Posts Tagged ‘Justin Garris’

Storm Make More Roster Changes

Posted: December 19, 2011 in Uncategorized
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It was announced earlier today that the Summerside Storm have released 2nd overall pick Justin Garris and signed guard Troy Jackson.

The 6’3” 200lbs, Jackson comes to the Storm from Philadelphia.  In College, he played for Alcorn State, which is part of the SWAC (Southwestern Athletic Conference).  He was the lead scorer in the SWAC in his senior year with 21 points per game.  Jackson went on to play under Coach Salerno in 2009 for the Vermont Frost Heaves;  here he led the PBL in scoring at 19 points per game.  Jackson also averaged five rebounds and four assists per game.  He was a 78% free throw shooter, shot 47% from the floor and 41% from behind the arch.  Jackson also played in the Dominican Republic and professionally in Europe.

Coach Salerno commented on the signing.

“We are extremely excited to have Troy in Summerside.  He is one of the fiercest competitors I’ve ever known.  Not only will he bring another scorer, but also a very good on ball defender, which is something we need.”

My Analysis:

Summerside released a player in Justin that plays just a few minutes a game and picked up Troy Jackson who could easily start on this team, that’s great.  However; every rose has it’s thorn, Justin has great potential and he’s only 22 years of age.  In my recent interview  with Storm co-owner Darren MacKay he said that “Justin is a player for the future” so this news definitely surprised me.  Nevertheless Troy Jackson is a great shooter and still appears to have lots of gas left in the tank.  Hopefully he can shoot free throws like the numbers say he can.

Interview With Co-Owner Darren MacKay

Posted: December 11, 2011 in Uncategorized
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Before Thursday’s game against the Halifax Rainmen I sat down with Storm Co-Owner Darren MacKay for an interview.

Brett Poirier:  Why bring professional basketball to Canada’s smallest Province?

Darren MacKay:  It really started with Duncan Shaw (Co-Owner) who was in Halifax at the time and met Andre Levingston (Rainmen Owner).  Andre was interested in starting a professional league in Canada.  Coincidentally me and Duncan sold a software company around that time and had some disposable income.  We both love basketball and we saw this as a great opportunity to give back to the community.

BP:  How did Summerside get this team over Charlottetown?

DM:  When we first started we were trying to make this team Island wide, where we would play in both Charlottetown and Summerside,  however there were a couple of reasons we didn’t go with the capital city.  First and foremost they didn’t have a court and the Credit Union Place is also newer and more advanced than the Civic Centre.

BP:  Are you and Duncan responsible for signing, releasing and trading players?

DM:  Quite honestly we have nothing to do with it, we left it all up to coach Joe Salerno and he’s doing a great job with it.

BP:  What players have been the most surprising to you this season?

DM:  Coming into the season I had expectations for Mike Williams, Al Stewart, Julian Allen ect. and they have proven themselves so far this season.  As far as surprising I would have to say Chris Cayole, he’s been fantastic for us.

BP:  When you were at the NBL draft in Toronto this past summer with Duncan and Bill Schurman (Management Consultant) what urged you to select Justin Garris with your second overall pick?

DM:  Looking at what there was to offer he was one of the young top talents; and along with mentoring from coach Salerno we were confident we would be able to pick up other key players later on that night.  Justin is still very young and I believe he isn’t near his full potential yet.

BP:  Why is it so important for the team to reach out to members of the community?

DM:  It’s really a league wide initiative to connect with the fans the best that we can.  We as a team are trying to have our face as many places as possible to build a better relationship with the fans.

BP:  Can the Storm make the Playoffs?

DM:  Absolutely, the last few games have been tough but if you look back to how we started the season it’s pretty easy to see that there’s lots of potential.

BP:  Can you see this team in Summerside 3-5 years from now?

DM:  I think so, we’ve had our challenges but we have a great fans base already.  If the fan totals started to decrease over time we would likely move elsewhere but as it stands the Storm are here to stay.

Quebec Brought Their StormShield To Today’s Game

Posted: November 20, 2011 in Uncategorized
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1st Quarter:

Quebec gets on the attack early.  They swarm Summerside causing them to turn the ball over several times.  At the end of the first Quebec leads 24-11.

