Timberwolves Basketball: 2014-205

Brady Stark
Team Member

o far in the 2014-2015 season, the UNBC

men’s basketball team has played four
away games, and won none. A few of the
games have been close, only losing by four
points twice, and once losing by only a single
bucket. It is early in the season, and they
have yet to play in front of a home crowd, but
alarm bells must be going off in the coach’s
head as he tries to improve the team before
the season goes pear-shaped like the last
couple of years.

One of the main problems apparent last
year, other than being forced to play against
bigger universities, was that the team never
seemed to have the spark coursing through
their lineup like the opposition did. As a fan
that went to a number of games, I frequently
saw the other team’s bench always on their
feet, cheering on their teammates and being
as vocal as possible in order to keep their
squads energy up and give pointers where
needed. On the Timberwolves bench, it was
shocking to see that even when the scores
were fairly close, most of the team sat silent
on the bench and kept to themselves. It is

very apparent when you see the team play or
practice at the NSC, there is no lack of talent
coming from the Timberwolves. However,
they are playing teams that have more
resources and are racking up the points.

The one saving grace that Timberwolves fans
and the team might appreciate is the fact
that the league has changed its format this
season by going with higher and lower tier
conferences (Pioneers and Explorers). Teams
from these two conferences are not going

to be playing against each other in order

to ensure that there are more competitive

games, rather than the predictable blowouts
that happened throughout the previous
years. The top three teams from the lower
tier are still eligible to play in the playoffs
against the higher conference, but this

is a reward for the top seeded teams to

have an easier path to the next round. The
Timberwolves are seeking to revitalize

their program and reach new heights for
themselves and the fans that loyally cheer
them on. Now it’s up to the team to win some
games, to prove we still belong in the CIS!