Rainmen's new coach rings the changes

What a game again! The difference between a nice guy and a bball coach is obvious. I am trying to get my fingers going here. Had a couple few and it was a good time. Section 22-24 were representing all night. Les Berry = More wins is a common chant. Les went with the players who we thought would be contributors in his system. Bailey, Jimmy, Bennett, Cordell, Silverhorn, Zach and EC performed at the expected levels. I have some issues with the scoring and not just for the Bailey bias. I know he had a couple blocks during that game and even though they went to other teams, they should be his. I remember at least 2.

We all have a feeling that it will take a couple weeks. I thought that Hammack and EC looked lost but that after a few practises they will be up to speed as the rest of the team will. Overall the defensive intensity was amazing even though we got outrebounded. The ability of all our players to get loose in the paint led to free points for all players. I am sure that EC had more than 2 points as I remember a dunk and a three point play, can't wait to see the boxscore tomorrow.

Big losers in the new system seem to be Dandridge and Strick. I think that both players will get more minutes overall but are being encouraged with defensive intensity and playing smart. I think they have the capability and need to show it. I did miss Ec's crazy dunks, but that will start to come along with the free baskets that this offense will bring.

Great work les and team, we look forward to an even better game next week.

Rainmen take over first

OK, so we won. I am excited. But we were up by 25 on one of the best teams in the league and we allowed it to dwindle to 4 pts before putting it away. Lewis has made some weird decisions this year, but this was the topper. It is understandable that a team will go on runs. How do you change the momentum? Take a timeout, run a different play, make a sub or watch the lead dwindle to 11 pts before doing anything? You got it, it's the Sub from the stupid Subway commercial. IE.. it is so blatantly obvious that you need to do something that you don't do it.

Lewis is a good guy in public. We hear more and more about what goes on behind closed doors and I watch his decisions and I wonder why? Why leave Jimmy, shooting less than 50% at the time from the line in the game when they were fouling? Why not get the ball to Dandridge, who was spotless from the line until late in the fourth? Why not run the clock down and kill the game?

All questions I can't answer. it becomes apparent that he has his favorites and although he has now added in some plays, he is not that basketball astute. I know it is easy to criticise, but there are times as a coach you have to do something. This isn't fair play leagues where you have to give players crunch time minutes. You need to notch the wins and get to playoffs. He needed to call a timeout and everyone in the crowd, including Darrell Dexter agreed. Go coalition, lol.. !

Now for the positives, and there were many. What an amazing third quarter running a 10 point lead to 25 at one point. We defended doggedly and got some steals and forced bad shots. It was awesome to behold as a fan. We need to continue to bury teams when they are down.

Dandridge had what I felt was his best game so far. He shot under control, he came off screens and he got to the rim a couple times, drawing fouls. He got a few boards and looked very good overall, ending up with 23 pts and a couple boards. When he gets to the hoop and pulls up, he has a very good shot. He only took one crazy shot. Also, they assigned him to guard Ferguson "moneyball" and he kept him relatively quiet.

Strick continues to develop as a great low post option. He scored some points, riled the other team and had some wicked assists. His foulshooting is terrible but amusing. Hilarity when he is on the floor. I may have to make a binocular sign for next game!

Sanders was a beast. 30 points on 10-13 shooting, putting them in foul trouble in a dominant third period. 16 boards, a few swipes at people's heads and brought some fire to the team. He is a great player and I regret saying he had no heart last year.. but he does. How could they let him go.

Bailey had another solid game and I would love to see more of him. He is a utility guy that bangs inside, goes for boards and gets some blocks. With Rob, Strick, Silverhorn playing well, it ate up some minutes. Brian's return was key but I don't like the lack of running back, especially on the home court, make some effort, but a good return overall with 22 and 6. Overall the foulshooting seemed better and the three point percentage was way up from 26 to 38% owing to getting wide open looks which I do have to credit Lewis for as the team is running some new plays and getting the ball to where people can have a look at the hoop. It seems Dandridge is out of the funk and hopefully he stays there. Still love to see more Ramey and Cordell wasn't getting much run tonight after a good game on the weekend.

Premier Rodney Mayes added some great hustle off the bench and it was good to see Coach Strick working with Tyrone and getting him inside. new guy Bennett added some spark and he could be a valuable addition slashing and driving and dishing. Looks like another good pickup.