2nd Quarter:

Much of the same for Summerside; turnovers causing problems, also their giving up too many offensive rebounds.  Jessan Gray and Julian Allen were the only bright spots for Summerside in the half, they were getting it done offensively combining for 22 points going into the third.  Another weak area for Summerside today is their free throw shooting.  If I were to guess their percentage I would say somewhere around 45-50%.   Quebec leads 53-32 going into half.

3rd Quarter:

At this point Storm coach Joe Salerno appeared very frustrated by the way the calls were going and by the effort his team was giving.  Summerside was getting tore up down low and on the offensive rebounds, for the third straight quarter.  Even when the Storm started to put together a small run the Kebs would match it with their own.  Summerside trailed 81-57 after three.

4th Quarter:

I figured that by now we would see Justin Garris or Doug McKinney considering they were down by nearly 30, but Salerno still stuck with his regulars.  Quebec was just padding their stats at this point, they were confident they had this game locked up.  Kebs win 108-89. 

My view:  Quebec wanted this one more, period.

You can copy the link below to your address bar for full stats of the game.

http://bit.ly/rysR1O

Roster Now Finalized

Posted: October 28, 2011 in Uncategorized
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This is the final 12 roster members for the Summerside Storm.

Al Stewart 5’10″ PG Drake Univ.
Jessan Gray 6’10″ C Iowa State
Mike Williams 6’8″ PF Cinncinnati
Dwight Brewington 6’5″ SG Providence
Mike Dale 6’6″ SF So. Illinois
Xavier Hansbro 6’10″ C Georgia State
Julian Allen 6’4″ SG Georgia Southern
Lou McCroskey 6’5″ SF Syracuse
Eric Gilchrese 6′ PG UNH
Justin Garris 6’4″ SG Ashland Univ.
Troy Gottselig 6’9″ PF Univ. Saskatchewan
Chris Cayole 6’8″ SF Saint Michaels College

Interview With Coach Salerno

Posted: October 5, 2011 in Uncategorized
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Coach Joe Salerno has experience as an assistant coach and also a head coach for several years,  he now looks for a new task in coaching the newly expanded Summerside Storm.

Brett Poirier: How was your experience coaching the Vermont Frost Heaves?

Joe Salerno: It was a bit of a whirlwind.  I started as the head assistant coach, then was promoted to head coach when the other coach was released.

BP: How did the Summerside Storm job come up?

JS: I was called by the league president Andre Levingston who asked me if I was interested in applying for a coaching position, I told him I was very interested, and that I feel this is a great league.  Then I sent out some resumes and was later contacted by a few teams and decided Summerside was the best fit for me and my family.

BP: How were your first impressions of the Island?

JS: With the exception of the rain, it’s great!  The facilities are spectacular, the people are extremely friendly so far it’s been a great experience.

BP: Where will the players be living?

JS: They will each be giving a hotel room in the city.

BP: When will the players bee arriving?

JS: 18 will arrive on Saturday, in the next couple of weeks we’ll cut it to 12 and they’ll hopefully be here through mid March.

BP: Are you happy with the roster you have to work with?

JS: I am! I feel we have a great core of talent with the 16 that are under contract.  There’s also lots of experience on our team.  We only have 3 rookies, 2 of which we drafted in Toronto (Tyrone Mattison, Justin Garris) so there’s great experience, mixing with great young talent.

BP: Can the Storm compete with the bigger market teams?

JS: Absolutely, the media have targeted the London Lighten as a favourite to win but I believe that we have a great team, that can easily come 3rd or 4th.  Which would put us in the playoffs.

BP:  What’s your style of coaching?

JS: I don’t handcuff players, these guys are very good at what they do.  It’s my job to bring them together and have good chemistry with one another but most importantly put them in a position to win games.

Other Notes:

White vs. Blue intersquad game at Westile Senior High School Saturday, October 15 at 7pm.  There’s no charge and it’s open to everyone.

Special announcement at Three Oaks Senior High on Thursday, October 6 at 11am.