Winnipeg Primer: Ottawa BlackJacks on the road for second last game
The Ottawa BlackJacks head on the road to Winnipeg as they get ready to play their second last game of the regular season.
Currently placed in fifth in the Eastern Conference and in a tight race to clinch the playoffs, a win tonight for the BlackJacks is crucial for moving up into a playoff spot. Seeding would be dependent on the Niagara River Lions game against the Calgary Surge.
The Smart vs Allen battle
Javonte Smart will be the key to winning tonight’s game. He’s set to face the current league leader for points in a single game, points per game and total points this season, Teddy Allen.
The battle for top-scorer in the league has been a consistent battle between Smart, Allen and Niagara’s Khalil Ahmed. The same names could be mentioned in the race for CEBL MVP. Allen and Ahmed already have that trophy in their case, so the battle for Smart’s first piece of recognition from the league won’t be easily fought.
Smart is currently second in the league for total points this season with 476, just under Allen, who has 644.
Where Smart outshines Allen is beyond the arc. Smart is currently third in the league for total three-point shots on the season with 72, compared to Allen climbing to overtake him with 70.
But Smart easily wins the consistency battle from deep, sitting in fourth place in the league at 3.6 three-pointers per game, compared to Allen’s 3.2 in eighth place.
If Smart can stay consistent in Winnipeg from the outside perimeter, the BlackJacks have a good chance of shutting Allen down.
The block party
Another place where the BlackJacks shine is at the rim. Alex Fudge and Christian Rohlehr are leading the high on the scale of blocks per game, averaging 1.7 and 1.5 per game, making them third and fifth in the league.
But just behind them on the list is Jeremiah Tilmon Jr. for the Sea Bears. The third-year veteran is currently seventh in the league for total blocks per game with 1.3.
But when it comes to total blocks, the battle is a hard-fought one. Fudge has held on to the number-one spot since early in the season and now has a total of 36 blocks on the season. Shortly behind him is Tilmon Jr. with 29 blocks on the season. Rohlehr counts in shortly behind the two of them, with 25 total.
Since the BlackJacks have struggled to find their defensive rebounding guy for the entire season, they have started to depend on guys like Fudge and Rohlehr for their rim protection from blocks, rather than rebounds. Once they smack it out, a BlackJack is usually there to retrieve it and force a turnover.
This late in the season, they’ll want to continue with the game plan they’ve been executing, so they’ll most likely be continuing to trade d-boards for blocks.
The BlackJacks clean-up crew
One place where the BlackJacks could take advantage of the Sea Bears is their tendency to play messy basketball. The team is currently averaging 12.9 turnovers per game, and Allen leads the league in total turnovers with 70. They are also averaging 18.7 team fouls per game, and Tilmon Jr. is third in the league for total fouls with 69.
If the BlackJacks can bring the mop and bucket and clean up the mess the Sea Bears make, that will be an important step to their western road trip win.
The BlackJacks are currently last in the league for steals per game, only averaging 6.2. This could be the next step they’d need to bring their game to the next level and look playoff-ready. The steal game will most likely be led by Smart and Justin Harmon, who are averaging 1.2 and 1.1 steals per game. They’ll be facing Xavier Moon from the Sea Bears, who is currently second in the league for steals per game, averaging two.
The race for a playoff spot continues in the West
Once the BlackJacks are done in Manitoba, they head deeper into Western Canada to face the Edmonton Stingers on Sunday night. This will be their last game of the season.
If the BlackJacks fall to Winnipeg, the playoff dream will not be lost. They can take a win against Edmonton and clinch a fourth-place spot (If Niagara beats Calgary).
The Stingers are currently fourth in the Western Conference, also having a 9-13 record on the season. They are sitting comfortably in a playoff spot, though, as Calgary is guaranteed not to clinch. The Western Conference playoff push was rather uneventful, but the competition out there is still no joke.