Coaches Corner: Steve Curtis, Ladies Basketball
Coaches Corner: Steve Curtis, Ladies Basketball
12-12-07
Hello again from Centenary
Last Thursday was one of those �'typical' days for college basketball players. We got in from our gut-wrenching double overtime loss at McNeese Wednesday night about 2:30 a.m. The players had to put that behind them and get up for early morning classes followed by practice at 11:00. Five players had played more than 37 minutes the night before, led by Anne with 46 and Karolina with 40. About halfway through practice I saw Karolina had something on her mind, and when I asked her about it she told me she had a big economics exam at 12:30. As we were running our closing sprints I noticed several ladies straining, and quite a few visited with Dustin (our trainer) as soon as we finished. We needed two days of preparation for our conference opener Saturday against North Dakota State, but looking back on it we probably would have been better off not practicing.
At the end of regulation against McNeese, Cierra made a nice defensive play to force a miss and send the game into overtime. However, in doing so she landed awkwardly and injured her knee. She sat out both overtimes, and has missed every game and practice since then. She is doing a good job of supporting her teammates while they are working, and I can see in her eyes how much she wants to be out there. We are still waiting on the result of an MRI to determine how long she will be out of the lineup. We miss her on the court, but while she is out everyone else (coaches included) will have to do whatever we can to fill in the gap losing her creates.
Thursday night Claire and I attended the Independence Bowl Team Announcement Party at the I-Bowl. We joined the Independence Bowl Foundation this summer as a way to get more involved with the community and meet people who live here and love sports. It was a fun evening; Nick Saban told a story about losing to UAB during his first season at LSU, and Coach Hawkins of Colorado talked a little about coaching his son at quarterback. While Alabama vs. CU should be a very good game, I'll have to admit I was pulling for a few other teams to get here instead. From the SEC I would have enjoyed seeing my buddies at Mississippi State, and I still have several friends from my two Big XII stops �- Texas A&M and Nebraska. Oh well, maybe next year. I met several people with Centenary connections and enjoyed my conversations with them, but the highlight of the evening was the crab claws from a local restaurant. Well, it was Claire's highlight anyway. She has already talked with the owner about catering some whenever we have people over.
Whether it was the nervousness of the first conference game or the trepidation of playing without our leading scorer, we got off to a shaky start Saturday against North Dakota State. At about the twelve minute mark Bethany was driving to the basket and stepped on someone's foot, spraining her ankle. Just what we needed, right? We hung in there and with four minutes to go in the half we were down by six. Over the next three and a half minutes we gave up fourteen straight points and found ourselves down by 20. Again we fought back and gave ourselves a chance to win before losing by five. We outscored them for 36 minutes only to lose the game during that four minute span. I told our team in the locker room, "You know I love Cierra and Bethany, but do not think that had anything to do with us not winning this game. We don't make excuses, and the players who were in there were good enough to get a victory. We just have to eliminate our mistakes." Several players had outstanding grades led by Monique, Ashley, and Karolina.
After a light workout and film session Sunday we were back out there to take on South Dakota State Monday night. Even though we missed several close shots early in the game we were up four late in the half. At halftime we were down by one, and we started the second half again missing some shots from around the basket. Our young players are adjusting to the physicality of the game at this level, and we are talking a lot about how we have to be strong enough to score against contact. This is college basketball, and just because you get bumped doesn't mean it's going to be a foul. This time the opponent's run came late, and what was a tight game with six minutes to play became a 16-point loss. The final score was not indicative of the closeness of the game. Our better than average grades came from Leslie, Karolina, and Sarah. Like I told our guys afterward, SDSU has wins over some outstanding programs in the last few years. That list includes Kentucky, Alabama, Southern California, and Oregon. They won 25 games last season and advanced deep into the WNIT. If we can play with them we can play with anyone. And when we reduce our mistakes we will beat them.
We are approaching a critical portion of our season. We don't play again until the 20th at Nicholls State, and then we have several days before we play Sam Houston State on the 31st. That gives us three weeks with only one game, so we need to focus on getting better at the fundamentals and more consistent with our play. Of course we have final exams as well, so the players will have more than enough to occupy their time. Check back next week and I'll let you know what is happening with your Ladies.
