EDGE INSIDER MARCH 28: RECAP OF FAN APPRECIATION, PLAYOFF PREVIEW, TOP MOMENTS PART 1
St. John’s, NL — In this week’s edition of the Insider, we recap the last two regular season games of 2018-19. We will then set you up with a playoff preview with our opponent still to be determined. Following our preview, we dive into the first part of our Top Moments series, this week featuring the arrival of the 7’2” Satnam Singh. Wrapping things up with some info about upcoming events and information on how to get your playoff tickets.
Up First
Edge Drop Opener of Weekend Series to Storm
The St. John’s Edge were on the losing side once again on Saturday night, dropping a 128-103 decision to the Island Storm in front of 5,000 plus at Mile One Centre.
After the KW Titans defeated the Windsor Express on Friday night, the Edge had clinched a spot in the 2019 NBL Canada Playoffs. This weekend’s games against the Island Storm are crucial as the team hopes to obtain one of the top two spots in the Central Division to have home court advantage in the first round.
In the early going neither team looked like they had a rhythm. It would take over a minute before the first basket of the game was scored. After a few missed opportunities the Island Storm would begin with a three from Tyree White to get the scoring started. Following another Storm basket, the Edge answered with a Jared Nickens triple from the top of the key.
The game would remain close throughout the first quarter, with the Island Storm up by 3 with just over two minutes to play, Isaiah Tate II would drain a corner three to tie the game up at 21. The shooting touch of the Storm would keep them in front after one by a score of 28-23.
Into the second quarter, the Edge would put together a little 5-0 run to get them back into this one. However, the Island Storm would come right back and convert on three straight possessions to put them back in front by 8 at the 10-minute mark.
As the quarter progressed, St. John’s would look to feed the ball into the post to produce some offense and dig out of a deficit. Shaquille Keith would convert on a couple of back to back possessions to reduce the lead to just 5 with under a minute remaining in the half. Following a timeout by the Storm, Malik Story would hit a layup then a three to end the quarter with his team up 58-48.
Coming out of the half-time break, the Edge would strike first with a Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis layup to begin the quarter. The game would then go back and forth with the Edge converting on their possessions, but the Storm answering right back. The turning point in the game would be an 8-0 run by the Storm capped off by a Malik Story three-pointer.
Moving ahead to the fourth quarter, the Storm ahead by 25, the Edge were looking to get back into an offensive rhythm to attempt the comeback. With 9:46 left in the quarter, a Shaquille Keith layup followed by a Murphy Burnatowski jumper would show some signs of life from the Edge. Burnatowski would hit another triple mid-way through the quarter before he picked up his 6th and final foul to send him to the bench for the remainder. From that point, the Island Storm would be led by Guillaume Boucard and Robbie Robinson as they claimed this win by a score of 128-103.
On the night, the Edge were led by Shaquille Keith who picked up the double-double, with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Dez Lee would drop 16 points, with Burnatowski and Russell Byrd scoring 14 points each.
The Storm were led by Guillaume Boucard and Robbie Robinson who each had 30 and 10 plus rebounds in the win.
EDGE CAP OFF REGULAR SEASON WITH THRILLING OT WIN
The St. John’s Edge faced the Island Storm in their regular season finale on Sunday afternoon at Mile One Centre. With this game meaning a lot for the Edge in terms of positioning in the playoffs, they put together a complete game and defeated the Island Storm in overtime, 121-116.
The Central Division is extremely close going into the last week of the season. Following this game, the Edge were going to need some help but could finish as high as first in the division and as low as third.
This would be the last chance for the Edge to stay with the top three teams in the division and they would recognize that from tip-off.
In this one, they would have to try and pick up the win without Glen Davis, Junior Cadougan, and Olu Ashaolu, who were all trying to recover from minor injuries.
