It finally happened. The Winnipeg Sea Bears played their inaugural game in the CEBL against the Vancouver Bandits, and it could not have been any better. In front of a full capacity crowd, the Sea Bears were able to take care of business and get their first win in franchise history. The flow of the game was quite a rollercoaster. Both teams were trying to find their footing, with it being a defensive battle in the first half. Then the floodgates opened on offence in the second half, beginning particularly for the Sea Bears heading into Elam Time (If you are unaware of how the end of CEBL games work, check out my post I put out on my Twitter explaining it). It got a little dicey towards the end, with Vancouver even tying the game, but ultimately, Winnipeg woke up just in time to seal the game and take the victory. When it came to individual performances, it was a mixed bag and we will get into the players in a little bit. We will first dive more into the entire teams performance, and I will give my three most important factors to the Sea Bears ending up in the win column.

Defence

The team defence that was displayed by the Sea Bears on Saturday night was the most impressive of all the events that happened during the teams first ever game. At times it did look a little shaky, (some of it in the second half, but most definitely in Elam Time) but overall for a new team trying to create chemistry with one another, it was quite good. They did hold Vancouver to 30 points in the first half, making them earn every single point. Even throughout the entire game, Vancouver only led a couple of times and never than two. As I had mentioned in my first piece, coach Taylor likes to have his players stay and hedge on screens, which was the style we saw on Saturday. Many times it did work, but there were other times where the communication was off, or Vancouver took advantage by swinging the ball around. Nothing to be concerned about, as much of this can be fixed with more repetition, and most importantly, more games together to build chemistry. The most impressive part of this defensive performance was the limitation of Alex Campbell. Being an returning player, and an important one at that for the Bandits, it was essential for the Sea Bears to keep him as quiet as they could. He was held to 3-7 from the field, 0-4 from beyond the arc and he did foul out of this game after playing 32 minutes. He was guarded by Michael Okafor for most of the night, and I thought Okafor did a great job. We will talk more about Okafor’s individual performance later. The only damage done to the Sea Bears defence was from Giorgi Benzhanishvili and D.J. Steward, who seem to have a dangerous instant connection. Benzhanishvili put up 21 points and 17 rebounds, while Steward had 30 points and seven assists. Those two players led the Bandits charge back into the game in Elam Time to tie the game at 85. Overall, the performance on that end of the floor was good from the Sea Bears and it helped them build a lead when there was a lid on the basket at the other end.

Physicality

I know that this can go hand-in-hand with defence, but I wanted to make it it’s own section. Coach Mike Taylor wanted this basketball team to be physical all season long, making them a tough team to play against. They were as physical as a team can be on a basketball court in this one. Not only did they try and play aggressive defence, but they made sure that when they fouled someone, there was no easy basket afterwards. The team had a total of 22 fouls, which many came in that low scoring first half. They wanted to show the Bandits that they were no afraid to backdown as the new kids on the block. Even while centre Nick Ward was attempting to post-up on anyone who was guarding him. There was also some physicality on the glass, with the Sea Bears winning the rebounding battle. This team showed the fight that their coach had wanted to see from them, which is a good sign.

The New Guys

While I know I said I would go into more detail about the players below, I do have to mention some of them that made a huge impact on this game and give them their own section. There were three players who go a chance to play in this game that had never played in the CEBL before and they are the reason the Sea Bears won this game. The first one I will mention is E.J. Anosike. After struggling to begin the game, and not finding his rhythm behind the arc, Anosike got it going into the second half and did all of his damage inside the paint. He ended with a double-double, 21 points and 11 rebounds. He was one of the reasons Winnipeg had such a great third quarter, and build up a lead on the second half. Another name that should be mentioned is Simon Hildebrandt. The 20 year old hometown product contributed nicely in his first ever professional game, showing some great flashes. There were moments where he did look outmatched, or inexperienced, but all of that will come with time. Coach Taylor said he would give Hildebrandt all of the opportunities he could to have him grow and be successful, and I think 29 minutes off the bench will certainly do that. If he can continue to get better game by game, he will be a great piece for this team to have later in the season. The third and final player I will mention in this segment is one that I did not have enough information on when I did my 2023 roster preview. Jelani Watson-Gayle was huge for the Sea Bears all night, and was a pivotal part to their victory. He had 22 points off the bench, and connected on six threes. He kept Winnipeg in the game in the first half when they were struggling on offence, and hit a very important three in Elam Time that calmed down the team, and put them one point away from the Target Score. He manned the point very well, making big play, after big play. I do hope going forward if the lineup stays the same, that Watson-Gayle continues to get lots of minutes off the bench.

