Clutch & Grab in Bartlett Gym

It didn't take long to get things going against the Queen's Golden Gaels Full Contact Jujitsu Team on a crisp winter Friday night in the old Upper Canada capital of Kingston. We had a 10-0 lead to start, but then again we had the same against Duquesne a couple of years ago and that got us nowhere, but a big L. However, this time things are different. Much different.  First  of all junior forward/combo guard Ryan McNeilly starts the game off with three treys and our 9-0 lead. Then Boris Bakovic, the CIS leading scorer decides that it is time to show his stuff, we're talking 24 points at halftime, 36 points with 2 minutes to go in the third quarter. He never saw anymore of the floor. He even got long time Queen's heckler, Jeff Smith, to leave the game early. Before leaving the bellow-lunged, white haired Smith pleaded with Boris to, "take it easy on us Boris". Bakovic was showing some range shooting treys from NBA distance, but the best was his steal (1 of 4) off a hapless dribbler which turned into a swing-from-the-rim dunk. This was the 5th game in a row for Boris to top 30 points. Can we say First Team All-Canadian. 

At halftime da  Rams possessed a 27 point lead, 53-26, and in line for their 4th game in a row scoring more than 100 points. We started to unload the bench on the clutch-&-shove Gaels in the third quarter and our 22-17 effort gave us a 75 point total, still on track for the century mark. This included quality minutes by diminutive PG Arsalan "AJ" Jamil who earned his time with some focused hard work in practice all week long. About this time the 4th quarter came along, otherwise known as the disaster from the pines. Except 4 the much maligned & misunderstood triggerman, Teddy Tochev, nobody scored a point in the quarter. Make no mistake it wasn't easy for Trigger either, as he had to trade 6 trey trys to make one. So that was it, 78-60, at the end of the night and enough of a poor finish to send G4 into a tirade at the post game meeting. 

 We had a shoot-around in the afternoon b4 the game and it was a pretty loose affair mainly consisting of shooting games. This was a format that fit nicely into Corey "Hack-A-Gael" May's repertoire, as he won or hotly contested most of the games. In another bit of drama Forki attempted to unseat assistant coach Michael Kennedy as King of the 1 on 1. Afeworki's efforts were in vain as he was defeated again by the former 2x finalist of the popular Nike Battleground 1 on 1 contest. 

Wow, our home games next weekend are shaping up to be season-making tilts, as we take on the Number One ranked Carleton Ravens on Friday, February 6 in the Ivy covered (Of course, no sign of Ivy at this time of year) Kerr Hall Gymnasium. The next day we host the second ranked Ottawa Gee Gees. Both games are at 8 PM and something tells me those guys could be in for a surprise. Hope you can make it the entertainment and suspense will be unprecedented in the hallowed hall that Howard built. 

Freshmen Freakout

A couple of Freshmen brought their "A" Game to Kerr Hall on Saturday night in a win against the Laurentian Voyageurs, 104-83. First off, the Northern Transplant, starting point guard Josh Budd (Timmins) had a solid night with 7 boards, 6 assists, 3 steals and 9 pts in only 19 minutes of play due to foul trouble. Secondly, in a classic display of herky, jerky, stop and go moves that had the opposition falling all over him Afeworki Gebrekerestos (Ottawa) dropped a career high 21 pts to go with 5 rebs and 3 thefts. Not to be outdone sophomore Chris Blouin (Ottawa) threw down his first dunk of the season as he put together a solid night's work on the frontline. Also having some fun out there was junior co-captain Ryan McNeilly (Thornhill) with 12 pts, 4 dimes and 7 boards. At one point in his game high 38 minutes he took control on three consecutive possessions dribbling the ball up court against considerable pressure. At 9-10 FT senior Joey Imbrogno (Toronto) was almost perfect from the charity stripe, which helped him top out at 15 pts to go with 6 rebs and 3 blocks. As has come to be expected Boris Bakovic (Toronto) potted 35, including 14-15 free throws, and 9 boards. Two of those free throws came as a result of a shoulder tackle enroute to what would have been a breakaway slam. A very dangerous play and we held our collective breath as we tried to fathom WHY. 

Third game in a row were scored over the century mark. How long will this trend last?

Some of the alumni in attendance Dave Petropoulos '99', Sasha Ivankovic '01', Bill Price '92' and Ron Campbell '97'.

Hey, I want to give a big shout out to Molly Sebastian and her son Joseph who came and attended the game. During the week Molly and I are work colleagues and her coming out to support the team is a tremendous testament to her belief in my monologue. By the way, good shot Joseph (he won a prize during half time festivities).

