Matthew Winick
The Saskatchewan Rattlers (0-6) and Edmonton Stingers (5-0) third consecutive time on Monday night at 9:30 p.m. ET/7:30 local time.
The Stingers have been dominant over their last two contests, outscoring the Rattlers 188-116 and will look to maintain their undefeated streak against a winless Rattlers team.
After dropping the first game of the 2020 CEBL Summer Series, Edmonton went on to win out the rest of the way, picking up its first league championship as a result. With five straight wins to begin the new campaign, the Stingers now sport an impressive 12-game winning streak dating back to the bubble in St. Catharines, Ontario.
While some games may mean more in the context of this year’s standings, any potential slipup from Edmonton puts its lengthy winning streak on the line.
Step in the right direction
Although a 31-point loss is nothing to celebrate for Saskatchewan, there were elements that new interim hea d coach Conor Dow positively took away after his first game leading the squad.
Most of the encouraging signs came on the defensive end, where the Rattlers held reigning CEBL Player of the Year Xavier Moon to only 11 points and two assists on 5-10 shooting from the field. Their three-point defense was improved as well, allowing the typically accurate Stingers to shoot only 34% from deep. It was near the rim where the team got burned, getting outscored 44-22 in the paint.
While the offense was far from a focal point – Sasketchewan set a CEBL record for fewest points scored in a game in Saturday’s loss, there were some positives there too. Devonte Bandoo continued his strong season with 15 efficient points, while first-time starter D’Andre Bernard scored 12 points with seven rebounds.
Before the coaching change, Dow was Saskatchewan’s assistant leading the defense, and the results on that side of the ball have held up thus far. Being able to score at a higher level would go a long way towards a marked improvement in game three of the regular season series.
Filling out the rotation
After a dominant start to the 2021 regular season,Stingers’ head coach Jermaine Small looked to give some his role players more game-action in the previous game. Normally sticking to a seven-man rotation for a majority of the team’s minutes, Small gave young U Sports players Kemel Archer and Alex Carson a shot.
Carson, known as a three-point sniper, was a valuable floor spacer in his time on the court. He hit a long ball, but also chipped in on the defensive end, racking up two steals and a block. More remarkably, he was a game-high +26 on the court despite playing under nine minutes of game action.
Archer was also very effective in his almost 14 minutes of court time. His activity and hustle on the floor was extremely evident, as he picked up five offensive rebounds and was constantly in the middle of the action diving for loose balls and giving energy to his team.
While Edmonton doesn’t need players like Carson or Archer to play prominent roles given the amount of top-end talent on the roster, strong performances from the back end of its rotation only make the squad even stronger. Adding depth to the long list of strengths for this Stingers group should worry teams across the CEBL.
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