Player Performances

We will now move into the section where I will speak about each player individually. These will be shorter, more personalized pieces about how I felt each player played.

Chad Posthumus

The man of the hour. I wanted to start with the franchises’ first ever signing, no matter how his performance was. It definitely did not start out great. If you had told me in the second quarter that Posthumus would end with 10 points and 9 rebounds I would have thought you were crazy. Posthumus was in foul trouble for most of the game, he then had a stretch in the third quarter where he went on his own 6-0 run. This was then followed up with more foul trouble trying to guard Nick Ward (which is very hard by the way), then came up with two huge offensive rebounds, and the second of the two he putback for the game winner bucket. If he can put up those types of numbers while playing more than 14 minutes, I think that Posthumus will have a good season.

Glen Yang

This was a quiet game for Yang. He hit the first ever basket in Sea Bears history, a deep three that ended up being his only points of the night. He was able to snag down seven rebounds, but ultimately was outshone by Jelani Watson-Gayle. I did see some good things from Yang, and hopefully he can build on this performance because I think he will be an important part of this team.

Teddy Allen

I am quite conflicted about this game for Allen. It was a tough night shooting for him, putting up 23 shots, hitting one three pointer and having only 13 points. There was difficult shot after difficult shot taken, and it started to get frustrating to watch. There are two positives I will take from this game for him. He was very good on the defensive glass, grabbing 9 rebounds and 12 in total. He was also his most effective scoring the ball when he was going to the hoop. If he had continued to do that, I do think he shoots a better percentage. I am hoping this was an off game for Allen, because I know he is the Sea Bears’ main offensive option.

E.J. Anosike

I have already spoken about Anosike above, and will keep this one short. He did exactly what I wanted Allen to do when the outside shot was not falling: take it to the hoop. Anosike started to get hot once he started to attack the hoop, drawing contact and getting to the free throw line. Very excited to see him build off this performance and put up more big games for the Sea Bears.

Michael Okafor

This guy is my unsung hero of the game. As I mentioned above, Okafor was tasked with guarding Campbell most of the night, and he did a fantastic job. He even limited Steward when he got the matchup from time to time. As I had said previously in my first article, I do believe Okafor might be the most important piece the Sea Bears have because of his lockdown defence. He did start in this game which I found surprising, but I do like the move by coach Taylor.

A.J. Hess

Moving to the bench, I will start with A.J. Hess. This was not the debut I know Hess was hoping for. He ended up taking four shots, not connecting on any of them, and all but one were tough shots. I am hoping coach Taylor will be able to get Hess some open catch and shoot opportunities so that he can heat up a little bit.

Justus Alleyn

Not much to say on Alleyn, as he played only six minutes and the only stat he put up were two assists. Not sure how much more time we will get from him, especially once Shane Osayande comes in from overseas.

Stephane Ingo

Same as Alleyn, not much to say on Ingo. He only played three minutes, and the most notable play he made was a block/foul on a Nick Ward dunk. Again, with Osayande coming over, not sure how many minutes Ingo gets once that happens.

Simon Hildebrandt

As I mentioned above, there were some very good signs from Hildebrandt in this game. He was aggressive, either driving or pulling the trigger on jump shots, showing he has confidence. As he gets more used to this league and he finds his rhythm, he will start to show more signs of progress.

Jelani Watson-Gayle

I had to end with Watson-Gayle. To me, he was the game MVP. He made so many important plays, whenever it was needed. He was most definitely the hero, and I hope that he can continue to contribute off the bench. I’m not sure if right away he takes a roll away from Yang or Okafor, but if this play continues, I think he has to.

The Winnipeg Sea Bears are now officially underway in their inaugural season in the CEBL. The best part is that they won their first game, the home opener, and their record is 1-0. Their next opponent is the reigning champion Brampton Honey Badgers, who they will face on the road June 1st.