Coaches Corner: Steve Curtis, Ladies Basketball
Coaches Corner: Steve Curtis, Ladies Basketball
4-15-08
Hello again from Centenary
We pulled into the Gold Dome parking lot from our trip to the Dakotas about 9 pm on Tuesday night. We played very well in spurts the night before in Fargo but ended up losing to a veteran team which featured five seniors among their top six players. We got up and practiced Tuesday morning before our flight back into Shreveport �- we had been gone five days and I wanted to give the players a chance to catch up with their professors before we headed out again. We had a good practice Wednesday and took the day off from practice Thursday. That afternoon we drove to Tulsa to prepare for the Summit League Tournament.
We received some good news on Wednesday afternoon. Anne was named to the All Newcomer team by the Summit League. While I was happy for her at the same time I was very disappointed she wasn't named Newcomer of the Year. She led all first year players in points, rebounds, and field goal percentage. I don't know what criteria were used by the voters in selecting this award but it must not have been how you produced on the court. I also felt Ashley should have made the team �- she was ranked among the league leaders in five separate statistical categories. She was fourth among newcomers in scoring, third in rebounding ....well you get the idea. In addition Karolina led all newcomers in assists, so the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together.
Friday night we went to Anne's house for dinner. Her parents love to cook and are very good at it. We had salmon, pork, salad, and all the trimmings. They had cooked for us the night before we played ORU earlier in the season as well. In our two years here we have eaten with several players families when we play near their home town, and it's always nice to get a home cooked meal. We'll continue to do that as long as I'm here. The food has been great each time and I'm sure it will stay that way.
We drew Oakland in the first round of the tournament. They are an experienced group that was the number one seed for the second year in a row. We opened up well and were in the lead for a large portion of the first half. During the last few minutes before halftime we gave up one of those runs that have haunted us and we went into the locker room down by eight. We managed to get the margin down to three in the second half, but could never work our way into the lead. They pulled away late to make the final score 60-49, bad guys. Anne had 20 points and 13 rebounds to back up my earlier point, and Bethany added 14 continuing her good play of late. We had 24 turnovers �- that is an area we must improve next season.
So just like that it's over. What started out with such promise in the warm November sunshine of Starkville and ended in the cold March of Tulsa. While there were a few bright spots along the way the season didn't go the way we had hoped. There have been lots of lessons learned along the way, and I feel extremely good about the future of our program. We are returning 99% of the points scored this season, and our young players have learned what it is like to compete at the Division I level. There is a lot of work ahead, and a few more pieces to be added to the puzzle, but I can't wait for practice to get started again in October. That seems to be a long way off, but every year the offseason gets shorter.
At this point I'm going to cut back a little on these columns. Rather than writing weekly I'll come back once a month, usually around the 15th or so, to keep you up to date on how we are doing. Keep coming back - the next few seasons are going to be exciting. Until next time, thanks for checking in with us. Talk to you again soon.
Go Centenary!
2-28-08
Hello again;
We pulled into the Gold Dome parking lot about nine Tuesday morning after another inconsistent road trip. We played pretty well in spurts against Western Illinois but our game at IUPUI didn't have many bright spots. Tuesday night's practice was the best one we have had in quite some time. The players were aggressive, attentive, and anxious to put the previous night's game behind them. We followed that up with good ones on Thursday and Friday which gave me a good feeling going into the weekend games.
While practice is obviously a big focus for us this time of year, KC, Bojan, and I have spent quite a bit of time on the road recruiting recently as well. We've taken in several games and practices on our days off and we have seen quite a few young ladies that we would like to join our program. I feel pretty good about the foundation we are laying for the upcoming seasons but we have to add quite a few more pieces to the puzzle over the next couple of years. We signed two very good players during the early signing period in November, and we have room for a few more. It seems to be going pretty well so far but we won't know for sure until April. If we get the young ladies we are recruiting now we will have a very good team in the near future. We will better in any event as our players continue to mature and put their experience to good use.
In addition to our final two home games, we had a couple of recruits on campus this weekend. That makes for a very busy time for our players; not only do they have to catch up on their academic work and prepare for games, they also have to show the recruits around and give them an idea of what life as a student athlete is like here. Friday night everyone came to my house so our players could get to know the recruits better. It was a fun evening; there were a few spirited tennis matches on the Wii upstairs and a few passes thrown with the football outside. I think we may have a few potential quarterbacks and a receiver or two on our team; at least you would think that if you heard them describe a few of their throws and catches.
Saturday we hosted Southern Utah and got off to a pretty rocky start; we were down ten about midway in the first half. I was pretty confident, though, because we were executing our offense well and getting very good shots at the basket for the most part. During the media time outs we talked about staying confident and continuing to do the things we were doing until the shots started to fall. It was also important to sustain the effort on defense that we had given to that point. We finished the first half on a 16-5 run to take the lead into the locker room. We led throughout the second half, and with just under four minutes to play we had a semi-comfortable eight point lead. Never ones to do things the easy way, however, we watched as Southern Utah pulled back within one. Sarah hit a big shot to put us back up three, and from there we went on to a six point win. Everyone contributed to the victory, which was the result of our best defensive work in some time. I was very proud for our players. They have continued to press on when things have not gone our way. It was good to see them rewarded for their efforts.
