Sea Bears wary of surging Bandits

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This article was published 20/06/2023 (1146 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Sea Bears are hoping the third time is not the charm for the Vancouver Bandits.

The city’s new Canadian Elite Basketball League squad has already posted a pair of victories over the Bandits this season and the two sides will collide again Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Canada Life Centre.

Winnipeg started its inaugural campaign with an 90-85 home victory May 27 against Vancouver and then prevailed 106-103 on June 6 on the west coast.

The Sea Bears (5-3) are in second place in the Western Conference while the Bandits (4-4) are close behind.

Vancouver has earned three consecutive wins after getting veteran guard Shane Gibson and Toronto forward Shaquille Keith back in the lineup.

“Beating any team three times in a row is difficult. The Vancouver team has found their stride a little more so it should pose as more of a challenge,” said Sea Bears shooting guard AJ Hess.

The Sea Bears are coming off a disappointing showing in Calgary on Sunday in which the Surge handed them a 97-81 defeat. With the Win, Calgary (6-3) took sole possession of first place in the West.

The Sea Bears shot just 39 per cent from the field in the loss.

“As an expansion team, we’ve come out and been successful right away. This is what happens as you go through the schedule. You have some games where you play well and some games where you don’t play as well as you want to, and you grow together,” said Sea Bears head coach Mike Taylor.

“I really love where the team is at. There’s wins, there’s losses, and you’ve got to keep pushing forward. Our guys have been great, they’ve worked really hard, and there’s a lot of reasons to be optimistic and excited for the rest of the season.”

Winnipeg guard Teddy Allen has quickly become the most dominant player on the team as he leads in points (25.9), rebounds (8.5) and assists (3.8) per game.

Opposing teams are trying to get the ball out of Allen’s hands any way they can.

“They’re really working hard to be super physical with him. He’s being held and handchecked. It’s a tough situation for him,” said Taylor.

“We’re using him in different ways. We’re putting him in situations where he can be a decoy and where he can be a screener. We’re trying to make life easier for him, but that’s the challenge of being a marked man. Everyone knows he’s a go-to guy. He’s had record-setting performances, and what we want to try to do is create opportunites for the rest of the team to make people pay for the way they guard Teddy.”

It hasn’t been a one-man show, as Winnipegger Chad Posthumus has found his groove recently with back-to-back double-doubles. The centre is averaging 8.1 points and 7.6 rebounds in more than 18 minutes per game. He also leads the league with 32 offensive boards.

“Our system is a really high-level, quality system. Sometimes it takes certain players to find their room to operate and find their place. I think Chad over the last week or two has really found it,” said Taylor.

“He’s such an important part of the team, not only on the court, but off the court. So, you’re really happy when he has some big games.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31