Go Centenary
12-7-07
Hello again everyone,
The past week was one that reminds me of a line of poetry I learned in my younger days: For all the words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, "it might have been". That sums our week up perfectly. We had two games with in-state opponents, and each of them got away from us.
We had been looking forward to Saturday's game in the CenturyTel Center for quite some time. There were a variety of reasons for this. This building is one of the finest arenas in the country. I have coached in SEC and Big XII tournaments around the country, and CenturyTel is as good as or better than any of the facilities we used for those. It would be a great place to host a conference tournament or even an NCAA regional. It was good for our players to get the feel of what one of those is like, because the goal here is for us to develop our program into one that will participate in the NCAA Tournament soon. I have been fortunate to coach in a few of those, and hopefully our players will learn what a great experience it is to play in that environment. It takes a lot of work and sacrifice to make that happen though.
In the first game we scored first but then Lafayette went on a run to take a thirteen point lead. Our team has a tendency to get impatient and take too many quick shots during these runs. It's almost like we are trying too hard and want to make good things happen. When we take our time and move the ball (and ourselves) we are pretty good offensively. We got back within two but had a breakdown and went to halftime down 10. With five minutes to play we were within two, but we had a miscommunication and left a shooter wide open and just like that we're down five. We ended up losing by seven to a team that returns six seniors from last year's NCAA Tournament team, but it was a chance to make a statement about where our program is headed that we let get away.
ULL is coached by one of my best friends, Errol Rogers. We coached together at Mississippi State and shared a lot of good times. We spoke briefly before the game, but afterward we spent about 30 minutes in the green room talking about each other's team's strengths and weaknesses. We were also watching the USC-UCLA football game because Errol is one of America's biggest USC fans. In fact his son, Errol Jr., really believes he is Reggie Bush. I remember him running around the court at MSU with his Reggie Bush jersey on at the age of three with a big smile on his face. He and his wife Damita have six children with the youngest three being the same age as mine. I don't know how they do it, it's all Claire and I can do to keep our three halfway in line. Damita has had some health issues lately so she and the kids didn't make it to the game but John, Mattie, and Katie were looking for them.
The second half of the doubleheader was our men's victory over Texas Tech. Our guys did a great job of hanging in there and pulled out a great win over one of the best programs in the nation. It just shows what can happen at Centenary �- I talk to alumni often and am always impressed by their love for our school. They talk of NCAA tournaments, the Gold Dome full of fans cheering and screaming, and the excitement the college and city had for our athletic programs. We are working to bring those times back.
Tuesday night we went to Lake Charles to take on McNeese State. We got out to an early lead, but as always there were lapses that cost us dearly. In the second half, we were down by as many as nine but Bethany hit a shot to give us a five point lead with just under four minutes to play. Then we made the exact same mistake that we had made when we were within two against ULL to give up an open three to bring them within two.
They ended up forcing overtime, and we had a couple of chances to win again at the end of the first extra period, but two close shots in the final five seconds rolled just off the rim. McNeese jumped to a seven point lead early in the second overtime, but I have to give our players credit �- they are battling. We fought back and took a one point lead with just under a minute to play. We stopped them on the next possession, but we didn't secure the rebound and they took advantage of their second opportunity to hit the game winning basket. We got a good look to pull it out it as the buzzer went off but in the words of Tim Brando, the iron was unkind. So what could have been a great ride home was another one of what might have been.
This week the Dakotas are coming to town. We host North Dakota State in a doubleheader with the men Saturday at 3:00 pm followed by South Dakota State Monday night at 7:00. These are two great additions to our league. They are two outstanding athletic departments �- in addition to a terrific women's basketball program NDSU has a football victory over Minnesota this year, and SDSU has road wins in women's basketball in recent years over Kentucky, Southern California, Alabama, Oregon, and several other top programs. Each will be challenging for us, so come on out and see how we do. If you can't make it, I'll let you know how we do. See you next week.
Go Centenary!
11-28-07
Hello again from Centenary!
