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Tuesday, December 04, 2007
WIth finals looming, Holy Cross faces an end of semester test tonight at Saint Joe's.
BY CHRIS A. COUROGEN
Of Hoop Time
It is quiet inside Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, or at least as quiet as it can get with a basketball workout going on.
Ralph Willard is putting his Holy Cross team through its morning shootout, final preparation for tonight's game with the St. Joe's Hawks. Willard runs his club through the scouting report, reviewing what to expect from the Hawks on each end of the floor. He know he has to get the instructions across now. In a few hours, it won't be this quiet.
Matter of fact, it will be loud as hell inside the band box on Hawk Hill. Communications, other than at timeouts, will be difficult at best, impossible if the home team gets on a run and fuels the fever in the stands.
"The crowd energizes them," says Willard, who brought the Crusaders here for an NIT game in 2005. "They are 10 points better in here."
Ten points better for a team that took Syracuse to the limit in the Carrier Dome is pretty tough. Ten points better for a team that is 4-2, with the two looses coming by three at Syracuse and by five in overtime to Gonzaga (here in the fieldhouse), means a true challenge for the 6-1 Crusaders, coming off their first loss of the season.
"Tonight will be a good measuring stick for us," Willard says. "You're not going to face a tougher environment."
Nor will HC face many tougher teams. Saint Joe's is big, quick, athletic, well-coached -- everything but deep. The Hawks only run seven guys in their rotation. But those seven are pretty good.
Ahmad Nivins is as athletic a big man as the Crusaders will face, a 6-9 first team All-Atlantic 10 and All-Big Five pick who is shooting 65.2 percent from the field and scoring 15.7 points per game. For good measure, he also leads the Hawks in rbounding with 8.3 per game.
Guard Darrin Govens, a 6-1 sophomore who followed Jameer Nelson's path from Chester, Pa. to City Line Ave., hits 41.7 percent from the arc and averages 13.8 ppg.
Junior Tasheed Carr, a 6-4 Iowa State transfer, is dishing out over 7 assists per game and still finds time to score 9.7 points per contest. Rob Ferguson, a 6-8 senior, is another Hawk with three-point range. His average of 9.0 ppg will probably sneak into double figures when he find the touch from the arc that enabled him to shoot 42.9 percent there last season. Sooner or later you have to think he will heat up and improve his current 25-percent mark.
And then there is 6-10 senior Pat Calathes, a matchup nightmare at the three for Saint Joe's.
"Calathes is the real key," says Willard. "He does so many things. He is 6-11 and he runs the floor like a gazelle.. He posts you up, shoots threes."
Stopping him won't be a one-man job. It will take concerted effort by the Crusaders zone to know where Calathes is at all times. It will also take Tim Clifford staying out of foul trouble and on the floor so the perimeter defenders can pressure St. Joe's on the arc.Clifford's size and strength can help neutralize Nivins, but not from the bench.
The Crusaders can't let this turn into an up and down affair. If they watched any film of Bucknell's recent wins over the Hawks, they will have noticed St. Joe's can tend towards impatience when forced to strap it up and play a halfcourt game.
"If we let them get in transition, we have no chance," Willard says.
Another key will be maintaining focus if the Crusaders get a lead. That has been a problem. HC has been up by double figures in every game, but has struggled with its end game.
"We lose focus with leads. We haven't learned to play with the lead yet, to put people away," says Willard.
Despite its 6-1 record, Willard still is not convinced about this ballclub.
"We're doing some things very well, but we are not very good yet," said Willard.
Willard is anxious to get this one, and finals, out of the way. What looked like a tremendously long time between games when the schedule came out looks a whole lot better given where his team is at right now. After tonight, the 'Saders have 18 days off until they travel to Siena on Dec. 22. After that it is another week off before facing Sacred Heart.
"I didn't like it at first," Willard says. "Looking at it now with our team, it's a positive. It will give us a lot of time to improve on things we are not good at."
The Crusaders will practice every other day during finals, which begin Saturday, then will have a full week before the Siena game and another week off after that.
