Just wanted to take a little time to share some information about our season. This season has definitely been a season of adversity for our guys and I feel for them. We had BIG expectations coming into the season, but things haven't gone according to plan.
The first part I need to take the blame for as the schedule had us playing 9 of our first 11 games on the road. Those games included competition against some of the best teams in the area, and teams that have been NCAA tournament teams over the last couple of years. We topped off the first semester with a trip to Hampden-Sydney that included a game against the home team and their All-American player. So I knew the first part of the schedule would be brutal and it was going to test our toughness as a VERY young team.
What I didn't know was that in 2 of those games we would miss FT's in the closing seconds that would cost us a few games. So instead of a respectable 5-6 at the break, we were 3-8. And I didn't know our only senior and most athletic player would go down to an ACL injury that would cost him his career. And I didn't know we would lose another one of our top players and scorers due to academics at the halfway point. Needless to say we have been scrambling since the break to overcome all this adversity. Unfortunately we lost another game after the break by going 4-11 from the FT line in overtime.....ugh!!
So here we are at 5-13 and outsiders will judge this team on that record, not knowing all the adversity they have had to face and how they have continued to fight. Each player on this team has gotten better since the start of the year, which has made us a better team. We actually just played our best game of the year at conference leading, and 34th in the nation, Medaille on Saturday. The guys played with energy, they played together, and they followed the gameplan. They truly were focused and prepared. While we walked away with a close loss, it still was a game that showed these guys have a lot more fight left in them.
Bobby Bowden once talked about the transformation of a program. First you lose big, then you lose close, then you win close, then you win big. We went through that first ugly phase last year. So far this year we are in that "lose close" phase as every game but one in the conference has come down to the last 10 minutes. This, even with all the adversity they are facing.
That's why I'm so proud of this team and love coaching them so much. They continue to improve and push the program forward despite what is being thrown at them. The only things we can control are our effort and attitude, and that's what we are focused on. Our goal is to play our best basketball these last 7 games and see where everything falls out. If we continue to give a 100% effort with a great positive attitude, I have a feeling this group is going to push us into that next phase of winning close. And we all know what happens after you start winning close games......
Coach Strickland
