U of A Pandas basketball coach looks for a team effort this season after losing top offensive player
No one player expected to make up for loss of team star: coach
Scott Edwards has seen star players come and go.
The University of Alberta Pandas coach, who’s now in his seventh season at the helm of the women’s basketball program, has seen plenty of player personnel changes over the years. So when star guard Nicole Clarke decided this off-season she wouldn’t be coming back for a fifth year, Edwards carried on as he always has.
“I think Nicole just made a choice that fit her best,” Edwards said of the reasons behind Clarke’s decision. “She was a good player and we just focus on the kids that are here right now and focus on the kids that want to be in our program.”
The loss of Clarke, who was second in Canada West scoring last season, averaging just shy of 16 points per game, was by far the biggest change in the off-season for the Pandas, who open a new season this weekend at home against the Brandon Bobcats.
With Edwards not wanting to shed much light on Clarke’s departure from the team, the veteran coach isn’t expecting any one player to step up and fill the offensive void left by Clarke.
“A few years ago we lost Marisa Haylett, who was a 15-point-per-game player, and we didn’t really drop a beat in terms of scoring. You just rely on other kids,” Edwards explained. “I’ve always been a big believer in just that — with age and experience kids are going to pick up their game, so it’s not really one specific person’s job to fill that role.”
With the Pandas well past the loss of their lone conference all-star from a season ago, the focus is now squarely on making sure the pieces are in place to better the team’s 13-7 mark from a year ago.
A big part of any success Alberta will have this season is sure to come from fifth-year forward Anneka Bakker, who has led the charge offensively through the pre-season for the Pandas in seven of the team’s dozen games.
“Anneka has had a great career for us, but (has) not really (been) a big scorer for us over the course of her four years before,” Edwards said.
“With fifth-year kids, there’s a mentality that this is (their) last shot and she’s come back with the maturity we expect from fifth-year kids.
“I’m really excited about her start of the year and, hopefully, she can continue to play like that throughout the season. From my perspective, I think she’s going to be a very important player for us. She better be a top-two scorer for us every single night. We expect that from her and she’s ready for that challenge.”
Golden Bears hope Baker can plug o ensive hole
Much like the Pandas, the Golden Bears hoops squad will be looking to fill a major void of their own when they start their season Friday after Canada West second-team all-star Daniel Ferguson graduated in the spring.
Despite the loss of Ferguson, the Bears should be just fine, given the return of fourth-year guard Jordan Baker.
Baker, who finished top 10 in conference scoring (19.1 points per game), rebounding (10.5), assists (3.3), steals (2.2) and blocked shots (0.8) last year, is undoubtedly the key cog in the Alberta attack.
The all-Canadian from a year ago, however, will need to do even more this season along with the Bears’ other returnees if they hope to defend their Canada West title.
“Even Jordan can have a better year than he had last year,” said new head coach Barnaby Craddock, who took over the job after Greg Francis headed to the University of Waterloo in the off-season. “So can Rob Dewar, Sahr Saffa and Todd Bergen-Henengouwen. We’re looking for them all to step up.”
After getting hot toward the tail end of the season and into the playoffs, which led them all the way to the national final, where they lost to the Carleton Ravens, the true potential remains to be seen from this edition of the Bears.
They’re working through some injury trouble as they look to adjust to their new coach.
“We’ve been a bit beat up,” Craddock said of his team, who went 5-2 over the pre-season. “We’ve sort of snuck through our games.”
“The season is 22 games, so we’ve got a lot of room to go to get everything firing on all cylinders.”
Both the Bears and Pandas tip off their 2012-13 seasons this weekend at the Saville Community Sports Centre against the Bobcats. The Pandas take to the court both nights at 6 p.m., before the Bears play at 8 p.m.