Volodymyr Legorov.
Image Credit: Dan Kinvig
February 09, 2017 - 4:27 PM
KAMLOOPS —The final weekend of the Canada West men’s basketball season is upon us and the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack enter it fighting for a post season berth.
The WolfPack (8-10) will do battle with the University of Regina Cougars (7-11) on the prairies in two games Friday and Saturday (Feb 10-11).
“No matter where you are in the standings at this time of year every game takes on a little bit more importance,” says WolfPack head coach Scott Clark.
“ It is essentially the playoffs. If you are at the top of the heap you are trying to hold court for home court advantage and put yourself in a good position. If you are at the other end you are trying to get in. We are somewhere in between there. When you look at it this week,it isn’t the playoffs but in a sense it is. Nothing changes in your preparation. You are trying to do the best job you can and give your very best effort. That is what we are trying to teach and hopefully the guys want to learn that.”
Last season, the WolfPack won the Explorer Division title, captured the Canada West silver medal and wound up with a berth in the CIS Final 8. There are a few players back from that team—including fifth year Volodymyr Iegorov (forward, Donetsk, Ukraine) and fourth year Luke Morris (forward, Mission, BC).
Clark is hoping those players will pass their knowledge onto the rookies. “Some of these guys are going through this (a playoff run)—Luke three times, Vlad , Joe (Davis, 2nd year, forward, Kamloops, BC) and Michael (Rouault, guard, Vernon, BC) twice—there is a learning curve there. They are the guys who sent the tone and that will be expected.”
When he looks at the opposition this weekend, Clark says: “They are a game back of us. They are a bit smaller, they spread you out a little bit. They have some quickness and athleticism. So does everybody. You look at what they do but it sounds cliché but you try to do what you do and hopefully that results in victories.”
And what are the WolfPack doing well right now? Clark says everything has been status quo. There are things to work on. “Our consistency needs to become better especially at the defensive end. When we can do that we put ourselves in a good position. Offensively we ‘do what we do’ what we run getting us shots and those types of things. It is more about being better defensively, playing with more energy and being more focused there. When we do, we look OK. When we don’t, we aren’t very good. It has changed within the game from possession to possession. It is something we have to get better at.”
Both games will be shown on a pay per view basis on www.CanadaWest.tv.
The 12 playoff positions are based on an RPI system. The best of three ‘play in’ series is set to go Feb 17-19. The top four teams by RPI get a first round bye.
Going into this weekend, TRU stands in 11th spot with 12 teams qualifying for the playoffs.
DOUBLE DRIBBLES: Statistically, Iegorov enters the weekend fourth in points per game (18.8) and rebounds per game (8.9).
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