College of Charleston Has Personnel, Intangibles For Success

WORCESTER, Mass. – Bobby Cremins has been coaching long enough to have a good feel for a team. He’s had enough success to know what a good team looks like. So when he tells you he has a good team, you can believe him, especially if his team’s offensive showing in Saturday’ 93-84 win at Holy Cross isn’t convincing enough.

While Cremins and senior leader Andrew Goudeluck both talked about the team’s need to improve defensively – and indeed, they didn’t exactly put on a clinic there as Holy Cross shot 51.5 percent from the field – there was no concern about the offense. The Cougars shot 63.6 percent for the game, going 9-16 from long range (7-8 in the first half) and had five players score in double figures. They had 20 assists on 35 made field goals.

They did all of this while showing solid chemistry and ball movement as well as an inside-outside attack. There’s clearly a strong unselfish element on this team that players speak of, and it starts with the coach and continues right on through the team.

“Coach Cremins is real big on chemistry, moving the ball and being unselfish,” said sophomore Willis Hall. “We really don’t have selfish people on this team, which is really good and creates that kind of ball movement.”

Hall is the kind of glue guy championship teams need, but he took center stage for some of Saturday night’s game. He scored a career-high 20 points on 8-11 shooting, including 4-6 from three-point range. Just to give you an idea of what kind of game this was, Hall tied his career high in made three-point shots within the first three minutes of the game, and went 4-4 from behind the arc in the first half. He had never attempted more than four in a game in the year-plus the 6’6″ forward has been in college. His shots were not hoisted in a hasty fashion, either, as all came right in the flow of the offense as plays opened up a good look for him.

“I try to tell Willis as much as I can that we have the ultimate confidence in him,” said Goudelock, who added 18 points and six assists. “We have the confidence in him to shoot the threes, and he has to have the same confidence. I think he’s really buying into that, and it’s working out very well for him.”

Goudelock, the preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year, became well-known last year when he had a big game that included a clutch three-pointer on national television against North Carolina. But he’s much more than that for this team. The engaging senior guard is already the program’s all-time leading scorer in its Division I history and should ultimately become the all-time leader in the entire history of the program. But while he puts up points, he’s far from a gunner as led the team in assists last year and is very much an extra ball handler on the floor.

Not only that, but he got some of his points at key junctures of Saturday’s game. In the second half, one reason why Holy Cross never really got within striking distance when they got a little momentum is that every time the Cougars needed to regain momentum, Goudelock did something. Usually it was a basket, like a layup that ended a run of eight straight Holy Cross points to make it 71-58, or a three-pointer from the left wing a couple of minutes later after the Crusaders had pulled to within ten. After that three-pointer, he assisted on two baskets in the next minute and a half.

One beneficiary of his passes has been Jeremy Simmons. A senior forward, Simmons at times made it look easy inside as he scored a career-high 22 points on 8-11 shooting and had eight rebounds. He made good moves and also moved well without the ball so he could be in position to get it where he could score, and players like Goudelock found him a few times.

“He makes it a lot easier on me. I know if I keep looking for it, he’ll find me,” Simmons said of Goudelock. “When you’ve got a guy scoring almost 30 a game leading you in assists, it’s great. You don’t find too many guys like that.”

Donavan Monroe and Goudelock play off each other very well and have a chemistry that has developed over the last three years. The two have been roommates since they began at the school and have helped the team to two straight appearances in the College Basketball Invitational, with hopes of finally getting to the NCAA Tournament this season. Neither really plays point or shooting guard; instead, they are like two point guards that can both score, as Monroe was second on the team in scoring last year. Their trust in each other is evident, and runs deeper than what one sees on the court.

“Whenever I learn something, I’m quick to tell Donavan, and whenever he learns something, he’s quick to tell me and we work together,” said Goudelock. “We don’t think any backcourt in the country can stop us, defensively or offensively.”

Talk to Goudelock and you get a sense that this team is a very together unit. His belief in the team mirrors that of his coach as well as his unselfish actions. You can also see the pride he has in being a leader on this team and in particular leading the group of players he has around him. The Cougars aren’t exceptionally deep by any stretch, but they have played a solid eight-man group in the first two games and are a stop or basket away from being 2-0 with both coming on the road.

The mention of defense as a priority for this team by both Goudelock and Cremins makes sense, and not just because championships are won at that end of the floor. Last year’s Cougar team allowed opponents to shoot nearly 45 percent from the field, and thus far both Maryland and Holy Cross have shot over 51 percent against them. Only Georgia Southern gave up more points on a nightly basis last season as well.

“We just have to try to make sure we defend and rebound and the offense will take care of itself,” Goudelock said.

Two years ago, the Cougars reached the championship game in the Southern Conference Tournament after knocking off Davidson in the semifinals, but lost in the title game. The NCAA Tournament was right there. With the personnel and intangibles, this team is hopeful of making that next step. Cremins feels this is a good team, and he knows a thing or two about that subject. Their play on the court thus far doesn’t contradict him.