The Dinos Hoops News Canada West Awards -

It is fast approaching playoff time, with just 2 games left in the Canada West regular season to be played later this week  ( UBC  at Victoria,  and Regina at Saskatchewan).  This also means that nominations have been made, and we should hear any day now about the Canada West Individual Awards.  Here’s our take on who deserves these honours :

All- Stars -  Let’s recognize a large group of terrific players who have not chosen on either the 1st or 2nd All-Star Team : Boris Bakovic, Calgary’s CIS all-time scorer,  Zac Andrus, point at UVic, Doug Plumb, shooting guard, UBC, Tristan Smith, point at Trinity, Sam Freeman, guard at UFV , Chas Kok, wing at TRU, Daryl Cooper, guard at Lethbridge,  Daniel Ferguson, guard at Alberta, Emerick Ravier, wing at Brandon, Stephan Walton, guard at Manitoba, Andrew Cunningham, point guard at Winnipeg,Sean Peter, wing at Trinity,  Calvin Westbrook, guard at Trinity, Kyle Coston, fwd at Trinity, Kyle Grewal, fwd at UFV, jasper Moedt, fwd at UFV, Yassine Ghomari, guard at UBC-O, Paul Gareau, fwd at Regina, Kevin Oliver, fwd at Manitoba, Mark McNee, fwd at Winnipeg.

1st Team All-Stars                                                                       2nd Team All-Stars

Ryan McKinnon, wing - Victoria                                                Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, point guard - Calgary     

Jamelle Barrett, point guard, Saskatchewan                             Nathan Yu , guard - UBC

Jordan Baker , wing - Alberta                                                    Tyler Fidler, wing - Calgary  

Justin King, forward, TRU                                                          Kamar Burke, forward - UBC

Michael Lieffers, post, Saskatchewan                                        Dominyc Coward, post - Lethbridge

                     

Outstanding Player -   Ryan McKinnon of UVic, Nathan Yu - UBC, Joel Friesen - Fraser Valley, Justin King - Thompson Rivers, Jordan Baker, Alberta,  Tyler Fidler - Calgary,  Daryl  Cooper - Lethbridge, and Jamelle Barrett and Michael Lieffers - Saskatchewan, would be on our “short list’.  Our final 3 :

   

Our Canada West Outstanding Player is Jordan Baker of the Bears. He has a  bigger impact on a game than any other player, we feel.  He is a ‘point-wing-forward’ who handles it, rebounds it, and scores in so many ways.  Jordan’s versatility as a 3rd year leader makes things work for Alberta, which is a team of role players after you count Baker’s all-around skills, and the offensive brilliance of guard, Daniel Ferguson.

Rookie of the Year -  the top rookies this season include (West to East)  Rainer Theill - UVIC, Malcolm Williams - UBC, Tyler Lintell - Trinity Western, Jordan Blackman - Fraser Valley, Will Ondrik - Thompson Rivers, Bret MacDonald - UBC-Okanagan, Josh Owen-Thomas- Calgary, Tyson McIntyre - Lethbridge, Sebastian Cava - Alberta, Matt Forbes - Saskatchewan, Vule Grujic - Regina, Ilarion Bonhomme - Brandon.  We compare our top 3 :

Player

Points

FG%

3 Pt. %

FT%

Rebounds

The choice of a Rookie of the Year is fraught with complications, not the least being the make-up of the team for which the young man plays.  Ilarion Bonhomme averages 32 minutes a game for the Bobcats, who need him as a floor leader, whereas quite a few talented rookies may be -serving an apprenticeship’ under a significant veteran group, like Rainer Theill at Vic, Blackman at UFV, or   Williams at UBC.  These guys play different positions, and may be asked to modify their own games to suit the needs of the team or it’s more established players.

Canada West coaches cannot choose this award based on ‘potential’, but rather need to judge a players body of work in his season of play.  We did not make either Vule Grujic, Sebastian Cava, or Yigit Ozsayiner finalists, since they’ve had just 1/2 a season.  So, given these parameters -

Our Canada West Rookie of the Year is Ilarion Bonhomme of the Bobcats. This import from Washington, D.C. has made the jump to leading a CIS squad, and his play in the 2nd half of the season has been particularly sharp.  Playing the demanding point spot where he has been matched-up against  some outstanding vets, Bonhomme has held his own, and under the pressure of losing the high-scoring Emerick Ravier, he responded by leading the ‘Cats with great composure and heart.  Just as a side note, the 2nd best rookie performance this season, may well have been that of Bonhomme’s teammate, forward Ali Mounir, a 6-6 forward from Montreal, who averaged 13 ppg,  8 rebounds.

