Game Preview - July 5: BlackJacks, Rattlers to Face Off for First Time This Season
The Ottawa BlackJacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) take on the Saskatchewan Rattlers tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET.
The BlackJacks enter this game sitting with an even record of 6-6, good for third in the Eastern Conference Standings. The Rattlers are fifth in the Western Conference, with a league-worst record of just 3-11.
Saskatchewan is currently sitting with a two-game losing streak, going 1-4 in their last five games. Ottawa, meanwhile, has had their momentum trend in the opposite direction in their recent matchups. They’re on a four-game winning streak, after starting the first eight games of the season at 2-6.
This sudden surge in wins has come together largely in part thanks to the team’s new signee, guard Javonte Smart.
Smart joined the BlackJacks on June 20 for an away game against the Scarborough Shooting Stars–he scored 23 in that game despite having not yet practiced with Ottawa at the time, and his scoring numbers have only risen since.
In the following games, Smart put up 32, 31, and most recently scoring 37 to tie the BlackJacks single-game scoring record.
“[Javonte] is a legitimate scorer,” said BlackJacks Head Coach David DeAveiro, “He’s done this now consistently for four games…not many guys can do that when teams are preparing to try to stop you.”
Those scoring numbers give Smart the highest points per game in the entire CEBL, with 30.8. He also leads the league in field goals made, with a whopping 11.8 per game–2.7 more than the second place player.
“[DeAveiro] put me in a position to score and create for the team, and I think I’m doing a good job of it,” said Smart.
And create for the team he has–one of the biggest impacts of Smart’s scoring ability is the pressure it’s taken off of Ottawa’s other stars, forwards Deng Adel and Isaih Moore.
To start off the season, Adel was the BlackJacks’ top scorer–he averaged 21.5 points through the team’s first four games.
Eventually, though, Deng struggled to score as the primary focus of the opposing team’s defense. In the following four games, his average dropped to just 12.8 per game on 36% from the field.
Adel is clearly a talented scorer, but struggles as Ottawa’s first option. With Smart’s addition, Adel has been able to settle into a secondary scoring role, and has thrived. In the BlackJacks last game against the Winnipeg Sea Bears, Adel scored an efficient 14 points, six of which came in the final five minutes. With defenses focused on Smart, it opens up Adel to play freely.
Another beneficiary of Smart’s gravity has been Isaih Moore. The forward is gifted open looks at the rim after Smart drags in multiple defenders with his drives.
Moore has also been able to grab tons of offensive rebounds thanks to the space that Smart creates–in the last five games, he leads the CEBL in offensive rebounds per game with 6.4.
“You put two [defenders] on the ball to try to stop Javonte, we can just throw the ball up and Isaih is athletic enough to catch it and finish it above the rim,” said DeAveiro.
With Moore available above the rim as a lob threat and shooters open at the three point line, Smart’s offensive game can create a myriad of high-percentage shots for his teammates.
Those open looks are crucial to the team’s success, no matter who they’re facing.
The Rattlers as a team aren’t great statistically, but manage to hold their own on the glass-they average a solid 27.8 defensive rebounds per-game, good for fifth in the league. Moore’s ability to crash the offensive glass could counteract one of Saskatchewan’s greatest strengths, and flip it on its heels.
And while Smart’s offensive abilities have helped kick the BlackJacks production into high gear, the more impressive part of their recent win streak comes from their defense.
On this four-game winning streak, the BlackJacks haven’t let a single opponent score more than 80 points. Some of those opponents, for example, the Shooting Stars, average over 91 points per-game this season–that means Ottawa held them to over 10 points below their season average.
On the year, the BlackJacks boast the second best points against per-game in the CEBL, with 85.5. In the last five games, that number drops even lower to 80.2–good for the best in the league.
The key to this impenetrable defense for Ottawa is to focus on stopping each team’s primary offensive threat. In their last few games, they’ve shut down multiple top-ranked players in the CEBL.
Most recently against the Sea Bears, two of the team’s top three scorers, Jalen Harris and Simi Shittu, each only scored 11 points. The final member of that top three, Tevian Jones, only scored 15. All three of those players finished with a field goal percentage of under 40%.
Ottawa’s impressive individual defense has been led by guard Shakur Daniel. The Ajax, Ont. native leads the team in steals per game with 1.4, and enjoys the challenge of guarding the best player on the opposing team:
“As a basketball player, I’m a competitor. My mentality is that I don’t like anybody scoring on me…it’s been fun. I’ve been enjoying it every single night.”
Daniel’s matchup for tonight, if he plays, will likely be the Rattlers’ top scorer, Devonté Bandoo.
The all-time leader in points for the Rattlers franchise, Bandoo rejoined the team in late June after a nine-game stint with the Edmonton Stingers. In his two games back in Saskatchewan this season, he’s led the team in points per game, with 20.0.
Bandoo’s last game played was back on June 22nd, though, so it’s unknown whether or not he will be available tonight–if he does play, it’s likely that Daniel will match up with him in an attempt to slow down Saskatchewan’s top scorer.
With or without Bandoo, this Rattlers team is not one that DeAveiro has glossed over in the scouting report:
“They’ve been in every game that they’ve played, so we know we’re in for a tough matchup, especially on the road.”
Saskatchewan’s season, despite their league-worst record, has seen them as a part of lots of close games this season–they’ve even pulled off a few upsets, recently taking the 6-6 Montreal Alliance to within one possession and upsetting the 9-4 Calgary Surge on two occasions.
So while their record may say otherwise, you can’t deny the effort that the Rattlers bring into every game. The BlackJacks defense and Smart’s scoring won’t be able to take an off-day against Saskatchewan tonight, no matter how the momentum may seem in the favour of the Capital.
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