The Winnipeg Sea Bears returned home after a successful road trip that saw them win three of four. The hope was that positive momentum would carry over into the following game against the Stingers. Unfortunately the complete opposite occurred. I’m not being too harsh, but that was without a doubt the Sea Bears worst game of the season. It was a rough day on both ends of the floor, and it was hard to tell if they had any sort of fight for most of it. There was even a feeling of, “is this team even awake right now?” It was a rough outing, and not what the fans came out to see, with it being a 5400 seat sellout. I don’t want to ramble too much in this overall recap section, so let’s get straight into the three important keys from this game.

Defence in Transition

This was an ugly game on the defensive end for the Sea Bears in general, but the most glaring issue was in transition. It wasn’t even that Edmonton was beating them with speed, or even some elaborate scheme. It was simply that guys were walking or jogging back. I will talk about it more in my final key, but because they were not getting back or stopping the ball, it lead to one or two passes and an open three for the Stingers. The worst part was then with many players trailing the play, Winnipeg couldn’t secure the rebound, leading to second chance points. A lot of the missed threes in transition from Edmonton led to scrabble defensive possessions for Winnipeg, that ended in scores anyways. It was quite frustrating, and I am sure coach Mike Taylor displayed his displeasure on the sidelines. Whenever the Sea Bears were able to set up their defence, they looked alright. Before I move on, I will say that there was one player that does not deserve to be lumped with the rest. There were at least a couples times that Teddy Allen raced back and got a chase down block, or forced a tough shot.

Offensive Looks

We have now reached that point in the season where teams are starting to figure out one another. E.J. Anosike has put all of the other teams in the CEBL on notice, that he is going to put up points. The defensive scheme from Edmonton was to take away Anosike’s touches, and let Allen and others beat them. Stingers coach Jordan Baker decided that he was not going to allow Anosike to post up cleanly on the block (especially the left block) and bring doubles that force him to not go middle (which is Anosike’s favourite was to go). Baker felt that the Sea Bears are almost impossible to stop if you allow Allen and Anosike to get theirs, and they get a little bit of help from the supporting cast. By taking away Anosike, Baker feels the Sea Bears offence is much easier to contain. We clearly saw what happens when that game plan is in place. Going forward, I will assume all other teams in the league will follow this blueprint. If I were coach Taylor, I understand that the offence that’s been devised is intricate. But you cannot allow Anosike to go completely quiet in games. Sets need to be drawn up to get him quick, easy buckets that can get him going, and still be on the scoresheet. If Anosike disappears in games, this team does not have enough firepower to stay afloat. This is an issue that needs to be solved now, and fast. I will also mention that Edmonton’s overall defence was fantastic, pressuring all ballhandlers and forcing Winnipeg into tough shots. In the first half many of the Sea Bears shots were falling, but it was not sustainable. I do believe that the general philosophy of the offence needs to change slightly, because playing one on one for most possessions are not going to work all year. Just like with Anosike, they need to find ways of getting quick, easy baskets.

Effort

The above title says it all. I haven’t had to comment on this yet because that was something that the team, and especially coach Taylor prided themselves on. It was the one thing that this team did well, and frankly kept them from blowing many of their games in Elam Time. It was if that philosophy went completely out the window in this game, more specifically in the first quarter. The Sea Bears came out completely flat, and honestly looked like they were either asleep, or disinterested in playing. The biggest reason that the game got out of hand so quickly was because of effort. Simple as that. I am sure it will be a different story come Thursday, but you cannot have that happen and it not be discussed.

With the three important keys out of the way, let’s move onto the player performances. This may get a little ugly.

Teddy Allen

Let’s begin on a positive note. Allen had a fantastic performance once again, and it is starting to become a trend. It is a shame it was wasted, and the teams performance overshadows how well he played. 27 points, five rebounds, and two amazing blocks. Cannot ask much more from your star player. He’s starting to make this a habit, and I am giddy just thinking about it.

Jelani Watson-Gayle

Staying on the positive track, lets talk about Watson-Gayle. Another solid game for him contributing off the bench. I am starting to think that, even though I want him winning the 6th Man of The Year award, he would be better off starting and taking Glen Yang’s spot. He has much outperformed him, and deserves a chance. You could tell he was trying to spark the team for a comeback, even as he got subbed in for the first time. It did feel as though the Sea Bears energy even shifted slightly even with him just coming in. He is an important player going forward, and should be treated as such. He got close to 30 minutes played in this game, which was a season high. I am hoping that continues, and he gets as many opportunities as he can to contribute.

Michael Okafor

Okafor looked all out of sorts in this one. It’s hard to evaluate if he played good, or bad, because it was really up and down. It felt as though he was all over the place, but did not effect the game very positively, or even negatively. Sort of a middle of the road game, where I hoped his defence would be more on display once again. Quiet night, and hopefully he gets back to his lockdown ways, and he’s going to need to with his hands full with Christian Vital and Kobe McEwen once more.

Glen Yang

Once again, Yang seemed to disappear in this one. A game in which the Sea Bears needed some addition scoring, this was the moment for him to shine and take the reigns. But it was unfortunately not the case. His minutes got significantly cut in the second half for Watson-Gayle, and when he was out on the floor, he blended in. As I mentioned last recap, I am starting to lose faith that Yang will be anything more than a distributor on the floor. I really do hope he can be more aggressive and takeover one of these games, because I think he can do so.

Chad Posthumus

Not much to say on Posthumus. He scored, had a couple of rebounds, then sat on the bench for much of the game. The feeling I am getting is, coach Taylor is only using him to start games, then his minutes are backup big man like. For a stretch in the second half, they did look to feed him in the post and even that failed. I am under the assumption his role is diminishing as the season goes on.

E.J. Anosike

It’s hard to say much else about Anosike. The Stingers did a fantastic job taking him away, and not allowing him to get clean or easy touches. He had to work hard for his points, getting to the free throw line and tough scores. He did try to find other ways of filling the stat sheet, but it wasn’t enough. I hope they can find him better looks, because this team needs his offence.

A.J. Hess

This game was not too bad for Hess. You would hope he hits more threes, but it did not feel like he was a detriment in this game. Hopefully this can feel like a springboard for him to get back on track for the season.

Simon Hildebrandt

The inconsistencies are still creeping around for Hildebrandt. This was not a great game for him, as he was kept out of the box score. His complimentary scoring has been helpful, so if he can stay on that path, he can continue to be a contributor for the Sea Bears.

Stephane Ingo

A short and sweet summarization for Ingo. He played just fine. He is getting little minutes, especially now that Shane Osayande has joined the team. Look for him to show some sort of impact on the defensive end when he has his named called.

Shane Osayande

The second game for Osayande went just fine. He came in and did exactly what I thought he would do. He rebounded the ball very well. Not much else to comment on his performance, as that is his best strength. I am still not sure where he fits into this rotation, and we will have to see where he falls in coming games.

Final Thoughts

It was a rough game for the Sea Bears from start to finish. They have a good bit of clean up to do and things to fix before Thursday’s game against the Brampton Homey Badgers. Both sides of the ball need to be better, and the effort needs to be there. With having a great start to their inaugural season, the need to try and keep the momentum going if they want to keep pace with the Calgary Surge in first place.