Edmonton NRG BlogBy Chris O'Leary
Lasting LessonsSometimes the most lasting lessons you learn in sports come from moments that leave a bad taste in your mouth. That seems to be the case for the Edmonton Energy when it comes to the Bellingham Slam.
The Slam, who are reigning IBL champions, had the Edmonton Chill’s number last season. Bellingham took all three of their encounters last year by an average of 16.7 points. They gave the Chill their only two losses on their homecourt last season, on the team’s opening weekend. They followed that up by stinging the Chill in July, when they knocked Edmonton out of the playoffs with a 129–101 victory.
This weekend’s rematch with the Slam will carry a lot of weight for the Chill holdovers on the Energy roster. J.R. Patrick, Andrew Parker, Lee Scruggs, Antwon Mills, Steve Sir and Lunzaya Nlandu were all there for at least one of the three games with the Slam last season. The playoff loss seems to linger with coach Paul Sir, who often brings up Bellingham when he talks about his own team this season.
“(Bellingham) are the anomaly of this league,” the coach said Thursday. “They’re very well coached, have a great team chemistry as well as being great individual players.
“To me, last year when they went down to Elkhart (for the IBL championship game in 2008), it was clear that Elkhart had more talent than Bellingham, but they didn’t have the team concept to play at the high level that Bellingham did. That to me is Bellingham’s strength. They have great talent, but they’re not overwhelming physically.
“I think coach Ridnour (who is the father of Milwaukee Bucks point guard Luke Ridnour) is the best coach in the league and I think Bellingham had the best team chemistry in the league this year.”
The coach said admitted that the league champs played a part in how he shaped his 2009 Energy roster.
“That’s why Will Funn is here, that’s why Skouson (Harker) is here. Same with Kevin (Shand),” Sir said.
“We’re bigger and stronger than Bellingham physically. We’ve got an advantage. It’ll come down to will we take advantage of that advantage?”
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