By: Jay Smith, Asst. Coach - Detroit
It has been a tough couple of weeks for the Titans!!! Just in terms of losing close games: Butler 64-62 loss, at Green Bay, 74-72 loss, and Wright State, a 65-61 loss. It surely builds character and shows what your young men are made of-they have bounced back with great focus and energy. I know as coaches, we always wonder how your team is going to hold up after taking on hard defeats. You wonder if they can sustain their efforts!! Here's the strange thing in all three of the losses, it has been the same player with the ball in his hands at the end of the game. He has missed a couple of three-pointers which were pretty much good looks and a two-foot putback that just hung on the rim and fell off!! (Actually, we have lost six games by a total of 12 points - so we are close to turning it.)
Back to our player Xavier Keeling who is one of the toughest
competitors I've ever been around - loves contact, loves to compete
and loves to put the pressure on himself to win a game for you!!
When some players run from big shots-he realizes the opportunity to
take the BIG ONE!! Not every type of player is cut out to
take that type of shot - as you stand in the huddle you know what
player wants the ball at the end of a game. (Example Jimmy
Chitwood in the movie Hoosiers - when he said "I'll make it"- maybe
that is what Xavier wants to say!!) I'm hoping Xavier get
another chance because I'm betting on him - when given the
opportunity he will deliver!!
I want to take briefly about one of our players named Eugene Blue,
a 6-7, 250 pound, senior from Flint, Michigan. This
young man has been a steady player for the last year and a
half. He started playing basketball late in his high school
years and chose the JUCO route, where he played for Paul Swanson at
Pensacola Junior College. On first appearance, he was a young
man looking for direction and reason to excel - he showed up on
campus 10-15 lbs overweight and out of shape. I did not think
he completely understood what Division I college basketball was all
about!! But what you did not see or could not measure was his heart
and his will.
Blue then went to work dropping his body fat 9% and got himself
in good shape and has maintained that for the last year and a
half. The most impressive thing has been his growth as a
responsible young man. He handles his academics like you
would want from your own son. Also, the way he listens and works in
practice - he has become a very steady performer on the court -
even though he only averages 3.5 ppg., and 2.5 rpg., you can count
on him to do the little things that make your team special (liek
take a charge, hustle after a loose ball, deflect a pass, or be
there for a putback). He is an important person as we try to
climb to the top of the Horizon League standings.
Lastly, Blue is pursuing a position possibly in the Criminal
Justice field and will be just one credit short of graduating in
May. I do know one thing, whatever he takes on he has all the tools
to be successful in whatever community he ends up in!! There
will be Blue skies wherever he ends up!!
Best Wishes Always!
GO TITANS!
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