Baker believes playoffs realistic for UNB

As they enter a new building, the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds men's basketball team is rebuilding.

Coach Brent Baker is reluctant to use the term - it connotes a difficult process involving learning curves and long nights and the UNB program has already been through a few of those.

But the fact is, the V-Reds, despite the snazzy new blood red uniforms they'll roll out at the Richard J. Currie Center tonight at 8 p.m. when they face the Saint Mary's Huskies in the second game of the Eric Garland National men's basketball tournament, the V-Reds are actually V, as in very, green.

"I don't want to say rebuilding, because I'm very optimistic that we're going to be quite competitive," said Baker, entering his fourth season on the UNB sideline. "I think we're in the same boat as a lot of teams in this conference. A lot of teams are in a real rebuilding phase...I think it's going to be a real wide open, crap shoot kind of league. I think playoffs are very realistic for us. We want to take a step forward."

The V-Reds have been in their new quarters for three weeks or so, but the first live game action for the Garland tourney is actually a 6 p.m. tipoff between the reigning Canadian Interuniversity Sport champion Carleton Ravens - featuring fifth-year Fredericton native Elliot Thompson - and the Laval Rouge et Or of Quebec at 6 p.m.

Saturday games feature Laval and Saint Mary's at 6 p.m., with Thompson and the Ravens facing the Reds at 8 p.m. The round-robin affair finishes up with two more games Sunday. The Huskies play the Ravens at 1 p.m. and UNB meets Laval at 3 p.m.

For Baker, it's a chance to see his team "come out and play hard" against top-calibre competition. "It's really, really early, so my expectations aren't through the roof."

There's a nucleus of veterans. Long-distance shooter Colin Swift returns to the roster for a fifth season, Daniel Quiron led the AUS in three-point shooting percentage last season, and forward Alex DesRoches returns as a commanding presence up front.

"So we have some good parts," said Baker. "But we have to temper our expectations a bit this weekend. We're going to keep it very simple, and let's try to execute to the best of our ability."

The Ravens have been training for two months and have played nine games against NCAA opponents, winning the last four. The V-Reds, meanwhile, might be caught staring at their new $62 million surroundings.

Seven new faces populate the roster, joining a handful of returning veterans, including Quiron, DesRoches, Lonzel Lowe, Dustin Anthony, Jordan Irvine, Peter Goggin and Robbie Linton. But AUS rookie of the year Will McFee is back in his native Australia for the first term, returning in January, while dynamic point guard Andy Wright has graduated - which blows a hole in the back court for Baker's boys.

Quiron, who came up through the high school ranks as a point guard, slides into that spot until McFee gets back.

"But we're not waiting for Will," said Baker. "He'll be value-added when he returns."

Baker must work with what's here. The jewels of his recruiting class are two players who helped Vanier College of Montreal to the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association championship, Michael Fosu and Seth Amoah. Fosu, at six-foot-five and 245 pounds, gives the V-Reds a powerful inside presence.

"He's very fundamentally sound," said Baker. "He can pass, dribble and shoot like a guard. He does a lot of things that don't show up on the stat sheet. He hustles, he crashes, he gets on the glass. He plays hard and he's got a terrific motor. He's going to have a major impact on what we do for sure."

Amoah is "an open-court player who can do some athletic things," Baker said. "He might take a little time to make an adjustment to CIS basketball, but he's got all the athleticism he needs. Mike will start, and Seth will be one of the first guys off the bench."

Six-foot-five Chris Jordan of Toronto, the rookie of the year for the University of Winnipeg three years ago, moved east to Acadia. He was deep on the depth chart of a team that figures to be one of the powers in the AUS. He'll get some floor time this season. Six-foot-eight Aaron O'Brien of Newfoundland, a quality defender, will help.

"He has a big upside because of his work ethic," Baker said. "Offensively, he's going to be challenged, but he'll get into some games."

Matt Daley, who led the Bathurst Phantoms to the provincial AAA championship last year, has been hobbled a bit by an Achilles tendon problem. FHS grad Peter Esson and six-foot-six freshman Al Caskey of Nova Scotia round out the roster.

"I think with us, there's a pretty steep learning curve," Baker said. "But I'm pretty confident that by mid-November, when Memorial arrives (for the regular season opener), we'll be ready to play."

Of course, they're on the floor tonight.

The opportunity to unveil the Currie centre to the basketball public, bring the Ravens in, and yes, to bring Thompson, the fifth-year star, back home to the city where he grew up and where brothers Joe and Doug played for UNB, was too good for the V-Reds to pass up.

"But we purposely took the next two weekends off for a two-week training camp to get back to brass tacks and get to fundamentals," Baker said. "It'll be a baptism by fire, no doubt. We're not afraid of anybody. We're going to go out and give it our best."