With a very short bench, Head Coach, Steve Marcus would go with a different lineup in this one as he had Satnam Singh, Dez Lee, Murphy Burnatowski, Jarryn Skeete, and Jared Nickens on the floor for the start of this one. From the start the Island Storm would pick up where they left off last night, draining each shot they took, with Guillaume Boucard continuing his solid play. However, the Edge would also catch fire, with Jared Nickens making it look easy with two straight triples in the middle of the quarter to give the Edge the slight advantage.
A couple of three-pointers by Russell Byrd and Isaiah Tate II would keep the offense rolling. A late surge by the Storm late in the quarter would bring them to within one, with the Edge ahead 32-31 after the first.
Into the second, Murphy Burnatowski would begin his scoring in what would be a season-high night in points for the Kitchener, ON Native. Burnatowski would score St. John’s first 7 points in the quarter, but just as they had done on Saturday night, the Island Storm had an answer to keep this one close. At the 4:20 mark of the third, Guillaume Boucard would put the storm in front 52-51, but then the Edge would go on a 9-0 to reclaim their lead. After two quarters the score was 60-54 with the Edge in front.
Following the break, St. John's would control the pace, but the Storm would keep up that exact same pace. Neither team could get a stop and when the stops started to come, they were with the Edge on offense. The turning point would be around the 2-minute mark of the quarter when Shaquille Keith converted a layup and the Edge would get two more stops and convert one last time to hold a 12 point lead going into the final quarter (92-80).
In the final 12 minutes, the fatigue would start to show for the Edge. They were being run up and down the court by an energized Island Storm team, who had cut the deficit to just two points with 7:20 remaining in the fourth. Down the stretch, the Edge would look to the outside to stay in this one. Clutch three-pointers by Murphy Burnatowski and Jarryn Skeete would prove valuable as the teams would end the fourth tied up at 109.
Overtime was a defensive battle as the teams made clean stops at both ends. The first points would be scored by the Island Storm when Guillaume Boucard converted 1 of 2 free-throws after two minutes of no scoring by either team. After the Island Storm again failed to convert both free-throws, the Edge would get a massive corner triple by Burnatowski to put them up by a full possession, then after a turnover, Shaquille Keith would hit two free-throws that would lead the Edge to the 121-116 win.
The Edge rebounded in this one hitting 20 three-pointers and finishing with a 46.7% conversion rate from beyond the arc. St. John’s also got a lot of production out of a depleted bench, scoring 44 points in the win. Overall there were 5 players who scored in double-digits, with the line of the night coming from Murphy Burnatowski who had 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the win.
For the Island Storm, Tyree White was the scoring leader with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists in the loss.
The Edge now must wait to find out their first-round opponent, with Sudbury and London still having games to play.
WHAT’S NEXT
Playoff Preview 2019
It has been what some would call an obscure year for the NBL of Canada. The slow start by London, Moncton winning their first 11, Sudbury staying atop the NBLC standings for the majority of the first half of the season, and of course your St. John’s Edge starting the season off slow then catching fire midway through the season.
Heading into the playoffs, the division is yet to be decided. As of March 27th, the Edge sit in 3rd place behind Sudbury and London with both of those teams having games remaining on their schedule. The scenarios that could occur are as follows:
If Kitchener-Waterloo wins on March 27th , they earn a postseason spot as the #4 seed in the Ontario / Newfoundland and Labrador bracket, and Windsor is eliminated from the playoffs. St. John's would be seeded higher than Sudbury, in that both would finish with 21-19 records, but St. John's has the tiebreaker over Sudbury.
If Sudbury wins, Windsor would still be alive for a postseason spot with a win AND another Kitchener-Waterloo loss. Sudbury would finish 22-18 and would be seeded in either the first or second playoff spot in the Ontario / Newfoundland and Labrador bracket.
London then have to play Windsor to close out the season, if Sudbury win and London were to drop their final two games, the Edge would claim the top spot in the division by way of a tie breaker over Sudbury. If London win one of two, or both, of their final two games they would then also claim top spot in the division and the Edge would finish second because of the tie breaker with Sudbury.
