A work in progress
Island Storm looks to reach .500 tonight when it hosts Cape Breton
The Island Storm may be 1-2 early in the season, but the team’s head coach isn’t worried. In fact, Tim Kendrick sees brighter days ahead as his National Basketball League of Canada squad absorbs his offence.
“I see more lights come on everyday. It gets better and better,” said Kendrick. “It’s a great system that can build on a player’s strengths. If they like a couple of dribbles and a shot, it’s there. If they like one-onone, it’s there. If they want to pick and roll, it’s there.”
Kendrick’s crew will display the system tonight versus the Cape Breton Highlanders. Game time is 7 p.m. at Eastlink Centre.
Kendrick installed the offence at UPEI where he coached the Panthers men’s team for six seasons then moved it to the NBL this season. It’s up-tempo, flexible and high-octane. Scoring is conducted ASAP. It’s much like what’s used in other top-level leagues, including some NBA teams.
Players have offensive carte blanche, shots can come from anywhere and from anyone. But while it’s not your typical oldschool offence, it’s not unstructured or chaotic. And it takes time for players, many of whom were taught more conventional systems, to fathom.
“A lot of theses guys haven’t played in this system before. In the NCAA, coaches control everything. But (with us) once they get going players have the decision-making ability,” Kendrick said. “It’s much harder than it looks. Players have to read and make decisions at full speed.”
That said, defence still matters and so far the Storm hasn’t excelled there, giving up 109.3 points per game (eighth overall) while scoring just 99.7 per game (also eighth overall). Kendrick knows his Storm isn’t up to speed yet so the firstyear coach isn’t taking Cape Breton lightly, despite it’s inability to score more than 98 points in any of its first three games games.
At practice, he encouraged his squad to watch Thursday’s Highlanders game in Moncton, versus the Magic to glean usable information.
He said he’d like his offence to be at 80 per cent within the month, but understands there’s work to do after the Storm’s 115-83 loss to Moncton on Saturday.
“That’s fair. Ten games seems reasonable. Right now I’d say we’re at about 40 per cent. Give Moncton credit, they handled us.”
On Sunday, the Storm hosts the Magic. Game time is 2 p.m. at the Eastlink Centre.