Western Carolinian Volume 73 Number 01

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Western Carolinian Volume 73 Number 01

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Details
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  - Publications (documents)
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  - Western Carolina University
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  - HL_WesternCarolinian_2007-02-21_Vol73_No01_11
Transcript

Page 11 Western Carolinian Febuary 21, 2007 SPORTS YOUNG BOBCATS LOOK TO GAIN EXPERIENCE By Jason Lineberger staff writer To say the Charlotte Bobcats 2007-2008 campaign has been disap- pointing thus far would be correct. To say all hope is lost would be a lie. The Bobcats can still improve on last years record, as well as develop their talent further. The struggle of the team this season has not been from lack of effort, but instead lack of experience and downright luck. In an early preseason contest, The Charlotte Bobcats look to rebound Charlotte lost their top-round draft pick for the 2008 season. from a year earlier, Adam Morrison with a torn ACL. Morrison, one of the top 06-07 rookies in the league, was looked to as one of the emotional lead- ers of the team. Also, former UNC- Chapel Hill star Sean Mays also was lost for the season, having to undergo micro-fracture surgery. While these losses were disappointing and unex- pected, the Bobcats had nothing left to do but regroup and start the season. Along with the injuries, Char- lotte must depend on players who have minimal NBA experience. Seven play- ers, nearly half the lineup, have been in the league no longer than three years. -You can almost compare Char- lotte to a young couple trying to raise a growing baby. Lessons must be learned both.from the parent. -and. the child, :and.- mistakes will undoubtedly be made. Not only is the team young, but so is the coaching staff. Head coach Sam Vincent is still learning the ropes in his first year as a head coach. He was an assistant in Dallas last season, but thats the extent of his NBA core experi- ence. While the Bobcats do not have one of the most experienced teams in the league, they do have one of the hardest-working. Impressive wins over current division leaders Boston, Orlan- do, and Utah have shown opponents that the Bobcats are not an easy team to tame. Many of the Bobcats losses were a result of deficit of 10 points or less. What does that mean to Charlotte? It means they must find ways to win the close games. It means they must utilize the talent they have and find a cohe- siveness of which successful teams are made. It all comes with each practice, each game and each season. With another two months of basketball left, the Bobcats are striv- ing to finish the season strong. With a good run, the Bobcats could potentially reach one of the top two positions in their division. To do this will not be an easy task, however. The Bobcats have to face some heavy hitters. Boston, San Antonio, and Dallas are just a few of the top teams they will have to contend with. But as previous games indicate, the Bobcats arent intimidated. Led by players Emeka Okafor, Raymond Felton, Jason Richardson, and. Gerald Wallace, the Bobcats. arent__ low on talent. These players | look. to be. future NBA stars in a few more years. Okafor is no stranger to achieving fre- quent double-doubles, and Felton av- erages seven assists per game. Rich- ardson and Wallace provide offensive power, both averaging twenty points per game. The Bobcats spend most of the month of February away from their home floor. Eight of the months twelve games are away. The road hasnt been too kind to Charlotte, and road wins are a must when trying to become SUCCESS- - ul. Time will tell how Charlotte re- sponds the remainder of the year. Just like the young couple with the baby, expect the Bobcats to stumble and fall, but always get back up. cont. from pg. 10 While they have the most experience over the rest of the team, McKenna feels that he and Wilson are not the only two leaders of the Catamounts, he believes that the everyone on the team plays an equal role. As far as experience is con- cerned, Eric and I are the leaders be- cause we have been there and done that before, said McKenna, But the strength of our team is that everyone is a leader. We dont really have that many followers, because you never know who is going to step up and an- swer the call on any given night. At times this season, there have been spans where McKenna has not played at all, or has played mini- mal minutes. He had less than 10 min- utes of playing time in 9 of the teams first 11 games this season and did not see any playing time against NC State in Raleigh. Down the stretch lately, he has helped the depleted Catamounts to some big conference victories. He scored 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting from long range in a 72-60 win against Elon, and also scored 19 points in the following game shooting 5-of-5 from beyond the arc in an 83-73 loss at Wofford. I am a big supporter in what- ever I am given; Ive got to make the best with every opportunity. Ive seen it all; Ive gone from playing no min- utes to two minutes to 25 or 30 min- utes, said McKenna, I dont really base apo look at it in terms of how much I play, just how much I can help my team with the time that I have. Despite having gone through many rough patches with the