 Team defence is getting worse and worse in the Association and beyond. Conversely it seems like the screen and roll play is getting better and better. Inbounding under their basket with few seconds remaining on the shot clock, the Spurs set a double screen for Ginobli on the foul line. Ginobli curled the screen, received a pass, and made the lay-up. Earlier in the evening, Marion set a ballscreen …
Local Basketball
Lost in the playoffs Saturday, 67-60 at York. Perhaps a call could have gone the other way or a basket not rimmed out but athletes make plays. Must get fitter, happier, more productive over the off-season so we are in a position to make more plays down the stretch next year. Raptors blew a massive in Dallas. Bosh and James went off to a certain degree. However, it was Darrell Armstrong (defensively) and Dirk Nowitzki (offensively) that made plays in crunch time. Indiana beat Michigan State on Sunday. Michigan State had overcome a large lead but after Paul Davis fouled …