Winter … Coldest and Deepest

If one wants to find the true Canadian Winter in the lower latitudes of our great country, one would go directly to Winnipeg. Dependably chilly, it is! The Dinos will be strolling close to the infamous Portage and Main intersection this weekend close to their digs across the street from the new MTS Centre - Home of the Manitoba Moose.

As for basketball, the Dinos are up against a couple of very talented point guards … Manitoba’s Isaac Ansah is 4th in Canada West scoring at 21.5 pts. game, while Erfan Nasajpour, the Winnipeg Wesmen court general is 2nd at 22.2/game. In assists, Nasajpour (6.6) trails only Calgary’s Josh Feist (6.7), while Ansah weighs in at 4.6 dishes per game. Both these slashing penetrators are the key to their team’s success, and Calgary’s fate has usually depended on the strength of Josh’s game that night.

The Manitoba Bisons are not a tall team, but they are extremely quick, and they shoot the outside shot early and often. Darcy Coss, a 6′4″ forward cashes 3.28 treys per game to lead Canada West … the Dinos’ Cody Darrah is at 2.44. The top three shot blockers in Canada West are Myron Dean of Manitoba (1.89) and Dan Shynkaryk of Winnipeg ( 1.56) … Calgary’s Ross Bekkering is 5th at 1.06. Calgary leads the team free throw shooting stats with 71.5% . FG% has Calgary 45% as a team (7th), Winnipeg 44% (8th) and Manitoba last in Canada West at 42%. The stats tell a story, but the true measure of the teams will come on the court in Winnipeg, where the Dinos face the Bisons on Friday and the Wesmen on Saturday.

Calgary is 8-10 and in 3rd in the Mountain Division with a mathematical chance of catching Saskatchewan for 2nd, while Winnipeg is 8-10 and in 2nd in the Great Plains behind Brandon. Manitoba is at 6-12, and needs a couple of wins this weekend against Calgary and Lethbridge to get in the playoff hunt with Winnipeg and Regina.

Sonny Khangura picked up a leg injury in practice this week, and will stay at home to rehabilitate his injury. That leaves the Dinos with only 3 post players … Robbie Sihota and Ross Bekkering will se the bulk of the action, with an ever improving Chris Unsworth ready to step in and give them a break.