A CLEAN SLATE
UPEI Panthers basketball team looking ahead, not back, as young men’s squad hopes to take next steps in progression
Milorad Sedlarevic has put last year behind him but knows people will continue to ask questions about it until the UPEI Panthers start winning basketball games again.
The fifth-year forward from Slovenia was part of back-to-back second-place finishes his first two years in the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) men’s hoops conference before enduring two straight losing seasons.
It culminated a year ago when the Panthers lost their first 12 games under rookie head coach Darrell Glenn and watched the playoffs from afar.
“A year like that, it’s painful. I’m hungry and ready to go, like my teammates,” Sedlarevic said after Tuesday’s practice. “I am not even thinking about last year anymore. . . It’s a new season.”
That season begins Saturday when the Panthers host the Memorial Sea-Hawks at 8 p.m. The teams finish the weekend Sunday with a 3 p.m. contest.
The Panthers dealt with some injuries to key players a year ago as a young squad got its feet wet in the AUS. The injuries continued into pre-season when the Panthers struggled. Sedlarevic was sidelined by strained cartilage in his knee but the young squad is now healthy and ready to take the next steps in its progression.
Vernelle Johnson, Marcus Cusinato, Dakelle Brooks and Moshe Wadley, who made the conference’s all-rookie team, are back for their sophomore seasons after playing a lot in their rookie campaigns. There’s also a strong collection of first-year players this season who have added size, strength and athleticism to the roster.
Sedlarevic and guard Amin Suleman are the key pieces remaining from the Panthers team that lost the 2016 AUS final 87-85 to Dalhousie on a missed Tyler Scott three-point shot at the buzzer. They, along with former Charlottetown Rural standout Jack MacAulay, who is eligible to play after sitting out a year following two seasons with the Cape Breton Capers, will be asked to help lead the team that has 10 of its 15 players in their first or second years.
“We have to do our part, score and facilitate for other guys. That’s our job,” Sedlarevic said.
Glenn said the pre-season helped exposed areas that needed to improve but also gave players a chance to grow and develop. The team has settled on a 10-man rotation with defined roles. Going that deep is important with the way the coaching staff intends to play.
“We really want to be an upand-down team and be able to score in transition because that’s where we think that’s where our strength is,” Glenn said.
While the team might not have a player who it can rely on to score 25 a night, Glenn sees the potential to win with a different formula.
“I think we have enough pieces that if we can play well together that we’re going to make up enough points,” he said.
Glenn isn’t talking about playoffs
or wins and losses at this point with a youthful roster.
“The focus has to be on can we get better every night in practice; can we get better every game?” he said.
Sedlarevic, a six-foot-seven, 210-pound forward, said his goal is to get back to the post-season in Halifax in his final season of eligibility.
Asked what it would take to get there, he didn’t hesitate. “Effort, energy, fight.” There were times last year when the Panthers got routed by 30 or more points. Close games quickly slipped away as players panicked and tried to do too much.
Sedlarevic said teams expecting a cakewalk this time around will be disappointed.
“I can promise you that’s not going to happen,” he said.