New faces, new style, same objective.
When the UNBC Timberwolves men's basketball team plays its home-opener tonight at the Northern Sport Centre, long-time followers of the squad may not recognize many of the guys in green and white. Those same fans may also notice that a traditionally guard-oriented club is bigger under the hoop and, consequently, spreads the offence around a little more.
Changes like these are only natural when four of the best back-court players in a program's history all graduate at the same time.
As the new season progresses though, the Timberwolves will still be looking to win way more often than they lose. Tonight, they'll try to secure two points against the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack, a divisional rival in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association.
Todd Jordan, head coach of the Timberwolves, does have a vastly different roster this season but he's happy with what his team has shown him so far.
"It's a really good group of guys with really good spirit to them," said Jordan, whose T-wolves posted a 1-1 record on the road last weekend, the win a 77-71 decision against the Manitoba Bisons and the loss an 83-62 setback against the Winnipeg Wesmen. "It's going to just be about taking it one game at a time and hopefully we can be in a spot at the end of the year where we're in the playoff mix."
Three of UNBC's key newcomers are six-foot-seven forward Franck Olivier Kouagnia, five-foot-seven guard Jibreel Stevens and six-foot guard Jeff Chu. Jordan used all of them as starters last weekend and they'll play central roles again tonight against the Kamloops-based WolfPack, which is off to a 0-2 start.
Kouagnia, who hails from Cameroon and played the last three seasons at Coventry University in England, gives UNBC some much-needed size and muscle under the basket.
"Franck is very athletic, very strong," Jordan said. "He's the type of guy that's hard to move. He's a real physical presence and can score a little bit on the inside and rebound the ball for us."
Stevens has come north from Tacoma, Wash., and Chu has transferred from Vancouver's Langara College, where he played the last three seasons and was part of a provincial championship team in 2012-13.
"Jibreel Stevens, he's quite small but he's very athletic, very quick and can shoot the ball a little bit," Jordan said. "Jeff Chu, he's a real tough kid and a real leader for us on the floor. A really good competitor is the best way to describe him."
Another new addition to the UNBC lineup is Devin McMurtry, a six-foot-five forward who was a teammate of Chu's at Langara. Jordan has utilized McMurtry as another big body in the paint when Kouagnia is on the bench.
"He's a big, strong kid and likes to hit people and likes to rebound," Jordan said of McMurtry.
Even though TRU sits at 0-2 right now, Jordan isn't about to take the WolfPack lightly because the losses came against the Saskatchewan Huskies (98-95) and Alberta Golden Bears (78-63), teams that are among the best in the country. Currently, the Huskies are ranked fifth in Canadian Interuniversity Sport and the Golden Bears are second, behind the always-powerful Carleton Ravens of Ottawa.
"I think Thompson Rivers is much-improved from last year," Jordan said. "Alberta and Saskatchewan are going to be top-four teams in our conference most likely and Thompson Rivers gave both of those teams fairly good runs. From looking at their pre-season results, they had quite a successful pre-season (3-1 record) and knowing some of the guys they've brought in, they're definitely going to present some challenges."
One of those challenges will come in the form of guard Ta'Quan Zimmerman, the early leader in Canada West scoring with 64 points in his team's two games.
Another TRU player is Vanderhoof product Tallon Milne, a six-foot-eight forward who played three seasons with Simon Fraser University. Milne tore a knee ligament in January of 2011 and sat out last year.
Tonight's game starts at 8.
The Timberwolves and WolfPack will also square off Saturday night at the NSC.