A reality of college basketball is players miss a lot of the holidays most people get to enjoy with their families. This Thanksgiving was no different; while 90% of Americans were getting ready for their feast we gathered in the Gold Dome at 9:30 am to begin preparations for Southeastern Louisiana. For an hour and a half there were no visions of turkey and cranberry sauce. They were replaced by thoughts of screening angles, post moves, and defensive rotations. Luckily for us Claire and our moms were hard at work in our kitchen preparing the usual Thanksgiving fare. When I walked in after practice her mother was making home made rolls from scratch while mine was finishing off her dressing. The team arrived at 1 p.m. to find the following: turkey, ham, a turducken, two types of dressing, cranberry sauce, butterbeans, macaroni and cheese, peas, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole....well you get the idea. When the first car arrived and our front door opened I heard Anne say "oh, it smells like Thanksgiving". We had a great meal, lots of smiles, and while the players missed the holiday with their real families at least they had their basketball family to spend the day with. The food was great and the fellowship was even better. Thanks Granny, Grandma, and Claire. You did great.
There were signs of progress in the Southeastern game Saturday. We played well in the first half and went into the locker room with a lead. It was the kind of game I love to coach in. It was a battle all the way �- the lead went back and forth with neither team able to lead by more than six. Our offense was the best it's been, and our defense was pretty good, but our rebounding was terrible. They stayed in the game with second shots. With just under 30 seconds to go Bethany hit a three to give us the lead again. But we lost their best shooter in transition and she hit a big shot to give them the win. Being a coach and athlete is crazy. Think about it - the ball is in the air with five seconds to play and all our emotions are in the air with it. If it goes in we are in agony, and if it bounces off we're ecstatic. This time it went in, and there were tears in the locker room as a result. I can see our team growing up, but it needs to come sooner rather than later.
On the way to Hammond my mind drifted to an autumn morning a few years ago. It was during the September recruiting period while I was coaching at The University of Nebraska. I had gotten home on a late flight the night before and had a visit set up at a junior college later that afternoon. As was my custom then, I woke up and walked downstairs to listen to the radio while I ate breakfast. The announcer said a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center. I thought it was an accident, maybe a local pilot losing control of his aircraft or something like that. I went upstairs to shower and get dressed. When I came back down the announcer reported a plane had just crashed into the other tower. Obviously this was no accident. I got in my car and began the two hour drive through the corn fields to Cloud County Community College. I was on the way to meet with Miklannet Tennal, a terrific guard who played at Cloud, and watch her practice later that afternoon. Instead we sat together with Bret Erkenbrack, her coach, and watched the towers fall. At that moment basketball seemed like the least important thing in the world. Mick decided to go to Texas Tech instead of Nebraska, but in my mind we'll always be linked. She is now an assistant coach at Southeastern Louisiana, and every time I see her I think of that day.
Tuesday Northwestern State came to town. We weren't nearly as good offensively in this game but we did enough to go into the locker room at halftime with a 13 point lead. The first four minutes of the second half has been problematic for us and this game was no exception. They cut the lead to six but we regrouped and with just under four minutes to play we were up 12. At that point the wheels came off. We had a stretch of nothing but turnovers and fouls, a recipe for disaster if ever there was one. They scored 13 points in a row to take the lead, but our players would not be denied. Monique hit a jump shot with about 15 seconds to play and they called timeout. They went to their best player, but Cierra got terrific position and blocked her shot. Anne grabbed the rebound and the buzzer sounded, giving us the victory.
The triumph over Northwestern State was big for us. We want to establish ourselves as a program the people in this area can be proud of and get behind. As I often say this is a great place to live, and Centenary is a marvelous school, so we are working hard to give the Ark-La-Tex a basketball program they can support. Games with local rivals give us a chance to show we are making progress.
And so it's on to the next week. We play Louisiana-Lafayette in the Centurytel Center Saturday at 3 p.m. They made the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team last season, which means they were chosen by the committee as one of the best teams in the country. Lafayette is coached by Errol Rogers, who was an assistant at Mississippi State while I was there. It will be good to see him again; he is one of my best friends in the coaching fraternity. His six children spent lots of time with John, Mattie, and Katie, so hopefully they will see each other before and after the game. After we play, our men's team takes on Texas Tech, and I've heard Tech has a pretty good coach. It should be a great afternoon of basketball, so come on out and watch the Ladies and Gents in action. Hope to see you there.
Go Centenary!
