Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Execution will be the focus for the MacEwan Griffins men's basketball team as they head to Kelowna, B.C. this weekend.
Specifically, cutting down on turnovers will be crucial if the 0-14 team hopes to gain its first victory of the Canada West season in a two-game battle against the UBC-Okanagan Heat (Friday, 9 p.m., MT and Saturday, 8 p.m. MT, both games Canada West TV).
Against defending national champion Calgary last weekend, the Griffins were undone by 45 total turnovers in two losses.
"What we were able to establish in the Calgary weekend was a commitment to a relentless work ethic," said interim head coach Ken Schildroth. "Now we have to shift gears to a team game and focus on our execution. If you look to the Calgary series, there was a high degree of turnovers.
"So, we've got to get those down and continue on with our commitment to creating our team culture where this is the acceptable norm."
The Heat are also not in the Canada West playoff picture at the moment, but they are within striking distance at 5-11 (6-8 Thompson Rivers University is in the 12th and final post-season position heading into the weekend).
Although the Griffins defeated the Heat 90-72 in preseason action back on Sept. 13, UBCO's results since under veteran head coach Ken Olynyk – starting the season 4-0, for example – should serve as evidence they'll be a much tougher opponent this time around.
"Ken Olynyk is an NBA-level coach," said Schildroth of the former University of Toronto and Lethbridge bench boss, who retired as TRU's Athletic Director last season before taking on the coaching job at UBCO. "The team that you saw in the beginning of the season is not the team that they have now. They lost on the buzzer to Regina last weekend. I expect them to be well prepared, highly motivated and they'll be executing their offensive and defensive strategies at a very high level.
"So, we need to prepare mentally for that level of competition, which would be similar in terms of the intensity that's required to be successful from this past weekend."
Griffins' second-year forward Abdullah Shittu enters the weekend tied for the school record with Denzel James (2016-17) for the for most blocks in a Canada West season. With 28 so far this campaign, he needs one more to hold the record by himself. His mark is currently third-best in Canada West, while his 2.0 blocks per game clip is tied for second.
