New Capilano University men's basketball coach Cassidy Kannemeyer is no stranger to the PacWest league, but as a first-time head coach with a young team, he probably was expecting a few speedbumps right from the start.
He most likely wasn't expecting the Blues to go 8-1 in preseason play, their only loss coming against Trinity Western University, a CIS team. That, however, is exactly what the young Blues did, going undefeated against PacWest competition in the leadup to this weekend's regular season openers. It's an eye-opening mark, but Kannemeyer isn't about to start sizing himself up for championship rings.
"Preseason, who knows," he said with a laugh. "People aren't showing certain things, holding things back to not give you an edge when you play them in the regular season. They kind of give you vanilla looks.... It's hard to gauge."
Kannemeyer, who took over as Blues head coach after spending five years as an assistant with the Quest University men's team, may not be convinced that he's assembled a young dynasty here, but Capilano's killer preseason has shown him one crucial trait in his team: they play hard all the time.
"There's lots to work on but the guys have shown that they're going to bring a high competitive level every game," he says. "What I take from preseason is more about the effort level. The Xs and Os will be something that we gradually put in throughout the season. The basic concepts of offence and defence are what we have in now and I think the group that we have has shown that they grasp concepts quickly and also are able to take those concepts and bring it on the court and play fluid and play together. They've shown that right away. I think that's part of why we've had early preseason success, which I would say from my experience at Quest doesn't always translate to regular season success. But it's a good start."
On offence the Blues are expecting big things from second year co-captain Martin Bogajev, a Burnaby South grad who is the reigning PacWest Rookie of the Year. The combo guard finished seventh in the league last year with an average of 15 points per game.
"Martin is what I would call an elite college shooter," said Kannemeyer. "No matter what the scope of the game, or the competitive level of who we're playing against, or what his matchup is, no matter what the situation, Martin always will shoot the ball. That's a good mentality to have when you're a shooter. With Martin, he always believes that his next shot is going in. Shooting has a lot to do with confidence, and Martin Bogajev has extreme confidence in his jump shot."
The other co-captain is Graddy Zubaidi, the team's only North Shore product. The second year Sutherland grad will be counted to lead on and off the floor, said Kannemyer.
"Graddy has shown that he is going to be our leader by example, he's consistently going to bring good effort and good energy to the floor," he said. "He's also shown that he has the ability to be a teacher on the floor and be a leader on the floor."
The Blues may be young overall - no one on the team has played more than one season of college ball - but there are a number of second-year players who will be running the show alongside Bogajev and Zubaidi. That list includes Reese Morris, another Burnaby product who will start as a forward. "Reese Morris has really grown in his role as a stretch four," said Kannemeyer. "He's shown a knack for really doing the little things - getting deflections, making plays for other people, not turning the ball over and rebounding at a very high rate."
Two transfers - Brendan Bailey from Kwantlen and Parm Bains from Douglas - add to the experience level. Bailey, a gifted scorer, will be a starting guard while Bains will come off the bench as the team's sixth man.
"Brendan has shown that offensively he's a gifted player and has all the skills to be a legitimate scorer in this league," said Kannemeyer. "(Bains) is primed to have a good year this year. He's been electric in preseason."
Rounding out the starting lineup will be E.J. Mabone, a rookie from South Burnaby who will play in the wing.
"For a guard, E.J. rebounds at a very high clip," said Kannemeyer. "He plays with a high level of intelligence and he can make plays for himself and other people. He's the consummate team player, which I value very highly."
The Blues have nine players who make up their main rotation, including six second-year players and three rookies. If nothing else, the team's hot start shows that they'll be competitive right away against more experienced PacWest teams.
"We play hard as a unit, we play pretty collectively, we share the ball," said Kannemeyer. "We've shown that those nine players can play in this league and compete at a high level. I think our good start can be attributed to players buying into the systems that I've put in place and hopefully they can continue to do that as the regular season gets underway."
Kannemeyer pinpointed Quest and Vancouver Island University as elite teams in the league this season with Langara and Douglas also fielding top-level squads. With that in mind he's hoping his team can crack the top-four by season's end.
"I think that would be a good goal with a young squad," he said. "There are strong teams across the board. It's really up to us whether we're going to be at that top-four level based on how hard we compete every game."
After five years as an assistant, Kannemeyer sounds like he's primed to give it his all in his first crack at a PacWest head coaching job. "I've had a long time to think about it," he said. "I've been dreaming about it. It's here, and I'm taking advantage of it."
The Blues will hope to carry their preseason success over to the regular season when they make their league debut Oct. 31 at home against Douglas College. They'll be back at home for a pair of contests next weekend. On Friday, Nov. 6 the Blues will host Camosun with the women starting at 6 p.m. followed by the men at 8 p.m. The VIU Mariners will be in town Nov. 7 with the women tipping off at 1 p.m. followed by the men at 3.
