PHILADELPHIA – Delaware entered this season looking like a team facing an uphill battle. The Blue Hens had questions up front, but looked like they would have a perimeter unit capable of making this team more than just a tough out in the Colonial Athletic Association. But that was before Brian Johnson tore his ACL late in the summer, after which a lot changed. Yet they’re still plugging away, and nearly had a breakthrough on Saturday night in an overtime loss to Virginia Tech.
The Blue Hens don’t have another true point guard like Johnson, who had started since arriving on campus three years ago. They have asked Jawan Carter, who at one time was a point guard in high school but had become more like a scorer, to run the team, and that’s had an impact they are trying to manage. Besides having to change his mindset to not just look for his offense, the change makes it more difficult for him to be a scorer in part because he has to shoulder a good deal. In Saturday night’s loss, he handled it quite well, scoring 23 points and handing out eight assists.
“It’s an awful lot to ask of him,” said head coach Monte Ross. “To whom much is given, much is required. He really got in the lane and fed the big guys, fed D.J. (Boney) and also had the pressure of getting his own. It was a tremendous job.”
Carter got to the line 16 times, making 12 attempts, and had just three turnovers. In a game where offense was hard to come by for both teams, he played a rather efficient game overall, and it’s a big step.
The backcourt issues are the most acute for the Blue Hens, and that was especially the case on Saturday as Alphonso Dawson dressed but did not play for disciplinary reasons. That left Carter and Boney as the starting guards, with Edwin Santiago and Malcolm Hawkins off the bench. Santiago has not developed in his two-plus seasons, while Hawkins is a freshman and played just three minutes as he has some work to do. The Blue Hens could have used Dawson in a game like this.
“We consider it an extreme privilege to put on the Delaware uniform every single night,” Ross said after the game. “Once you start taking that privilege for granted, sometimes you have to be made to step back, reflect, and get that hunger back. We just need to re-energize him for that hunger, for that specialness that it is to put on the Delaware uniform.”
The frontcourt has plenty of questions as well, and that was clear in this game. Ross said the difference was the Hokies’ strength, and they had 22 offensive rebounds that they turned into 23 second-chance points. Delaware starts a frontcourt with two freshmen and Rhode Island transfer Hakim McCullar, and the two reserves are a freshman and sophomore. McCullar had foul trouble on Saturday but has been their best player there, and Jamelle Hagins and Josh Brinkley, two of the freshmen, may have emerged as the next best players Ross can hang his hat on. But they are freshmen, so there will be growing pains that come with it.
Ross has never been one for moral victories, a point he reiterated after Saturday’s game. Even so, he’s keeping a sense of perspective, knowing his team isn’t going to be an NCAA Tournament at-large team and there’s a larger goal in non-conference play besides wins and losses.
“There are really some signs here, and I keep harping on it, that we’re not going to use the excuse that we’re a young group, but I think I saw some signs from our young frontcourt,” Ross reflected. “If they keep bringing the work ethic that they’ve been bringing to practice, we have a chance to be okay as we go along.”
Although the game was a loss, another bright spot came on the defensive end, long a concern. With the offense being fundamentally different without Johnson, defensive improvement is a must, and before Saturday’s game the Blue Hens weren’t stopping anyone. Opponents came into the game shooting 49.3 percent from the field and averaging 85.5 points per game. Virginia Tech shot 35.4 percent from the field en route to scoring 74 points with five extra minutes.
“We missed some free throws, but we played the scouting report well and we talked, and that’s a big part of defense,” said Carter. “We were missing that for a couple of games.”
Delaware is now 1-4, with a matchup at in-state rival Delaware State and then their CAA opener looming. The latter is a tough test as they travel to face preseason favorite Old Dominion. Ross is hoping the intangibles he saw Saturday night continue in these games and the remaining ones going forward.
“One thing I don’t have to worry about with my guys is them fighting,” said Ross. “We may not be good enough on a particular night, like tonight, but we’re going to fight tooth and nail every single time. As long as we do that, we’ll be fine.”
The uphill battle continues, and the Blue Hens continue to plug away.
