Samuel dominant with the Vancouver Bandits in the CEBL

For the 25-year-old Montreal native, his first season in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) with the Vancouver Bandits couldn’t have been scripted any better, as Tyrese Samuel picked up the Canadian and Clutch Player of the Year award. 

 Hard work pays off

He was instrumental in the Bandits’ playoff run where the team eventually lost to the Calgary Surge in the semifinals, where the Seton Hall product who played his college hoops in Florida averaged a double-double of 21.6 points and 10.9 rebounds per game and was the only player in the league to achieve this feat. In an exclusive interview with SportsBoom.com, Samuel said, “well, it means a lot. 

I feel I got in there early and coach Kyle had a plan for me and he had he viewed me very highly he told me Tyrese he believed in me and I would be able to get those Canadian Player of Year and Clutch Player of Year. Kind of going in early started working out with coach Kyle by myself me, TJass [Tristan Jass], [and] Mitch we started putting the work in early cuz our goal was to win and it kind of showed in our record you know we lost like five games and what the product of Kyle Julius and how he helped me and how he stayed on me and how he stayed on me so I never lost focus on the goal. 

He said you know he said if I’m playing well and everyone is playing well will win and it showed our record showed. Obviously the outcome wasn’t what we wanted it to be it was for sure a lesson you know I feel like I put a lot of work in especially like going from one season right into the next one I’m very happy with those awards I feel like I deserved it I worked hard this summer. Rugzy (Calgary Surge player Sean Miller-Moore-he is a guard) had a great year he should have been up for it. They obviously beat us three or four times. While I was there I was very dominant and based on the voting I think and the coaches around the league I think and whoever else has the votes think that I was probably the dominant force so that’s why I think I got the award.” 

Team culture allows for great chemistry 

Overall, the team excelled as the Bandits won Most Valuable Player (MVP) as that went to Australian Mitch Creek and Kyle Julius took home coach of the year honours. The 6’10” power forward who currently plays for the Valley Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA) G League, an affiliate of the Phoenix Suns in the  NBA where he has career averages of 9.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.6 steals, and 19 minutes over the course of 53 games played in the NBA G League and NBA Summer League believes it was the overall team’s mentality which pushed him to succeed.  

Samuel said, “it was kind of the coaching staff and my teammates you know they always push me Tyrese you’re playing soft you’re not yourself right now they got on me I feel that helped me it helped me they held me to be accountable and treat myself and you know if I’m treating them coaches always tell me Tyrese you’re at this many rebounds go get more your right there you could get seven more. They don’t care too much about the points they want me to play hard, show my physicality and my dominance even if it isn’t me scoring just being a presence on the court just making it easier for everyone else to score they embedded that in me from the time I got there. You’re going to have to play a line, play a lot, and do a lot for our team this year you know as the summer went on it helped me a lot when it got to the end of the year you know like it was like second nature what I was going out there and doing what I was suppose to do like we were winning games late in the year you know I think it’s the players and the coaching staff constantly pushing me.” 

For Samuel he was dominant on the floor where he led the CEBL in field goal percentage with 65.9 per cent accuracy shooting, ranked third in rebounds per game and tied for third with eight double-doubles. He said in an exclusive interview with SportsBoom.com, “for sure, it puts a lot of trust to my guards you know that I’m able when I’m doing those little dish offs  they have a pretty high per cent chance of me scoring so they are getting an assist so they don’t second guess whether it’s me catching lobs, a little dump off pass or whatever the case is I feel it boosts our team’s confidence and it gives them they have a lot of trust in me to make those plays and I put in a lot of work like overtime whether it was at night like with one of our player development people Kyle, KB, or even Stephen we put in a lot of work I work on my craft a lot depending upon where you play you’re touches are limited so when you get those you want to make sure that you put the ball in the net.” 

He added, “that’s kind of how I think about it honestly everywhere I go honestly this year I was able to shoot the ball a whole lot more than I usually do. Everytime I touched the ball I wanted it to go in the net. I made sure of it I had a pretty high percentage I feel like as long as I keep on going   to wherever I am going with  that type of mindset maybe like if I only touch the ball twice or get a rebound twice or even if I get a put back I better make sure the ball goes in because that might be my only chance to see the ball go through the net or whatever the case is. I feel that this is what was helping me this year that type of mindset going forward.” 

Eyes on the NBA

Samuel believes he has the tools and the game to get to the next level he needs to refine some aspects of his game on the court, saying, “continue to work on my outside shot like that’s probably going to be the next step of my game just try to get a little bit more consistent from the outside also just trying to be more of a rim protector I feel like I’m able to guard two through five but I’m a pretty versatile defender so just working on trying to be a little better rim protector like blocking shots or even challenging shots at the rim and also an outside shot a little bit more and just becoming more of a knock down free throw shooter a little bit more  I feel that this would help me for my career and help me go further and further in my basketball career.” 

The power forward attributes to where he has gotten too feeling that the turning point came out of high school and his first year of college to where and how he started to develop his basketball identity saying he transitioned to more of a “big man” and he started to work on his presence inside the paint and finishing at the rim. 

In an exclusive interview with SportsBoom.com, he said, “I would say offensive rebounding, finishing around the rim, guarding one through five, being like a lob threat. I think my versatility offensively kind of to score anywhere from like the top of the key or whatever the case is.” Samuel who has also donned the maple leaf represented Canada on the international stage at the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) derived from its French name, Federation Internationale de Basketball at the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup where he averaged 9.1 points per game, 6.4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1.7 steals and 22 minutes at the tournament, believes that all the experience he has had will make a difference and help him achieve his goal of making it to the NBA, saying “just making the open shot playing with confidence showing my versatility grabbing the ball off of rebounds pushing and creating offensive for others and just showing my defensive versatility. I feel like defense is going to take me a long way because I’m capable of doing it and I think that those things are going to help me take the next step. I feel that there are a lot of people in the NBA that believe in my abilities they just want me to do it on a more constant basis as well just the consistency I feel from there if I’m able to do those things I think that the sky is the limit.”