Badgers park nationals goal
Tyler Brown is one of four returning starters on the Brock men’s basketball team.
Coming off their first appearance in the national championship in a decade, the Brock men’s basketball team isn’t automatically assuming a return trip is in the cards.
“We’re looking at this season and every season as a clean slate and we play in a very competitive division so, for us, we’re not looking at expectations in wins or losses, we are looking at it in terms of what to expect from our own guys in terms of playing poised offensively and defensively bringing the grit and toughness every single night,” new head coach Madhav Trivedi said.”If we do that, we will end up being in a position to compete in February and March.”
The team returned most of its key pieces with the exception of Dani Elgadi and Trevor Thompson, so many fans will be expecting the Badgers to contend for another berth in the national championships.
“It’s a goal for every team and we have that goal from the moment we started, but we parked it away once we mentioned it because from there we have to attack everything on a day-to-day basis,” said Trivedi, who replaced Charles Kissi. “We do have a lot of returnees, but we do have a lot of new guys on the team too so the composition is different from last year.
“We have been focused on building this year’s team and figuring out what our identity is going to be.”
Trivedi feels there are a lot of similarities between his coaching and that of Kissi.
“Guys still play really hard and they are tough and they are passionate when they are competing which is similar to last year.”
Losing star player Dani Elgadi to graduation forces Trivedi to coach differently.
“Being smaller changes our style of play a little bit,” he said. “We play faster, we get up and down the floor more and we have to be a little more creative in terms of how we are going to score.
“With Dani, at the bare minimum, you were going to have a guy to put it in.”
Brock will open at home Friday against Laurier following a 1-5 preseason, but fans shouldn’t get too worried about Brock’s exhibition record. Brock lost to Alberta, McGill and UBC, teams that were ranked second, fifth and seventh respectively in the final top 10 rankings of last season, The Badgers also lost to Acadia, a team it beat in the consolation finals at the 2017-18 national championships.
“The preseason for us was a lot of learning and to see what this team is going to be and how it is going to be shaped,” Trivedi said. “It was good to see where we stack up against the best in the country and we are obviously going to get tested in our own division with some really good teams.”
Many of the preseason games saw Brock within a point or two in the fourth quarter.
“They were something to build on and I think we got better every single game in the preseason which is where you want to be heading into the regular season,” Trivedi said.
Trivedi does agree that it would have been nice to win some of those games as well. Rankings during the season play a role in determining which team get a wildcard berth at the national championships and preseason results play a role in those rankings.
“Of course it would have been nice to come out in the win column, but we focus on what’s ahead of us and continue to get better.”
Two days away from the start of the regular season, Trivedi had determined 80 per cent of his starting five. Those four — to no one’s surprise — are Johneil Simpson, Cassidy Ryan, Tyler Brown and Daniel Cayer. Simpson and Ryan are in their fifth and final seasons.
“We will probably know by the end of tomorrow (Thursday) who it (the fifth) is going to be,” he said.
Trivedi can’t wait for Friday night.
“I am super, super excited, especially to be opening up at home,” he said. “I don’t think there is a better situation.”
