‘I’m not happy’: Coach rants after Titans routed
KITCHENER — The tale of the Kitchener-Waterloo Titans’ 116-98 loss to the Windsor Express on Saturday night could be told any number of ways.
But it’s best left to a seething Titans’ head coach and general manager Serge Langis and his impassioned postgame polemic.
The coach, for instance, is considering language lessons.
“We were not communicating — maybe I gotta learn Spanish or something to get things across,” Langis said after the Titans laid an egg before a franchise-record crowd of 2,768 at the Aud.
“I’m not happy. I mean, we’ve gotta get on the same page. I’m not sure I have the time to explain things to them like they’re threeyear-olds.”
One thousand of those in attendance got in free thanks to a charitable promotion. But this is also about the second-year National Basketball League of Canada team’s pursuit of a strong place in the market and the 1,768 who paid represent 400 more than the franchise’s average attendance in its inaugural season.
So far, so good. Except on the court.
“Year two is supposed to look a certain way,” Langis said. “It’s not just about making the playoffs. It’s about going deep in the playoffs.”
That’s even though the Titans are essentially a new team, with just two returning players — Canadians Tramar Sutherland and Greg Morrow.
So even though there are 39 regular-season games to go, the Titans believe they have a better squad than last year’s 18-22 edition and Langis wanted to set the tone early against the team that swept K-W 3-0 in the first round of the playoffs.
But the Titans came out flat, trailing 29-16 after one quarter. And while they rallied to within 55-47 at halftime and eventually led 66-64 in the third, the energy expended on the comeback seemed to empty the Titans’ gas tank. It’s common in basketball: A team works hard to erase a deficit that in this case eventually reached 15 points, often relaxes at a task accomplished, and the other team recaptures the momentum.
Which is exactly what happened as Windsor went on a 23-9 run to lead 87-75 after three quarters. Except the Express was able to keep its foot on the accelerator.
“It’s a game of runs and we came out a bit lethargic in the third quarter, but we just waited our turn,” said Shaquille Keith, a Toronto native named after former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal who led Windsor with 25 points.
Once the Express got rolling again after the brief Titans’ surge, it quickly became garbage time. That’s how Langis viewed his team’s performance, which saw Windsor lead by 25 points at one stage of the fourth quarter.
“Losing happens but if it happens like that, I’m fired up,” Langis said. “I want to punch that wall.”
He didn’t. But it would help if his club punched the clock on time for tipoff.
The Titans seemed ready and actually got out to a quick 4-0 lead. But then, inexorably, the Express took over, dominating the Titans down low for easy buckets while drawing fouls and making their free throws, until K-W turned the tables. But the home team couldn’t sustain it.
“It wasn’t that hard to do,” Langis said of the Titans’ brief resurgence. “We just took advantage of what they were giving us. When we went inside and dictated play, we did well. But then we got away from it.”
Now the Titans get away from basketball for a while, at least in game situations. K-W’s next outing isn’t until Nov. 28 when the Halifax Hurricanes visit.
“That’s wonderful,” said a sarcastic-sounding Langis, who nevertheless welcomes the long break as an opportunity to reset.
As does 7-foot centre Derek Hall, who led the Titans with 19 points and 10 rebounds. But even his performance featured flaws that encapsulated the Titans’ troubles.
Case in point was a sequence in the fourth quarter when K-W was still within striking distance. Hall went hard to the hoop, scoring and drawing a foul for a potential three-point play.
But Hall missed the freebie, Windsor’s Devin White replied with one of his four three-pointers and what could have been a 90-80 game was suddenly 93-79 and the Express pulled away.
The Titans made just five of 10 foul shots in the fourth quarter to Windsor’s 11-of-12, with the Express shooting 80 per cent from the line overall compared to K-W’s 70 per cent.
“Luckily, we don’t play again for 10 days,” Hall said. “So now we can fix what we need to fix.” Like? “The main thing is, we have to be more ready,” Hall said. “We came out extremely flat, and we only played hard for two of the four quarters. You have to play hard for all 48 minutes.”
Langis blamed himself for the apparent lack of preparation and focus, but Hall wasn’t having it.
“No, it’s not on him,” Hall said. “It’s definitely on us. All 12 guys.”
Russell Byrd with 17 points, former Express player Darren Duncan (14), Sutherland (13) and Kevin Hill with 10 were the other Titans in double digits.
White added 23 points for the Express.