Out to prove once again that they match up with the best of American college basketball, the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team is gearing up for its annual series against U.S. squads in August.
The Ravens will play host to five National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) teams during the 2014 edition of the Can-Am Shootout, starting with the Indiana Hoosiers Aug. 11.
“You know that you’re going to see some freak athletes and some plays that you haven’t seen before,” Ravens forward Jean-Emmanuel Pierre-Charles said. “We know that if we do not play the game we’re supposed to play, things could go bad fast.”
The Ravens turned heads in 2013 when they knocked off the Wisconsin Badgers, an eventual Final Four finisher in the 2014 NCAA tournament. Carleton also took the Syracuse Orange, a Final Four team in 2013, to overtime.
“Seeing those teams go far in the tournament makes you think, ‘Wow, we beat a pretty good team,’” Pierre-Charles said. “But when we actually play them, I don’t think we’re surprised that we’re in the game with them . . . Just beating those teams is good enough for confidence throughout the year.”
The Vermont Catamounts visit the Ravens’ Nest Aug. 12, followed by the University of Illinois at Chicago Flames on Aug. 14. The Memphis Tigers round out the NCAA exhibition series with Aug. 16 and 19 games against Carleton.
Ravens guard Gavin Resch said the home team has already begun preparing.
“They’re pretty great programs and you know a lot about the main players and stuff,” he said of the U.S. competition. “We’ve all seen them on TV and in conference play, but they have a lot of graduating players and new guys coming in who are going to be impact guys, so we really don’t know about them yet.”
Resch said the biggest difference against NCAA squads is the increased size and athleticism of their southern neighbours.
“All the American teams that we play are bigger and faster so it’s kind of like you lose a couple seconds on every play,” he said. “They are talented but they also don’t have as much time to prepare as we do as a team so that gives us an advantage.”
In June, the Ravens travelled to Italy where they competed in the 2014 Adidas Eurocamp, an annual event that brings together teams from around the world.
The 2013-14 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championship-winning team suited up for the Ravens, who came home with a 3-1 record, including solo tournament games.
However, Resch said it was also an opportunity to bond with some of the new players that came along for the trip, and who may see action in August’s exhibition match-ups.
Pierre-Charles said he’s looking forward to the opener in particular, suggesting Indiana is possibly the best NCAA team of the bunch.
But he said the Ravens will have to raise their game in each contest.
“If you go in thinking, ‘Let’s just stay with them,’ I don’t think we would do as good,” he said. “We go in with the attitude saying, ‘Let’s actually try to be this team, let’s just win.’ I think that’s what gives us success.”
Carleton is also taking part in another exhibition game on Nov. 2, in a hyped rematch from a 2013 Can-Am Shootout epic encounter.
The overtime clash between the Ravens and the Orange will be getting a sequel in 2014, as the Carleton team will travel this time to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse for an exhibition rematch.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Ravens forward Victor Raso said. “Getting to play against Syracuse is one thing, but getting to play against Syracuse at the Carrier Dome is a great opportunity for anyone, especially for someone playing in Canada.”
When looking at the whole slate of U.S. exhibition games, Raso said the stigma that CIS basketball is drastically weaker than the NCAA keeps his Ravens team motivated for every upcoming exhibition game.
“It’s the natural opinion that the American teams are just better than us, so we deal with that every time we play against them,” he said.
Resch said he expects Carleton to come away with a few victories, and said the annual theme of being underestimated by their American counterparts is likely going to be a factor.
“They think that since we’re a Canadian team that we’re not going to be able to play with them at all and it comes as a shock,” he said. “In a sense, it’s kind of an advantage to us. Hopefully, eventually the word will get out that we should be able to stay with a bunch of these teams.”
