Game Preview - June 6: BlackJacks Continue Long Road Trip Against Bandits
The Ottawa BlackJacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) take on the Vancouver Bandits tonight, May 6 at 10 p.m. ET.
This matchup is the last of a league-record five games being played today–for the first time ever, every single team in the CEBL will see action on the court on the same day.
The other games include (in order of occurrence) the Niagara River Lions vs. the Scarborough Shooting Stars, the Brampton Honey Badgers vs. the Winnipeg Sea Bears, the Montreal Alliance vs. the Edmonton Stingers and the Calgary Surge vs. the Saskatchewan Rattlers.
After those four games go down–the fourth of which tips off at 9:30 p.m. ET, the grand finale of the night will be the BlackJacks and Bandits facing off.
The CEBL made sure to save the best game for last: both the Bandits and the BlackJacks ranked in the top three of the league’s start-of-season power rankings according to a member of CEBL Media.
Ottawa proved that high ranking correct in their last game with a win against the Winnipeg Sea Bears.
After a rocky 1-2 start, BlackJacks Head Coach David DeAveiro was optimistic about the team’s performance against Winnipeg: “I thought we did a lot of good things in some areas and grew up as a team in that game.”
Veteran guard Tyrrel Tate felt that the team gained an extra boost of confidence moving forward: “It definitely helped our confidence…seeing us get a win on the road.”
The BlackJacks have since traveled to Vancouver with that newly gained confidence to start what will be three games in five days, all away from Ottawa–those matchups include tonight’s game, and games against the Surge and the Stingers next Sunday and Tuesday respectively.
“We’re really going to have to be aware of [our] guys and their bodies–how tired they are,” said DeAveiro, “It’s a tough stretch. We’re playing three really good teams, too.”
The Bandits very well may be the best of those really good teams as they’ve started this season firing on all cylinders.
With a record of 5-1 through their first six games, Vancouver has the highest +/- in the league with 112–sixty points larger than the second place Surge, who they took their only loss of the season to on June 1.
The Bandits’ early season dominance has come largely from their incredible scoring ability. The team tops the league in points per game (101.2), field goals made per game (37.5), and three point percentage (35.9%).
A large part of their high scoring comes from three players who all sit in top 10 leaguewide in points per game: Australian forward Mitch Creek (23.5), the sharpshooting Kyle Mangas (21.8), and the gargantuan Tyrese Samuel (19.0). Creek’s all-around game fits perfectly with Mangas’ shooting touch from the perimeter, and Samuel’s dominance at the rim.
Despite the Bandit’s impressive scoring talent, though, the BlackJacks have a serious chance of winning this game.
The biggest key factor in that outcome is momentum. While the BlackJacks are coming off of their win against the Sea Bears, the Bandits head into this game fresh off of their first loss of the season to the Calgary Surge.
That loss impacted Vancouver in more ways than just adding a “1” to the end of their record. Calgary were considered to be their biggest challengers in the Western Conference, which emphasized the importance of the matchup. The Surge didn’t make the game close at all, though, handing Vancouver their first loss, 95-80.
Coming off of such an impactful loss is bound to hurt the ego more than a regular game. The Bandits’ spirits are down for the first time all season, and with the BlackJacks riding the high of their recent win, the momentum for this game sits in favour of Ottawa.
Another thing to note that gives the BlackJacks an advantage in this one is their ability to score. They sit at third in the CEBL in points per game, (91.0), just two spots behind the Bandits. The only team in between them? The Surge.
The fact that the Bandits’ only loss came to another high-scoring team shows that they have a weakness for teams who can put the ball in the basket.
As well as scoring, Ottawa can also match Vancouver’s three-point shooting percentage. Similarly to their points per game rankings, Vancouver sits in first in the league (35.9%) and Ottawa at third (34.8%).
That ability to knock down three-point shots will be an additional help to nullify the advantage Vancouver gains from their high scoring. If the BlackJacks can put together a few stops, their scoring and shooting efficiency will do the rest of the talking.
“We know what we’re capable of on offense so it’s about who can get the most stops, really,” said Tate.
Those stops will be most important around the rim–an area that Ottawa has struggled to defend in recent games due to their starting center, Isaih Moore missing the team’s last two games due to injury.
Moore is still day-to-day, which means the BlackJack’s backup bigs, Meshack Lufile and Christian Rohlehr, will still be imperative in getting defensive stops.
“We have the two-headed monster–we’ve got [Rohlehr] and [Lufile],” said DeAveiro, “they do a really good job of wearing the other team’s main guy down.”
The “two-headed monster” was impressive against the Sea Bears, holding the team to just 73 points–seven under their season average.
Winnipeg’s starting center, Kyle Filewich, finished with just two points in the game. Rohlehr, meanwhile, came off of the bench to score 10 points on 4/4 shooting from the field, along with five offensive rebounds and three blocks.
Rohlehr and Lufile will be extra necessary to slow down Samuel, who leads the CEBL in rebounds per game with 10.7. Lufile and Rohlehr’s large frames will match up well against the 6-10, 239-pound behemoth.
Despite the absence of Moore, the BlackJacks have two big men to get some stops on the interior. With enough of those stops, Ottawa will be able to use their scoring ability to snag a win tonight against one of the best teams in the entire CEBL.
Interact with us on social media:
Instagram: ottawablackjacks
Facebook: OttawaBlackJacks
TikTok: ottawablackjacks