Now the scary.. They lit us up for threes in the end making it extremely uncomfortable for the team and the fans. Lewis needs to keep us with big leads to keep the fans from losing their minds. He had no plan to stop the threes and CP had a great idea to foul their players and make them hit the 1 and 1 but they were shooting from the line really well.

Taunting
Our favorite guy today was number 33, Scary Carey who started doing some yapping during the game which got us into it.. We were so in his head. Not a bad player, but he should have been going against Strick all night. That was a fun matchup. also we gave him the gears for being very tired after running the court three times and then getting subbed. Hilarious and he was even looking over afterwards when he got a couple points... Scoreboard...

Strick is going to be trouble if he has to pop on on the screen and rolls, his guy scored a few long range Js. That is going to need coaching work. Ferguson "mOneyball " got great abuse due to his angry face, his one week in the NBA comment, his teammates wearing his shirt (lol), taunting them for how hard it was to play in front of 2000 instead of 50 in manchester, the lack of him playing any crunchtime minutes and the fact that one of our worst defenders was guarding him. I am glad we didn't pick up Mitchell with his diving antics. Number 7 drew our ire for throwing the ball hard off Bailey for which he got Teed up for. That was a terrible call. Chris was on him for not living like a Christian and not acting as Jesus wanted him too.. We will have to talk to that guy. BDPhil was on Salsheider for walking like someone from Deliverance..that one took a while Phil?? And of course, the coach took some abuse for always standing. CP was wondering when the goon squad was coming in and we all enjoyed the full line change. Sadly it changed the game to them for a while.

Note: I am not convinced on the stats because new guy Bennett had five points I am sure.

Highlights: Dandridge alley oop from Jimmy
Jimmy with a massive block
Strick's googles
EC's chain
Lewis finally calling timeout after a 14 pt run..
New guy bennett splitting the defence with crazy dribbles
Lastly, the huge putback dunk by Sanders.. that was awesome.. How did they let him go??

Last word: Consistency will be key in our next game. Dandridge continuing to hit the easy J's and stretching the defence, Silverhorn's contribution, and defensive intensity.. Keep it going Rainmen.

Rainmen win Home Opener

The Rainmen continued their hot start to the season with a 124-112 win over Quebec. Overall this was a very solid game for the Rainmen. We saw what Sanders brings to the squad including 10/10 shooting (most in the paint), defence and tenacity. I think he was the only player to hit the floor today (saving #9 on QC, the flop king). He made some sweet inside passes and set up Eric for some great finishes. Rob also seems to be the only one who isn't afraid to foul to stop a break by the other team. Jimmy Twyman gave us a great boost from the bench and his slashing to the hoop opened up a couple great 3 point looks as well.

I really liked the team today when we had Sanders, Crookshank, Twyman, Brown and Dandridge out there. Realistically, I think tonight the best players we could have runout together were Sanders, Crookshank, Twyman, Bailey and Silverhorn. The QC team didn't have a lot of speed and were focusing on threes and quick penetration. Dandridge and Brian were ok tonight but not great. Silverhorn is going to need to get going at the rim with more intensity. I find he hits seams well and can penetrate off the dribble but shies away from contact. We know he has the shooting game, but that finishing threat would really help round out the game. Bailey was playing well around the hoop and hustling. With him and Rob in the squad, we shouldn't get out hustled by any team.

Sir Val is obviously explosive and can score but shoots at will. I think this is a team philosophy, maybe like Dantoni's 7 seconds before a shot goes up. There were too many spot up shots without an attempt to pass at all. if you look at the total assists stats (11), that is terrible. The team looked like we were shoot first and run a play second. The high pick with Sanders and any guard was working well and creating opportunities, while any isolation play produced results with Rob and Eric especially. There were too many first look shots with no rebounder even in the key. This needs to be corrected.

So the negatives- too many needless turnovers at the top of the 3 point line, allowing about 20 reverses with no help in the game, ridiculous 3 pointers, no second option on a play/ movement.

Positive- help defence got better after a flat start, some good passing movement, intensity, coaching (getting the players who were performing out for the end of the game to close), great shooting and free throw shooting, ENTERTAINING!

The Halifax crowd was dead for the LONG opening sequence. Halifax has a rep for being a tough place to play and even the QC coach mentioned this after the game. Teams don't look forward to coming to a big, loud barn. So Halifax, it is time to cheer, yell, shout, taunt and have some fun. This is going to be an exciting year.

For other great pieces on this check out Section 23 by Chris Parsons and the Lucas Blog (linked above) on the Herald page.