Thursday, January 14, 2016
It's Basketball Time, Baby!
The Florida
Gulf Coast Eagles opened their Atlantic Sun Conference season with a
flourish last Saturday with a 29 point win over the Stetson Hatters.
The margin of victory was not expected, although the Eagles were
expected to win.
They came
out of the gate strongly, leading 32-14 with six minutes remaining in
the first half. From that point on, they simply played fundamental
basketball, taking advantage of the Hatter errors, playing soundly to
half time.
At the half
way point, the Eagles were shooting a remarkable 71% from the floor.
Stetson, on the other hand, shot 21% from the floor. Time after time,
Stetson shooters were thwarted under the basket. Demertis Morant had
five blocked shots in the first half. Zach Johnson led the Eagles
with 11 points at half time, and finished the game with 17 points.
Zach Johnson, with David Moulton
For your
information, I sit in a media row under the basket. Directly behind
me, there is a section of about 1 000 quite rabid Eagles' fans. They
believe it is their group responsibility to cheer on their boys, but
also to unnerve the opposition if the opportunity arises. Here are a
few examples, in loud unison chants;
When the
score was 27-7, and the Hatters could not do anything right, the
rabble chanted, “Single digits!”.
When there
was 13:21 left on the clock, they shouted, “Warm up the bus!”. (I
was reminded of the hockey fans at Oswego, New York, when the game
was out of reach. They quietly removed their car keys from their
pockets and rattled them, to signal the bus driver to get moving. The
Habs fans start that obnoxious “Na na na na business”.)
Adding even
more insult to injury, with 6:18 left in the game, they sarcastically
chanted, “Let's go Hatters!”
And with
three minutes left, the old...”If you're winning and you know it,
clap your hands! That would be followed by much applause. Then “If
you're losing and you know it clap your hands!” And that, of
course, was followed by silence.
The point of
the matter is that it is great entertainment, both on and off the
court.
The Hatters
were led by 5' 11” Divine Myles, a slashing point guard. He drove
the lane several times, fearlessly, with some good results. He wore a
fashionable orange Mohawk stripe, and could handle the ball as well
as anyone on the court. A sophomore, he hails from Mobile, Alabama.
Another key performer on the Hatters was a freshman from Beverly
Hills, California, Derick Newton. Each had 11 points. They had one
player, Kevin Ndahiro, listed on their roster from Ottawa. He did not
dress for this game.
The Head
Coach of the Hatters knows the game. Corey Williams played his
college ball at Oklahoma State, and broke into the NBA with the
Chicago Bulls, winning the title in 1993. He also played for the
Minnesota Timberwolves before embarking on an extensive coaching
career.
With less
than two minutes left in the game, Coach Joe Dooley of the Eagles
sent out replacements. Two freshmen, walk-on players at that, scored
their first career points, erupting the crowd and the bench. Even the
stars on the home team are thrilled when the men from the trenches
get to share the sunshine. Great teams also play better when the
non-starters make them work hard during practices.
The Eagles
play twice this week at home: same great crowds, more than 4 000,
cheerleaders, dancers, baton twirlers, mascots....all the hoopla!
College
Basketball! Working to March Madness!
James Hurst
January 12,
2016.
# posted by James Hurst @ 1:14 PM 
