A Few Quick Hitters
Some quick hitters as we reach the latter part of the week:
- UMBC’s win at Boston University on Tuesday was big for a couple of reasons. For one, the Retrievers had never won at BU, something head coach Randy Monroe said he didn’t tell his team before the game.
“Sometimes you keep things to yourself as a coach,” said Monroe after the game.
It was also big because the Retrievers have generally won games by getting the score up into the 70s and 80s, as opposed to winning a lower-scoring game like this one. Their 62 points was their lowest in a win this season and third-lowest in all. It was their defense that really came through, and their offense followed.
“Today, I thought they really exemplified what type of team they could be if they really devote and really work hard at the defensive end of the floor,” said Monroe. “I was really proud of their effort at that end because I really think that triggered our offense.”
- The injury bug has hit Holy Cross in a serious way, and it’s caught up with them at the beginning of Patriot League play as they have started out 0-4 and have lost five straight, including the last three at home.
The Crusaders are still without forward Eric Meister, a key player inside, and he’ll be out at least another 2-3 weeks. Pat Doherty played on Friday against Bucknell after playing one minute two nights earlier, and he wasn’t supposed to go originally. Andrew Keister got nicked up twice on Friday and did not play on Wednesday night, and Lawrence Dixon’s knee is still bad, not allowing him to play a lot of minutes. Alex Vander Baan and Adam May have had to play through injuries as well.
- In Rhode Island’s 81-70 win over George Washington on Wednesday night, Jimmy Baron passed the 1,000 point mark for his career. He’s the 19th player to reach the mark while playing at least two seasons for their father in Division I, a group that includes some pretty good names: Pete Maravich, Allan Houston, Washington State head coach Tony Bennett and Bryce Drew, among others. There are several former NBA players on the list.
- When will people in the media get that asking coaches about other jobs during the season is a waste of time and energy? The latest example was on Tuesday in the CAA teleconference, when VCU head coach Anthony Grant was asked about South Carolina. Grant has been mentioned as a sensible candidate by one national writer to succeed Dave Odom, who is retiring at the end of the season. Asked if he was interested in the job, Grant said, “The only job I’m interested in right now is VCU.” The reporter pressed him on it, noting that Billy Donovan is a mentor and he would go up against him at least twice a year in the SEC, and Grant simply said, “I’m trying to figure out how to stop Antoine Agudio and Dane Johnson and those guys right now.”
What did he really expect Grant to say – “Yes, I’m very interested in the job and I’d take the job tomorrow if I could?” Surely he knew better before he even got on the call.
- It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Oregon State kicked C.J. Giles off the team a couple of days ago. When it happened, something occurred to me since he’s clearly been a monumental bust in college.
Oftentimes, when a player who has had an off-court or off-field transgression gets a “second chance” with someone, there are those who protest it and ask, “what kind of an example are we setting for young kids?” They go on to say that this shows young kids that you can get in trouble and still play a sport, in effect getting away with a transgression. While no one should be denied the right to work – and that’s what this is when we’re talking about pro sports, which is why I defend a team signing someone with a checkered past – there is a practical side to this and something better for those who are quick to howl about what this tells young kids to think about.
C.J. Giles is proof positive that a player who doesn’t have his life in order off the playing field will never live up to his potential. Giles came to college viewed as a player with a lot of upside, as he was a 6’9″ run-and-jump athlete who could score inside, block shots and rebound, although he didn’t always do that consistently. But his college career was full of missteps off the court, which led to his dismissal from Kansas after he was never a key player. Then at Oregon State, with his last chance as a collegian, he was never effective on the floor, fouling out in six of the 10 games he played in while averaging just over 18 minutes per game. He had turned into a player who didn’t help his team while on the floor.
This kind of thing happens all the time. Perhaps the best example is Darryl Strawberry, whose son D.J. just completed his basketball career at Maryland last year. Once upon a time, Strawberry was one of baseball’s elite players, but once off-field problems derailed him, he looked nothing like the player he once was. He got a “second chance”, one that proved that his off-field problems derailed his career.
So the next time a team picks up a player with a checkered past, don’t think about it as a bad example for kids. Instead, point out that players who have off-court or off-field never live up to their potential, and mention a player like C.J. Giles – a talented player who never got his life in order and thus never became anywhere near the player he could be. This is a good example for kids, and a far better way to drive home the point that one must have their life in order off the playing field to succeed on the playing field.