Coach of the Year - As an eager alumnus,  I’ve told our Dinos Coach, Dan Vanhooren, “Coach, we’re with you win or tie !” , and with his 10 -10 record, he’s my man !  Actually, having intimate knowledge of the challenges and demons, the ups and downs, along with the joy and absolute heartache attached to the job of a Head Coach, we hereby ‘take the fifth”.  (Amendment, not the liquor). 

I happen to subscribe to the theory that each of the 14 coaches in Canada West has worked extremely hard to make this a successful year for his team, and, sometimes, many times,  the win-loss record does not reflect the quality of coaching delivered in a particular season.  Too many other factors are at play here, and, though the selection of a Coach of the Year will happen, we just feel we can’t single out 1 guy.

<<< Barnaby Craddock, UFV                                          Dave Adams, Lethbridge >>>

Craig Beaucamp, despite his reluctance to deliver colourful quotes to desperate writers, has done another great job with the Vikes.  Year after year, and not only because he’s at UBC, Kevin Hanson has his team right in the thick of things.  Barnaby Craddock created perhaps the biggest stir in Canada West, (no, not the jacket incident ! ) in guiding his team to a sweep of UBC a couple of weeks back.  In his 1st season with his UBC-O Heat in Canada West, Coach Darren Semeniuk won 3 games, and followed his plan to take a long-range view of building a program capable of beating the best in the CIS. How about the self-proclaimed ‘re-cycled old guy’ Dave Adams, the lead man of ‘Horns Nation’, who has his program headed in the right direction with his positive approach. 

<<<  Dan Vanhooren, Calgary                                    Mike Raimbault, Winnipeg, >>>

How about Scott Allen bringing his TWU Spartans back from a  2-6 start to a playoff spot at 10-8 ?  Or Scott Clark guiding his TRU WolfPack to their best-ever Canada West record?  James Hillis brings in 2 new players at the break, and never quits fighting for his Cougars program.  Gil Cheung, in only his 2nd season with the Bobcats, has to sit out much of the League’s opening half because of a faculty strike at Brandon, then loses his high scorer just before the drive for the playoffs.  The personable and very capable Mike Raimbault is working overtime to bring a competitive team to Winnipeg, and his determination will bear fruit, we think.  And his cross-town colleague, Kirby Schepp, had to endure another painful end of a regular season, but his enthusiasm for the task will also pay off with his Manitoba Bisons, we predict.

Good work coaches !  Good luck in the playoffs, all 8 of you who made it !  And, good luck on the recruiting trail to all 14 of you; keep those great players in your town, your province, in Canada West, and in the CIS !  Great projects take time and hard work as you all know so well.

UBC-O Gets 3rd Win Sunday

Correction From our Saturday report on TRU vs UBC-O : Not sure what ‘Stats Devils’ took hold on the CIS site late Saturday, but we had a totally jumbled version of the TRU and UBC-Okanagan game results.  The correct final score was 85-69 for TRU, and the correct box score is here.

Notes - 

1. •     Howard Tsumura’s online article for The Province  quotes UBC 5th year power fwd, Kamar Burke afetr their win over UVic last Friday , “Oh my goodness, I don’t know how I did that,” said Burke. “Big numbers, 17 and 17. But I just want to keep it up because we still have one more game. I definitely felt inspired because we had to get this win here. It’s going to be even tougher next week at their home. I have to give it all to (Hanson) because he demanded so much of us all week. I think those were the hardest practices we’ve ever had here.”
   

1. • Other CIS scores of note on Sunday  -
   

Cape Breton  111  Acadia  106 - James Dorsey score 49 for the Capers - on 15/3o from the floor, 5/14 treys, and 11/1 free throws.  Incredibly, he had time to deliver 14 assists in his spare time !

St. FX  70  UPEI  69   OT - X-men shoot 27% from the floor, but still get the win !