Will the Hawks Fly High Again?
AMHERST, Mass. – All good things must come to an end, and if recent games are any indication, 2005-06 could be the end for the great run St. Joseph’s has been having.
Over a month ago, the Hawks scored a big win over Kansas at the Jimmy V Classic in New York. That win, which looks a little less impressive now since Kansas has looked generally unimpressive, gave the Hawks a 4-1 record. It figured to give them a boost as they began a tough stretch in their schedule at that point – Ohio State and road games with Bucknell, St. Mary’s and Gonzaga would close out the month. The Hawks went on to lose three of those four, and with Wednesday’s 68-58 loss at UMass (which ended an eight-game winning streak against the Minutemen), they have now lost five of seven and stand at 6-6.
For good measure, the Hawks haven’t been out of first place in the Atlantic 10 for long in the last five years. Right now, that’s the least of their concerns, as they sit below .500 in Atlantic 10 play for just the second time (the first time being last week after they opened conference play with a 62-58 loss to Xavier) since the 1999-2000 season, when they finished at 7-9.
What happened since the Kansas game, where seniors Chet Stachitas and Dwayne Lee led them to a win on a big stage? Head coach Phil Martelli cited what a look at statistics might not lead one to think.
“Our biggest concern here is offense,” Martelli said after they shot below 36 percent in Wednesday’s loss. “When we are guarded, we go into a state of panic, and we just don’t have enough ball skills on this team to defeat the overplay and the physical play that we see.
“We’re not able to get into any kind of rhythm or flow, and I don’t understand it. I don’t see us being able to defeat it mentally – it almost defeats us when we see we’re guarded.”
He’s not concerned with the defense, which forced 17 turnovers on the night while allowing the Minutemen to shoot just under 48 percent. The Hawks are last in the Atlantic 10 in field goal percentage defense and surrender nearly 68 points per game. Meanwhile, they are third in field goal percentage at the offensive end. Wednesday night’s game was clearly an anomaly; their shooting percentage was a season low and the point total tied for their second-lowest output of the season.
But watching the game, it was clear the Hawks didn’t have it. Stachitas, who looked terrific in going for 27 points against Kansas, never got untracked and had nine points on 3-11 shooting. Leading scorer Abdullai Jalloh had a little contact with Minuteman guard James Life early on, and that seemed to be in his head the entire game as he had 14 points but went 3-15 from the floor. Lee had eight assists, but went 3-12 from the floor. The only Hawk who had a good night at the offensive end was sophomore Rob Ferguson, who scored 15 points on 6-8 shooting, which Martelli took note of.
“We have a kid like (Rob) Ferguson, who goes 6-8 in the game, and we don’t have the wherewithal to get him the ball enough,” he said.
Two years ago, the Hawks had a magical run, going undefeated in the regular season behind the dynamic perimeter play of Jameer Nelson, Delonte West and Tyrone Barley. Last season, they rebounded from a 3-6 start to make it to the finals of the NIT before losing in the title game, finishing with 24 wins. Those great days are gone, as are Nelson, West, Barley, Pat Carroll (last season’s Atlantic 10 Player of theYear), and Dwayne Jones, who anchored the inside game for those teams.
They are left with, among others, Lee and Stachitas in the senior class, both of whom have done a lot of winning. Dave Mallon is the only other senior who gets significant minutes, and he isn’t as experienced as Lee and Stachitas due to battling injuries for much of his career. The Hawks aren’t as talented or experienced as the teams of the past two seasons, but they have won plenty of games and know how to adjust to personnel changes.
“We don’t have too much room for error,” Lee said after the game. “We need to be there every night, defensively and offensively.”
Against Kansas, Lee and Stachitas showed their experience as they made numerous big plays throughout the game. Now, they have to help lead the team back into contention in the Atlantic 10. Charlotte, the preseason favorite of many, is 3-0 after disappointing in non-conference play, while George Washington, Xavier and now UMass are all 2-0. The Hawks had a slow start in non-conference play last year, so they have shown they can bounce back.
“It’s early in the season for conference play, and nobody’s that far ahead that they can’t be touched,” Stachitas said. “We’re a team that’s going to keep working hard, and we’re going to turn this around.”
