St George's Saints

St. George's Saints Preview

Heading into last weekend's Lower Mainland Championships, the St. George's Saints were having the dream season. They won the HSBC defeating #1 Ranked Handsworth in the finals. There was the lone loss vs Centennial in the final game of their own tournament in what can be viewed as an abnormality in otherwise perfect season. And to round out the season, a win over Centennial in the final game of the Western Canada Invitational at Kelowna. The Saints cruised past opponent after opponent on their way to the final game of the Lower Mainland Championships, setting up a huge matchup vs Kitsilano. The Saints played as good a game as they could but still lost on a controversial final basket, you can read the recap I did of that game here in case you missed it. Heading into this weeks Provincial Tournament, the Saints are still the consensus favorites to win it all, but the chinks in the armor are showing.

Next to Rob Sacre, Bol Kong is the next best top prospect in the Province. The 6'7" small forward is one of the most athletic high school players I've ever seen play. His vertical is insane, I'm betting he could touch the top of the backboard. The big question heading into the season was how healthy Kong was. He had a stress fracture in his leg that kept him from playing with the U17 team this summer. Kong hasn't committed yet to where he's going next year, but the injury may have some Div1 schools thinking twice. Not to be outdone is Kong's backcourt running mate in Alex Murphy. What's impressed me the most with Murphy has been the improvements since last season. He's become much more aggressive and stronger. His game is much like that of Steve Nash. He's like a waterbug, very quick first step, great penetrator, and terrific court vision. Just like Nash, he's a deadly shooter. Rounding out the roster are several role players in Chris Mackay, Jesse Baker and Chris Barrett. Mackay is a defensive specialist, tough as nails, and solid post defender. Barrett doubles as point sometimes and runs the floor well.

With all that the Saints have going for them, there still are some holes. Despite having a lot of solid talent and skilled players, the Saints are pretty much a 7 man team. So even though they have a deep team, the bench players don't appear to be confident when playing in key situations. Another disturbing trend is their inability to finish off opponents. On more than one occasion, we've seen the Saints blow leads and allow teams to come back. It happened at the HSBC vs Handsworth, against Vancouver College in league play, and finally in the loss to Kitsilano at the Lower Mainland Championships. With so many dangerous teams in this year's Tournament, that could be their undoing.

Players to Watch for: Bol Kong, Alex Murphy, Chris Mackay
Outlook: The loss to Kitsilano last weekend was big as the Saints now face a much tougher draw having to face Handsworth in the Semifinals. Gleneagle will be no slouch either.