Sea Bears Playoff Preview: Mike Taylor and Company Look to Blaze Path on Road in Calgary

The Sea Bears’ playoff path runs through Alberta.

With a 9-11 record earning them the Western Conference’s fourth seed, Winnipeg is booked for a swift return to Calgary to play the Surge in the conference’s Play-In matchup. After splitting a home-and-home series just last week, the two teams will meet again Friday night at 8:30 p.m. CT. The victor will advance to visit the Edmonton Stingers in the West semifinal on Sunday, Aug. 4 at 7 p.m. CT with the chance to punch their ticket to Championship Weekend in Montreal.

The Surge own the edge in this year’s season series, having taken two of the three contests between the two squads this year. Winnipeg’s single victory came in the first bout of the recent home-and-home last Tuesday, when they defeated the Surge in a 111-104 shootout to the roar of the largest crowd in Sea Bears franchise history (11,051).

Owning an all-time record of 2-4 against the Surge, Winnipeg has never achieved a victory at Calgary’s WinSport Arena. In fact, the visitor hasn’t emerged victorious in any of the six total matchups between the two teams. The Sea Bears will need to buck that trend to keep their playoff push – and hopes of earning a trip to Montreal – alive.

Following Winnipeg’s narrow loss to Edmonton in their regular-season finale, Sea Bears head coach and general manager Mike Taylor said that three factors will be key determinants of his team’s success entering the postseason.

“The big things that we talk about are transition defence, rebounding and taking care of the basketball. Last night, we did a really good job with 60 rebounds. We did a better job with our transition defence. But our 25 turnovers hurt us. It’s really about putting it all together when it matters most on Friday.”

The battle down low is one that has defined Winnipeg’s meetings with Calgary this season. Two of the team’s bottom-three rebounding performances in 2024 have come against the Surge, and they haven’t bested Calgary in boards, paint scoring or second-chance points in any contest this year. In their last meeting on July 25, Winnipeg was outperformed 55-36 (-19) on the glass – a season-low discrepancy that led to a 17-4 gap in second-chance points.

“We had a close game in Calgary, but we gave them 43 extra possessions with the 25 offensive rebounds and 18 turnovers,” Taylor said of last Thursday’s contest. “That’s a difficult game to win.”

Executing in hostile territory as the visiting team will be another point of focus for Taylor’s group. Having finished with a 1-9 road record on the year, the team hasn’t chalked a victory outside of Canada Life Centre since they played Brampton two weeks into the season on June 5.

The Sea Bears have shown resilience, though, even in their tough road losses. They managed to claw their way back from a 21-point deficit Monday night against the Stingers, but ultimately dropped what turned into a next-basket-wins affair. Four of the team’s nine wins this year have come after trailing by double-digit points. Taylor says he’s encouraged by the grit his team has shown to consistently battle back from slow starts.

“We’ve really benefitted from our home-court advantage with the fantastic fans, support and energy at Canada Life Centre. We’ve gotten better and better at generating our own energy, and I think you’ve seen that heart and will with some of these comebacks,” he explained.

Also on the upswing for the Sea Bears are the contributions of their second unit. Over the last five games, the bench group is averaging 41.4 points per game – almost 10 more than their 31.5-point average on the year. Though their offensive output has often centred around the league’s leading scorer in Justin Wright-Foreman (26.3 points per game), several Sea Bears have shown the ability to make game-changing contributions off the bench.

One such key contributor is Winnipeg product Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, who missed four games in the middle of the season with a back injury. In his 16 regular-season appearances, he’s averaged 13.7 points per game and been one of the Sea Bears’ top deep shooting threats with a 45.6 per cent mark from three. The former University of Calgary Dino will have plenty to play for on Friday representing his hometown team against his alma mater city.

Also riding a hot hand is fellow Winnipegger Simon Hildebrandt, who has seen two of his three double-digit scoring performances this year come in the team’s final five regular-season games. That stretch included a pro career high of 19 points that lifted the Sea Bears over the Rattlers in a pivotal home victory on July 20.

“We need that balance in production,” Taylor stressed. “Jarred has been outstanding since coming back from his injury. Mason [Bourcier] has given us a spark time and time again. Simon has really come on strong in the past couple weeks. We have confidence in all our bench players. Our goal is to have balance, pace and ball movement so that those guys can step up and help us on Friday.”

Late-season addition Stephane Ingo has emerged as a valuable piece of the puzzle, too. The 6-9 forward, who signed with the team just two weeks ago after appearing in 13 games for the club last year, has hardly been slow to re-acclimate. He’s led Winnipeg’s big man rotation in minutes in the team’s last two games while averaging a staggering 2.6 blocks per contest.

“Steph has been huge for us,” Taylor affirmed. “He’s such a smart player. He helps us execute our systems on offence and defence. He’s just a reliable guy that we can count on doing what we need him to do. His mobility has been the key … he gives us that mobile frontcourt piece.”

On the other side, Calgary’s depth of talent has been one of their greatest strengths this season. Their two returning guards in Sean Miller-Moore and Stef Smith account for a combined 35 points per game, and newcomer Corey Davis Jr. set the league single-season assist record this year with 126 total dimes while also chipping in 13.4 points of his own each night. The Surge bring a multi-dimensional offensive attack, sharing the ball for a league-high 21.4 assists per game.

Tyrell Vernon’s squad is also strong in transition, having out-scored the Sea Bears in the fast break in each of their three meetings this year. It’s a group that will test Taylor’s emphasis on ball security and transition defence as the team gears up for the matchup this week.

But above any opponent scout, Taylor says the Sea Bears are focused on their individual execution.

“For us, the focus is internal,” he noted. “I think the guys have made a lot of progress together. They’ve been really focused. I’m really excited about the improvements we’ve made as a team.”

“I really think we can put it together in the playoffs and give ourselves a chance to make a great run,” he continued. “We have confidence and belief that we can beat every team in this league.”

All the preparation will come to a head when the ball goes up Friday night at 8:30 p.m. CT. For live coverage, tune in on TSN, TSN+ or CEBL+ powered by BetVictor.