Monday night's game was a little more special than most. We hosted UMKC with a chance to catch them in the standings, and it was to be the last home game for Brittany. Senior nights are always emotional, and this one would be no exception. As is our custom lately we fell behind early but we fought back to go into halftime down by two. The second half was close all the way, and with about three minutes to go we had a shot at the lead. Unfortunately the ball went in and out. We had a couple of defensive breakdowns towards the end and ended up losing a heartbreaker. As I said on the radio the worst thing about the night was our inability to end Brittany's home career in the manner she deserved. We had our ceremony after the game, and for the first time in my career the underclassmen had a gift for a graduating senior in addition to the ones given by the coaches. Everyone in our program has the greatest respect for Britt, and we know she will be a success in whatever she decides to do with her life. It has been a privilege to coach her, but we aren't done yet. There is still quite a bit of basketball to play.
Along those lines we are off to the Dakotas this weekend. An early look at the weather indicates high temperatures will be in the teens (I don't even want to think about the lows) so we are packing every parka we can find. They are two of the best teams in the conference but we played each of them very well at home in early December. That seems like years ago, but hopefully we can draw on our performance then and put together 80 minutes of good basketball Saturday and Monday. It's important for us to build some momentum as we head into the conference tournament. Check back next week and I'll let you know how we did.
Go Centenary!
2-15-08
Last week started out on an incredibly sad note. Sunday morning as I was on my way to church I received an e-mail saying Matthew Campbell had passed away. Only a couple of days before the entire Centenary community gathered at the Fitness Center to make a video for Matthew and his family; in it a camera circled the track as if it were Matthew as students, faculty, staff, and friends cheered for him to continue on. It was an emotional scene to say the least; I saw more than a few tears as the camera went around to cheers of "Matthew! Matthew!" Several people held up signs of encouragement. At his funeral a few days later the chapel on campus was filled with people whose lives Matthew touched. It was a beautiful celebration of his life, although there is nothing on this earth sadder than the funeral of a child. My heart aches for Francine, Sid, and the rest of his family. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with them.
During Wednesday's practice Michelle grabbed a rebound and took off up the court. Suddenly she grimaced and stopped in her tracks. She had strained her arch and was in quite a bit of pain. The worst part for her is she was having her best practice in awhile and was playing very well. Unfortunately she is going to be out for a few weeks until she heals. We will miss her energy and tenacity on the boards until she returns.
When we played Oakland earlier this season it was not pretty; we had one of our worst games of the year and had not played well at all. They are one of the top teams in our league, and they are very difficult to play against. We have been practicing well lately so I was confident we could win if we executed and played to our potential. I was almost correct; late in the game the margin was six points and you could see our confidence growing. Then as Karolina was getting back on defense she tripped and put her arm down to break her fall. Instead, she injured her wrist and had to be taken out of the game. During the timeout as Karolina was being treated you could see our players looking around at each other as if to say "what can go wrong next?" At first we feared it was broken, but as it turned out it was only sprained. From that point on Oakland pulled away to win a game that was pretty competitive throughout.
You may have noticed last weekend was "Think Pink" weekend in college basketball. If you watched any games you saw teams around the country wearing pink uniforms, warm-ups, shoestrings, etc. The Women's Basketball Coaches Association did this in an effort to raise awareness of Breast Cancer. It is a horrible disease that has affected thousands around the world, including Kay Yow, the coach at North Carolina State who is battling it as she coaches her team. I have only coached against her once �- while I was at Ole Miss we played her team in the NCAA Tournament round of sixteen. We were fortunate to win and go on to the elite eight, but her teams have always been very well prepared for whatever they face. It strikes close to home for me in another way as well. Someone in my family is also fighting this disease and we are seeing its effects first hand. Our players warmed up in pink shirts, and our coaches wore pink as well �- Bojan had a pink shirt and KC suffered through wearing pink shoes that produced quite a few blisters. Me? I had a beautiful pink tie on Saturday and a pink shirt on Monday. Hopefully the contributions from around the country will get us closer to finding a cure.
The injuries to Karolina and Michelle left us with seven healthy bodies for the game with IPFW Monday evening. We got off to a slow start as they hit a few threes early to pull out to a nice lead. We had problems on the offensive end in the first half and were down pretty good at halftime. In the second half we finally got our offense going and shot 56% from the floor. That is what we are fighting right now: we play pretty well in stretches but then we have spells when we play poorly. The thing we are constantly talking with our players about is to keep improving and stay after it. Thus far they have and hopefully they will continue to do so. Admittedly, it gets tougher as we go along. It looks like we will get Karolina back this weekend as we go to Western Illinois and IUPUI, but Michelle looks to be doubtful. Regardless of who we have we are going to give it our best. It is just a matter of us putting together a complete game rather than having 30 or 35 good minutes. Check back next week and I'll let you know how we do.
Go Centenary!
2-4-08
Hello again from Centenary!
Thursday night after practice we loaded our bus and took off to Kansas City. Our bus has enough beds for everyone to sleep comfortably so we decided to drive up overnight rather than spend the day in airports Friday. We pulled into our hotel around 7:30 am, grabbed some breakfast, and headed over to Kemper Arena for practice at 11. I was looking forward to playing there; it is a historic old stadium like many others around the country. There have been numerous big tournaments in that building, including the Final Four won by Danny Manning and Kansas in 1988. While I remember watching that championship game with Oklahoma pretty vividly, a majority of our players here at Centenary hadn't been born when the game was played. I guess I'm getting old.
