Feeding the beast: men's basketball 2022-23 season preview

TORONTO - This time last year, most of the Bold men's basketball roster was coming together as a group for the very first time. More than half the team was new, from point guard Ankit Choudhary coming back home to Canada after playing in the United States to then-rookie forward Aaron Rhooms fresh out of high school.

Now, heading into the 2022-23 season, the Bold are coming back with not only more experience and sense of self, but also with a hunger yearning to be fed.

Choudhary says this year, he doesn't want to settle for "anything less than a championship." We're sitting at Balzac's on campus as he inputs his training schedule, among school and volunteer commitments, into a Google calendar.

"There's more of a focus on holding each other accountable and everybody wanting to show up and be at their best every day," he says, pausing to take a sip of coffee. "The dynamic is different now in the sense that the potential we have and the standard we set for ourselves is different."

He's right that things are different.

Rhooms, still only in his second year at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), is now the Bold team captain and coming off playing in the Canadian Elite Basketball League with the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the offseason.

The Bold has also added some new faces to the team. Among the new players, they've welcomed former NCAA Division I player David Walker, who has returned to play in his home city from California State University, Bakersfield, and Simon Chamberlain, who played on the Bold's long-time rival team, the Carleton Ravens, for three years before joining TMU.

Now in his fourth year in U SPORTS, Chamberlain feels he can contribute to the young team as a veteran.

"I have experience being in high-pressure games," he says, "and as someone who's been on both a championship team with Carleton and also losing teams growing up, I've seen what it takes to get to the highest level as a team and I want to share that with the guys."

And while the players have matured and shifted positions since last year, at the team's core, other aspects have stayed constant, from the team's coaching staff—which assistant coach Aprille Deus pointed out—to head coach Dave DeAveiro's emphasis on the importance of defence.

Last season, while the Bold were offensively strong, ranking third in the OUA in shooting percentage in the field (45.6) and tying for second at the three (37), they lacked on the defensive end. The team allowed 17.1 turnovers per game compared to the opponent league average of 16.4 and ranked below average in both total and per-game steals and blocks.

"Our defence still needs improvement. When you have a young group, defence always seems to be the one thing that needs a lot more work, but we're getting better," DeAveiro says.

"David [Walker] brings a defensive presence and instincts that we haven't had before, so he'll definitely help us that way," he added. "But it just gives us a little more balance in terms of our personnel and allows other players, like Aaron, to try new things and take on new positions."

The team's season and home opener game is this Saturday, November 5 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, and you can come support the team in-person or watch online with the OUA.tv livestream. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.

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