Shooting slump plagues BU men in first half

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This article was published 20/12/2024 (272 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A glass of water sits on Gil Cheung’s desk.

The veteran head coach of the Brandon University men’s basketball team can easily describe it as half-full and half-empty in the same breath.

On the one hand, a young, injury-riddled team gritted out three wins in 10 games and sits just one game out of the Canada West men’s basketball playoff picture.

On the other, it should have taken a three-game winning streak into the semester break, instead of handing the MacEwan Griffins their first win in nearly six years.

Cheung knew it’d be a rebuilding year with all the turnover the Bobcats faced, but that doesn’t make the losses feel much better.

“I think we did a really good job of getting our young guys some valuable experience, especially for the second half of the season and for their careers moving forward. At times offensively, we looked OK,” Cheung said.

“We haven’t shot the ball great and I think that’s an area we need to work on for second semester but overall there were a lot of positives and a lot of growing pains as well.”

FIRST-HALF LESSONS

When you choose to play the Bobcats’ current way, you have to live with the possibility of losing to a team you shouldn’t for the potential to knock off a powerhouse.

Comparing BU’s best win, a 78-59 decision over Alberta, and the frustrating 90-88 loss at MacEwan, the Bobcats shot dramatically different percentages from three-point range.

They were 13-for-28 in the win, nearly 50 per cent, and made just 15 of 48 in the loss.

They also made 11 of 16 free throws while the Griffins hit 23 of 34, putting every Bobcat who played more than a third of the game into foul trouble with import guard Dewayne Thompson already sidelined due to an injury from the night prior.

“They were long, long overdue. Do you hate being that team? Of course. But you hate losing to anybody,” Cheung said.

“Dewayne’s been one of our top scorers and not having him in the lineup … hurts you. We’re a lot thinner than we were last year.

“It’s just the way the chips fall sometimes. No excuses.”

Cheung has tried to go deeper into his bench, with nine players seeing at least 11 minutes per game. However, injuries to forwards Blake Magnusson and Jack McDonald have forced smaller guys into tough, tiring defensive assignments in the paint.

Brandon has been worn out and beaten down more nights than not, starting with double-digit losses to Winnipeg (7-1) and Manitoba (7-1) to start the season.

BU edged Regina 87-83 to crack the win column when the Cougars (5-5) hit a miserable 41 per cent of their free throws, then lost by 21 the following night.

The Bobcats extended their losing streak to four with two home defeats to Lethbridge (5-3) and a three-point loss to Alberta (3-5).

“Against Lethbridge, Jack would have been huge being able to match up against [Jack-Henry] Fox-Grey there instead of Sully [Sultan Bhatti] having to play the five the whole time,” Cheung said.

“But that’s anybody, injuries are part of the game. Even Saturday night at MacEwan, we don’t have Dewayne, we don’t have Blake and Blake’s a good matchup for their big fella.”

THE LINEUP

Bhatti was already one of the best players in Canada West last year, and he’d be a candidate for most improved this season.

The second-team all-star is third in the conference with 21.2 points per game while leading the league at 10.9 rebounds per game and sitting second with 5.2 assists per game.

The six-foot-four Laval, Que., product has essentially played point-forward on offence, starting BU’s offensive sets and still being the primary scoring option.

Then he plays the four or five on the defensive end, often stuck with a six-foot-eight forward he has to slow down without fouling out since Cheung can’t afford to lose him for any extended stretches.

Bhatti’s shooting percentage has dropped since he doesn’t have Khari Ojeda-Harvey creating most of his looks, yet he’s still shooting 46 per cent from the field and 34 from three-point range.

“He’s definitely maturing and he’s taking on a leadership role. The big thing with him being a leader is just the consistency of not having a practice off or a day off. He knows how important that is,” Cheung said.

“He’s becoming a lot better communicator. Is he where he wants or needs to be? Of course not, but he’s gotten so much better and he’s taken on that role and just being patient with the rest of us.”

Thompson has been hot and cold, scoring anywhere from four to 31 points in his first season. The American guard averaged 13.9 ppg on a team-high 35 per cent from beyond the arc, and hit a big go-ahead triple to push BU to its first victory.

Travis Hamberger volumed his way to 12.7 ppg at 36 per cent from the field and just 24 from deep. Like Bhatti, scoring isn’t coming as easily to the Richmond, B.C., product when the bulk of his looks aren’t wide-open threes anymore.

The other newcomers have stepped up at times when thrown into the mix.

In a perfect world, rookie guard Darko Karac can be the pass-first point guard the Bobcats need to make the offence work. For now, Hamberger, Thompson and Bhatti are taking turns facilitating the offence, even though all three are more efficient scorers when playing off the ball.

Karac’s not quite physical enough yet to consistently beat his defender off the dribble and draw defenders, but when the help doesn’t respect him, he can use his shiftiness to score at multiple levels.

In the paint, Magnusson and McDonald’s absences have forced Neelin product Max Winters into some key minutes.

The lanky, six-foot-seven centre held his own in the win over Alberta, but expecting him to stop top big men while ceding 60 to 70 pounds for extended stretches is tough.

“Max, coming from Neelin, very well coached, played strictly in the post and now we’re asking him to rebound it, protect the rim but also space the floor for us. Now he has to face the basket, he’s 24 feet away from the rim, which he’s never been before,” Cheung said.

“Poor Jack, his knee is bothering him, then he blows out his ankle. He gave us a great performance against Alberta and MacEwan but he’s probably 75 per cent. If we don’t have Jack against MacEwan or Alberta, we’re going with Max and Tili [Gebeyehu] and that’s a tough challenge against those teams.”

BY THE NUMBERS

On the defensive end, Brandon has a few young stars in Cange and Jakarri Lindsey, who have helped the small lineup limit opponents to 83.3 ppg, still fourth-worst in Canada West but enough to give BU a chance.

The Bobcats are sixth in scoring at 76.6 ppg, but shoot the ball a league-low 39.5 per cent and are among the worst at 29.6 from three-point range.

Brandon’s also getting beat down on the glass, sitting last with 35.7 rebounds per game and a margin of -11.7.

Interestingly, BU leads the league with 18.7 assists per game, a number that will only go up when its spot-up shooters break out of their slumps and knock the open ones down.

“I think Youri’s one of the better defenders in our conference and I think down the road he’s going to be maybe the best perimeter defender in our conference,” Cheung said.

“Darko does something every day in practice that’s like ‘OK, he has something there.’

“I love those pieces but at the end of the day, you’re not winning conference championships or making a deep run with 17-, 18-year-old kids. We have to remind ourselves that it’s part of the process.”

MOVING FORWARD

The second half is tough but starts with four in a row at home. The Bisons come to town Jan. 10-11, then the Mount Royal Cougars (6-4) visit Jan. 17-18.

The Bobcat head to Calgary (7-1) and Winnipeg the next two weekends before closing at the Healthy Living Centre against Saskatchewan (0-8) on Feb. 14-15.

The top seven of 10 Prairie Division teams make the playoffs, along with five of seven Pacific Division squads.

Most likely, Brandon must win at least two before the final weekend, then sweep Saskatchewan to keep its run of four straight playoff appearances alive.

What Cheung wants to see from his team is more nights like the second against Alberta — a solid shooting performance and an all-around fantastic effort on the defensive end.

“It’s a level that we want to be at, especially with a young group, so many new guys, it’s just being consistent day in and day out,” Cheung said.

“We show glimpses of being one of the top six, seven teams … Some days we come out and … in four-minute stretches, it looks like we have no idea what we’re doing. As a coach, we all gotta do a better job of making sure and paying attention to details along the way.”

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