Strengths of Canadian basketball on display at CEBL’s ‘Met Gala’
The CEBL’s awards gala at The Met in Winnipeg did not come with a zany dress code, despite the implications of the words Met and gala in the same sentence.
But a key theme did emerge in the Manitoba capital, just as it does at the one in New York.
Over the course of the roughly hour-long awards show, the strengths of Canadian basketball were on full display.
It was a charge led by Tyrese Samuel, the Vancouver Bandits forward and Montreal native who took home the honours of top Canadian and Clutch Player of the Year.
“The world’s gonna know about Canada Basketball,” Samuel said when asked what the award meant to him. “We’re just gonna grow and have more players in the NBA, more players going overseas and getting big contracts, making a name for themselves. So it’s gonna continue to grow and the league’s gonna get better and better.”
Samuel, 25, exploded onto the scene in his first CEBL season. As a key member of the Bandits, who earned the league’s top regular-season record, Samuel averaged a double-double of 21.4 rebounds and 10.8 rebounds per game — the only player in the league to reach double digits in each category.
Meanwhile, his six Target Score Winners tied fellow Canadian Sean Miller-Moore of the Calgary Surge, but Samuel was handed the clutch award in a tie-breaking vote.
“It means a lot. The last couple years have been kinda slow for me, but coming to the CEBL was a good decision in that me and my agent came up with a plan to get me back my rhythm, gain back a little bit of confidence. I feel like this year was that for me,” he said.
“I’m highly for grateful for Vancouver and then the team we built and the brotherhood we built and even the great season that we had. I feel like I grew a lot this summer and just thankful.”
Samuel, who played for Florida and Seton Hall in college, also led the CEBL in field goal percentage (65.9), ranked third in rebounds per game and tied for third with eight double-doubles.
His teammate and coach also took home some hardware as star forward Mitch Creek was named MVP and Kyle Julius took home coach of the year honours.
But while the Bandits won the league’s three marquee trophies (MVP, top Canadian, top coach), the first two awards of the night spoke to the little things that go into making Canadian basketball hum.
First, Saskatchewan Rattlers guard Isaac Simon was named developmental player of the year.
Simon played all 24 games for the Rattlers and averaged 4.7 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per contest. He will return to the University of Alberta in the fall.
The Regina native even saw much of Canada on his way to accept the award as flight troubles caused him to traverse the prairies from his hometown to Calgary and back over to Winnipeg with just an hour to spare.
“I think [the league] just provides Canadians the opportunity that maybe wasn’t there before. Each year the league’s getting bigger and bigger. … We have a lot of talent in Canada and I think this league’s doing a great job of showcasing that,” Simon said.
On the other side of the spectrum, a man who has been involved in Canadian professional basketball essentially since its inception was also honoured with the Fox 40 Officiating Recognition Award.
Karl Toulouse, who has been with the CEBL since Day 1, oversees 150 minor officials across all 10 CEBL markets and has been present at every Championship Weekend to support the scorer’s table.
Having also worked with the Toronto Raptors since their inception, Toulouse showed up rocking his 2019 championship ring.
He said he shares his award with all the officials working across the country and added that he’s grateful that the CEBL exists.
“They are doing all of the right things with commissioner Morreale at the top. These people are all class, they bring their A-game and they work their tails off from start to finish,” Toulouse said. “As for the league, the cities are wonderful, the organizations are building strong franchises that are being engaged and embraced by fans throughout the country and would I like to see more teams? Yeah, I would. I’d like to see more of everything. It really is a wonderful league that’s top notch.”
Elsewhere, Zane Waterman, the Ottawa BlackJacks forward, captured sixth man of the year after averaging 15.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 23.1 minutes per game while shooting 52.9 per cent from three-point range in 14 games.
And a battle between Surge teammates Jameer Nelson Jr. and Greg Brown III for Defensive Player of the Year ended in a victory for Nelson Jr.
The 24-year-old dominated in his first CEBL season, setting a league record with 57 steals in just 10 games. As a team, Calgary allowed the fewest points per game (87.2) while grabbing the most steals (10.3).
Nelson Jr. said his defence was elevated playing alongside Brown III, who gave Nelson a look and a dap when he was announced as winner.
“We’ve been talking all year about who’s the best defender,” Nelson Jr. said. “He makes it super easy just because of his presence, but he might not get all the blocks, but he’s going to get a lot. And it might be just a block by him just standing there and being like ‘I’m not about to go there.’”
The pair, who are also rooming together at Championship Weekend, will reunite as teammates Friday when the Surge face the Winnipeg Sea Bears in the West Final.
It’s set to be the biggest Championship Weekend to date after the Sea Bears set a regular-season attendance record.
According to Samuel, it may not end there.
“I feel like every year it’s just gonna get better,” he said. “And I feel like we’re putting Canada basketball, it’s on the map right now, but it’s just growing and growing even more. And as long as there’s good Canadians in this league, the sky’s the limit.”
