Thoughts on the East Carolina game

     Just for the record, I love this kind of win. "Ugly" wins, where the team has to reach down deep, play killer defense, never say die. My kind of basketball. Blue collar basketball. Knowing that we are able to win these kinds of games is one of the most positive things we could learn about this team at this point in the season. If we only win when we are hot shooting, then we will lose a lot of games. Coach Beard has done first things first, and being able to win these type games will give the team a toughness and swagger that will serve it well down the line. "We don't care what you throw at us: we can handle it. We can win pretty; we can win ugly. We just get it done."
     Marcus Johnson, Jermaine Ruttley and Josh Hagins are going to play a LOT of minutes this season.
     It is a good thing we are keeping our turnovers low, because we are getting killed on the boards. Of course, you do not have to do everything well if you do a few things superlatively well. We shot lousy, we rebounded lousy - BUT we defended great and we took very good care of the ball. Good teams do what they have to do to win. We did, and we won. Chalk it up!
    Now the bad news. We cannot count on things coming together just right to allow us to win without any offense. Even against good defense, teams sometimes shoot well, and our opponents will sooner or later. We are going to have to find an answer to the rebounding issue. That is a formula for disaster if we do not get it fixed.
     The point is that Coach Beard is getting the first things in place first. I like that. We are winning on defense and taking care of the ball. The offense will come. I hope the rebounding gets better. The point is it will only get better from here, and even with several cylinders not yet firing, we are 4-0.
     Now to the game stats. Big tip of the hat to Mareik Isom and Jermaine Ruttley for six big rebounds each on a night when their shots were not falling. We hit our FTs, and that is huge when we are cold from the floor. Marcus Johnson 6 for 6 from the line. Lis Shoshi is still blocking shots. With a small line-up we are going to need that.
     Good win for the Trojans. The offense is going to break loose any time, and it should be something to see when it does. In the meantime, a win is a win.