Ravens taking semifinal opponent seriously
Carleton closes in on 7th national hoops title in a row
When the Carleton Ravens arrived at Scotiabank Centre for practice on Friday, it was just before noon and the team was getting ready for its second practice of the day.
This for a squad that’s won the last six national championships.
Not one to rest on his laurels, coach Dave Smart was taking nothing for granted as he looked ahead to a Saturday U Sports semifinal against McGill.
“When you’re playing McGill, there’s a ton of work to do. They execute probably better than anyone in the country, at the defensive end especially, but at both ends. On defence, I would say without question they execute better than anyone in the country. So I think we needed to spend some time to be a little familiar with what they do,” said Smart, whose team handled Calgary 85-69 in a Thursday quarter-final. “We turned it over 21 times and if we play that sloppy again, we’ll turn it over even more.”
Carleton has a record of 23-1 in Final 8 games played in Halifax and will be led against the Redmen by player of the year Connor Wood, who was also the MVP of last year’s national championship.
Fans who haven’t seen Carleton since the tournament was last contested in Halifax in 2012 have noticed a slightly more mellow Smart, who’s back on the bench this season after a sabbatical.
“I think, personality-wise, I’ve changed a little bit, whether that’s because I was off for a year or because I’m getting older. I’m not on the refs very much, where I used to be on the refs,” he said. “And (against Calgary) they shot 28 foul shots and we had seven, so you see how that’s working out for me. But even with the guys, I still get on guys at times, but not the same as I used to. I don’t know if that’s from a year off and a little perspective, or like I said, getting older.”
Like Smart, McGill coach Dave DeAveiro is respected enough that he is also a Basketball Canada coach. He’s also recorded “three or four” wins over Carleton in his career — which included a stint with the Ottawa Gee-Gees — but is still seeking his first trip to the national university final.
“It’s really difficult because David is very good at adjustments so you’ve got to have more than one game plan, you can’t rely on one of two things to run the whole game,” DeAveiro said. “Their defence is outstanding, one of the best in Canada. Everyone talks about their three point shooting and their rebounding, but it’s their defence that forces you into tough shots. You’ve got to be able to catch it and make shots if you want to be successful against these guys.”
This year’s tournament schedule gives the semifinalists Friday off, while two consolation round games were contested. McGill doesn’t have the depth of Carleton, so DeAveiro welcomed the day off.
Saturday’s other semifinal has Dalhousie against Ryerson. The championship game is set for Sunday.