#nblcanada

There really was only one way to respond to the shellacking the Edge received on Tuesday, and that was to come out firing on Thursday, washing off the sins of an awful performance with a barnstorming show. Behind some blistering early shooting, a greatly improved consistent defensive effort, and the ball movement that was lacking on Tuesday, the Edge came out to a sixteen point lead at halftime.

Although the shooting cooled off notably by the end of the half, there was a notable lack of forced Carl English...perhaps because he was in foul trouble for much of the half. Similarly the fact that all three refs were different for this game was likely not inconsequential in the turnaround. The big difference though was in the way the team played - as a team, not as individuals.

Halifax has a pair of quality scorers in Mike Poole and Terry Thomas, and solid playmaking and leadership from Cliff Clinkscales. The play of these three, and sharp shooting from the former two, brought Halifax back strong and within nine at one point, but the game completely lacked any sort of flow as the refs were whistle-happy all night.

As the fourth quarter closed both teams looked to be spent and neither could buy a bucket. The old nemesis of defensive rebounding reared its head again, but Halifax couldn't make the extra chances count. Even with a parade to the foul line on both ends (and questionable calls both ways), a spirited and effective full court press and too many missed free throws from the Edge, Halifax just ran out of time.

It’s been on my mind for a while, but last night’s humiliating spanking at the hands of the Halifax Hurricanes was all the proof I needed to confirm my suspicions. The method and depth of the capitulation of the team combined with the obvious shortcomings told me everything I needed to know.

The problem with this team is Carl English.

In these parts, that sentence is almost treasonous. You do not attack Newfoundland sportsmen in front of Newfoundlanders, especially not when they are playing for their hometown team. Last season, Carl was the driving force behind much of the success of the Edge and carried us (with help from a very strong supporting cast) to the playoffs. 

We don’t have last year’s Carl. Despite saying in the off-season that he was in the best shape of his life, Carl has not found his shot all year. Worse yet, he has forced shot after shot and been the ball stop that he was all last season, without the points to mitigate it. Worst of all though, the Edge is just a better team when he is not on the floor. That’s the most damning thing here: our former star player is actively hurting his team. 

Carl is no longer the star on this team, Glen Davis is. He’s not the best shooter, Jared Nickens is. Dez Lee has been consistent and a creator, Maurice Jones more dynamic, Jerryn Skeete and Glen Davis as popular if not more so. There will always be a place for the hometown hero on this team, but the time has come for him to realise that it might not be as the starter and primary focus right now. At least not until his prodigal shot stops being profligate.

Last night was not his fault. Not entirely, at least. As a team the Edge was cold from deep, but kept firing away. The refereeing was abysmal. Tempers flared. The team fought valiantly in the third quarter with some of the best defence I have seen at any level, but an inability to do that at literally any other time was their downfall. That and woeful rebounding and shot selection. 

Perhaps the most unforgiveable crime was the performance in the last five minutes of the game. Elsewhere on social media, I called it a shameful performance. After Halifax went on their run in the early 4th the Edge just looked like they wanted to go home. Fans know we're going to lose games. We know we're going to get blown out. That's ok. Those games happen. What isn't ok is playing like you don't care. You can't give up. That's not what the fans pay to see. Frustration, anger, disappointment...all valid. Show some passion, show some pride! The letters on your chest MEAN something to the fans, and if nothing else they mean a paycheck to you. At least play like you care.

Back in the win column this weekend with two solid performances against a very game PEI outfit. Of course most people will remember this series for the debut of Glen Davis, but there was a lot more to see.

We found an inside game...kind of - Losing Todd Brown Jr seemed like a strange decision at the time, especially with Jared Nickens seeing such little time and TBJ being able to score so well. Obie Oleka had a solid weekend on the glass (9.0 RPG on the weekend) and we had some scoring in the paint, but we still cannot grab a defensive rebound on opposition shots in the paint. The Storm had multiple third and fourth chances inside, which cannot happen. Davis should help there, but he needs to get in playing shape first.

