Ankle sprain a pain for Akot

The optics of it weren’t great, and the tone that followed Emmanuel Akot’s injury shortly thereafter didn’t exactly inject much hope into the situation either.

All things considered, though, this turned out to be about as good as the Winnipeg Sea Bears could’ve hoped for their homegrown talent.

Head coach Mike Raimbault confirmed Tuesday that Akot suffered a sprained ankle early in last Friday’s 117-88 road victory over the Ottawa BlackJacks.

While ankle sprains can be difficult to prognosticate — they can vary anywhere from one week to three months, depending on the severity — there is hope that the 6-8 forward will be able to return to action at some point this summer.

“We’ll have to wait and see how long it takes until he’s doing better,” said Raimbault. “I mean, in a lot of ways, it’s optimistic compared to what it could be. It’s just a matter of rehab and time, and hopefully see a little bit later.”

Akot dropped in a heap after landing awkwardly following a rebound attempt, not even three minutes into the game. He needed two teammates to carry him in and out of the locker room at halftime, which only added to the questions about how severe his injury might be.

Akot stood to the side in high spirits during Tuesday’s session. He had already ditched the crutches that he used last weekend and appeared to be moving well for the most part. He even practised a few free throw shots to end the session, which could be telling that he avoided a lengthy recovery.

“I think you’re always fearful if someone’s injured,” Raimbault said. “Ankles are particularly tough to diagnose, because they hurt, so it looks bad. I don’t know if you ever sprained your ankle or not, but it feels crummy, and it’s painful, and we’re just happy that the reports back have been as positive as they can be.”

Akot was a workhorse for the Sea Bears before going down, playing 28.3 minutes per game (only Teddy Allen played more through seven games), and holding a critical role on both ends of the floor as a reliable scoring option and one of Raimbault’s preferred options to guard the opposing team’s best players.

While his early exit watered his season averages, Akot has posted 9.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per contest.

“It’s tough. He’s been a big part of not only just this team this year, but this organization the last couple of years,” said Simon Hildebrandt. “When you have a Canadian that does the things that he does in this league, it just increases your value on both sides of the floor. So, seeing him go down early in the game… definitely hurts our team.”

While the Sea Bears will take a committee approach to replacing Akot, Hildebrandt will be tasked to command the lion’s share of the minutes.

The fellow local product — who has played a quieter role offensively but answered the bell when he’s been called upon this season — rose to the occasion in Saturday’s 98-91 loss to Montreal, playing 30:09 and recording 12 points, eight rebounds and dishing out a pair of assists.

“Simon’s been great. We knew that he could shoot the ball and he could do some things on the offensive end, but he’s shown that he’s challenged at the defensive end, he can be physical, and we need him to continue to grow, and we don’t need him to change anything because Emmanuel is out,” Raimbault said.

“We just need him to continue to work to be the best version of what he’s capable of being, and understanding that we’re all gonna have to sort of step up and fill some of the things that Emmanuel did by committee.”

Kyler Filewich, who went down grabbing his head later in the contest against Ottawa, is in concussion protocol and must complete a graduated progression before returning to action. He practised on Tuesday.

“Try not to approach it any differently than any other game,” said Hildebrandt. “Coach Raimbault has been challenging me to start the game defensively and rebounding, and the other stuff will come, and so I think I tried to do that these last couple of games, and then the rest of it comes.

“Just watching them back, I still think that I have so much more room to grow on the defensive side of the floor, like so many little things. So just keep trying to focus on those and trust the work that I’ve put in my offensive ability, that if I can lock in and be great on the defensive end of the floor, that the offensive stuff will just fall.”

Osborne in the fold

Akot’s absence will be a bit easier to deal with now that off-season signing Isiah Osborne has reported to the team.

Osborne, a 6-5 guard out of Windsor, Ont., spent the regular season playing with Energa Kotwica Kolobrzeg in Poland and, most recently, CS Rapid Bucuresti in Romania.

After taking a week to rest at home, Raimbault said Osborne will make his season debut on Friday against the Calgary Surge at Canada Life Centre (7 p.m. tip-off).

“First and foremost, we signed him really early because we like his skill set. We really like his ability to defend multiple positions,” said Raimbault, adding that Osborne could play point guard or on the wing.

“We know he can stretch the floor and shoot it. Super experienced IQ guy, fit in almost seamlessly today in different spots on the floor, so we expect him to have an immediate impact.”

Osborne, 29, has 49 career games in the Canadian Elite Basketball League under his belt. He’s averaged 25.1 minutes, 10.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game across stints with Edmonton, Montreal and Ottawa.

Now the soft-spoken guard will need to get up to speed and build trust with his new teammates, though it’s something he’s used to after stints in international leagues, including Finland, Greece, Latvia and Lithuania.

“It’s just gonna take some time. I got to learn the way they play. Maybe they learn the way I like seeing (getting) the ball here, get it there, and stuff like that,” said Osborne. “We’ve got to learn to trust each other. They’ve been playing together, so they kind of know what each other does, and I just gotta try and work my way into that and just go off of that.”

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