Canada's Maine Man

While Scott Morrison was making inroads with the Maine Red Claws' and Boston Celtics' organization, his fans in PEI, Thunder Bay, and across Canada witnessed his ascent from humble beginnings to balling on Broadway. His efforts haven't gone unnoticed in the broader realm of Canadian sports media either, which is refreshing. Proper thing. USA Today took notice of Morrison on Dec 17.

Morrison's exploits in his freshman campaign as the NBA Development League Coach of the Year and an appearance at the D-League's All-Star game in Brooklyn, easily qualify as the sweetest honeymoon an aspiring NBA coach could ask for. For point of reference, he also set the D-League record for best start to a season (16-4).

"I'm starting to notice him more," said NBA analyst Leo Rautins when asked about Morrison's reception among Canadian media. "I'm a big fan of Scott's, he's a tremendous coach and has done a lot of great work to get where he is."

"As is the case with a lot of great coaches, sometimes the path you take isn't out there for everybody to see, he's had a quieter path. I talk with NBA people, people around the Celtics...Everybody speaks extremely highly of him. Everybody."

A proud Canadian and Prince Edward Islander, Morrison has played a part on the world stage with some of the most talented players We The North call home. As an assistant with the Junior Men's National Team, Morrison coached  the likes of Trey Lyles (Utah Jazz) and Andrew Wiggins (Minnesota T-Wolves).

"I think he's proven himself to be a quality young coach, and that better days are ahead for him and for Canadian Basketball," Raptors' commentator Jack Armstrong noted in a recent interview.

While Morrison continues to succeed with the Boston Celtics and the NBA hopefuls he's training in Maine, one has to wonder, when might Scott get his own call-up to the Association?

"I wouldn't be surprised to see him on an NBA bench in the near future," says Leo Rautins.

"Why wouldn't he get a chance?" offered Armstrong when posed the same question. "The opportunities are there, it's whether you're willing to pay the price, and Coach Morrison's an obvious example of someone who's willing to do that."

"He's with a great organization in the Boston Celtics, I think that it's [even] more impressive that he's with a team in Boston," added Armstrong.

Morrison's enjoyed success so far - in a league that can drive a coach crazy with the ever changing rosters that are rarely the same week-to-week.

Last month, Morrison's Red Claws were victorious in the first ever D-League game played on Canadian soil, 109-104 over the Raptors 905 on Nov 19 at the Hershey Centre.

"That game certainly had some significance for Canada and the Toronto franchise, and it was nice to stick it to them a little bit and get the win," said Morrison. "We still had to play them five more times, so you can't get too excited, but it was nice."

Morrison has continued to get the better of the 905 this season, splitting a pair of games in Portland, Maine, and then squeaking out a 96-95 win on December 11 at the Air Canada Centre. The sample size is small, but Morrison is undefeated on Canadian soil, with his one remaining game north of the border slated for March 5 in Mississauga.

Two things that made the Dec 11 win impressive:

1. Morrison had only one NBA player, Jordan Mickey available on his roster, while the 905 had the benefit of two NBA tested players in Bruno Caboclo and Delon Wright. (the 905 also had Ronald Roberts Jr, who was a beast on the glass - 16 pts 15 rebs).
2. After Bruno Caboclo put the 905 ahead by 1 point with 4.3 seconds to play Morrison drew up the play that won the game.

On top of drilling four 3's in the game, Caboclo was key for the 905 in the final minutes. The long-armed Brazilian blocked a three pointer and followed that with a deflection on an inbounds pass that forced a shot-clock violation. Caboclo also put the 905 up 95-94 with 4.3 seconds remaining by grabbing an offensive rebound and making an impressive 12-foot baseline fade-away.

Brazen, unshaken, Morrison called a time-out and drew up the winning play. Levi Randolph got the ball on the left wing and drove for the winning layup, which he made easily against a 905 defense, spread out to defend Maine's sharp outside shooters.