Which suits the coach just fine.
Says Willard, "We need a lot of practice right now."
BY CHRIS A. COUROGEN
Of Hoop Time
It is quiet inside Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, or at least as quiet as it can get with a basketball workout going on.
Ralph Willard is putting his Holy Cross team through its morning shootout, final preparation for tonight's game with the St. Joe's Hawks. Willard runs his club through the scouting report, reviewing what to expect from the Hawks on each end of the floor. He know he has to get the instructions across now. In a few hours, it won't be this quiet.
Matter of fact, it will be loud as hell inside the band box on Hawk Hill. Communications, other than at timeouts, will be difficult at best, impossible if the home team gets on a run and fuels the fever in the stands.
"The crowd energizes them," says Willard, who brought the Crusaders here for an NIT game in 2005. "They are 10 points better in here."
Ten points better for a team that took Syracuse to the limit in the Carrier Dome is pretty tough. Ten points better for a team that is 4-2, with the two looses coming by three at Syracuse and by five in overtime to Gonzaga (here in the fieldhouse), means a true challenge for the 6-1 Crusaders, coming off their first loss of the season.
"Tonight will be a good measuring stick for us," Willard says. "You're not going to face a tougher environment."
Nor will HC face many tougher teams. Saint Joe's is big, quick, athletic, well-coached -- everything but deep. The Hawks only run seven guys in their rotation. But those seven are pretty good.
Ahmad Nivins is as athletic a big man as the Crusaders will face, a 6-9 first team All-Atlantic 10 and All-Big Five pick who is shooting 65.2 percent from the field and scoring 15.7 points per game. For good measure, he also leads the Hawks in rbounding with 8.3 per game.
Guard Darrin Govens, a 6-1 sophomore who followed Jameer Nelson's path from Chester, Pa. to City Line Ave., hits 41.7 percent from the arc and averages 13.8 ppg.
Junior Tasheed Carr, a 6-4 Iowa State transfer, is dishing out over 7 assists per game and still finds time to score 9.7 points per contest. Rob Ferguson, a 6-8 senior, is another Hawk with three-point range. His average of 9.0 ppg will probably sneak into double figures when he find the touch from the arc that enabled him to shoot 42.9 percent there last season. Sooner or later you have to think he will heat up and improve his current 25-percent mark.
And then there is 6-10 senior Pat Calathes, a matchup nightmare at the three for Saint Joe's.
"Calathes is the real key," says Willard. "He does so many things. He is 6-11 and he runs the floor like a gazelle.. He posts you up, shoots threes."
Stopping him won't be a one-man job. It will take concerted effort by the Crusaders zone to know where Calathes is at all times. It will also take Tim Clifford staying out of foul trouble and on the floor so the perimeter defenders can pressure St. Joe's on the arc.Clifford's size and strength can help neutralize Nivins, but not from the bench.
The Crusaders can't let this turn into an up and down affair. If they watched any film of Bucknell's recent wins over the Hawks, they will have noticed St. Joe's can tend towards impatience when forced to strap it up and play a halfcourt game.
"If we let them get in transition, we have no chance," Willard says.
Another key will be maintaining focus if the Crusaders get a lead. That has been a problem. HC has been up by double figures in every game, but has struggled with its end game.
"We lose focus with leads. We haven't learned to play with the lead yet, to put people away," says Willard.
Despite its 6-1 record, Willard still is not convinced about this ballclub.
"We're doing some things very well, but we are not very good yet," said Willard.
Willard is anxious to get this one, and finals, out of the way. What looked like a tremendously long time between games when the schedule came out looks a whole lot better given where his team is at right now. After tonight, the 'Saders have 18 days off until they travel to Siena on Dec. 22. After that it is another week off before facing Sacred Heart.
"I didn't like it at first," Willard says. "Looking at it now with our team, it's a positive. It will give us a lot of time to improve on things we are not good at."
The Crusaders will practice every other day during finals, which begin Saturday, then will have a full week before the Siena game and another week off after that.
Which suits the coach just fine.
Says Willard, "We need a lot of practice right now."
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