ED WILLES:
Inconsistent Lions host Riders in crucial midseason test
Back in training camp, when hearts were lighter and the B.C. Lions were undefeated, Wally Buono would joke about coaching an expansion team in 2018.
At least we think he was joking.
The Lions, after all, were looking at a completely revamped lineup that featured 13 new starters from five different organizations. General manager Ed Hervey was in his first year with the team. There was a new offensive co-ordinator in Jarious Jackson, with a new system. There were three new assistant coaches.
Given all that newness, it figured there would be an adjustment period for the Lions and say this for Buono’s team: they haven’t disappointed in that area.
But when the subject was raised Thursday afternoon as the Lions prepared for a critical home meeting with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Buono wasn’t joking about his expansion team anymore.
Jokes, in fact, are in short supply around the Lions these days.
“I don’t buy the argument,” Buono said at the team’s Surrey practice facility. “I understand the argument but I don’t buy it. I do buy what I see on tape and to me, when the physicality is there, when the intensity is there, we’re winning. That’s all I know.”
And all that he can allow himself to know at this point of his CFL season.
Looking back over the ragged landscape of this Lions’ campaign, it’s now pretty obvious their inconsistency is a direct consequence of all that turnover on and off the field. To be sure, the Lions have shown flashes in building their 3-5 record.
But the more lasting impression is a team that’s unsure of itself, a team that is unclear about what to expect from itself and each individual when the game is on the line.
Maybe that’s to be expected when more than half of your players are new to their jobs. The problem for the Leos is Saturday’s game will mark the halfway point of their season and they’ve squandered whatever margin of error existed two months ago when they were that fun-loving expansion outfit.
They’re already a game back of the Roughriders in the race for fourth. A loss to the Green Things would mutilate their post-season aspirations. In a kinder world, the Lions would still be trying to adjust to their new roles and their new assignments but the world of professional sports isn’t exactly known for its charity or benevolence.
“Right now we’re an abstract paint,” said running back Jeremiah Johnson. “It might be beautiful to a lot of people and it might not. I think we need to be more like the Mona Lisa where everyone knows it’s a beautiful picture and knows exactly what it is.”
That’s one way of looking at it. Here’s another:
“The first part of the year we were a group of guys learning how to play together and play within the system,” said Hervey. “But there comes a point where you have to do your job.”
The Lions, however, are still in the process of defining themselves and that shows up in so many ways, especially on the road. They seem incapable of changing the game’s momentum when they confront adversity. There appears to be moments of indecision at crucial points in the game.
That doesn’t explain away all their problems — and team discipline is near the top of the list — but it is symptomatic of a group that’s still learning about itself.
“Ninety per cent of the time we’re good, we’re clicking and we’re flying around,” said defensive back T.J. Lee. “But it’s that other 10 per cent, maybe five or six plays the whole game, that’s hurting us.”
This is Lee’s fifth year with the team, making him the Lions’ long-serving starter of defence. Next is safety Anthony Thompson, in his second year as a starter. The other 10 players on defence are new to the organization this year.
And the changes are still coming. Since the start of the year, the number of new starters has increased to 15 with the injury to Solomon Elimimian and the return of Travis Lulay to the starting quarterback’s position.
That number will grow to 16 next week when it’s expected Micah Awe takes over as the starting outside linebacker. And Buono is still looking to find a spot for defensive tackle Claudell Louis.
“I think we’re to the point where we’re getting over the hump,” said Lulay. “But it’s probably true in the first third of the season we were trying to catch up to teams that have been playing together.
“I think about Mike (Reilly) and Jason Maas (in Edmonton) and their third year in the system. That’s a lot different than learning new terminology and a new system a couple of weeks before training camp.
“The reality is some of those things take time, but as players we can’t think of it that way. It becomes a crutch.”
No, they’re on their own now and if they’re looking for something to lean on, they’re going to have to look elsewhere.