BOSTON – It’s hard not to notice the similarities. While the players are different, Northeastern appears to be at a similar point now to a year ago.
Last year, the Huskies started out 2-7 with a number of close losses and against a tough schedule. This time around, through six games they are 2-4, having lost four straight after dropping Saturday’s CAA opener to Drexel by a score of 63-58. While they aren’t far from being 5-1, with three of the losses coming by two, five and five points, they’re also not far from being 0-6 since both wins were by a combined three points.
This year’s team is decidedly different in its makeup. Whereas last season, the Huskies had a senior-laden lineup, this year’s team has just two seniors in Chaisson Allen and Vinny Lima, the latter of whom has had inconsistent minutes at best during his career. Of the ten Huskies who appeared against Drexel, five are sophomores and three are freshmen. Going a little deeper, Alwayne Bigby and Kauri Black are the only sophomores who saw significant minutes as freshmen last season, and Black missed the first two months with an injury.
The difference isn’t lost on the senior leader.
“Last year, we had some experienced guys,” said Allen. “This year, I feel like we’re growing together as a team.”
In fact, the Huskies are growing. The improvement in players like Joel Smith and Jonathan Lee is very noticeable, although both still have a ways to go since they are like freshmen in terms of their experience level. As a result, the Huskies are having growing pains, and the end result bears it out as the wins are hard to come by. With the growth comes the reality that they are still young, and it shows. In Saturday’s loss, at times the Huskies were not patient offensively and fired up some ill-advised jump shots early in the possession, a contributor to their 2-13 showing from behind the arc.
A definite similarity to last season is the schedule. Bill Coen was quick to note that the Huskies haven’t exactly played a bunch of Division II teams, something that an experienced team can often handle better than a young one. Still, Coen has done that every year he has been at Northeastern, and thus far it’s hard to argue with the results. The team gets to see what a winning team looks like and how much work they have to put in, and they also get to see different styles of play.
While this year’s schedule isn’t quite as demanding as last year’s, it’s not weak. They opened with America East favorite and cross-town rival Boston University. They went to Southern Illinois, a tough place to win even though the Salukis aren’t what they were several years ago. They lost to a very good Utah State team in Logan, Utah. They gave Providence a battle on the road before succuming. And they battled Drexel to a standstill on the boards – the first team to do that all year as the Dragons came into the game out-rebounding opponents by over 15 a game – in a tough loss.
“Part of that is a function of who you play,” said Coen. “I didn’t do these guys any favors by taking them out to Utah State, putting them at Providence or playing against Siena.”
It doesn’t get any easier, with a visit from Rhode Island ahead before a break for final exams. After that, they compete in the Cancun Governor’s Cup, opening against Saint Louis. Then they play in the UCF Holiday Classic, opening with Ivy League favorite Princeton. Once they navigate that gauntlet, CAA play begins in earnest with back-to-back road games.
Every year since they have been in the CAA, the Huskies have finished at least .500 in conference play. Certainly, they could do that again this year, even though their 2-4 start might not give many fans a lot of optimism.
“In November and December, we’re learning,” said Coen. “We’ve gotten better in a lot of areas and have played in some difficult venues to this point, and each one of those opportunities have made us a better basketball team.”
They are a better team now than at the beginning of the season, without the wins to go with it. Learning experiences are always better for a team when they win games. Last year’s team, as well as some prior Northeastern teams, managed to learn from losses and get better results later in the season. Whether or not this year’s team can do the same remains to be seen.