Whew, That Was Close

Going into the game The Rams are thinking, "here's an easy two points against a team that really is not that good". Surprise. We're down, 24-21, at the quarter as the yeomen, err Lions, show us how to break guys down and get to the basket. OK, you don't want to play defense then we'll take it at you again and be in front 52-43 at the half. G4 (Head Coach Glenn Taylor) forceably informed the guys about the meaning of the word defense at halftime. Did it make a difference? Not really as the third quarter was a 23-23 affair. Talk about a run in the park. Can nobody stop somebody in this game. The 200 plus crowd, give or take a baker's dozen, was sitting on their hands as they waited patiently for the Ryerson Rams to warm up. Finally, the fourth quarter came alive and so did the Rams as they went on a 37-19 tear. Now that's more like it. 

Alright let's talk about the refereeing. I agree, we don't want to go there and we just have to accept what we get. Good job fellas. BTW, are you still going to Hakim's sale next week? Just wondering. 

York did a good job as John Lafontaine went on a shooting spree finishing with 18 pts. Actually, their real gunner was Tut (pronounced Toot) Ruach who ended up with 31 pts, 4 assists & 4 steals. Whew, glad we don't have to chase that Tut around for another couple of weeks. My question is, how does Tut make those step back one legged jump shots from 17'? Anyway, we had some action of our own, Boris Bakovic, 34 pts, 16 boards. WOW! His running mate, Ryan McNeilly had 24 pts as he started to assert his leadership. Getting more than his share of entertaining moves was #6 Afeworki Gebrekerestos. Obviously a contortionist and seller of illusion in his previous life he went to the line numerous times as the befuddled Yorksters hacked and slashed at the ever changing #6. Kudos to York for just hanging  in there against something which appears to be ascending at a rapid rate. (That's the Ryerson Rams if you didn't figure it out already.)

Next up the Laurentian Voyageurs. We'll have the spiddle on that shortly. 

Ho Hum

I wore red on Friday the 16th, as I do every Friday, in support of the troops overseas in the Afghani wilds, both urban and rural. If I were the Taliban I would fear the news that the Canadians are near arrival, but this is Ryerson's Kerr Hall and the Cadets are coming to town. There is no fear here as the Royal Military College Paladins are not even close to being a credible threat. As a matter of fact, Deefirst was expendable for this game (some might mutter that this application of expendability should be expanded for the worthless sod) and was found lurking in the unfriendly confines of U of T's Athletic Complex scouting the next opponent, Queen's Golden Gaels. BTW, permission to plug a memory stick into the game recording laptop at U of T was denied. Something about being against department policy and that that request has to be submitted to the Communication Department beforehand. Are you serious? The game is on the internet shortly after the final buzzer for easy download. We are just talking about a little convenience amongst neighbours. I am sure there will be an opportunity in the future to make U of T have to jump through an extra bureaucratic hoop.

Back to the game. Actually, I never did make it back to the game, but I heard and read the reports. RU 102 RMC 51. Boris had 31 pts and 8 bounds. coming off the bench Muddy (Madhav) Trevedi had 13 pts in 11 minutes and Freshman Corey May had 10 pts in 12 minutes of questionable defense. At this point I have to give some props to the Cadets who have come to a gun fight with knives. The two leading knives were Mathieu MacDonald & Nicolas Cooke with 15 points each. I would hope and assume that in the off season RMC improves it's arsenal. It has a lot going for it. Enlist and it is free education and a guaranteed job for five years after graduation. Don't enlist and you can still attend a school with first class facilities, support and programs. Plus if you are an above average player you are going to get playing time and lots of it. Alright enuff already let's not give them too much fodder, I mean these are two guaranteed wins a year.

The next night it was Queen's turn to face the mighty Rams in Howard's Hall. Unfortunately, there most significant player went down with a knee injury in the U of T game and the Golden Gaels were facing Rye without Mitch Leger. Him being in the lineup probably would not have made a difference as we came flying out of the gate winning the 1st quarter 21-11 and the 2nd 22-5. That was enough to cruise to a, 82-65, win. Boris Bakovic had 31 & 12, which helped propel him to OUA Athlete of the Week. Dan Bannister had what appeared to be a career game for Queen's with 26 pts.

Next weekend, York and Laurentian at home.

Ravens Ram Ryerson

A Timmy's inside the athletic hall, a great touch to one of the better facilities in the league. Also a great way to warm up the innards on a frigid winter's night in Ottawa. We are in town to take on the nation's #1 ranked Carleton Ravens and after our previous nights debacle with #4 ranked (now #2 thanks in part to our unfavourable performance) Universite d'Ottawa Gee Gees. The casual observer would suggest that we are up to our armpits in latrine waste. However the game is played on hardwood, not paper and we are pretty confident that we can give these guys a go of it.


