Young Coyote squad off to rocky start

0-2.

That’s the record of the University of South Dakota men’s basketball team heading into its next game Friday at Wyoming.

Two losses – the first a 68-46 blowout at the hands of St. Bonaventure University Nov. 9, the other a 71-66 slip up to Canisius College Nov. 11 – were not an ideal start for a team with a new coach.

“Obviously no one wants that or expects that. But we saw a lot of improvement from St. Bonaventure to Canisius, and we all think an 0-2 weekend like that one had a lot to do with some lack of experience from some guys,” senior Trevor Gruis said. “The more reps we can all get right now, because we have so many new faces, the better.”

The season is just getting started for the Coyotes, who will have to regroup Friday when they travel to Laramie, Wyo. to face Wyoming University. The 11 days between games will be the longest stretch the team will see for the rest of the year.

First-year coach Joey James said the team’s excited to start the grind of the season but hasn’t been a fan of the extended break.

“We need a game,” James said. “This is a long stretch for us. It’s a little too long. It’s not quite what we want, but we’ll be ready for Friday night.”

The Coyotes trip west will pose a few interesting challenges. including facing a solid perimeter team in Wyoming, who is already off to a 3-1 start.

James said he reminded his team after practice Monday they have a job. The job is to win out in Wyoming for the first time since he’s been with the program, which dates back to 1997.

“It’s a place we’ve been through before. They’ve got a nice team. They’ve got a couple nice kids on the perimeter in Josh Adams and Riley Grabau,” James said. “Then they have a tough post in Larry Nance, Jr., whose father played in the NBA. We’ll have our hands full with those guys, but these kids are no different. We’ve got to come out and compete.”

Junior guard Brandon Bos said the team is excited to arrive in Wyoming and make strides in a number of places.     He said the team played well, even with new guys playing big roles but they saw some holes on offense and in rebounding.

“We just have to push forward right now. The coaches are pushing us. We’re pushing each other. We haven’t seen film on them or worked on our exact scouting attack on them, but we’ll be ready to play Friday, especially if our shooters start to get going,” Bos said.

In the Coyotes’ first two contests, very little went right. The team gave up a huge 43-28 rebounding advantage, and only six players scored against St. Bonaventure.

Two days later, Nov. 11, the Coyotes found a little bit more offensive rhythm against Canisius. Three players ended up in double digits, led by Gruis’ 18 points.

“Our biggest thing right now is we have to rebound. That comes a lot from my position, but that’s are biggest need,” Gruis said. “Against Canisius, they hit a few shots, and we missed and didn’t come down with boards. We just need to clean some of this stuff up on offense and defence.”

Canisius’ Billy Baron turned out also to be a big problem for the Coyotes. The Mid-American Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year dropped 27 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 57 seconds left.

James said he doesn’t feel the team is physically capable, attributing the team’s youth. The Coyotes played a majority of juniors and sophomores in its first two years, and James said it might take them a bit longer to gear up for game speed. He said he still expects them to climb the hill of improvement soon.

“I think you’re going to improve in practice, but the more game reps these guys have, the more comfortable these guys will get,” James said. “We want a home game. We can’t wait to get home, get in front of our crowd, our fans and our students. All the kids are excited. We just want to continue to get better as the season progresses.”