By Howard TsumuraVarsity LettersBURNABY MOUNTAIN — A great conductor will tell you that there is infinitely more to performing a great symphonic score than just looking at notes and abiding by time signatures.It’s more about seeing the big picture, and within the details, trusting that through the repetition of rehearsal that your vision is both […]
Tag: pasha Bains
A Sunday Read: With family roots in Bucharest and Belgrade, and a deep love of Euro-hoops in his soul, Centennial’s Grade 12 big man Alex Birsan turns versatility into 35 points-per-game!
By Howard TsumuraVarsity LettersCOQUITLAM — He may still be only 17 years old, but ask Alex Birsan to name the NBA player who has perhaps been the most influential in terms of his approach to the game, and his response just confirms his old-school cool.“Obviously, nowadays it’s Luka Dončić and (Nikola) Jokić,” the 6-foot-7 senior […]
Buchanan Cup 2022: For UBC’s James Woods, a career defined by beating the odds makes ‘Boy Wonder’ a well-earned nickname!
VANCOUVER — Deep down in his basketball soul, James Woods has always been Boy Wonder.It’s the nickname he picked up before he was old enough to shave, before he even started to play high school basketball for Langley’s Walnut Grove Gators.And on Friday night (7:30 p.m.), when he pulls on his No. 11 UBC jersey […]
“Ty has one of the biggest hearts I’ve ever coached!” High praise as Walnut Grove’s Rowell drops 32 points in Cal Baptist’s OT loss to USC Trojans
Longtime followers of the B.C. high school basketball scene will remember how Ty Rowell had a penchant for sinking baskets that could take your breath away.On Wednesday, however, as the NCAA Div. 1 college hoops season continued its run of season-opening games, Rowell turned the trick on his biggest stage yet.Almost a full year after […]
Climbing Jacob’s Ladder! VC Fighting Irish big man Jacob Holt stokes Santa Clara’s gilded B.C. tradition! Broncos get another one of our very best!
VANCOUVER — Jacob Holt admits he was originally leaning towards playing his university basketball in Canada.One day over this past summer, however, Vancouver College’s then-rising 6-foot-9 senior forward decided to test the waters with a highlight tape he’d put together all by himself.“I probably got 40 calls… it was surreal,” the affable Holt recounted Wednesday. […]
Suraj Gahir: The ex-Huskies star, stronger and wiser, set to pay heartfelt homage to his North Delta neighbourhood when NCAA Div. 1 career begins at Cal Baptist
NORTH DELTA — No one can escape a future full of unknowns, especially these days, but the best way to brace for its inevitable challenges as you set out on a journey is to gain strength from the collective embrace of the neighbourhood which helped define you.For North Delta Secondary’s 2019 grad Suraj Gahir, such […]
Suraj Gahir: North Delta’s Triple-A MVP, with an all-star date Saturday, preaches patience in finding his next-level hoops home
NORTH DELTA — Over a senior high school season in which he injured his ankle and bravely did everything he could to help his team keep their collective heads above water, it’s safe to say that Suraj Gahir learned what having patience was truly all about.
From Surrey to Santa Clara: Tammy’s superstar grad Miguel Tomley preps his game for sudden impact at Nash’s alma mater
SURREY — If you watched the way in which Miguel Tomley closed out his senior season last March, you would be correct in stating that only a handful of others in the long history of B.C. boys high school basketball were as ready to start an NCAA Div. 1 basketball career as the Tamanawis Wildcats’ […]
James Woods: His first nickname was ‘Boy Wonder’ and now, 10 years later, his B.C. All-Star game finale shows nothing has changed
James Woods has grown used to the fact that on first impression, the basketball world has so often second-guessed him.
A Yu-Turn back to Prince George hoops! UBC’s Jordan Yu returns as a coaching Condor
LANGLEY — Yu bet. That was the headline to a story I had written almost 12 years ago in the pages of The (Vancouver) Province newspaper.