The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team started the season with wins over the University of Waterloo Warriors and Wilfred Laurier University Golden Hawks but are still trying to work on starting strong.
The Ravens finished the pre-season with a 77-58 loss at Syracuse University on Oct. 29 and are now focusing on developing their precision.
“We learned that we’re not as precise as we need to be,” Ravens head coach Taffe Charles said. “When you play against a really good team, you have to be precise.”
Three days later, the Ravens got off to a 15-2 start against the Warriors and didn’t look back, winning 110-54. The team was led in scoring by guard Lloyd Pandi (18 points), forward Biniam Ghebrekidan (17) and guard Connor Vreeken (16).
The Ravens had difficulties guarding Waterloo forward Nedim Hodzic, who finished with 18 points off an array of post moves and fade away shots and were forced to change their game plan in order to limit his impact.
“In the second half, we made adjustments,” Charles noted. “We kind of let him catch the ball a little bit too easily.”
Carleton themselves scored with players driving inside and either scoring or finding open players. Guard Alain Louis said Charles has the same mentality offensively as former head coach Dave Smart.
“They’re very similar in the way they coach because Taffe learned from Dave, so it’s been great,” he said.
With departures and absences from last year, this Ravens team will be lacking height. Players Pandi (6’4) and new centre Ivan Cucek (6’11) often have to guard opposing teams’ forwards, yet the latter is out with an injury.
“You got to do things a little bit quicker. You got to not let people catch the ball,” Charles said.
“Defensively, we have to be focused because we do not have the size that we had last year,” Louis said. “The guards have to basically do a better job of containing people.”
Another thing the Ravens are working on is defensive communication, according to guard Marcus Anderson.
“It’s definitely a process,” Anderson said of communicating. “It took me a couple of years to understand why I was saying what I needed to say…once you know what you’re saying and understand the terms, it helps out everyone around you.”
The Laurier game was supposed to be a much-anticipated rematch of last year’s thriller, which Carleton won 80-77.
However, Laurier was missing OUA all-star guard Ali Sow, who was suspended against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees the previous night due to a technical foul for flopping and was eventually ejected. Laurier head coach Justin Seresse was also suspended due to a double technical for arguing the flopping call, that same game.
“You’re disappointed actually,” Charles said. “You want to play against their best…and really, to be honest with you, it sets up well for them. They’re shorthanded. They’re probably pretty motivated to play the next time.”
“I’m a little concerned that if they both were there, I’m not sure what kind of game it would have been,” Charles said.
Both sides struggled to start the game offensively, but eventually the Ravens slowly started pulling away.
Pandi once again led the way with 17 points while fifth-year guard Yasiin Joseph scored 16 and a number of Munis Tutu drives to the rim added to Carleton’s 85-52 victory.
One key detail was unlocking Joseph’s shooting range as he hit two-of-three from deep after shooting two-of-nine from three against Syracuse.
“He’s a great shooter. He’s one of the best shooters on the team,” Charles said. “The problem is, his feet aren’t set all the time.”
The Ravens will continue to work on details heading into their road games against the Queen’s Gaels and Ontario Tech Ridgebacks on Nov. 8 and 9 with communication being Charles’ focus.
“Our communication level is not consistent,” Charles said. “We got to try and practice like a game…we got to get a good week of practice. Talking, communicating, having a better plan.”
Feature image By Spencer Colby.