Sound confusing? That is because it is and given how late it is in the season, it becomes crucial for the Edge to get some help from Windsor and KW to get back into one of the top two spots in the division.
As a team the Edge head into the playoffs having won just two of their last six games. Combine this with a coaching change recently and a string of minor injuries that have kept guys out of the lineup and you may think that the second year may be coming to an end quicker than we had hoped. However, we cannot count out this group of players. With just 11 players active and Carl English awaiting re-evaluation on the torn UCL in his thumb and this looks like the kind of grind-it-out squad that could very well be the way to win throughout the postseason.
With a starting core that has Glen Davis at the centre, Murphy Burnatowski at power forward, Russell Byrd at the small forward, Dez Lee at shooting guard, and Junior Cadougan leading at the point and you have one of the strongest lineups in the entire league. Don’t forget Jared Nickens sharp-shooting off the bench, then Shaquille Keith’s ability to play the power forward and also at point guard. This is a team the city of St. John’s can really get behind, because it is filled with guys who know what it takes to grind out wins in professional basketball.
One key to the playoffs for the Edge will be the ability to control the pace of play and knock down their open looks. When the team is hitting their shots, there are very few that can guard a 5-man set that has 4 threats from outside the three point line. As for their defense, it will be crucial for them to find a way to stop teams from the outside as in the last few games teams have been shooting well over 45% from three-point range against the Edge, which has made it tough to compete with when the shots are not falling on the offensive end.
Whether it’s Sudbury, London, KW, or Windsor who the Edge face, one thing will hold true is that playing in the playoff atmosphere of Mile One Centre will give St. John’s that extra Edge they need to make a deep run in this year’s playoffs.
Edge Top Moments – 2019 - #1 The Arrival of “One in A Billion”- Satnam Singh
In early November, the St. John’s Edge confirmed the signing and arrival of Satnam Singh to the team. Satnam has the distinct title of being the first Indian-Born player ever drafted to an NBA team when the Dallas Mavericks took his with the 52nd pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.
Like his very distinct title and also his unheralded size, 7’2”, Satnam was bound to be a fan favourite even before he arrived. Issues with his work visa would make his arrival that much more difficult.
With Satnam and his agency trying desperately to get him into the country, he used his influence on social media to reach out to local politicians and even the Prime Minister. Satnam’s post for help was answered, soon he was on his way to Newfoundland and Labrador.
The specific date was November 7th when Satnam landed in St. John’s, with one more little road trip left in his journey as he would travel 5-hours to be with the team in Grand-Falls Windsor for training camp. Riding in a pick-up truck with Assistant Coach, Glen Sooley, Satnam arrived and was greated right away by fans and teammates in Grand-Falls.
Throughout this season, like most players, Satnam has had his ups and downs. The biggest positive is his attitude. Very rarely do you come across an athlete who is as humble as Satnam. Constantly his willingness to adapt, learn, and improve to be the best player for the Edge is something that the organization is very proud of. Satnam has also been a big advocate in the community with the Edge, he attends almost one event every week he is in St. John’s with the team and the community is very gracious and excited that someone with such clout as Satnam takes time out of his busy professional basketball schedule to visit them.
WRAP UP
As of Wednesday, March 27th, the Edge have officially clinched one of the top two spots in the division as the Sudbury Five were downed by the KW Titans meaning that, due to the tiebreaker, the Edge will finish ahead of Sudbury. As for the final position in the standings for the Edge and an opponent, more will be known after the London Lightning complete their schedule this weekend against the Windsor Express.
The Edge could potentially finish 1st overall in the division if London were to lose their final two contests. More importantly, with the Sudbury loss, the Edge are guaranteed to be hosting the first 2 games of the first round of the NBLC playoffs at Mile One Centre.
To get your playoff tickets before they’re gone, visit the Mile One Centre box office, by calling 576-7657, or online at www.mileonecentre.com.