Dinos Face Powerful Huskies

The Calgary Dinos and Saskatchewan Huskies are 10-10 over the past 20 games they’ve played, dating back to February of 2007; but 4 of those U of S wins have come in the last 4 times they’ve met.  The Green and White (and black) are one of the CIS’ elite teams right now, as they’re ranked #4 in the CIS, they lead the Prairie Division at 6-3, and they should be contending  for a championship come March.  The Dinos aren’t living in that same rarified air; Calgary is 3-7, with little promise of a playoff chance, and have to be considered the underdog this weekend.

There is, however, a ray of hope in the UC camp, in the form of Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, who may see some action on the weekend, after having missed the last month and a half with a hand injury.  “Jarred has looked very good in practice”, said Dinos Coach Dan Vanhooren. “ We are waiting on the OK for him to dress, and, obviously, he will make a big difference for us.”  The intensely competitive ‘OJ’ would be facing the Huskies Jamelle Barrett for the 1st time, and these 2 would provide a great match-up , if  Ogungbemi-Jackson can play.  Unfortunately, the news is not as good for Matt Letkeman, the 2nd year post man, who, it appears, may miss the rest of the season until his doctors feel he is safely over the viral infection, which has made it too risky to engage in heavy work-outs.

Meanwhile, here are the likely starters for the 2 teams on Friday / Saturday -

                                               3-7                                                                              6-3

Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, 2nd yr., 5-9, Winnipeg                        Jamelle Barrett, 4th, 5-10, Rancho Cordova, CA

Andrew McGuinness, 3rd, 6-2, N. Vancouver                                 Duncan Jones, 5th, 6-4, Calgary

Keenan Milburn, 5th, 6’, Royston, B.C.                                          Peter Lomuro, 5th, 6-5, Winnipeg

Tyler Fidler, 5th, 6-9, Calgary                                                        Michael Lieffers, 5th, 6-8, Saskatoon

Boris Bakovic, 5th, 6-7, Toronto                                                    Matt Forbes, 1st, 6-8, Lumsden, SK

Calgary may go big, and start Josh Wolfram, 2nd,                         The Huskies have lots of help on their bench, with

6-10, Kamloops.  1st off the Bench - Dustin Reding,                      guards, Ben Baker, 6-4, and Evan Ostertag, 6-5, and

Barrett, who was the Canada West Player of the Year last season, had a big game last week at Victoria, scoring 32 points, as his clutch scoring led the Huskies to a road win.  This season, where he was hampered with a hand injury early on, he is scoring 19 ppg to lead his team, and he gives out 5 asst./game.  Against UBC, he had multiple defenders restricting his access to the ball, and to the basket, and that strategy hurt the U of S offensive output.  Lieffers, who, strangely, has never been chosen as a canada West all-star, is one of the League’s premier rebounders, with his quick jumping ability, and his combative style of play at both ends.  Jones, who graduated from Calgary’s Lord Beaverbrook HS, is a shooting guard with big-game credentials, and he can go on hot-streaks from 3 point range.  Lomuro is an athletic addition from Winnipeg, who can run the floor and averages 12 ppg off the break.

                                                                                           Peter Lomuro, a valuable 5th year pick-up for the Huskies >>>

<<< Josh Wolfram, UC’s fast-improving 2nd year post man

Game time is 8 pm Friday and Saturday in Calgary, and, as always, the games are live on Canada West TV.

Dino Grad Guards Vancouver’s Waterfront

Do not mess with Rick Brar !   The Dinos’ former wing-man, who played on the UC Canada West championship team in 2003-04 and in ’04-05, is now a Canada Customs/RCMP firearms training officer and a Customs officer working mainly on the busy waterfront of downtown Vancouver.   Growing up in Vernon, B.C., Rick and his brother Sandy were the stars on some great teams at Fulton HS, and also played for B.C Provincial teams.

With the Dinos Rick was a very athletic wing man, who, at 6-4, could jump over bigger opponents,  was a strong rebounder, and run the floor on the fast break.  He transferred to Calgary after a 2 year college career in B.C., and joined friends like Aman Heran, Surinder Grewal, and his brother Sandy in a Dinos uniform.  Apparently, his main athletic interest these days is the anticipated career of his daughter Millan, who Rick describes as “pretty big, and is in the 99th percentile for height and weight for her age.... future ball player!”

Officer Brar will ‘board your ship’ if you’re conducting any shady business in Vancouver Harbour, and he’ll likely be back in the gym soon enough as a coach of girls basketball.  Good luck to Rick and his family.

Notes ...

1. • The Dinos’ 2nd year post man, Patrick Walker, is still in and out of practice with recurring back/neck issues.  Walker, at 6-8, has the ability to help on the boards, and shoots seldom, but at 63% on FGs.  His best game this season was 6 rebounds and 8 points in a win over UBC on Nov. 27.
   

1. • Big upset last night in the Atlantic  Wednesday - from the Cape Breton Post, “A balanced offensive attack by the Cape Breton University Capers turned them into giant killers on Wednesday night. The Capers boasted six different scorers in double digits as they posted a 101-88 victory over the St. Francis Xavier X-Men in Atlantic University Sport men’s basketball play at Sullivan Field House. The defeat was the first conference loss for the first-place X-Men (7-1), the No. 2-ranked team in the country. The Capers improved to 5-3 and sit in a four-way tie for second place.”
   

1. • The Winnipeg Wesmen travel west on Highway 1 for a Thursday game against regional rival, the Brandon Bobcats. The game is on Canada West TV. at 7 pm Calgary time ( the color man for Brandon home games is the legendary former Coach of the ‘Cats, Jerry Hemmings, the 2nd all-time winningest coach in CIS history at 734) .  You would have to think that Brandon needs a sweep to enhance their hopes of a playoff spot, while Coach Mike Raimbault’s Wesmen are really just trying to get a more potent offensive attack, and becoming consistently competitive.  When the teams return to Winnipeg on Friday, the Wesmen also have a former coach as their TV color man.  Dave Crook, who was the head man at both Winnipeg and Lethbridge is on the ‘mic’ for UW
   

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3. • The Calgary Crush, an ‘expansion franchise’ in the American Basketball Association, is off this weekend on a 2 game series in the Seattle area.  Former Dinos John Riad, Chris Wright, Josh Feist, and Robbie Sihota are on the roster for the Crush, who are playing an abbreviated exhibition schedule this season, then, next Fall, hope to join the  Northwest Conference of this incredibly large ( we count 86 teams!)  ABA League in a full slate of games for 2012-13.  This is a ‘semi-pro’ league, which likely means they don’t pay much; it will be tough to meet JR’s contract demands, we would guess.