Was it rocket science? Maybe not, but Morrison made it happen. Under pressure. A question lingers: did Raptors' GM Masai Ujiri, watching from wings of the Air Canada Centre, catch Morrison's subtle magic?


(Photo credits: Portland Press Herald -upper;  Canadian Free Press- lower)

Lakehead Selects Repeat as ABC Tournament Champs

Algoma Basketball Classic (ABC) Tournament Summary (Oct 24-25, 2014)

The Lakehead Selects travelled to Sault Ste Marie over the weekend to compete at the Algoma Basketball Classic Tournament. This event featured the host Algoma Thunderbirds, Sault College Cougars, the Sault All-Stars, and the Lakehead Selects.

The Lakehead Selects finished the weekend 2-1 to claim their ‘unofficial’ second straight ABC Championship. The final rankings would be skewed, due to a power outage that forced the game between the Thunderbirds and All-Stars to be called in the 3rd quarter. With that in mind, the Selects were the only team to play 3 complete games on the weekend. Having won 2, where no other team could match their number of wins, the Selects were self-acclaimed as the ‘unofficial’ tournament champions.

(L-R, Yoosrie Salhia, Greg Carter, Andew Hackner, Jamie Searle (seated), Franco Veneruzzo, Hugh Mullally (rear), Matthew Schmidt, Paul Popo-Ola, Zach White)

Roster: Yoosrie Salhia, Jamie Searle, Greg Carter, Andrew Hackner, Matthew Schmidt, Paul Popo-Ola, Zach White and Hugh Mullally. All are proud Lakehead Basketball alumni.

Coach: Franco Veneruzzo
Manager: Nathan Wainwright

Game 1 - Lakehead Selects 70; Algoma Thunderbirds 80

(Friday @ 8:00pm)

The first game of the 2014 tournament was a rematch of the ‘13 championship double-overtime finale, the Selects having come out victorious 12 months earlier. The Thunderbirds would earn the 80-70 victory with great team play and 28 fourth-quarter points.

The fourth quarter break down would be the deciding factor, as Lakehead was visibly rusty, and a 7-man roster in game 1 left the team visibly exhausted, despite holding a 60-52 lead after 30 minutes of play.

Lakehead started strong out of the gate, matching the ‘Birds intensity, who pressed full court the majority of the game. Reserve forward Zach White (Engineering Alum, ‘12) provided a spark off the bench, scoring 8 points in the first quarter of play. He finished with 11 points on the game.

The Selects’ leading scorer was Yoosrie Salhia (Education, ‘13) who scored 22 points with 12 rebounds. The Thunderbirds would stifle Salhia’s efforts in the fourth quarter with double and triple-team defense on the 6’6” centre.

Greg Carter (Business, ‘13) had 11 points with 7 assists and 5 steals. Jamie Searle (Education, ‘12) scored 14 points with 3 assists and 3 steals.

Game 2: Lakehead Selects 65; Sault College Cougars 60

(Saturday @ 1:30pm)

After a power-outage delay that caused the game before theirs to be called in the third quarter, the Lakehead Selects came out of the dark and into the light with 65-60 win over the Sault College Cougars.

Leading the Selects once again was Yoosrie Salhia, this time scoring 17 points with 14 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.

Matthew Schmidt (Kinesiology, ‘13) got going with 15 points and 5 rebounds, which included 3 drained shots from beyond the arc. Jamie Searle dropped 13 points with 3 steals and 3 assists.

Hugh Mullally (MBA, ‘08) joined the roster for Saturday’s games to play a few minutes and bring some relief to the Selects’ frontcourt. He scored 1 point and fouled out in 12 minutes of play.

Game 3: Lakehead Selects 75; Sault All-Stars 66

(Saturday @ 7:00pm)

The final game of the tournament was a competition between teams of CIS and CCAA veterans, the former making up the Selects roster, and the All-Stars’ roster a blend of the latter, plus McGill (‘98-’03) star forward Kirk Reid.

