Skrelja’s Emergence Continues, and Brown’s Success Follows
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – An 11 A.M. start simply meant that Brown’s offense got going a little earlier in the day. The Bears shot 56 percent from the field, including 10-23 on three-pointers, and were the clearly better team throughout in a 79-61 win over Hartford.
The Bears’ offense normally goes through the big man, but with starter Mark MacDonald out of action (high ankle sprain; he may return in their next game on Dec. 29) it instead went through wing Chris Skrelja most of the day and he took full advantage. Skrelja scored a career-high 29 points on 11-12 shooting and always seemed to be where the ball was when a play had to be made. He added five rebounds and four assists in the best game of his career, and one that shows how high his confidence is.
“His confidence level is so high now, and it’s because he’s understanding his role as the guy running this offense,” said head coach Craig Robinson.
Skrelja played limited minutes for much of his freshman year, and when he was on the floor he didn’t look like the most confident player. An apparent turning point came up the road at Harvard late in the year, when he had his first career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Since that time, he’s looked more confident on the court and has become a big playmaker, although he didn’t get here without interruption.
Although Skrelja seems to have adapted to Robinson’s offensive system better than any holdover from the prior coaching staff, he started his sophomore year hampered by a stress fracture in his foot before the regular season began. That slowed him down, but now that he’s had a healthy season, he’s coming into his own as a junior.
This year, Skrelja has started all along and has been crucial to the Bears’ 6-4 non-conference showing that includes four road wins. He has emerged as a potential star just as the Bears have emerged as a serious Ivy League contender. Through Saturday, he is averaging an even 10 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, the last of which leads a team that doesn’t start a true point guard. More importantly, his feel for the game is evident often, and it was ever-present on Saturday as he was always in a place to get the ball. The opposition certainly noticed it.
“Skrelja was somebody we couldn’t handle physically,” said Hartford head coach Dan Leibovitz. “He man-handled us when he wanted to get the ball off the glass, when he wanted to get a loose ball, when he wanted to get to the rim.”
Leibovitz was also impressed enough by the Bears to say he thinks they have a good chance at winning the Ivy League. The Bears are now 6-4, which is the best record in the league and one of just two that are at .500 or above. As they continue to get wins and look more comfortable with the offense, they look more and more like a contender once Ivy League play gets going. As good as the offense was on Saturday, there’s something else that both coaches noticed, and one that Robinson was particularly happy about.
“The offense was terrific, the execution was terrific, but more importantly, our toughness won this game,” said the second-year head coach. “Because we were tough and held on to our guts, we ended up having a good game.”
The toughness is noteworthy since that hasn’t always been their trademark. In fact, a notable example of that was when Rhode Island beat them at home earlier in the season. In that game, the Bears ran out to a 14-3 lead, but then the Rams took over when they went to their bench because they were more physical.
The Bears go home for a few days, returning to campus on Christmas night to practice for a few days before heading to South Bend to take on Notre Dame. When they come back, they’ll be ready for the last four games in a non-conference slate that has had plenty of promise, including the development of Skrelja as was seen on Saturday.
