Matthew Winick
The Hamilton Honey Badgers and Saskatchewan Rattlers will look to make amends from season opening losses as the two squads meet up at the SaskTel Centre at 9:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. local time.
Two of the younger squads in the CEBL, combined with rosters with a fair number of new faces proved to be tough obstacles to overcome for both teams on Saturday. Each side will look to their upcoming tilt as a way to get back on track.
Hot and cold
Even in defeat, both the Honey Badgers and Rattlers put together solid stretches of basketball but couldn’t maintain consistency throughout the game.
Saskatchewan jumped on the Fraser Valley Bandits early on, taking a 25-16 lead after the first quarter. However, its offense disappeared down the stretch and the Rattlers got outscored 76-49 the rest of the way.
For Hamilton, its hot streak came in the second half of a tight 91-87 loss to the defending champion Edmonton Stingers. After scoring only 30 first-half points and trailing by 19 at the break, the Honey Badgers – led by guard Lindell Wigginton, put up 57 points in the third and fourth quarters to put pressure on the Stingers before ultimately falling in Elam Ending time.
Inevitably, despite both sides coming out of Saturday’s contests with some positive takeaways, they will both be looking to put together more complete efforts moving forward.
Taking care of the ball
Aside from consistency, another gripe of Honey Badgers’ head coach Ryan Schmidt postgame was his team’s inability to take care of the ball. More specifically, Hamilton’s two starting guards – Wigginton and Trevon Duval combined for 10 of their squad’s 22 turnovers in Saturday’s loss.
Wigginton and Duval were both making their CEBL debut and come in at only 23 and 22 years old respectively, so naturally a learning curve was expected. Being able to balance creating their own shot while getting teammates involved at the same time will be vital to Hamilton’s improved success.
To the young guards’ credit, they were the Honey Badgers’ two leading scorers on Saturday, shooting 50% from the field as a pair. With their electric athleticism and scoring ability, fewer turnovers would go a long way to a more favourable result on Monday night.
Team scoring production
Although the Rattlers struggled offensively in Saturday’s defeat, their stars were still able to produce effectively. Saskatchewan’s two import big men Travis Daniels and JaKeenan Gant, along with guard Davonte Bandoo combined to score 53 of the team’s 74 points.
They’ll need more of their role players to step up to ensure a stronger and more consistent showing. Talent isn’t the concern either, forwards Mambi Diawara and Negus Webster-Chan have both proven their worth at the CEBL level in the past.
With Rattlers coach Chad Jacobson emphasizing a higher-octane offensive attack after the team finished last season at the bottom of the CEBL in points per game, a more well-rounded effort from Saskatchewan’s full roster will lead to more success against the Honey Badgers.
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.
Media Contact
Ansh Sanyal
Director, Brand & Marketing
CEBL
[email protected]