UNB men face tall order

Brent Baker knows his University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds have a tall order at the Eric Garland/Helen Campbell men's and women's basketball tournament this weekend and in the Atlantic University Sport Men's Basketball Conference this season.

But he's got people who can look the challenge right in the eye.

Rookie Michael Suffield - six-foot-10 Michael Suffield, if you please - will be able to stare down the competition in the paint this season. The Australian rookie, here by way of Maine's Lee Academy, must adjust to the rigors of physical play in the AUS, and that will be a work in progress, but while he gets up to speed, six-foot-seven third-year veteran Lonzel Lowe, one of head coach Baker's original recruits, is holding down the fort, and the boards.

Baker's boys are on the court for public consumption for the first time Friday as the Garland/Campbell tournament hits the hardwood at the Aitken Centre. The St. Francis Xavier X-Men, University of Cape Breton Capers and the Lakehead Thunderwolves of Thunder Bay, Ont., provide the opposition for Baker's mostly green V-Reds.

At first glance, the home team would appear to be in over their heads against a Lakehead entry that made it to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship tournament in Ottawa last year and Cape Breton and X entries that finished 1-2 in the powerful AUS last season and return virtually intact this year.

But "I don't plan on going 0-3," said Baker bravely. "We're not going to chalk this up to a learning experience. Those teams are a lot more veteran top heavy than us, but the big thing for us is, we've got a lot of second- and third-year guys now, and hopefully our rookies are going to make a contribution as well."

Still...it's a solid field. The Capers and X were both 18-2 in the AUS last season. Each lost one game on the road. Lakehead won 17 of 22 games in the regular season. And then there were the 3-17 V-Reds.

"It's a really stacked tournament," admitted Baker. "We're going to have our work cut out for us for sure. But you don't get better by playing a softer schedule. One, the fans are going to respect it more if you bring in better teams. Two, your team is going to find out relatively early what they're up against, what they have to work on and what they have to do."

That process starts for Baker's boys at 8 p.m. Friday when they face the Thunderwolves. The Garland tourney is actually interwoven with the women's Helen Campbell event which features Jeff Speedy's new and improved V-Reds defending their turf against Dalhousie, the University of Calgary and Concordia Stingers of Montreal.

Tournament play kicks off Friday at 2 p.m. with Dalhousie facing Calgary to tip off the women's event. St. FX and Cape Breton square off at 4 p.m. in the men's opener. The V-Reds women square off against the Stingers at 6 p.m.

Four more games Saturday - 2 p.m., 4 p.m., six and eight o'clock, with the UNB women facing Calgary at 6 p.m. and the men facing X at 8 p.m.; and four more on Sunday, with Dal meeting UNB women at 1 p.m. and the men facing Cape Breton at 3 p.m. to cap it off - complete the tournament.

Baker is "looking for my guys to play fairly well this weekend. We always tend to play fairly well in this tournament."

For the first time since he took the reins of the program, this team is almost all Baker's boys, if you will. Only Alex DesRoches predates Baker's arrival on campus.

He's a handy guy to have around, mind you - 14th overall in AUS scoring last season with an average of 13.6 points per game, second in offensive rebounds, with 3.65 per game, third on the defensive boards with 5.5 per game - and he'll help set the hard-working tone the V-Reds want to establish as their trademark.

"I don't think anybody's going to be disappointed in our effort level or what we're going to bring to the table," Baker said. "Whatever happens, it won't be for lack of effort or lack of trying. Hard work is first on the table. Everything else follows that."

Baker is prepared for another season of growing pains, with a young group in an AUS conference where veterans abound - and rebound.

"The top four teams got everybody back," he said. "It's a fourth- and fifth-year group that we're going up against. I understand that, the kids understand that, but we don't look at that as an excuse. We look at it as an opportunity to see how much we've improved. We took some good steps forward last year."

Andy Wright, son of Fredericton High School Black Kats' coach Phil, is back to run the point right from the beginning this season. He spent a couple of years in Lennoxville, Que., with the Bishops Gaiters, returned to UNB after Christmas last year and "we were a little more organized and pushed the ball a little better" with the former FHS star running the show.

DesRoches is "coming into his own as an offensive threat, not just a hustle guy."

The six-foot-seven Lowe will battle under the hoop too.

"He's back for a third year and he's in the best shape of his career," said Baker of the Brampton, Ont. native.

Add a couple of Aussies in Suffield in the front court - UNB hasn't had a basketball player who stands 82 inches high in several years - and six-foot-three Will McFee in the back. They'll contribute.

"Mike is going to give us a little bit of a defensive presence," Baker said. "He rebounds, he talks on defence, he's an intense competitor...what he gives us offensively will be icing on the cake. He and Lonzel will get some major minutes."

Rebounding was a sore point with the V-Reds last year. They were seventh of eight teams in rebounding offence, eighth of eight in rebounding defence and were last in rebounding margin, with a minus 7.9 stat in that department.

Baker says Suffield will have to bulk up to withstand the physical toll underneath in the AUS, "but the great thing about him is, he's not afraid to bang back. He's a competitor. He gives you what he's got."

McFee "is ready to play at this level," Baker said. "He just has to understand the nuances of the game a little better. He'll be fine."

Rookie Jordan Irvine, who had a great high school career in Woodstock with the Thunder, moves down river to play for the Reds and Baker likes what he's seen of the six-foot-five freshman.

"He's been a really pleasant surprise....practising really well and done a really good job," said Baker.

Hustling Dustin Anthony - "he's shooting the ball as well as he's ever shot it" - and second-year Daniel Quirion bring some speed to the back court. Third-year Antoine Parks of Queens, N.Y., also figures prominently in the V-Reds revival. Parks is recovering from knee surgery and is still a couple of weeks out. Peter Goggin moves over from STU but is hobbled with a bad back, Jason Rouse is recovering from a deep bone bruise suffered in early workouts, and second-year Colin Adams is recovering from a torn retina. How much they'll contribute this weekend remains to be seen, but Baker wants to look at everybody in game conditions.

"I always say that by the time we reach the (regular) season, everyone's going to know why you play or don't play. You're going to have a chance to prove yourself."