The storybook regular season came to a halt when the Stingers ran into a gritty and defensively diligent Saskatchewan Rattlers team that grinded out an 85-83 victory over Edmonton in the semifinal game at Championship Weekend. The loss left an appetite for a shot at the CEBL championship trophy among the Stingers and Small has brought back most of 2019’s core group in hopes of playing for a title this season on August 9. 

The Bandits experienced a different regular season in 2019. Fraser Valley began their season with an 0-9 record and won four of their last 10 games, only to finish last in the CEBL. Jump ahead to Sunday afternoon’s opening game against the Stingers, and the Bandits are an entirely different group. Hometown product Marek Klassen (born in Abbotsford, B.C.) is the lone returnee from last year’s team. Head coach and general manager Kyle Julius has brought in a talented cast of international and Canadian players that he has more than a decade of rapport with to help accelerate the team’s learning curve.

Sunday’s game between the Stingers and Bandits is available to watch on CBCSports.ca and the CBC Gem App. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. ET.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Klassen led the CEBL in assists last season with an average of 7.2 per game. Despite being the lone returning Bandit from the 2019 roster, Klassen finds himself as a stranger among a group of newcomers – the reason being that Julius has brought in both a coaching staff and group of guards and forwards that he has won with and competed against in leagues around the globe. Veterans Kyle Johnson, Junior Cadougan and Marcus Capers were all members of the London Lightning team that won a 2017 league title under Julius’ watch and talented import Cameron Forte previously starred for the Formosa Dreamers in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) – the same league in which Julius has coached the past three seasons.

Julius’ familiarity with this new roster is an asset, but their ability to gel will be integral toward the Bandits’ hopes of a better performance at the CEBL Summer Series.

If It Ain’t Broken, Don’t Fix It

The Stingers finished the 2019 regular season as one of the hottest teams in the league. University of Alberta product Jordan Baker was a runner-up for CEBL Canadian of the Year, while Travis Daniels and last year’s CEBL Player of the Year Xavier Moon both earned nods as CEBL First Team All-Stars for their efforts.

Together, the trio averaged nearly 53 points per game. Throw in a full season of fellow Alberta graduate and reigning CEBL U SPORTS Player of the Year Brody Clarke, and Small has a formidable lineup at his disposal. 

Expect Small to also look to incorporate new arrivals like power forward Kirk Williams Jr. and guard Kareem South, as well as former University of Calgary star Mambi Diawara – who scored the game winning basket against Ryerson to clinch the Calgary Dinos’ first-ever men’s basketball national championship in 2018.

Coaching Duel

A runner-up for CEBL Coach of the Year in 2019, Small enters the 2020 campaign looking to build off a stellar start to his tenure with the Stingers. Small, who is entering his first year as head coach for the University of Lethbridge’s men’s basketball team, is a protégé of former Ryerson University head coach Roy Rana, who now works as an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings. 

After finishing 14-4 last season and coming within seconds of a championship birth in Saskatoon, the Stingers look primed for take-off if Small can continue to foster internal growth and continuity from Edmonton’s core players. 

On the opposing bench is Julius, who brings an international coaching pedigree to the Bandits. Julius won Coach of the Year and a title in 2017 while at the helm of the London Lightning, and is credited for turning around the Saigon Heat between 2017-2019 as he took a franchise that had never made the playoffs and helped the team achieve their first winning season in franchise history. Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, Julius had moved on to coach the Formosa Dreamers, a Taiwan-based franchise in the ABL. 

Both coaches are known as tacticians and today’s game will be a test of each coach’s ability to adjust on the fly and manage the Elam Ending.