Game Preview - Magic vs KW Titans
Published on February 28, 2018 under National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada)
Moncton Magic News Release
The Kitchener Waterloo Titans are currently in the midst of a tough 4-game East Coast road trip that began last night in Halifax with the first-place Hurricanes and continues tonight against the team that trails them in the Atlantic Division standings, the Moncton Magic. Back-to-backs are difficult at the best of times, but when you add in a coaching change, a shorthanded lineup, and a team that some might suspect is in search of motivation to finish out a tough year, it could make for an ugly situation. Judging from their performance last night though, even in a 122-112 loss at the Metro Centre, this Titans squad has no plans to simply play out the string in their last 12 games.
The teams tip off tonight at 7 pm Atlantic from the Moncton Coliseum and live on monctonmagic.ca, and new KW coach Cavell Johnson has a promise for the Magic and for the rest of the teams on their schedule this season. "You're gonna have a dogfight," says Johnson, named on Sunday as the second head coach in franchise history, replacing Moncton native Serge Langis, let go by the team after a 5-22 start. "Regardless of record, these guys are a group of warriors that are going to fight for each other." And fight they did in Halifax, scratching and crawling back from a 27-point deficit to within 7 in the 4th quarter against the hottest team in the league. And if Justin Hurtt's three-point attempt with 2 ½ minutes remaining goes down and pulls them within 4, the game could have taken on a different complexion.
"They fought hard," Johnson said of his squad, one he was playing in uniform with just 7 days ago. "We're down a few guys to injury and put ourselves in a big hole. But they never gave up on each other. The rest of this year is about building on a mindset of mental toughness and energy during games, getting ourselves in a position to win down the stretch." I asked Coach Johnson if there was something he was emphasizing with his squad after reviewing game tape, but the things he put his finger on had little to do with X's and O's. "We have to have an attention to detail on the offensive and defensive end," he continued, "but we mainly have concentrate on sticking together when things get down to the wire. We have to have that trust and confidence in one another." Johnson, and the organization as a whole, are focused on building some positive momentum for the franchise going into the offseason. "It's easy for the guys to get into a negative mindset, but I want to make sure they have a positive experience and want to contribute to the culture of the KW organization next year."
The Magic, meanwhile, come in off a loss to Halifax as well, an 81-73 decision on Sunday that saw them drop to 17-14 and a full 4 games back of the Hurricanes atop the Atlantic. Moncton faces a back-to-back of their own the next 2 nights, with a matchup against the Saint John Riptide awaiting them tomorrow at Harbour Station. And Coach Joe Salerno is not underplaying the importance of their matchup with KW tonight. "They have a lot of very talented players on that team," Salerno said. "I think anytime you make a coaching change, teams seem to come together a bit, and they rally around each other, just out of pure necessity. After the loss this weekend, we know pretty much every game is a must win if we are serious about still trying to compete with Halifax in winning the division. Nobody in this locker room will be overlooking KW when they come in here."
Salerno is expecting a different squad than the one that showed up at the Coliseum on Sunday afternoon and largely failed to convert against a stout Halifax defense. "Just as a whole our energy and effort level was nowhere near what it was our previous matchup," he observed, referring to the overtime loss the previous Friday. "I didn't see that same intensity from us in Sunday's game. To me, when you are playing the team your chasing to win a division, and its a two-game swing in the standings, regular season games just don't get bigger then that. Our effort just wasn't acceptable. We had lapses on both ends of the floor, and just didn't perform up to our potential." Moncton's offense floundered all afternoon, struggling to create scoring chances in the lane and relying on long jumpers and contested drives late in shot clocks.
New arrival Juan Pattillo was just one of the names who struggled against Halifax, going 1-6 from the field for 2 points. But Coach Salerno knows there's always extenuating circumstances with a guy adjusting to a new team. "There was no question he struggled a bit in his first appearance," he admitted, "but there is zero cause for concern. He is still trying to get caught up to speed with our style of play, in a new environment. Like any other new player, he needs to see and figure out where his looks will come from in our offense, and then get comfortable with that. He was disappointed with his performance, as was to be expected since he is such a competitor." And Salerno has been excited about Pattillo's reaction to his debut this week in practice. "To be honest, I don't think I have seen him miss a shot since that game! Juan will be a great addition for us when he is fully comfortable with how we want to play, and he is 100% caught up to speed."
Coach Johnson's KW roster carries with it into the Coliseum a name familiar to Moncton fans who followed the Magic closely in the preseason. Dominic Phillips was a guy that Coach Salerno wanted to find a spot for on his roster, but with Anthony Anderson and Al Stewart on board and one of their Canadians, Maurice Clayton, a solid PG as well, Phillips was forced out. KW's recent injury issues (and Darren Duncan and Kevin Rogers are noted as "game time decisions" by Johnson for tonight) necessitated bringing in players before the transaction deadline and Phillips got the call. He had a breakout game Saturday against Windsor with 17 points, but struggled against Halifax yesterday, being held scoreless. Still, Johnson has liked what he's seen on the whole. "He's going to be another scoring threat for us who can facilitate offense. He's a leadership guy and we need his edge to close well on teams." Phillips showed his toughness on a difficult night in his matchup with Cliff Clinkscales, initiating physical play and not backing down after guys like Billy White came to their point guard's defense. "We're a scrappy team and so is Moncton," said Coach Johnson. "They have a group of very talented guys and I've played against a lot of them. The depth of talent they have, especially scoring talent, that works really well together, is impressive. To be in the game, we have to be sound defensively across the board. Each of their guys is always a threat and we have to be on point with our defensive principles."
In their previous matchup, a 110-99 Moncton victory on January 17th in Ontario, KW star Derek Hall was an efficient 7-10 from the field for 16 points, but he only went to the line twice, and Moncton effectively forced the ball out of his hands time and again. The Titans attempted almost half of their shots from behind the three-point line and shot only 37% from out there for the game. The Magic outscored the Titans in the paint 48-22 overall and, coming off their performance Sunday, they will surely adopt a similar game plan this time around focused on getting the ball into the lane for easier shots. It'll be interesting to see what Coach Johnson and the Titans bring to the table in game two under the new regime. If Rogers is able to go, the matchup down low between him and Pattillo and Denzell Taylor will be one to watch. If not, it will be incumbent on the Titans shot creators to do a better job themselves so they don't have to rely on shots from distance to keep up with the Magic on the scoreboard.
Scott Squires and I will be on the call starting at 7 pm Atlantic at monctonmagic.ca and catch us for the pregame show starting at 6 pm on Periscope. Enjoy the game everyone!
National Basketball League of Canada Stories from February 28, 2018
- Familiar Faces Find the Mark in Magic Win - Moncton Magic
- Game Preview - Magic vs KW Titans - Moncton Magic
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
