Men's Basketball |UNB must defend Cape Breton sharpshooter Dorsey
Following consecutive 26-point losses on the road last weekend, the University of New Brunswick men's basketball team was sent back to the drawing board this week.
After allowing 181 points in losses to the Saint Mary's Huskies (101-75) and the Acadia Axemen (80-54) last weekend, the chief concern on the minds in the Varsity Reds locker room was defence. The Reds (2-2) currently have the worst points differential in the Atlantic University Sport conference at minus-48. They're also allowing 90.2 points per game, second worst in the league, and are a dead last in points scored, averaging 78.2 in the first four games.
If the numbers don't speak loud enough, head coach Brent Baker sure does. The V-Reds bench boss can be often found yelling himself hoarse when directing his defence from his seat at the Richard J. Currie Center. The combination of new strategies and plenty of new faces has developed in too many missed assignments and far too many wide-open looks.
Fifth-year veteran Alex DesRoches said a lack of communication is at the root of the problem.
"It's been a big issue since the start of the year," he said.
"In any great defence, you need to talk and communicate as a team to figure out who's guarding who and what's going to happen. Our transition wasn't as bad as it was in the start of the year. We just need to start scoring more."
As the Reds try to boost their offensive production, their priorities will be split, however. They'll be trying to stymie one of the top shooters in the Atlantic University Sport Men's Basketball Conference in Jimmy Dorsey of the Cape Breton University Capers.
(1-2) will leading his squad into the Currie centre tonight and tomorrow. The 6'2" guard, tied for second in league scoring with 22.7 points per game is tied for second in the league with a 22.7 points per game average, leads the Capers into games tonight at 8 p.m. and tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m.
DesRoches said shutting Dorsey down is imperative if they hope to stop the Capers.
"We're really going to have to lock down on Jimmy," he said. "If we can hold him to a minimum and hit some of our shots and get out to a good start, I think we'll be alright."
Perennial contenders, the Capers have stumbled out of the gates this year, relying heavily on their star shooter. Former V-Reds coach Thom Gillespie took over the 1-2 Capers on the eve of the season when Jim Charters left the program to pursue opportunities outside of coaching.
The fifth-year veteran said the parity between clubs this season is too much to overlook any opponent.
"No one can be taken lightly in this league and we're just going to try and play our best and finish on a high note before the Christmas break and put ourselves in a good position to come back after Christmas," he said.