VANCOUVER — It’s mid-November, his UBC Thunderbirds have already played 16 games… and won them all.
“But I still don’t know who our best five guys are when it comes to playing the best together,” head coach Kevin Hanson explained following practice Wednesday.
With his No. 2 nationally-ranked ‘Birds set to play host to the No. 1-ranked Victoria Vikes in a battle of 4-0 Canada West teams Friday (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday (6 p.m.) at War Memorial Gymnasium, you’d be excused for wondering just what Hanson and his coaching staff have been doing in terms of their player evaluation as an extended pre-season has given way to the early stages of conference play.
Well, the answer is plenty.
Following the graduation of its top two scorers from a season ago in Brian Wallack and James Woods, and ahead of a 2024-25 season-capping spot in the Final 8 national championship tournament this March as event host, Hanson elected not to undertake an extensive roster overhaul.
Instead, he made two key player additions, choosing instead to focus his belief on all of the possibilities contained within a huge core of returning players and their ability to adapt to a new system of play, one which early on seems much better suited to their overall skills.
Which seems to beg the eternal basketball question: Doesn’t every team need a ‘go-to-guy’ or two to find success?
“It’s a great question, and I think it comes down to the word ‘trust’, and these guys have so much trust in one another,” said Hanson, who is not only in his 25th season at the UBC helm, but heading into Friday sits one win shy of becoming just the fifth coach in U SPORTS men’s university basketball history to reach 600 career wins. The current 600-win club, with deep thanks to Martin Timmerman at usportshoops.ca: Steve Konchalski (919-576, 46 seasons at St. FX), Gerry Hemmings (735-289, 26 seasons at Brandon), Dave Smart (656-101, 19 seasons at Carleton), Bob Bain (610-435, 37 seasons at Alberta, York).
“As a coach you kind of want to have those go-to guys,” added Hanson, who has had plenty over his career, including the likes of Kyle Russell, Casey Archibald, Pasha Bains, Conor Morgan and Jadon Cohee. “But I think we’re a little different when you have a lot of different weapons… a lot of guys that can step up. It’s our job to put these guys in situations where we can exploit their strengths.”
The No. 1 Vikes, led by superstar guard Diego Maffia, are clearly the nation’s ultimate test, but thus far, as their own numbers will attest, UBC has done the only thing it can do, which is to walk its walk.
Thus far 10 players have averaged between the team-high 24.8 minutes of guard Adam Olsen and the 10.3 minutes of transfer guard Jerry Hayes, and you can add an 11th name to the mix in pure freshman forward Nylan Roberts, who checks in at 9.9 minutes.
Obviously, players like the ascending 6-foot-7 second-year Olsen out of Surrey’s Elgin Park, the now-healthy 6-foot-10 fourth-year post Nikola Guzina of Vancouver’s King George, and former UNBC transfers Micah Jessie and Fareed Shittu, each now entering their fifth seasons at the guard and forward spots respectively, could evolve into stretch-drive finishers.
Gus Goerzen, a fourth-year 6-6 swingman from Elphinstone Secondary via UBC Okanagan, has led the team in scoring on two occasions already.
And we haven’t even gotten to guards Brendan Sullivan (5th year) and Arnaud Konan (2nd year), and forward Tobi Akinkumni (4th). All that trio has done is earn a combined 20 starts over the past nine games.
As well, Hanson spoke to how 6-foot-7 forward Victor Radocaj (5th) has taken to the new system, making one start thus far while averaging 15 minutes per game and shooting 63 per cent from the field.
Oh, and there is one other detail that deserves mention, and that is the importance Hanson placed on bringing a second full-time assistant to the his staff.
Adding former ‘Birds standout guard Phil Jalalpoor as that assistant to work alongside the returning Taylor Williams has helped to shape the lens through which Hanson has been able to embrace as much change in an off-season, schematically, as he has over any off-season of his UBC tenure.
As Hanson says, there is a distinct European influence being chalked up and refined in practice and games, something he says has been in part influenced by Jalalpoor, a native of Germany and former Olympian who has wrapped up his overseas playing career after starring under Hanson for three UBC seasons (2015-18).
“I think the spacing is a whole lot better for us,” begins Hanson. “It’s more free-flowing, it’s a bit more of an equal opportunity system and I have been more receptive to Phil’s feedback.
“In Germany, where he grew up, you teach the whole versus the parts. Over here we spend so much time on teaching the technical and the tactical side of the parts versus the whole. Now, I teach the whole and let them make their mistakes. I have adjusted.”
Just as Hanson spoke of his players trust in each other this season, it’s clear he has extended that same trust with both them and his assistants.
The head coach then brings up another interesting topic: The state of the current U Sports’ Top 10, which not only has Victoria and UBC 1-2, but UBC’s opposition the following weekend at War Gym — the Calgary Dinos — sitting at No. 3 overall.
“And Winnipeg’s No. 5,” Hanson adds. “That’s four Canada West teams in the top five.”
GAME NOTES — If you can’t make it out to watch the games live at War Memorial Gymnasium, you can still catch the action both live-streamed and on demand at canadawest.tv.
Ilyas Kurbanov will serve as the analyst both nights for both the men’s and women’s games.
Yours truly will provide the play-by-play Friday, while Jack McGrail will handle the same duties on Saturday.
And with that, the countdown to Friday night has officially begun.
If you’re reading this story or viewing these photos on any website other than one belonging to a university athletic department, it has been taken without appropriate permission. In these challenging times, true journalism will survive only through your dedicated support and loyalty. VarsityLetters.ca and all of its exclusive content has been created to serve B.C.’s high school and university sports community with hard work, integrity and respect. Feel free to drop us a line any time at howardtsumura@gmail.com.
