Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

We’re halfway through the OUA season, let’s talk about the OUA West, the top two and trends for the second half of the season.

It’s pretty clear now the standard, the measuring stick is the two teams in Ottawa. The Carleton Ravens haven’t missed a beat, Dorcas Buisa as the primary ball handler has caused headaches for many teams and their discipline defensively is incredibly difficult to crack. The Gee-Gees have the best depth in the league and the way their team is built with the agility of their post players, at times they’re really playing with 3 guards and two stretch forwards who can run the floor, a matchup problem in its own.

Figuring out who the next best teams are has made me consider the old saying defence wins championships. When you look at the teams with the best records, they all have pieces who can score efficiently and consistently. You look at Renee Armstrong, Madalyn Weinert, Cassie Joli-Coeur, Catrina Garvey, Jenna Button, it’s not a question of if they can score points, it turns to who can get stops and who can disrupt their opponent.

The game between the Gryphons and Badgers to start the season for me was decided by the stops Brock was able to get which set up their transition game, and the effort they gave defending the second chances Guelph got. You look at the game between the Bold and the Gee-Gees near the end of the first semester, it was forcing turnovers and the effort on the glass.

Great defence has set the great teams apart, and that’s one trend I want to pay attention to as the second half of the season gets underway. Can the top teams continue to play at the high level defensively and set themselves apart from the mid pack.

Disruption is the theme of the OUA West, and that’s what I want to talk about next. Look at the Windsor Lancers, top of the division at 8-3 and one of the best in the league at making opponents games sloppy. They play with consistent pressure defensively from the guards and they continue to have steady rebounding inside that they make you feel their presence in everything you do and they strike on opportunities to punch you out of rhythm, while they push on.

You look past the Lancers and you get to the Gryphons and Mustangs who are at their best when they’re able to get the opponent out of rhythm and flustered. You saw in Western’s game against Brock, the level the offence is able to play at when the defence is forcing turnovers and unlocking the speed they have on the floor. When they’re able to create mayhem and get teams running, their quick decision making thrives, and their play excels when teams aren’t settled in.

The Gryphons don’t have as much speed, but they operate the same as the Mustangs where if they can get into their offence quickly via a turnover created from their defence or disruption from how structured they are, they flourish. Renee forcing steals, Julia pushing the ball up the floor after a rebound, the Gryphons defence turning into offence is a major part of their success and playing off their disruption has gotten that team to where they are.

The OUA West, OUA Central and the top two in the OUA East are all bunched together in a tight group at the top, and with such offensive talent, defence has taken centre stage as the separator. Going into the second half of the season i’m going to be paying attention to how the top continues to execute defensively and how that pushes the rest of their game.