He’s not in Rajon Rondo’s realm just yet, but when it comes to defensive basketball, Greg Carter can definitely claim to be one of the best in Canada.
The OUA West defensive player of the year last season, when he helped lead the Lakehead Thunderwolves to fifth place at the national championship in Halifax, fourth-year guard Carter is at it again in 2011-12.
The Ottawa native has 22 steals in pre-Christmas play, the most of any player in the OUA, and game in and game out is a main factor in leading LU to a 7-1 record, good for top spot in the conference.
A good scorer when he wants to be – he’s averaging 10 points a night – Carter said he learned to play without the ball out of necessity.
“Growing up, a lot of my coaches were based on defence,” the 21-year-old said recently, after picking up his team’s athlete-of-the-month honour for November.
“Basically they preached that defence wins championships. Obviously I’m a guy who really wants to win and I thought that defence would be a key to my success in the future, so I just focus on that a lot of time when I’m on the court.”
Shutting down the top players in the OUA is never an easy task. Guys like Warren Ward of Ottawa and Laurentian’s Manny Pasquale – the CIS leading scorer who Carter helped hold to a 14-point night less than two weeks ago.
“Growing up I played a lot of guys who were older than me, a lot of people who were more skilled, so I just learned to play better defence. It’s also not just all about guys who can score. It’s about guys who want it more, so I try to relax when I’m on the court,” Carter said.
Assistant coach Matt Erdman said having a defensive whiz like Carter on the court is just as good as a 30-point scorer.
The impact is equally important, he said.
“He’s kind of like our Nintendo game-changer. You put him on somebody and you’re almost guaranteed that he’ll shut them down and they’re not going to get good looks on the offensive end,” Erdman said. “He’s able to change the game, just by what he does defensively.
“And obviously this year offensively he’s picked it up and that’s just a testament to what he does.”
Erdman shudders to think where the Wolves would be without Carter in the starting lineup.
“It would be tough to imagine this team without Greg, literally for what he brings on and off the court.”
