Balancing act
Titans GM Langis goes on the offensive to build roster
KITCHENER — Crafting a roster is a balancing act for Serge Langis.
The Kitchener-Waterloo Titans coach and general manager is on a mission to boost offence after the club finished its inaugural season as the second-lowest scoring unit in the 10-team National Basketball League of Canada.
But he doesn’t want to sacrifice the team’s tenacious reputation to do it.
“We’re not looking to grind out 100 points every single game this year,” said Langis, who served as bench boss last season but has since added GM to his title.
“I’ve tried to bolster our offence a little bit without compromising that defensive grit that we established last year,” he added.
Scoring was thin at the Aud last season.
The Titans didn’t have one single player among the league’s top 26 in points per game. Only two — Adam Blazek (27th) and Jason Calliste (39th) — ranked in the top 40 league wide but both have since moved on.
Langis has tried to remedy the situation by signing or acquiring six players over the past month. They include:
Tramar Sutherland, a sixfoot-three guard/forward who averaged 9.4 points per game last season for the Titans and graduated from University of Arkansas.
Greg Morrow, a six-foot-four guard/forward and former Western University star who was the team’s first overall pick in the NBL’s Canadian draft last year.
Russell Byrd, a six-footseven forward and Michigan State University alumnus who led the NBL with 126 three-pointers last season as a member of the Moncton Miracles.
Rick Bodiford, a tough sixfoot-five guard/forward and Louisville native who spent the past two campaigns with the now defunct Orangeville A’s.
Darren Duncan, a fivefoot-11 floor general who is one of the best in the league at dishing the ball. The New Yorker also won a championship with Windsor three years back.
Derek Hall, a six-foot-11 centre who scored 20.1 points per game while playing pro ball in Taiwan last season.
More players are on the way, including one guard/forward who Langis feels could easily land among the top five in league scoring. And it’s not just the injection of offence that has the coach pumped.
“It’s the type of players that we’re adding,” said Langis. “We’re going to keep playing that physical game, run the floor and be aggressive and intimidating as possible.
“I have an idea of what I want this thing to look like based on how championship teams have been shaped in this league for the long term.”
Titans training camp begins later this month while the team opens the season against the Windsor Express at the Aud on Nov. 18 at 7 p.m.