Before the game the ever amicable Carleton coach, Dave Smart, (No really he is quite pleasant before and after the game. It is just during the game that his take-no-prisoners persona resonates for all to see.) came by to chat about some of the peculiar quirks of the FIBA rules which the CIS has adopted. He was looking particularly dapper this night with a presidential looking sky blue silk tie tightly knotted to go with what looked like a newly pressed form fitting suit. You can well imagine my surprise and dismay that within a few seconds after the tip-off there was a totally different look to Coach Smart. There was a definite disheveled look to the coach as the tie was loosened, top button undone and a wild eyed look of desperation took over. He had good cause for his consternation as the Ryerson Rams played even with the Ravens for the first quarter ending it only two behind, 23-21. The second quarter was similar with us losing by six, 16-10. Overall we were hanging in there and with a couple of lucky bounces we could have been on top and this with Boris Bakovic sitting out the last 5'16" with three fouls.


In the third quarter our scoring ability abandoned us and the Ravens took full advantage of our haplessness, 29-9. Now some might say that there was increased defensive intensity by Carleton, but I would deny that presumption. The disheveled look on their coach shortly after the initial tip off is my proof. These guys are playing with intensity from the giddy up, as directed by their boss. For my money if the Rams can improve their shooting percentage by just a few points they will be a contenda and a serious one at that. For the game Boris had 18 points fouling out early in the fourth quarter. For Carleton Stuart Turnbull had 20 & 4 dimes, Aaron Doornekamp had 20 & 8 boards (a bonus here as his usually obstreperous father could not be heard all game. Do you think they were confident of the W as a given?). And the winner is Carleton, 96-60.

Pasting at Monpetit

It all started out well, but the ending was something out of a horror movie. As in a 35 point loss, 98-63. We showed a lot of spirit b4 the game with enthusiasm galore. This continued in the first quarter as the unranked Rams for the most part maintained a lead over the 4th ranked Gee Gees. The quarter ended, 16-15, in favour of Ottawa. Then the bottom dropped out and we couldn't make a shot while Ottawa kept up their pace. And what a pace, 23-7, they took us apart in the second quarter. For the half we shot 22% compared to Ottawa's 45%. Still we were only down 17 at the half, 39-22. We've been down by more and come back, but not today. Geez Ottawa even put their student manager in the game and he lit us up.

For the most part the 300 strong crowd went home happy as their favourite sons laid a beating on our melancholy a%*$#... Our women's Vball team was in attendance and were able to inform the refs about their productivity in ways that those of us on the team could never get away with... NCAA transfer, Josh Wright, was aight, but then again so was the student manager... Team bus this trip is a Seta and it is NICE... Boris Bakovic had 27 & 13 for us... Josh Gibson-Bascombe had 22 pts & 8 dimes for them. Wazzup with the Garnet & Grey's 25 assists for the game. Can nobody stop a pass... Things don't get any easier tonight as we take on the number one ranked Carleton Ravens.

Dems Da Brakes

Last weekend, the first weekend of the New Year, G4 and this writer went west on Highway 401 looking for our fortune. Boy did we find it in the form of the 51st Annual Purple & White Senior Boys Basketball Tournament hosted by The University of Western Ontario. After our recent spanking of the #9 ranked Stangs we were welcomed by that team's leadership with open arms. NOT. However, there were a couple of high school players who seemed to be happy to see us. Certainly we were happy to see them because these are Bigs who can rebound and Lord knows we could use some help on that front while we wait for Joey to become the player that only he can be. (Had a daydream recently that we made it to the Nationals and Joey did an Owen White. Then I woke up and continued with the practice.) Generally speaking, the teams in this tournament were rather weak with a few CIS diamonds in the rough sprinkled about. We get kind of spoiled viewing some of the H.S. tourneys in the GTA with athletes galore. Some even have marks these days. The times they r a changin.


On the way out of London town we stopped by Joe Kools for some lake perch. Don't know what lake the fish were from, but they sure were tasty. My mouth has been glowing ever since.


We started practice this week after a month of fun & frolic, also known as the Holiday Break. The injuries are healed, the guys are hungry and their shot is there (Their idea of "working out" during the break was to go in the gym and shoot for two hours.). Seven practices to synchronize our teamwork and then we are up against a ton of trouble in #5 ranked Ottawa and #1 ranked Carleton.



A little trivial dribble for those who have made it this far into the posting. Paid a surprise visit with John "The Golden" Godden last night. He was passing through the big smoke with Trudy, his wife of a quarter century. Him and G4 rode the pines in their freshman year at Acadia watching from courtside seats as Steve Pound launched multiple running hook shots. BTW, the golden locks have been replaced by pure epidermis and the formerly svelte Gee Gee All-Star is now locked in at an imposing 320 lbs of five day a week weight and swimming workouts in Airdrie, Alberta. Great surprise for G4 and The Golden Godden as neither knew the other would be in attendance at the late night rendez vous.