Familiar Faces Meet as Sea Bears Visit Rival Rattlers

By Zulfi Sheikh

It’s one thing for two Western Conference rivals to face off yet again. It’s another when both squads are being led by familiar faces turned foes. When Winnipeg and Saskatchewan went head-to-head a year ago, the two squads were led by MVP Teddy Allen and runner-up Justin Wright-Foreman -- and although that remains true, the two American guards have now switched sides.

Wright-Foreman signed with the Sea Bears mid-way through the 2024 season, and a couple games into his arrival, Allen was released and subsequently picked up by the Rattlers. Now, two of the most prolific scorers in league history face off yet again, this time donning what they once considered enemy colours.

For the Sea Bears, things have been trending in an upward direction since the switch-up. Winnipeg had won four games in a row, earning third place in the West, before losing their most-recent contest to the Montréal Alliance.

On Friday, the Sea Bears suffered a seven-point loss to the bottom-of-the-East Alliance, and although they might have been averaging 91.5 points per game entering the night, they managed only 73 points, a season low.

The Sea Bears shot a lowly 36 per cent from the field and 19 per cent from beyond the arc against the Alliance. It also didn’t help that Winnipeg gave the ball up 17 times for 30 points off said turnovers (plus-17).

Meanwhile, the Rattlers are also coming off a season-low scoring performance. But for them, a 99-70 loss to the West-leading Vancouver Bandits also marked a seventh consecutive defeat, putting them on the verge of the longest skid of any team this season.

Against the Bandits, it was the Rattlers’ scoring production that wasn’t able to keep up. Defensively, they did a serviceable job holding the league’s top offence (93.1 points per game) to 41 per cent from the field and a modest 35 per cent from distance. But Saskatchewan was far behind as they shot 31 per cent from the field and hit just six threes (minus-six) on a 21 per cent clip. And like the Sea Bears in their last game, the Rattlers did themselves no favours by turning the ball over 21 times for 21 points off said giveaways.

It comes as no surprise that the two players to watch in this contest are Allen and Wright-Foreman.

The reigning MVP still has plenty to prove. His addition hasn’t snapped the Rattlers’ losing streak, and although the guard is leading the league in scoring (26.4 points per game, tied with Wright-Foreman), Saskatchewan will want to see that individual success translate into wins sooner rather than later.

In his two games with the Rattlers, Allen has averaged 19.5 points, but his efficiency has left plenty to be desired, shooting an average of 24.5 per cent from the field in that span. He’ll have to hope the added boost of facing his old team for the first time since his release will be enough motivation to get Saskatchewan back in the win column.

For Wright-Foreman, it’ll be a true reunion with his old squad. He returns to SaskTel Centre for the first time since leading the Rattlers and CEBL in scoring last season (29.2 points per game) with the added incentive of earning his new squad a win with vital playoff seeding implications. Calgary sits half a game behind Winnipeg for the West’s third seed, and with the closing stretch of the regular season around the corner, every in-conference matchup has the potential to shake up the standings.

The guard also needs a bounce back after his scorching stretch of play came to a screeching halt against Montréal. Wright-Foreman scored over 30 points in three of the Sea Bears’ four consecutive wins, averaging 29.5 points per game in that span, but scored just 16 points on six-of-22 shooting (27 per cent) in their loss to the Alliance.

If the Sea Bears are going to take advantage of the fact that the Rattlers give up the third-most points in the league (93.6), they’ll need Wright-Foreman to look like the player who was on pace to lead the CEBL in scoring for a second consecutive season.

Stakes couldn’t be any higher with both squads tied at one win apiece this season. A win on Thursday would put the victor a step closer to owning a potential tiebreaker should playoff seeding come to that.

Saskatchewan took the first matchup (94-86), whereas Winnipeg won a month later (103-101).

About the Winnipeg Sea Bears

The Winnipeg Sea Bears joined the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) as an expansion franchise in 2023. The city's only professional basketball team plays out of Canada Life Centre from May to August in a 20-game regular season schedule. Winnipeg businessman and lawyer David Asper is the organization's owner and chairman.

More information on the Sea Bears can be found at seabears.ca and @wpgseabears on Instagram, X, TikTok, LinkedIn & Facebook.

About the CEBL

A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 75 per cent of its rosters being Canadian and a record 10 players with NBA experience in 2024. Players also bring experience from the NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, NCAA programs, as well as U SPORTS and CCAA. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August with games broadcast live on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, TSN, TSN+, RDS, Game+, Next Level Sports & Entertainment andCourtside1891. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube

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