He’s still listed as the interim coach, doesn’t yet have anything that is close to resembling a roster and is still waiting for his team to finalize a deal to return to its old digs, but Steve Marcus nevertheless has high hopes for the St. John’s Edge in 2019-20, in large part because he anticipates being truly able to put his stamp on the National Basketball League of Canada club.
In late March, Marcus took over the Edge’s helm for Game 39 of the 40-game 2018-19 regular-season campaign after Doug Plumb, who had been head coach, suddenly left for a new job in his native British Columbia. Marcus, who had been a career assistant and was just 27 at the time, decided it wasn’t prudent to make many changes. That call worked out pretty well as St. John’s went all the way to the league final before being swept by the Moncton Magic.
But Marcus isn’t predicting maintenance of the status quo.
“Last season was great,” said Marcus said during a visit to St. John’s earlier this month. “Obviously, getting thrust into the job with two games left and with us just about ready to go into the playoffs (any change) was difficult. The other thing was that we didn’t have a ton of time to practise.
“But with a full training camp, we’ll have more practice time and be able to tweak some things and do some things I think we should have done differently.
“I think with our offence last year, it got really dummied down just because you would get down to the end of the shot clock, you could throw it to Glen Davis and you’d get a bucket or at the end of the shot clock, you’d throw it to Carl English to get a basket.
“But I think (offensively), we’ll keep it simple. Defensively, we’ll do a lot more. We’ll press, we’ll trap and I want to play a ton of zone and switch-up defences.
“I think we’ll be much better off, because we shouldn’t have (defensive) breakdowns like we had with six or seven seconds left on the shot clock.”
Marcus’s comments came before a session at a pop-up skills camp for young hoopsters at the Ches Penney YMCA in St. John’s. Promos for the camp continued to show he held the “interim” tag, but the Springfield, Mass., native said he is being patient in waiting to become the Edge’s head coach, plain and simple.
He pointed out the camp, which he had organized, was done with the blessing and support of the team’s ownership, but has been told finalizing terms of his employment for next season won’t happen until the Edge have a new lease agreement to play out of Mile One Centre.
“They want to get the deal done with the city first before we take any steps forward,” said Marcus, “and I’m going to respect the decision. I’ve had great talks with ownership, but until that deal gets done, I’ll be an interim head coach.”
When asked if he was in any way worried while he waited, Marcus laughed.
“Everybody gets a little bit nervous when they don’t have a contract,” he said, “but I’m acting on good faith that things will move along when the (lease) deal gets done.”
That apparently applies to roster-building as well.
“They (the Edge owners) want to get the (Mile One lease) deal done with the city first before we take any steps forward and I’m going to respect the decision. I’ve had great talks with ownership, but until that deal gets done, I’ll be an interim head coach.” — Steve Marcus
The Edge haven’t yet announced any player signings for the upcoming season, set to begin in November, but have protected the rights to seven members of the team from last season.
That protected list includes guards Junior Cadougan, Kyle Johnson, Jarryn Skeete and Russell Byrd, swingmen Dez Lee and Shaquille Keith and power forward Murphy Burnatowski.
Marcus said he’s been leaving discussions with any potential new acquisitions to ownership, but that he’s been in frequent contact with those whose NBL Canada rights they’ve maintained.
“I’ve had great communication with all the guys we protected, told them where we’re at and what we want to do,” said Marcus. “Speaking with ownership, we want to build from the inside out. We want to bring back a core, a nucleus of guys who know St. John’s, know what we want to do, know how the organization is run.
“You look at some of the teams that have won championships in this league and it’s (the result of) roster continuity and I think if we can bring back a core of five, six or even seven guys, we have a chance next season.”
Still, Marcus knows one of the constants in the NBLC is roster turnover. There is no expectation that the Edge will retain 2017-18 leading scorer Davis, the former NBA champion who made such a splash with his arrival in St. John’s last fall. And Marcus suggested at least a couple of the protected players who played for in St. John’s in the Edge’s first two seasons could move to higher-level leagues.
“Guys like Dez Lee and Jarryn Skeete, who have been with the organization since Day 1, I actually want them to go find other opportunities overseas to make more money,” said Marcus. “Let’s face it. This is not a get-rich league. It’s a get-out league. You put up good numbers, you get out and go get a better contract, and that is what I hope for them.
“But those guys know they will always have a home here.”
Skeete is one of five Canadians on the protected list — Lee and Byrd are the exceptions — and Marcus said that focus on domestic players was done with a purpose. Remember, NBLC teams must have at least five Canadians in a 12-player game-day lineup.
“You can always get imports in, but it’s not easy to get Canadians,” said Marcus. “Even if they don’t come back and go overseas, we can keep their rights in case they come back or we can trade their rights.”
And Marcus sees two of those Canadians as being heart-and-soul players for the next edition of the Edge.
“Murphy Burnatowski and Junior Cadougan … they’re Canadian and they really embody what we want to do here — blue-collar guys, hard-working. I think those are two guys we can build around.”
But in these parts, the Canadian player Edge fans want to know about is English, the 38-year-old Newfoundlander who was the NBLC’s most valuable player in 2017-18.
Injuries limited English to just over half of St. John’s games last season, but he still averaged 14.4 points per game and attracted a lot of double-team defence when he was on the court.
The Edge didn’t protect his rights, because they didn’t have to. It’s pretty much a given that if English returns to the NBLC, it will be with St. John’s. However, Marcus couldn’t say whether the long-time pro shooting guard is leaning towards one more year as a player.
“I have great talks with him, hung out with him and had dinner with him while I’ve been in St. John’s,” said Marcus.
“Obviously, I want Carl to come back. I think he’s huge for the organization, for what’s been built here. He’s been a massive part of what’s happened, if not the No. 1 part, but he’s 38 going on 39 and there are a lot of miles on those legs, with all those seasons in top leagues in Europe.
“But I‘d love to have him back in whatever role he wants. He knows that. But right now, I think he’s enjoying being around his family, being a dad and just taking his time to figure out what he wants to do.
“And I think whenever he comes to a decision, whatever it is, it will come later (in the off-season), like last year.”
Twitter: @telybrendan
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