Latest news with #SimiShittu
Yahoo
28-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Shittu lifts Sea Bears over Surge in defensive grind
A dominant performance from Simi Shittu against his former team pushed the Winnipeg Sea Bears past the Calgary Surge 79-78 at WinSport Event Centre on Sunday. The Winnipeg big man notched 28 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks in the defensive battle, including the game-winner and a clutch rejection in Target Score Time. 'It was personal,' Shittu said. 'They kind of shouted us out in the media … but at the end of the day, we're a whole new team, a whole different vibe, so we wanted to come in and show everybody that we're here in the CEBL and ready to play.' The final regular-season meeting between the Western Conference rivals yielded a back-and-forth showdown with a playoff atmosphere. Trailing by as much as eight in Target Score Time after entering the final stretch with the lead, Winnipeg head coach Mike Taylor credited defensive stops and rebounding with the comeback. 'In the beginning (of Target Score Time), we weren't very efficient, and we dug a hole for ourselves. And then it was just no quit,' Taylor said. Calgary had a dozen chances to win the game in Target Score Time, including a pair of free throws, but came away empty-handed and had its four-game winning streak snapped…
Winnipeg Free Press
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘The sky is definitely not falling'
The CEBL season is past the midway point and the Winnipeg Sea Bears still have more questions than answers about their roster. The club was dealt a huge blow Monday as their third highest scorer, guard Tevian Jones (16.6 points per game), asked for his release to pursue other opportunities. 'I think he was a little frustrated with the fact that we brought Jalen (Harris) in and the team structure changed. That's about as much as I'll get into,' said head coach and general manager Mike Taylor after Tuesday's practice at Canada Life Centre. BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS Winnipeg Sea Bears centre Simi Shittu said Tuesday that, despite losing some faces to the NBA's Summer League, every team in the CEBL 'has their own adversity' at this point in the season. 'It's a part of basketball, guys have to learn to play with other great players.' The move came a week after starting point guard Terry Roberts (Brooklyn Nets) and forward Jaylin Williams (Dallas Mavericks) took off for Las Vegas to play in the NBA Summer League. Roberts and Williams are expected to return once the NBA's off-season competition wraps up July 20, but there are no guarantees. 'That's the nature of the league. You're going to sign some players, and some players are going to finish the season, some players are not,' said Taylor. 'There's a lot of change on other teams as well, and it's just something we have to deal with… We're not as far off as people think. I mean, it's natural roster change.' The Sea Bears are getting kicked while they're down as they're currently on a four-game losing skid that has dropped them to 5-9. They head to Saskatoon to take on the Saskatchewan Rattlers (4-11) Friday night in a battle between the two worst teams in the Western Conference. It's a good thing Winnipeg is hosting this season's championship weekend (Aug. 22-24) because right now they don't look like a group that could reach the final four on their own. In their past four outings the Sea Bears have allowed opposing teams to score 99.5 points on average. 'The sky is definitely not falling,' said star centre Simi Shittu. 'Every team has their own adversity.' The Sea Bears brought in some reinforcements by signing a pair of imports on Tuesday: forward Trevon Scott and guard Will Richardson. They'll remain with Winnipeg until the NBA Summer League concludes and could possibly be asked to stay longer depending on how they fit and whether Roberts and/or Williams come back. Scott, 28, is no stranger to the CEBL as the six-foot-eight athletic big played 12 games with the Calgary Surge in 2023 — with Shittu — and averaged 11.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. He also spent this past NBA G League season playing alongside Terry Roberts on the Long Island Nets where he put up 11.6 points per night. The University of Cincinnati product appeared in two games with the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers in 2021-22. 'I affect the game in every way, scoring, rebounding, defending,' said Scott. 'Everywhere I go, I become a fan favourite, some would say. No matter how long I'll be here, I plan on doing that also.' Richardson has spent the past two years with the Grand Rapids Gold of the NBA G League after five seasons at the University of Oregon. The 25-year-old averaged 11.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists in his most recent campaign in Grand Rapids. He finished his NCAA career ranked top 10 in Oregon's program history in assists, three pointers made and steals. Ruth Bonneville / Free Press Winnipeg Sea Bears head coach and general manager Mike Taylor said Tuesday that 'there's a lot of change on other teams as well.' Scott and Richardson, who both hail from Georgia, will suit up Friday. 'We grew up playing against each other. Tre is probably like 15-20 minutes down from where I'm from,' said Richardson. 'It's pretty cool, it made the decision easier to come play (here).' 'It's a chance to come compete in a good league, against some great competition and get some good summer run,' Richardson added. The Sea Bears still have an open import roster spot to fill, and they're determined to bring in a wing that can shoot and defend. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. What about giving 2023 CEBL MVP Teddy Allen a call and seeing if he's interested in a reunion? 'Ha! That's a great question. I didn't think about that. You know, we'll see. We'll see what the possibilities are,' said Taylor, who cut Allen during the 2024 season. 'At this point, we are pretty wide open. There's a handful of guys that I think are pretty good, but you know, like our standpoint is, we want to be about the team. Teddy was a great part of it for the first year. The second year, he kind of got off the tracks a little bit. But I think everything is open at this point. We won't take anything off the table.' The Sea Bears return home to host Calgary (9-5) on July 17. Taylor AllenReporter Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor. Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. 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