Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – With 60 per cent of their point production gone from a season ago – including the team's top-three leading scorers – the Griffins head into a fresh Canada West season this weekend with some big shoes to fill.
Top-five Canada West scorer Thadius Galvez isn't back, joining five graduating seniors gone from the program, including all-time career points leader Denzel James, Keith Gerdes, Tyler Wise, Thomas Jereniuk and Cole Aikens.
So, who will pick up the slack? Will it be a collective effort or do the Griffins just happen to have a double-digit scorer ready to step off the bench?
"I think it's a little bit of both," said head coach Eric Magdanz, whose team opens a fresh season with a pair of games at Thompson Rivers University on Friday (9 p.m. MT) and Saturday (8 p.m. MT, both games on Canada West TV) in Kamloops, B.C. "Some guys are relishing the role of getting a bigger opportunity. But we understand we have to do this together. Even when we create, we have to create good scoring opportunities for each other."
So far, their offence has demonstrated that they'll be just fine. The progression they've shown throughout preseason play indicates a new crew is on the verge of writing their own story.
"The guys have really bought into doing it as a team and doing everything together and it's showing," said Magdanz. "Over the course of the preseason here, we've started to score more. In Ontario (for games against Waterloo, Ottawa and Laurier), we were scoring in the 60s. We came back here and scored 77 against Memorial. And then we go and score 89 against York (on Sunday). We're starting to figure out the scoring. It's something that's going to come. As long as we stay consistent with our defence, scoring will figure itself out."
A few veterans are already showing they're ready to transition from players who came off the bench last season to earning starting minutes.
"Ryan Coleman, as our fifth-year guy, has been the most consistent for us in preseason," said Magdanz, who noted that returning players Ali Raza and Adonis Monfort-Palomino are also showing they're ready for bigger minutes. "Two guys who have taken a major leap within our team are Deonte Doslov-Doctor and Jake Notice. Deonte was a redshirt last year and now he's in a starting role for us, and doing a phenomenal job at that. Jake may be our leading scorer from the guard position all preseason here, even though he's coming off the bench.
"They're two guys who are making a huge impact after having a much smaller role last year."
Also returning are 6-foot-6 forwards Atlas St. Paul-Butler and Harrison Lane, who give the Griffins some additional scoring and muscle inside.
As for crop of eight newcomers on the roster, there is plenty of potential. First-year wing Lincoln Anderson out of Cardston, AB, is coming off a 20-point performance in MacEwan's final preseason game, a 90-89 loss to York last Sunday.
"Lincoln has had an awesome preseason for us," said Magdanz. "He's come in shooting the ball really well. So that's been a huge plus for our team. He's sort of fallen into that fifth starter role we've needed.
"Two other new guys that have had big opening (preseasons) and especially this past weekend for us are Dustin Gatzki and Liban Yousef," he continued. "Both of those guys came in having previously played at junior colleges in the States and they've brought some energy and some athleticism to our team right away. They're starting to figure out how to play the Canadian style and you can see it's starting to take hold for them."
Other solid newcomers include Edmonton products Fisayo Moibi and Abdullah Shittu, import Jay Carter of England, and Luke Harold of Regina. Sherwood Park's Tre Ross enters his first year of eligibility after red-shirting in 2016-17. McWesley Jibrin, originally from Nigeria, and two B.C. products – Ben Niles of Kamloops and Tarik Scott from Maple Ridge – will redshirt this season.
After this weekend at TRU, the Griffins will return to Edmonton for their home-opening weekend against Lethbridge Nov. 3-4.