BOSTON – Bruiser Flint’s teams at Drexel will guard you. That much is a given, and always will be as long as he’s there. What isn’t a given is the offense, but when it is there, the Dragons can be very good and win games. Thus far, it’s been good enough, as the Dragons stand 9-5 in CAA play and are certainly one of the pleasant surprises of the conference this season.
“All year, I’ve been talking to my guys about battling,” Flint said after his team came to Boston and knocked off Northeastern on Wednesday night. “It’s a fine line with us. We’re not that good, I would say, individually, but when we play hard and do the things we need to, we’re not bad, we’re a pretty decent team. I think we’ve shown that this year.”
The Dragons certainly battle, as they’re often better when the game is a grind-it-out affair. That means they’ve imposed their will on a team, with a lot of physical play and tough defense. They did that last year, but not with enough consistency and the offense struggled mightily. Add in the need to play a couple of freshmen significant minutes, and they were a feast or famine bunch.
While the freshmen have improved as sophomores, the biggest reason for the change in Drexel’s record can be found in an upperclassman. Flint had high expectations for senior guard Scott Rodgers last year, but he showed up out of shape and never really got going last year as a result. That’s a major reason Flint had to rely on freshmen like Gerald Colds and Jamie Harris as much as he did, and when freshmen guards are counted on heavily, the results can be inconsistent.
This year, Rodgers came in ready. It showed in the win over Northeastern, where he held Matt Janning to 4-13 from the field and had a team-high 17 point, making some tough shots along the way.
“Last year, he was awful, to be honest with you,” Flint said of Rodgers. “He came back in better shape, and he’s been playing well. I would love for him to be a little bit more consistent, but tonight, he came ready. I think he’s done a great job on the better guards in the league defensively.”
The senior guard is leading the team in scoring as their lone double-digit scorer, and only Harris has more assists. He hasn’t shot the ball well – after Wednesday night, he’s still below 34 percent for the season and around 29 percent from long range – but Flint will take his defense and the big shots he made against the Huskies. Those numbers are also in line with those for his career, so it’s not like this is a major aberration.
The real surprise among the Dragons’ guards is that Tramayne Hawthorne has largely come off the bench. One of the team’s best defenders, Hawthorne moved into the starting lineup last year, and while his scoring and assists both jumped, his shooting percentage took a dip, especially from long range. That hasn’t recovered at all this season, though he has a 2.3 assist/turnover ratio, so he’s back to coming off the bench, which he did successfully his first two seasons.
That’s where Harris comes in, especially since Colds hasn’t improved much from last season. He looked promising for a lot of last season, but as one would expect, was inconsistent. He’s still not very mature physically, but the improvement can’t be missed. His scoring has more than tripled, he’s shooting much better from the field (including over 43 percent from long range) and is much better at running the team. He could stand to cut down on turnovers, with nearly two per game, but every other area has improved to where that’s not a major issue.
Flint said he thinks Harris is a classic case of a young man who grew up because he had to on the court.
“Last year, physically he just got overwhelmed at times,” Flint said. “He’s not the biggest guy in the world, and then he got tired. He got thrown to the wolves last year.”
He sees the increased confidence Harris plays with, and sees a little of some others around the CAA. In fact, he didn’t have to look far on that night for an example.
“I look at some of the guys on Northeastern, like Chaisson Allen, I remember him in his first year,” Flint reflected. “Sometimes, when you get thrown out there, it’s about progress. That’s what (Harris) has been able to do.”
The improvement of Rodgers and Harris has helped overcome a gaping hole on the inside on offense. Frank Elegar was the team’s top scorer last season, and while he wasn’t very valuable defensively his offense was sure to be missed. But Evan Neissler and freshmen Leon Spencer and Samme Givens have proven to be serviceable both on defense and on the glass and have given them just enough offense to survive.
The Dragons looked shaky in non-conference play, losing five straight in December including a tough one-point loss in an early CAA game against George Mason. While they were only blown out against Memphis in that stretch (a game Flint did not coach because he was ejected from the previous game and suspended as per CAA policy), they had their chances to pull out some close games as all four were decided by six points or less.
Flint said that one need only look at their shooting percentages, especially from the free throw line, for the difference with this team. In CAA play, they’re shooting nearly 73 percent from the line, while shooting under 68 percent overall from there. Their CAA record is now 9-5 with the fourth-best free throw percentage in conference games.
The Dragons won’t scare anyone with their offense. Even though they did just enough to beat Northeastern, they were sloppy for a lot of the game but managed to make some tough shots. Their defense was enough to keep them in the game and make those shots count. If they cut down on the sloppy plays, they’re sure to be an even tougher out come tournament time.
“One of the things I always tell my guys is to reward good defense with good offense,” said Flint. “We don’t always do that, believe me. We miss a lot of easy ones, that’s one of the things that I’m trying to make our guys understand.”
