Game Preview - May 27: BlackJacks Head to Scarborough for School Day Game Against Shooting Stars

This morning at 11 a.m., the Ottawa BlackJacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) will play the Scarborough Shooting Stars at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.

The Shooting Stars enter this game having only played one other game this season, a win against the 0-3 Brampton Honey Badgers. The BlackJacks come into this matchup with a record of 1-1 on the season–a loss in their season opener against the Niagara River Lions and a win against the Honey Badgers.

On Sunday evening, Ottawa travelled to Montreal to play the CEBL’s Summer Classic Outdoor Game against the Montreal Alliance. Unfortunately, the game had to be postponed at halftime due to “technical issues related to event staging caused by inclement weather” according to the CEBL’s official statement.

Despite the unusual circumstances that the Summer Classic provided, the BlackJacks will continue with their season schedule and take on the Shooting Stars this morning. This game will be one of Scarborough’s two school day games this week; the second will be on Thursday against the Saskatchewan Rattlers.

With a school day game comes a loud home crowd environment full of dedicated student fans–the BlackJacks players got to experience that with their preseason school day game against the Capital Region All-Stars on May 14. 

They don’t have any experience playing on the opposite side of that school day crowd, though–something which becomes of increasing importance to note when you look at the BlackJacks’ history in road games. 

Last season, the team finished with a road record of 3-7. That record was the worst of any team that made the playoffs that season, excluding that year’s host team Montreal who finished with a road record of 1-9.

The BlackJacks continued to show that playing on the road hurts their production in the half of their game against the Alliance. At the time the game was postponed, Ottawa found themselves down 52-29.

With history not on their side in road games, and the addition of the likely extra-loud school day crowd, this game will provide the BlackJacks with perhaps their biggest challenge yet this season.

So the question arises: what do the BlackJacks need to do in order to overcome the odds and take home a win this morning?

The most important answer to that would be to protect the paint. The BlackJacks starting centre and second-leading scorer this season, Isaih Moore, was inactive against the Alliance following an injury that he suffered against the Honey Badgers.

Moore’s presence as a rim protector is a huge one. His 6-10 frame along with impressive athletic ability allows him to affect shots at the cup–and more importantly, deter opponents from attempting close shots in general. 

With Moore active, the Honey Badgers took just 40 two-pointers throughout the game. The Alliance, without Moore on defense, were on pace to attempt 46. 

That may not seem like a huge difference at first glance, but those six attempts go a long way. The Alliance shot a ridiculous 73% on their two-pointers on Sunday–six shots on that percentage equates to 8.75 points, which could win or lose a game for a team.

Whether or not Moore will be available against the Shooting Stars is still in question, but what’s crystal clear is that the BlackJacks need to protect the rim in order to win this morning’s game.

Another key for the BlackJacks will be stopping the Shooting Stars’ captain and top bench scorer in David Walker. The 25-year-old guard scored 10 points as the team’s sixth man in their matchup against the Honey Badgers.

The BlackJacks have a well-rounded team with a lot of bench depth, which often gives them an advantage over their opponents when the starters take rests. With a talent like Walker leading the Shooting Stars’ bench, that advantage for Ottawa could be nullified. 

Luckily for the BlackJacks, though, Head Coach David DeAveiro knows Walker’s game. 

Walker played two years for DeAveiro’s men’s basketball program at Toronto Metropolitan University (2022-23 and 2023-24), which would be more than long enough for DeAveiro to garner an excellent understanding of Walker’s strengths and weaknesses.

With that knowledge, Ottawa can develop a defensive strategy to stop Walker’s bench scoring and maintain their depth advantage. 

A likely key player in that defensive strategy will be backup guard Shakur Daniel. A former Defensive Player of the Year in his Junior College conference, Daniel has led the BlackJacks this season with an impressive 3.0 steals per game.

Despite the small sample size, that number shows that Daniel has some serious defensive talent. His 6-6 frame gives him a height advantage over Walker, too–make sure to look out for that matchup when the bench units are on this morning.

With the combination of Daniel’s defense, DeAveiro’s history with Walker, and a whole lot of defensive effort around the rim, the BlackJacks have a great chance of coming out of this loud school day game environment with their second win of the season.