team, Wilson and McKenna will continue to support the decisions made by the coaching staff and by their teammates on the court. - Weve gone through it all and have seen a lot of people come and go, but in the long run we stayed true to each other and true to this program and we havent turned our backs on the organization, said McKenna. McKenna is optimistic that the Catamounts can turn things around in the latter stages of the season and gain some ground before the SoCon Tour- nament arrives in early March. The Catamounts are currently 3-9 in the SoCon, and are still in the running to finish the season with a .500 mark. Eric and I are very religious and we both know that God put us in this situation for a reason. We just want to live it out to the end and ride it until the wheels fall off, and the two of us are looking forward to having a really good senior season, said McK- enna. Through all of the obstacles that the Catamounts have faced the past few years, Wilson and McKenna have shown that being great leaders is more than just making slam dunks and jump shots in the critical seconds of a game. It's mainly about having a strong character, and that is something that neither of these men lack. THE CATAMOUNTS SHOCK CHATTANOOGA | By Ryan Sarda In their previous three consecu- tive losses, the Catamount mens bas- ketball team would jump out to an early lead on their opponent, just to fall be- hind and lose the game in the second half. ; On Feb 4, the Catamounts re- fused to let it happen again as they overcame a second-half rally from a pesky Chattanooga team to defeat the Mocs 70-64 in a hard fought Southern Conference battle. The loss knocked the Mocs out of a tie for first place in the North Divi- sion of the SoCon, as they fell just half. of a game behind Appalachian State for the top spot. The win improves the Cat- amounts to 7-15 overall (3-9 SoCon), and was their first victory since the offi- cial dismissals for Michael Porrini and Camden Miller on Jan. 28. We've really been playing some good basketball and I thought we needed to reward ourselves and our fans with a win. This was a great team win for us, said Catamount head coach Larry Hunter. In the three losses before, many Catamount players felt that the team needed to learn how to close out games, especially after gaining early leads in the first half. Despite being outscored 45-37 in the second half, the Cata- mounts cracked down on defense and finally learned what it takes to finish a game. T think this win is big and will give us some confidence because Chat- tanooga was number one in the confer- ence in our division, said sophomore Brandon Giles, We hit our free-throws down the stretch, and also stopped them on the defensive end after hitting our free-throws, so those were the two big parts of the win tonight. Giles led all players in scoring with 20 and reached double figures for the 13th consecutive game. Senior point guard Eric Wilson contributed with 12, and he tied his career high with five as- sists. Sophomore Jake Robinson round- ed out the double figure trio, contribut- ing 10. We never gave up the lead and got a couple of big stops. Eric (Wilson) is do- ing a terrific job of running the point for us and is keeping us all on the same page. We are executing much better and weve been playing some pretty solid defense, said Hunter. Also stepping up for the Cata- mounts offensively was freshman for- ward Richie Gordon, who started his second consecutive game. Gordon fin- ished with nine points in the contest on 4-of-8 shooting. He also played a strong defensive game, leading the team with four blocks on the night. Richie is really playing well right now. He is giving us a real pres- ence with his size and athleticism at the basket. He has guarded some of the better postmen in this league and has held his own very, very well here, said Hunter. With 20 seconds remaining in the game, Robinson hit two key free-throws to put the Catamounts ahead for good at 65-62. In the closing seconds, Robin- son hit 1-of-2 to put the game out of reach for the Mocs. J just tried to clear my mind and focus on the task at hand, which was shooting the free-throws, said Robinson, who also pulled down nine rebounds. T knew that if I made those two free throws it would have put them in a little bit of a bind and force them to shoot a 3-ball, which they are not spe- cialized in. I wanted to make sure I could contribute in some way and help the team get a victory, said Robinson. cont. on pg. 12

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The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University's student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.
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  - Western Carolina University
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  - Date original: 2008-02-21
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  - Dimension: 14" x 11.5"
  - Pages: 14
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  - Jackson County (N.C.)
  - Cullowhee (N.C.)
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  - WCU Students Newspapers Collection
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  - HL_WesternCarolinian_2007-02-21_Vol73_No01
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  - Western Carolina University Hunter Library

Western Carolinian Volume 73 Number 01

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