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No Smiley Face Attached to This 15 Point Win!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
1/10/2008
Joe Sunderman and Byron Larkin filled admirably as they waited for Sean Miller to show for his postgame radio interview. The delay extended well over 10 minutes. Sunderman humorously speculated tongue in cheek that Miller might have run into relatives or long lost friends outside the dressing room and had lost track of time. We listeners all knew Sean was lambasting his team in the wake of a less than memorable 83-68, outlasting of A-10 bottom feeder St. Bonaventure. And when Miller did reach the microphone, he rather bluntly and honestly communicated his "disgust" with his team's lack of effort.
Despite a 13-3 record,a 5 game win streak, Top 25 rankings, Top 10 RPI numbers, favorable SportsCenter mentions and a prediction of a Final 4 berth from normally coherent Paul Daugherty of the Enquirer, this Muskie team is separated from being very ordinary by just a few ounces of sweat and a couple beams of lazer-like focus.
Sean listed a few advantages his players enjoy -- like a full scholarship and a bountiful pre-game meal and a state of the art arena. I might add - air travel - sometimes on chartered planes and first class hotels. In contrast, St Bonnies has to cut corners. They jumped on the iron lung (bus) right after the game, grabbed a sandwich, and settled in for a 9 or 10 hour ride to Olean, New York, hoping to avoid lake affect snow squalls en route.
My friend Mark Schmidt coaches SBU. He knew he had a 1 in 99 shot of beating XU at Cintas, but he and his players put the work in. They changed defenses like maniacs! They attacked a less than inspired Muskie defense and knocked down 11 three pointers. And the Bonnies made it competitive with one and a half A-10 caliber players (Mike Lee- anywhere and everywhere on the court and the Australian Fereti on offense).
The lion's share of good defense is taking away the "knowns" and making the support players do things they are not used to doing. X didn't fair so well. Lee and Fereti teamed up for 43 points -- 16 rebounds and 9 assists. A 15 point win is not all bad obviously.
X fashioned a 44-30 halftime lead despite an early spate of unforced turnovers and foul trouble for indispensable point guard Drew Lavender. Stanley Burrell played extended minutes at the "one" and seemed very comfortable. Adrion Graves drilled a picture perfect 3 and converted a tough fast break pass into a bang-bang reverse lay-up. B.J. Raymond and C.J. Anderson each scored a career high 21.
In the second half the teams basically traded baskets. Good shooting and luke warm defense and marginal hustle definitely were enough to beat St. Bonnies. Miller will insist on a more aggressive mind set against Fordham Saturday at home. Line-up changes might even be in the offing??
We've mentioned the RPI numbers and Top 25 polls to underscore the Atlantic 10's improvement this season. Opening night conference action confirmed the progress. Dayton and Rhode Island staged a wild 92-83 affair at UD Arena. The Flyers won their 12th straight basically without super frosh Chris Wright. He re-injured an ankle in the first half. UD is a lot more than Brian Roberts. Last night Wisconsin transfer Mickey Perry made his UD debut and scored 8. URI got huge scoring games from Wil Daniels and Jimmy Baron but just couldn't climb the mountain on the road.
Saint Joe's cashed in dividends from their tough pre-conference schedule. The Hawks rolled into Amherst and blasted UMass 98-92 to snap the Minutemen's 15 game home court win streak. SJU is huge and experienced close to the basket with Ahmad Nivins (31 pts, 12 reb). Pat Calathes did his all court thing (21 and 15). Travis Ford criticized his UMass team for playing "pretty" while St Joe's was "gritty".
Charlotte came out of nowhere to upset a rated Clemson team. Oliver Purnell's Tigers should have beaten North Carolina Sunday. And, Duquesne ran multiple bodies in and out of the game to roar past Fordham, 74-62. The Dukes led 68-47 with 5 to play and then let the Rams make it look more respectable.
Fordham's at Cintas Saturday at Noon. The Rams were picked a lofty third in the coaches and media preseason poll but they arrive here at 6-7 with a 185 RPI. They're 0-7 against Top 200 RPI teams with a 2-4 road record. The wins were at NYC area schools Columbia and Manhattan. The losses by an average of 20 points were at Missouri, Syracuse, Georgetown and Duquesne.
The Rams start 4 and sometimes 5 seniors. They have a premier BIG GUY in Bryant Dunston (19 pts, 11 reb, 8 Blocks vs Dukes). A complementary front court player-Sean Greene (20-10 vs DU). Two wing guards can shoot the "three". Senior Marcus Stout and Frosh Mike Moore. The point guard is athletic Kevin Anderson. He's scoring challenged at times but beat the Muskies with a coast to coast drive and dunk at Rose Hill in the Bronx three years ago. Soph Brenton Butler scores well from all over.
The depth might be in question. The defense has yielded 67.5PPG. Fordham is minus 4/ game in rebounding.
This team has underachieved so far. Their tonic would be an upset win over Xavier on the road. They are capable if XU doesn't ramp up the effort. Last season X buried Fordham 44-15 in the first half at their place ultimately winning, 71-56. The Muskies made 15-of-23 three pointers. Open "3s" are a great option if they're presented and they go down.
The foundation to victory is on the defensive end where Xavier has had success double teaming Dunston on the low post.Stanley Burrell has been able to guard Marcus Stout on the perimeter. Greene at 6-9 with mobility is a tough match-up.
A return to scrappy ball pressurring halfcourt defense should net some broken plays and easy fast break baskets for the Muskies. Sean Miller will have the players full attention after his SBU blow-up. X will return to form.
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