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Last year, Karvel Anderson ca,me off the bench for big
minutes. Who does that this year? (p/c: Justin Berl)
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Anyone who has watched RMU throughout this losing streak has
probably noticed a very disturbing trend: poor bench play. I noted some of the
numbers in Saturday’s postgame write up but wanted to go a little more in-depth
on it today.
The biggest question right now is who do you trust? I
personally like Juanie Newton’s game but he seems to be in Toole’s dog house
for some defensive lapses. Stephan Hawkins has played some of his worst
basketball the past three games (he hasn’t grabbed a rebound in a single game).
Even a good shooter like Charles Oliver isn’t seeing a lot of time not so much
because of his shooting slump but because of his turnovers and defense.
“Guys have to come in and be trusted. Like everyone says
they don’t get enough of an opportunity… We practice two hours a day, hour and
a half to two hours a day; seems like enough of an opportunity to me. Then when
you get an opportunity to go in a game you have to provide something positive,”
Toole said.
Toole went on to mention the first substitution of the game,
where RMU led 17-10 and then suddenly trailed 19-17.
“We’re up 17-10, we go to the bench, we’re down 19-17 like
that. Like the game just started. You can’t be tired. You just got in the game,
you should be excited, you should be urgent you should be ready to play. Okay,
maybe it’s not 27-10 when we go back to the first group but maybe it’s like,
maybe instead of being up seven we’re up five or four. Like was that so hard?,”
he said. “Like they don’t score every single possession they have the ball and
then we don’t score every possession we have the ball. And then we take guys
out and they’re like ‘I don’t get enough opportunity’. It’s frustrating.”
Toole also added it’s at the point where what should be
simple decisions aren’t.
“It’s crazy when you have to ask yourself is a tired Lucky
better than a fresh player X. Is a tired Jeremiah Worthem better than player Y.
Those are the decisions you have to make and it’s difficult as a coach to look
into your crystal ball as warmups are going on and figure out who’s going to
contribute,” he said.
There’s no bigger example of this than when Toole subbed his
starting five in with 5:00 remaining in the game and didn’t make a single
substitution after. Not one. Even late in a close game, it’s rare to not have
one substitution. You think Toole would have liked to subbed Chuck Oliver in
for the final possession in a three point game? I bet he would have loved to,
but the trust isn’t there.
You make your own opportunity is what it comes down to. Right
now, Kavon Stewart is making his own opportunity. He makes his mistakes, but he
also is playing with energy, intelligence, and making plays. That’s why he’s
playing 15+ minutes a game.
The big picture is this could divide a team. I read a really
great article on the 2011 New York Jets and their locker room. The Jets had a
great defense who always kept them in games. The offense was a laughateam. Some comments I’ve gotten
from the team suggests the same thing.
ble joke
that couldn’t move the ball in CFL games. After a while, there was some real
resentment between the two units. I fear the same thing could begin to happen
here if some of the second unit guys don’t start to pick it up…the real absence
of a
Bench play is definitely something to keep an eye on. RMU is
off until Saturday, so there’s a lot of “opportunity” to be had in practice
this week. Let’s see if anyone steps up.
--Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella
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