Bounce Back: Lancers Men’s Basketball Looks to Rebound from Dormant Season

By: Samuel Moors

Windsor ON – With hope on the horizon, the Windsor Lancers men’s basketball team leans on its veteran experience and team chemistry to fuel a resurgence.

The men’s basketball team were within five points of a trip to the U Sports Championships in 2022-23. In basketball terms, that’s a whisker-thin margin.  That was a 16-6 team.  A team with credentials.  They followed it up with a very disappointing 5-17 campaign – a season to forget.  That brings us to now.

Fourth-year guard Lorenzo Barbieri is the captain of this year’s team and was among the players who fell just short in 2022-23. He says the team learned from last season.

“What not to do and how quickly things can go wrong,” Barbieri said about last year and how this year can be different. “We have a lot of hungry players on the team, a lot of new guys who want to prove themselves.”

Barbieri says there’s a solid stock of players still around from the team that made the playoff run two years ago.  These are guys with unfinished business.

“Those same guys were on the team last year,” he said. “Saw the really high and the really low, they’re just as hungry.”

Head coach Chris Cheng says his players now know the difficult moments that make competition in the OUA tough.  He says he believes they’ll know how to respond when the time comes.

Coach Chris Cheng at practice. Credit @windsormbb

One of the important measuring sticks this season will be how the team carries itself off the court. Team chemistry can be a key to a team’s success, especially when integrating new pieces with some battle-tested veterans.

Fourth-year forward Emanuel Otong is a new Lancer, but one with some solid experience.  He’s joining the team from Georgian College in the OCAA (Ontario Colleges Athletic Association). Otong’s a newcomer, but he’s the team’s oldest player. He sees a team that can stick together, which bodes well when the tough times come.

“A lot of us live together,” he said. “All the guys are meshing, looking tight-knit.”

Cheng echoed Otong’s point about chemistry.  He says the team is taking it seriously.

“This level of cohesion and connectivity we haven’t had in the past.”

Barbieri says he feels last year’s squad could have been closer, and he recognizes that the successful version from two years ago was a very united group. He explained how as captain, he and the team are trying to build a similar bond.

“Hanging out outside of basketball, to get to know your teammates more,” he said. “That was something we did two years ago a lot.”

This year’s team will lean into its past, to show them what works and what doesn’t.  The wins and losses might be an indication of how the group gels and fights for each other.