‘He’s what we haven’t had all year’: Raso
Scrubb shows passing ability in opening game with Niagara, collecting five assists in victory
Phil Scrubb, the newest Niagara River Lion, has played more games than he’s had full practices with the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) team.
The six-foot-three guard arrived from Vancouver on Monday night and the only chance to meet his new teammates was in a shoot-around the following morning.
Yet Scubb’s unfamiliarity with the team’s schemes — and any lingering effects of jet lag — didn’t stop River Lions general manager-head coach Victor Raso from giving the newcomer 16:58 minutes of playing time Tuesday night when Niagara hosted the Saskatchewan Rattlers at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.
Scrubb, whose fall-winter pro season in France only wrapped up in mid-june, rewarded Raso’s faith in him by scoring six points and collecting five assists in an 86-74 victory that improved the River Lions to 5-3 and dropped the Rattlers to 0-9.
“I was comfortable putting him on the floor tonight, and then he picked it up really quick,” the third-year coach said.
Raso said his former teammate — and fellow co-captain — with back-to-back Canadian men’s champion Carleton Ravens teams brings a lot to the team. “He’s what we haven’t had all year,” Raso said. “We have been getting by without a true passer, someone who can really come off a ball screen and read it and throw the proper pass at a really high level.
“And that’s what Phil does. Phil is a ball-screen point guard who does this for hundreds of thousands of dollars overseas.”
Raso suggested eight of Jaylen Babb-harrison’s team-high 25 points were the result of Scrubb’s knack for finding him in the right place at the right time.
“That is who Phil is as a human. He cares about everybody else almost more than himself,” Raso said. “I’m just going to let him be him, but I’m going to encourage him to shoot because Phil is a 45 per cent threepoint shooter.
“When he comes off those ball screens, he’s got to shoot them a little bit more.”
Scrubb said he had a “lot of fun” in his debut in a River Lions uniform.
“It was great. This team is a really good group of guys, a lot of really unselfish guys,” he said. “It’s easy to come in to play.
“It’s fun to play in Canada, it’s such a competitive league.”
When he had open looks against the Rattlers, Scrubb more often than not deferred to teammates whom he felt had better chances to score.
“Coming in, for the first time, not practising, I just wanted to fit in with the team,” he said. “I was pretty comfortable passing the ball to the guys, and there are a lot of guys who can score on this team.
“I think they were good without me and I’m just trying to fit in and help the team a little bit.”
The 30-year-old native of Richmond, B.C., a suburb of Vancouver, is willing to do whatever it takes to help the River Lions win a title in the spring-summer pro league. “If passing the ball is kind of what I have to do, then that’s my role on the team,” he said.
Scrubb said he took some time off “just to recover” after his season with Limoges in France wrapped up in June. He was still in France when he got engaged “about two weeks ago.”
“I think I probably just adjusted to Vancouver,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m slowly trying to get used to Ontario time. I’ve kind of been all over the place.”
His first full practice with his new team will be Thursday.
Javin Delaurier, with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Xavier Sneed, with 14 points, and Lloyd Pandi, with 13 points, led the charge offensively for Niagara as the River Lions remain undefeated at home, improving to 3-0.
Guillaume Boucard, who netted nine points in the win, led all players with 12 rebounds.
Raso thought the River Lions played “pretty well” overall.
“I thought defensively we had some moments when we weren’t fundamental enough, and I think our team understands how we need to play,” he said. “They understand the mistakes that we make defensively and how, when we don’t make mistakes defensively, we’re really, really good.”
Raso was a “little upset” with his team at halftime.
“We only gave up 32 points, but we could have held them in the 20s, and that’s kind of our identity,” he said. “Offensively, the ball moved more. We scored 86 points, we haven’t scored 86 points in a while.
“We got good looks, guys were playing off the catch a little bit more and it was nice to have Phil, too. He moves the ball pretty well.”
Niagara’s four-game home stand continues Saturday when the Ottawa Blackjacks, Scrubb’s former CEBL team, will provide the opposition in a 7 p.m. tipoff. After that, the River Lions will host the Guelph Nighthawks on Friday, July 30, also at 7 p.m.