The Selects managed to hold on for a 75-66 win, thanks to some great guard play, including that of Paul Popo-Ola (Business, ‘12) who scored 10 points and made 5 assists with 3 steals.

Both of the aged teams looked tired, the two of them having played games earlier in the day. Even the officials seemed a little sleepy at the switch, with play on the floor going largely unchecked for the majority of the game, which didn’t seem to bother either team.

The Selects’ Matt Schmidt scored 18 points to lead his team, while Zach White and Jamie Searle scored 11 apiece. Power forward and Dease Park native Andrew Hackner (Geology, ‘12) scored a 10 point, 10 rebound double-double to push the Selects past the All-Stars.

When Basketball Gods Are Smilin'

The Morrison family from Morell, PEI, is a family steeped in faith. They are also a family that believes that achievement arrives through effort.

Like their communal ancestors (known as ‘The Shell Fish Eaters’), who built and then rebuilt the village of St. Peter’s Harbour (present day Morell) after it was burnt to the ground  in 1738, George and Scott Morrison, father and son, have been builders and rebuilders in the realm of basketball. They have kept the faith and, in the last two weeks, have made Canadian Basketball history.

Never before have a father and son been at the zenith of College and University basketball simultaneously, until now.

By the grace of the Basketball gods, Scott has brought his Lakehead Thunderwolves team back from the hellish inferno that was his 2006-07 season, in which his team went 1-31. George, who previously coached 20+ years at UPEI (yes, including Scott’s 5 years there), had an equally infernal year in 2006-07 with the Holland College Hurricanes, going 0-21.

This year however, is much different. Scott has pushed his team to the absolute brink of CIS (Canadian Inter-University Sport) greatness, while his father has reaped for his team the exact same opportunity at the College level. Both father and son will have played in their respective league championship games, in the same year, in the same month, and even had huge wins on the same day.

Call it destiny, call it coincidence or better yet, call it divine intervention. But what these two basketball gurus from a village of 336 permanent residents on the Isle of Prince Edward have achieved in unfathomable unison, while operating completely independent of one another, has been a remarkable, if not miraculous feat to behold.

As many Canadian basketball fans know, the Lakehead Thunderwolves rose to the occasion against all odds last week at the CIS Final 8 in Ottawa to become the first Lakehead team in 36 years in a Gold medal basketball game.

In what was a defiant snub of all the Thunderwolves’ doubters, they harnessed the luck of #7 (their seeding), and upon the shoulders of a St. Patrick’s Irish HS grad (Ottawa son Greg Carter, whose shoulder was actually dislocated in their semi-final game), made it all the way to the final game of the CIS basketball season, accepted the Silver medal, and bowed out shamelessly to the most prolific basketball program in Canadian history.

But the drama that unfolded at the ACAA (Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association) playoffs for Scott’s father George and his Holland College Hurricanes would leave even the “Hardy-est” of fortune tellers scratching their head.

On Saturday evening, 3/02/13, the Lakehead Thunderwolves punched their ticket to the CIS Final 8 with an impressive Ontario Bronze medal win against their divisional rival in Maple Leaf Gardens.

On the very same evening, the Holland College Hurricanes pulled off a miraculous 58-57 semi-final win over Mount St Vincent to extend their season at the ACAA playoffs in Fredericton, courtesy of a straight-away bank-shot 3-pointer with 13 seconds left, followed by a steal and a glancing 70-degree bank-shot 3-pointer, all of which combined to erase a preceding 5-point deficit.

The desperation shot from Summerside, PEI’s Steve Hardy touched the top-right corner of the backboard before rolling around the rim and through, much to the elation of Lord Beaverbrook’s congregation.

What a treat for the fans, and for those who were not there in attendance or watching online, so as to reference St Thomas, the Doubter: Blessed are those [including Scott] who have not seen and yet have Believed.

