“We Want to Earn the Right to be a Contender” – Sea Bears Head Coach Mike Taylor Reflects on Team’s Success Halfway Through Season

When Mike Taylor decided to become the first head coach of a CEBL expansion team in a city that hadn’t seen professional basketball in over two decades, he saw a blank canvas.

A 28-year veteran of the profession, Taylor had served as a head coach across the globe. Beginning as an assistant in the U.S. collegiate ranks, it wasn’t long before he was captaining benches in Europe, the NBA G League, and more recently, the Bandits of the CEBL. Taking the helm of the newly minted Winnipeg Sea Bears, though, presented a unique draw for Taylor: the chance to assemble the roster that he would coach.

“You can paint the picture the way you want it,” said Taylor on his first work as a general manager. “It’s a lot of work to build things from the ground up, but the chance to assemble the staff, build the roster and put the systems in place was a really fun challenge.”

As he shaped Winnipeg’s new professional franchise, Taylor drew on his eight years of experience as head coach of the Polish national team, a role where he was also charged with determining the personnel he would go to battle with on the court.

“I think those eight years were fantastic preparation,” he said.

Taylor had one mantra at the forefront of building Winnipeg’s inaugural roster: team over talent. Where other general managers might look to jam pieces together in an effort to “collect talent,” Taylor and his staff would carefully consider each player’s fit, role and availability to buy into a four-month season with one goal: a CEBL Championship.

“We want to fit together, play together and attack together – I think that’s what can separate us from other teams who just want to collect talent,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to build upon as our advantage as we go into the playoffs, and I’m really pleased with how we’ve seen that from the guys over the first half of the season.”

Ranked third-to-last in the CEBL’s opening championship odds by the league’s betting partner BetVictor, the Sea Bears now sit untouched atop the standings with a 7-3 record at their midseason mark. Taylor’s squad has surpassed any initial reservations associated with their status as an expansion team, with victories over early-season favourites like the Scarborough Shooting Stars and defending league champion Brampton Honey Badgers. The Sea Bears own one of the most potent offences in the league, and a number of their players have emerged as early frontrunners for the 2023 CEBL Awards, which will be announced at Championship Weekend in August.

No Sea Bear has played a more prolific role in the team’s early success than superstar guard Teddy Allen. The 25-year old has been a phenom, averaging 26.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per contest in an early bid for the league’s Most Valuable Player Award. At the season’s halfway mark, Allen has already claimed the league’s single-game record in both scoring and three-pointers, with 42 points June 2 at Scarborough and nine made threes June 15 against Brampton, respectively.

“We recruited Teddy to be exactly what he is right now. If you know his track record, you know he’s been a high-level scorer through AAU, high school and college,” Taylor said. “You hoped he could develop into that MVP-caliber player, and he’s attacked that opportunity. He’s been a perfect fit for us.”

Allen’s eye-popping numbers have not come at the expense of Taylor’s mandate to play as a team, though. The Sea Bears’ depth has been one of their greatest strengths, particularly with 6-7 forward E.J. Anosike emerging as one of the premier post scorers in the CEBL. The East Orange, N.J. product is averaging 17.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while bringing an integral energy and grit to Winnipeg’s frontcourt.

“He’s a worker,” said Taylor on Anosike. “He has so much talent and versatility with his ability to play physically and score inside but also handle the ball and make plays on the perimeter. We hope this can be a platform for him to show teams all over the world what he can do.”

While recruiting his team, Taylor took full advantage of his network of coaches, agents and executives. One trusted recommendation came from Ryan Schmidt, last year’s CEBL Coach of the Year with the Honey Badgers, now leading the London Lions of the British Basketball League (BBL). Schmidt vouched for Jelani Watson-Gayle, a London product who had just finished his first professional season with the Bristol Flyers.

Schmidt’s seal of approval was well-deserved. Watson-Gayle has been a steady hand in the clutch for Taylor’s squad, scoring the winning basket in target score time on four occasions while also leading the CEBL in three-point shooting for much of the year with a mark above 50 per cent. The 24-year-old is averaging 13.4 points per game, the most by any player who has not started a game for their team.

“Ryan is a friend, and he gave us a really good recommendation of Jelani. That helped us focus on him as our international player,” said Taylor. “He’s been even more dynamic than we had planned,” he smiled.

Taylor had another important directive in building the inaugural Sea Bears roster: establishing strong roots in local talent. The team made Winnipeg-born CEBL veteran and 2019 league champion Chad Posthumus their first-ever signing, to major fanfare in the community and effect on the court. Posthumus leads the league in offensive rebounds and has recorded a double-double in three of his last four games. Taylor also selected University of Manitoba Bison and reigning U SPORTS Rookie of the Year Simon Hildebrandt with the first overall pick in the 2023 U SPORTS Draft. Winnipeg’s training camp roster featured six local products, a testament to Taylor’s commitment to developing home-grown talent.

Taylor acquired the players that fit his system and preached the culture of energy, physicality and togetherness he wanted to see on the floor. But the roster had to unite on their own. Taylor says he could not be happier with the way his team has come together as a family.

“The best teams have the culture coming from the players. The guys have really connected – they’ve been unselfish, and we look at it like a basketball family.”

Family has been a central tenet as Taylor’s Sea Bears have built the team’s identity from the ground up. An important step in growing that culture has been fostering a family atmosphere and giving back to the Winnipeg community. Breaking every team huddle with the word “family” and applauding the fans at centre court after every game (a tradition Taylor brought over from his time in Europe), Taylor and company have ensured that the team actively welcomes the community into the Sea Bears family. The coaching staff and players are also offering free basketball programming to local youth through their Sea Bears Summer Series.

“As a general manager, you have to be concerned with the establishment and growth of the organization,” stressed Taylor. “We wanted to connect with the city by creating opportunities and events for kids to learn basketball and interact with our Sea Bears guys. It’s a credit to the players and staff to give back the love and welcome that Winnipeg has shown us.”

Taylor says that, along with the team’s early success on the court, he’s also proud of the development of the Sea Bears as a “people-first” organization. He credits chairman David Asper and team president Jason Smith for preparing the franchise to succeed in a Winnipeg market that can compete with the largest in the league.

Looking ahead to the playoffs, two teams stand out as likely opponents for the Sea Bears: a fellow newcomer in the Calgary Surge, and the Vancouver Bandits, host of 2023 Championship Weekend. Winnipeg suffered a tough 97-81 loss on the road in Calgary on June 18, but have narrowly edged out the Bandits in all three of their meetings thus far. Winnipeg and Calgary have vied for the top spot in the Western Conference for much of the season.

“[Calgary] can make it a long night for you if you allow them to crash the boards. They have so many athletic bodies that they throw at you – the key against those guys is to be better controlling the transition game and the boards,” Taylor explained. “I’m really proud that we’ve come out and played well against [Vancouver], because we respect them.”

Winnipeg’s hot start hasn’t created any assurances in Taylor’s mind. He wants his team to carry forward the desire to prove themselves as newcomers.

“We’re off to a great start, but we can’t be complacent. We want to earn the right to be a contender. We’re an expansion team – we’ve got no right to think this or that about ourselves. We want to win our way to Vancouver,”  he said.

If the Sea Bears’ early-season success is any indication, Mike Taylor has constructed a team equipped to do just that. 

About the CEBL

A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 71 percent of its 2022 rosters being Canadian. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. Nine players have moved from the CEBL into the NBA following a CEBL season, and 28 CEBL players attended NBA G League training camps during October. The CEBL season runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow @CEBLeague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.

Social Media:

Facebook: /wpgseabears

Twitter: @wpgseabears

Instagram: @wpgseabears