At the Saskatchewan Huskies men’s basketball practice at the Physical Activity Complex, fifth-year point guard Alex Unruh had some major pressure on his shoulders.
Not only is Unruh the only senior on the squad, but Saskatchewan lost four starters from last season. To add to the chaos, they currently only have one healthy centre.
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“I feel like we’re just trying to hold down the fort until we get some of our bodies back. We have a lot of guys that are inexperienced and we’re just trying to learn how to play together,” Unruh said.
The current situation forced the Huskies to do a complete 180. Compared to the forward-focused strategy last year, they’ll be playing ‘small ball’ with four guards on the floor this season.
“We’re kind of more of a motion style offence now at this point in time, and we have to try and move players around a little bit more to create some shots,” said Barry Rawlyk, who is entering his sixth year as head coach of the program.
The shift has capitulated second-years Addison Dewar and Emmanuel Akintunde, who together played less than 14 minutes a game last season, into two starting positions for the time being.
“It’s a lot but I think it’s just where I need to be on the team as a role player”, Akintunde said.
“All of a sudden, they’re thrust into a starting line up position where they’ll be playing 30, 35, maybe even 40 minutes a game depending on what the situation is. They’re going to have to really learn on the fly”, said Unruh, who is leading the group of smalls on the court.
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Despite being thrust into the starting role unexpectedly, St. Joseph Guardians alumnus Akintunde has experience with this style of play.
“That’s what we used to run in high school: four guards with one big in the paint. It’s going to make teams think of things a little bit more than usual, because usually, we run with two or even three bigs at a time with two guards so it’s going to be different.”
The Huskies are hosting the 19th annual Ron and Jane Graham Shootout this weekend. Saskatchewan won the tournament six out of the last eight years, but with all the inexperienced players combined with the unexpected injuries, this could be the most valuable pre-season tournament the Dogs have ever played in.
“Super important, because we need to know where we’re at compared to every other team n the conference, and what we need to do as a team to get better, to get to where we want to get to this season,” said Akintunde.
Saskatchewan plays three matches over the weekend to tune things up. The Huskies host Manitoba in their season opener on Oct. 27.
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