Bobcat men made most of circumstances

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This article was published 12/06/2021 (1820 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Only time will tell, but it seems as though the best thing for the Brandon University men’s basketball team was to stay apart in 2020-21.

Basketball Manitoba’s return-to-play guidelines were far more limiting than other provinces. For the six athletes that spent any time on campus during the year — three by the end — it was far from ideal. They started with a two-player-per-hoop limit and weren’t allowed to share basketballs. They were locked out of the Healthy Living Centre for three months from November to February. Towards the end, they were finally able to defend each other with masks on for a few weeks.

Head coach Gil Cheung put no pressure on players to congregate in Brandon for the year. Looking back, he’s quite glad he didn’t.

“For sure we’d love to have everybody back or a larger number, but I can’t honestly tell kids to come back and pay $600 for rent when they’re taking their classes online. To have them come here and for maybe the last little bit before we got shut down again, we couldn’t even pass the ball to each other,” Cheung said.

“It’s been a tough, tough year. We’re trying to develop skill but at the same time it was so challenging just because of the rules. Volleyball was able to play a bit and do some other stuff but … 75 per cent of the time our guys shot the ball and chased the ball down themselves. It got pretty boring pretty fast. (The players) were pretty resilient.”

Some of the Bobcats took advantage of relaxed restrictions elsewhere. Second-year guard Hans Befus, an Edmonton product, brought Anthony Tsegakele and Patrick Jonas home for a stretch in November to train with Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference players and some local professionals.

“That was really fun. It was good to play on the same team and remember that feeling of being together,” Befus said.

In Brampton, Ont., second-year Dominique Dennis had access to a family friend’s high-end facility and was able to hit the court more or less all year.

The Bobcats connected weekly on Zoom, breaking down film and preparing for a regular season featuring just four opponents. Brandon takes on Winnipeg, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Regina four times each in a modified schedule set up to reduce travel expenses across the conference.

Dennis, who averaged 31 minutes per game as a rookie with 9.9 points per game and 3.7 assists per contest, welcomes the challenges the Prairie Division rivals bring.

“I’ve seen what types of defences teams are going to throw and now I know how they’re going to play me this coming year. We really just watched a lot of film and seeing how I can get myself easier shots and get my teammates easier shots,” Dennis said, adding any slate of games is exciting at this point.

“I wouldn’t mind playing everyone because last year we didn’t get to play everyone. This year I was looking forward to it but I certainly have no problem playing whoever they give us on our schedule. I approach every game the same, as a team we approach the game the same, just one game at a time.”

Brandon graduated fifth-year Jaleel Webb in 2020 and lost American imports Haashim Wallace (pursuing professional contracts) and Shun Williams. Cheung said Jahmaal Gardner, who missed the entire 2019-20 season due to a scaphoid fracture in his right thumb suffered in the pre-season, is set to return.

Cheung has two more imports lined up to go with a sizeable crop of Canadian rookies. BU already signed Crocus Plains forward Tilkisew Gebeyehu, three Montreal products including Eric Nguyen, a fourth-year transfer guard from College Ahuntsic and six-foot-11 Albertan forward Marcel Freimann in 2020.

The non-locals stayed home and did their first year of courses remotely.

“Even though we haven’t seen some of the guys that are on the team for next year, I’ve talked to them, I’ve heard what they’ve been doing and want to do so that was really good,” Befus said.

“We talked constantly and had team meetings and I think we did a good job making sure everyone was being kept accountable.”

As the vaccine rollout continues and players make it increasingly safer to train and compete, the anticipation of an early-November season opener is building.

Come fall, Cheung stresses the importance a safe buildup to game speed as well.

“As much as you’re a 19-year-old kid that thinks he can jump over the hoop right now, it’s going to take time to get back into physical shape, mental shape to be able to compete. We’re going to take it real slow,” Cheung said.

It’ll be quite the challenge to rein in athletes who haven’t suited up in a Bobcat uniform since a hard-fought playoff loss at Victoria in February 2020 after going 6-14 in the regular season. The countdown is on.

“Everyone’s going to be focused, everyone’s going to be hungry to get back to it,” Befus said. “Hopefully if fans can come back to games, the city of Brandon is going to have a lot to cheer for and I think that’s really exciting for the city.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

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