Scott, of course, had been winning a game of his own whilst the Hurricanes had surged a tide in New Brunswick more powerful than any other on the Bay of Fundy. The Hurricane force in Fredericton converted all doubters the next day as George Morrison and his Hurricanes captured their first ever ACAA championship with a 70-61 win over the St Thomas Tommies. Basketball irony was re-defined, and the ‘Canes weren’t done yet.

It’s worth noting that both George and Scott now share a knack for school firsts, with Scott capturing Lakehead’s first Ontario basketball championship, the Wilson Cup, in 2011. As for Holland College, this was their first ACAA basketball championship, ever.

Fast forward two weeks, after the CIS Final 8 and Scott’s Silver medal, to the national college  championships in Sainte Anne de Bellevue, hosted by John Abbott College. The Hurricanes (seeded #5) began the tournament knocking off the Quebec champions from Champlain College (72-61), advancing next to the semi finals against the #1 seeded Langara Falcons.

Let us pray - there’s a Higher Power at work here.

In what was one of the most exciting and unlikely finishes this writer has ever seen, the Hurricanes pulled off an astonishing 87-86 win over the heavily favored Falcons.

But they didn’t do it with two incredulous bank shot 3-pointers 3 seconds apart this time. Admittedly, they did get one bank shot three from Alvin Parker to put the ‘Canes within 3 points in the final minute. Instead, they won that game with a 100-ton ship-load o’ guts.

They battled point for point, shot for shot, man for man for 40 minutes, the final 8 minutes being a 1-point ball game. In those final 8 minutes, Mike Hardy (Steve’s brother) had a huge blocked shot that he pinned on the glass, and 2 clutch defensive rebounds that held the fort with the enemy at the gate.

Add to that, the incredible courage and grit that got the Hurricanes four, yes FOUR offensive rebounds off missed shots and free throws in the last 4 minutes of the game. The last of which being a free throw missed by Mike Hardy with 7 seconds left to tie the game, as he was attempting to complete the old-fashioned three-point-play. His shot barely grazed the rim, and a swift Hurricane scooped up the rebound and laid it in for a 87-86 Hurricanes win.

They showed incredible guts, so let the Glory Be theirs.

Despite the Falcons’ intimidating exterior and size, the Hurricanes exposed a soft interior presence in the lane and picked up all the turnovers they could against a Falcons team that was blown away by the ‘Canes.

Or maybe it was that the ‘Canes had just worked Harder than the Falcons all year, and in those final 4 minutes they got the breaks they deserved. When a Basketball god smiles upon you, don’t question, just do. And the Hurricanes did just that.

Prior to Scott’s CIS gold medal game last week in Ottawa, George fed him a Billy Donovan quote:

“To win the big games, you need to get a couple breaks. But don’t worry about it if you don’t get ‘em.” Wise words from the prolific NCAA Florida Gators’ coach.

Scott builds on that notion, saying, “You gotta keep the faith through it all, and believe that one time, it’s gonna work out.”

“We came close,” adds Scott, speaking of himself and his Silver bearing Thunderwolves, “Maybe it’s Dad’s time now.”

As Anne Morrison, George’s devoted wife and Scott’s steadfast mother firmly states, “Do your best and let God do the rest.”

After 31 years of effort together, the Morrisons have achieved greatness and given their best to Canadian basketball in one fell swoop. Perhaps the Higher Power that has smiled upon George and Scott during Canadian March Madness can reveal itself once more, before the three of them, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, take a well deserved rest on Sunday, and honor St Patrick.

___***___

Post-Script

The Holland Hurricanes would battle with the Vancouver Island U Mariners down to the very last minute, which strangely featured an identical play to the first score of the game for the VIU Mariners. During the play, an errant ball in the air went off a Hurricane hand and was mysteriously re-directed off the glass and into the basket. It was with such a fluke play that the first, and last scoring play at that basket occurred.

After unconsciously shadowing one another, game for game, win for win, in near unison, George and Scott Morrison have together etched their names in the annals of basketball history, with shining silver around their necks. No pot ‘o gold required.