In a loss that Head Coach Ken Olynyk admitted was without many redeeming features, the Ryerson Rams walked all over the Blues 88-62 last Friday.
“We didn’t play with very much energy—they beat us down the floor on the dribble, we gave them easy baskets, we didn’t shoot the ball well,” Olynyk confessed. “I mean, really I didn’t see a lot of things that were positive.”
Only three minutes into the game, the Blues were already down by five, and it only got worse. In fact, U of T never led during the game.
In the first half, Ryerson showed consistency at the free throw line and played with a hustle that went unmatched by U of T. Their strong guard play, quick hands, and good footwork ran circles around U of T’s weak defense, with the Rams scoring on simple lay-ups. Ryerson punished the Blues, forcing them to run up and down the floor attempting to catch up.
However, the credit cannot all go to Ryerson. The Blues made an inadequate 40.4 per cent of their field goal attempts in the game, and were only 60 per cent from the free throw line. Add to that a complete lack of transition defense, and it was hardly surprising that by the half U of T was down 51-27.
After a weak start to the second half, Olynyk called a quick timeout, desperate to revive his lifeless team. The team stepped up, stopping a Ryerson onslaught and dropping a few baskets. But even though they kept Ryerson to 20 points, they were in too deep after the first half to really challenge Ryerson.
Despite a strong performance (17 points and 5 assists in 40 minutes), team captain Paul Zyla was quick to take his share of responsibility for the team’s defeat.
“We didn’t exactly come out to play, so I think we just need to come out more prepared to our next games,” he said.
“Everyone’s got to take it upon themselves to make sure that when game time comes we’re ready to go.”
Ranked third in their division, the Blues will play the second place team, Carleton, on the road on Friday.
