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College Chalktalk’s 2008-09 Coaches’ Diary Series Kevin McGeehan, Richmond (Entry No. 2)
By CCT Staff | December 2, 2008
Last I wrote we were getting ready for the season opener with Randolph Macon and looking ahead to a trip to the Carrier Dome. Well… we played well in the opener against DIII power Randolph Macon and were poised and confident going to Syracuse. I think our early season experience last year against Memphis served us well against a big time team in a big time environment. We looked like we belonged playing with the Orange but most importantly there was little satisfaction in the loss… and that was the overwhelming feeling from every person in the program.
Next up we headed to Florida Gulf Coast University to participate in the CBE Classic. As with any team this early in the season, we are learning who we are in every situation all over again. How will respond after playing well and losing to a Big East team? How will we do in three games in three days? Physically? Mentally? Preparation wise? We tried to treat the tournament like the A-10 tournament, three games in three days. I think it is an approach that helped our still young bunch focus a bit. We were pleased with getting two wins but feel like that third one would have made the trip. Bradley is an excellent program who has had great success the past several years.
I would say as a staff we learned a lot about our group from the quality wins vs FGCU and UMKC and also the loss to Bradley. At this point, you are always trying to play a lot of guys to figure out your rotation, etc. Against Bradley, Kevin Smith went out around the 8 minute mark and we had foul trouble in the front court. This forced us to play certain guys together and maybe a bit more than we would have liked. It’s always nice to be figuring out that rotation at a pace the staff dictates not the situation. Although, you are always finding out about the group so you see positives in all these spots.
Sunday night, we beat Coppin State, another good win for the Spiders. I think we played our best half a basketball in the first half of this game, scoring 49 points. The ball was zipping around….every guy making an extra pass and not surprisingly shots were falling. That extra pass can really help the ball go in the basket. All in all this was a good effort.
Next up we head to in state rival ODU, this is a very good program and will be a hard fought battle. This would be a very good road win if we can get it.
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