T-Birds squeak by Western State
The Southern Utah men's team has not played a complete basketball game in nearly three weeks, and it could come back to haunt the T-Birds if they don't pull together before next week.
They can't afford to play as they did against Western State, an NCAA Division II team, if they hope to have a chance against Mid-Continent Conference teams like Oral Roberts.
Of course, with the way the T-Birds started the season, maybe they were due for a slump. And considering they just won two straight games, maybe I'm nitpicking.
But this is not the way they played for the first six weeks. Their offense is lethargic and lacking on execution. They're committing way too many turnovers and are missing too many easy shots.
This is the time they played those first 15 games for, so it's the moment for the T-Birds to put it back together. If not, we could very well see the opposite of last season.
That squad started 1-11 and played well in Mid-Con, finishing in a three-way tie for fourth.
There's little doubt in my mind that this is a much better team than the 2005-06 version. They have more athleticism, play better defense and share the ball better than any team I've seen here in the four-plus years I've been in Cedar City.
But we'll find out just how good they are when they travel to Kansas City to face UMKC next week. I think they'll be fine. I could easily see them finishing in the top four in the Mid-Con, if not better.
But they have to want it.
RSS feed