Dez Lee had himself a weekend - Dez Lee’s main role on this team is to be the defensive leader, a phenomenal rebounder for his size, and the effort-and-energy guy who can give you a dozen points or so. On Friday he played above expectations, but on Sunday he looked nigh unstoppable in the second half. He routinely beat his man off the dribble, took the ball strong to the rim and completed on his free throws. He did this while also still diving for the loose balls and grabbing every board within reach. Carl English might be the face of the team, and Davis and Skeete might be the darlings of the fans, but Dez Lee is the engine room. 

We messed up last year - Russell Byrd came in to Mile One with a point to prove, and he proved it in spades. He hit seemingly every shot, got in Carl English’s head (Carl was lucky not to get a technical foul on Sunday and did get one on Friday) and on several occasions led me to ask my partner where this player was last year. “The end of the bench,” was her reply, and she’s right. When playing for the Titans before coming to us and in these two games for the Storm, Byrd has been a potent scorer who we just ignored to give minutes to Xavier freaking Ford.

This team has leaders - For all his strengths, Carl English has not really shown an on-floor leadership tendency. He leads by example and could certainly be vocal in the dressing room, but one thing I did not see in the home opening series was anyone taking the time to talk to each other. On this home stand I saw two very encouraging things: Junior Cadougan acting as an extra assistant coach to the guards (especially Diego Kapelan) and Glen Davis talking to everyone, both from the bench and when on the floor. Constant communication on defence, encouragement from the bench, mentoring Satnam in shootaround, and playing to the fans to get them involved. Satnam was even getting in on the act, as the other player with NBA experience, which can only help.

Still porous on defence - I could have taken this last point to complain about the continued awful refereeing, but that’s a constant in this league apparently. What is scarier is our continued inability to shut down penetration. We have no shot-blocking and our perimeter defense is non-existent to the point that I expect the opponent to score every time down.The team is better-positioned now than it was a week ago to address this, but we are just too slow to adapt to even the simplest of moves to get to the rim, and our help defence is awful. 

Edge Drops Second Straight at Home - And It Was Ugly

Well if they weren’t watching before, they certainly are now. Moncton came to our house, trashed the basement, drank our parents’ booze and snuck out the back door when the cops showed up. For our part the Edge looked confused on offence and lost on defence, could not adapt to Moncton’s style of play, and could not find any consistent scoring.

As bad as last night was, tonight we saw what happens when Moncton keep defending well and their shots drop. We had no answer for anything they tried, even though two of their starters and best scorers from Friday (Billy White and Nick Evans) were in foul trouble all night. The stifling, hands-everywhere defence was still there, and they seem bought in enough that I fully expect to see Moncton in the finals on this form. 

Again today Coach Plumb could not get his team through the stifling perimeter defence. With three point guard capable of giving you minutes, he didn’t go to the two-PG lineup anywhere near enough to try and penetrate through and beat them off the dribble. On the few occasions we did go to the hole, we had success...assuming we didn’t miss the layup, which happened on at least four trips. Carl English however had precious little of that, going 2-11 on the night and being shut down by two defenders most of the time he sniffed the ball. There was no adaptation, no recognition, no experimentation. Moncton gradually pulled away and never seemed like losing the lead they built even with the foul trouble. 

One factor we cannot control is the officiating. A whopping 66 fouls were called today, and both teams were in the bonus before the six-minute mark of the third quarter. There was even less flow to this game than Friday’s outing, and that was in part due to the ticky-tack calls with which the officials seemed so enamored. Poor refereeing has been a familiar problem with our home games, and sadly nothing has changed this season.

Meanwhile, this St. John’s team needs a real wakeup. Coach Plumb’s promised ultra-fast offence is not happening. Moncton had one more shot than the Edge, but four more offensive boards, and a fast offence should have left the Edge with far more shots. Being at the game I can tell you that many of the Edge’s shots were in the last five seconds of the shot clock, normally after several head fakes and extra passes that really didn’t need to happen. Of the 15 turnovers we had on the night, I would estimate at least nine of them were due to passes that were too fancy or moves that were too pretty and got nowhere. Some of that will go away as the team learns about itself and the players learn where their teammates will be and where they like getting the ball, but for now they need to simplify on offence and take the good shot instead of looking for the perfect one.