Matthew Winick
The Fraser Valley Bandits (5-5) will aim to snap a three-game losing streak as they face the Edmonton Stingers (11-1) on the road for the third of their four consecutive contests against the defending champions on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. local time.
Fraser Valley’s recent schedule is a large reason for the skid, as the team has faced the second-ranked Hamilton Honey Badgers and first-ranked Edmonton during that stretch. The lull doesn’t get any easier for the Bandits to snap out of though, as they face the Stingers two more times before closing the season out against the Saskatchewan Rattlers.
With these squads playing two tight, emotional games against each other last week, and Fraser Valley searching for its first win of the series, tensions should be high on Wednesday night.
Perimeter defense
When the Stingers held on to beat the Bandits 91-77 last Tuesday, the biggest difference in the contest may have been the perimeter defense performances on each side.
Edmonton did a tremendous job defending Fraser Valley’s guards, holding the starting backcourt of Alex Campbell, Kenny Manigault and Jamal Reynolds to only 18 points on a p oor 7-27 (26%) from the field.
On the other side, the Bandits were unable to limit two-time CEBL Player of the Year Xavier Moon, who broke his own league single-game scoring record with 39 points on 15-24 (63%) shooting. When one player alone is able to thoroughly outplay the other team’s backcourt, it’s almost always going to lead to victory, and stands as a testament to the Stingers’ stingy perimeter coverage.
Aggression vs. Execution
Fraser Valley is one of the most aggressive teams in the CEBL, and typically play a scrappy style of basketball, featuring a full court press on defense and a fast-paced offense. They can also coerce opponents into playing the same way, which is exactly what happened in Tuesday’s loss to Edmonton.
The aggressive defense led to the refs blowing 49 combined fouls, while the high-speed offense made the squads turnover prone, coughing up 19 giveaways per side. Despite the sloppy game playing in Fraser Valley’s favour, it was Edmonton who were able to beat the Bandits at their own game.
Regardless of victor though, neither side should be happy with the foul and turnover totals from last time out. Whichever team can play under more control and execute better should come out on top this time around.
Playoff Picture
The playoff section of game previews is mostly mute for Edmonton at this point, as the Stingers have clinched the number one overall seed in the playoffs and will host the winner of a quarterfinal game at home on August 20 th .
Things are much more complex for Fraser Valley though. The Bandits are holding on dearly to the four seed, me aning home-court advantage in the quarterfinals. Should Ottawa or Guelph surpass Fraser Valley before season’s end, the team will have to play away from Abbotsford in order to secure a spot in Championship Weekend. Considering the Bandits are winless on the road this season, they would much rather play its quarterfinal game in front of their home fans.
All CEBL games will be available for live streaming on the CEBL’s new OTT streaming service CEBL+, cbcsports.ca , the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and android devices, and on Twitch.
A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 75 percent of its current rosters being Canadians. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. The only First Division Professional League Partner of Canada Basketball, the CEBL season typically runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube