Darren Zary
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
The Saskatchewan Rattlers are looking to get back to the win column with a pair of games over the Canada Day long weekend.
Here are five things to know about the Rattlers heading into this weekend.
1) Longest-tenured Rattlers
The Rattlers have added a familiar face to their roster.
The Rattlers have re-signed veteran 6-foot-8 forward D’Andre Bernard ahead of their Canadian Elite Basketball League match Saturday night (7:30 p.m. game-time) at SaskTel Centre against the visiting Niagara River Lions.
The Ajax, Ont.-native returns to the CEBL for his fourth season, adding athleticism and size to the Rattlers front court. Bernard earned THE 2024 Rattlers Man of the People Award for his work in the community. He is the longest tenured player in franchise history.
“D’Andre has always demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the Rattlers organization both on and off the court,” said Rattlers general manager and vice-president of basketball operations Barry Rawlyk.
“We needed to do the right thing by rewarding that loyalty by re-signing him to the team this year. His character and veteran experience will be great assets for the team.”
2) Extended season in 2025
The CEBL announced this week that the league will expand its regular season to a 24-game format in 2025, increasing from 100 to 120 total regular-season games next summer.
In addition, the season will start approximately one week earlier next year in early May and end two weeks later in August.
“It’s clear that our fans and partner want more CEBL basketball and our players deserve more opportunities to showcase their skills and to earn more,” said CEBL commissioner and co-founder Mike Morreale.
For the Rattlers, that means four additional regular-season games and two more home games.
CEBL teams have been playing a 20-game schedule since the inaugural 2019 season.
This season, more than 50 CEBL games are being televised nationally either on TSN or the Game-+ channel.
3) 3-game losing skid
The Rattlers (5-5) are looking to snap their longest losing streak of the season this weekend.
Saskatchewan has dropped its last three games, losing to the Calgary Surge on home court before suffering heart-breaking losses to the Vancouver Bandits and Winnipeg Sea Bears on the road.
Niagara (6-4) comes into Saskatoon after losing 94-82 to the Sea Bears on Thursday night in Winnipeg. From there, the Rattlers head to Edmonton for a July 1 match in Edmonton against the Stingers (7-3).
4) Harris leading team
Saskatchewan continues to be led by former NBA Toronto Raptor guard Jalen Harris, who is averaging 26 points per game along with 4.5 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game.
NBA G League Clipper guard Elijah Harkless is next, averaging 17.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, plus a team-leading 5.2 assists 1.8 steals per game.
Maurice Calloo has averaged 14.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.
Saskatchewan has allowed 925 points through 10 games while scoring 893 points during that span.
The Rattlers are tied for fifth in rebounding (393) and seventh in scoring (893 points). Saskatchewan ranks last in the CEBL with 169 assists.
5) Second half of season
The Rattlers have nine games scheduled for the month of July as they play out the second half of the season.
Four of those games will be on home court.
Saskatchewan will host the Scarborough Shooting Stars on July 5, Winnipeg Sea Bears on July 11, Calgary Surge on July 14 and Edmonton Stingers on July 20.
The Rattlers will close out the regular season with an Eastern road swing with games in Ottawa against the Blackjacks and Montreal against the Alliance.
dzary@postmedia.com
