Young line-up leads to ‘up-and-down’ season
Coming into the 2013-14 season, the University of South Dakota Coyote men’s basketball team featured a roster with nine underclassmen.
Pair that with a team that went 10-20 last year, interim head coach Joey James knew it wasn’t always going to be pretty.
James said the entire season has been a grind for his Coyotes (8-11, 3-2), but the good thing is there’s plenty of games left on the schedule.
“It’s a long year. You don’t want to get down on your guys too early in the year because you don’t want anyone losing their confidence,” James said. “We’ll continue working hard each and every day and challenge the players.”
The Coyotes had a forgettable stretch in their non-conference play in December, losing six straight games from Dec. 5-29.
Senior center Trevor Gruis said it was important for the team to not get down and for leaders like himself to tell everyone the season had just begun.
“We weren’t playing our best earlier in the season, but we were all excited for conference play to start up,” Gruis said. “We know this is where it gets very important and I think we’ve been playing better.”
The Coyotes then opened up a three-game win streak in conference play, with wins over Denver, IUPUI and Fort Wayne.
The Coyotes lost back-to-back road games to Western Illinois and Omaha. The Coyotes were outscored 50-38 in the second half last Saturday against Omaha and went on to lose 77-73.
James said it was disappointing to give up a lead on the road in conference play.
“It was very disappointing to lose that game. Omaha is a good team and we have a lot of respect for them, but we had every opportunity to win that game,” James said. “That’s what I think is the frustrating part.”
Despite the loss, James said the game was a good learning experience for the younger players.
“I thought in the first half we were very good defensively, but in the second half we allowed them to shoot 59 percent,” James said. “When you’re on the road you can’t get away with that. That was the difference in the game and something the more inexperienced players are starting to realize.”
With so many unknowns coming into the season, James said it took awhile to get a good feel for everyone and it’s still a work in progress.
At this point, he said, he has a much better grasp for divvying up his rotation, depending on corresponding matchups.
Sophomore point guard Trey Norris, who sat out last year after transferring from North Texas, currently leads the Summit League in assists with 4.8 per game. James said Norris is progressively been getting better all season long.
“He’s much more improved now than even a couple months ago because he understands what we’re asking out of him,” James said. “He’s still beginning to become a leader for us and improving in that category. There’s no question that he’s a better basketball player and we have to remember that he’s just a sophomore. He’s going to continue getting even better.”
Norris said it was tough sitting out last season as a transfer, so playing this season has been nothing but exciting for him.
“I finally am able to be out there with my team, and being able to compete and try and help us win the conference championship is really exciting to me,” Norris said. “From watching last year and now playing, I can say we’ve gotten way better as a team. I’m happy where we’re at right now.”
As of now, the Coyotes are 7-1 in the DakotaDome but only 1-9 on the road. Norris said if they want to take the next step, they’ll have to figure out a way to beat opponents at their home court.
“We have to get better with our defense. On the road, our defense isn’t as good,” Norris said. “I don’t know what the reason is but we need to fix it. It’ll come, and over time we’ll get better and better.”
Next up for the Coyotes is three straight home games, including in-state rival, South Dakota State. Although it’s still two games away, Norris said, he can already tell it’ll be a fun game to play in.
“I know it’s still two games from now but it will be exciting,” Norris said. “I remember watching us beat them last year and that was a great feeling. I think our coaches have prepared us the best they could to win the game.”
Before USD hosts the Jackrabbits, they will prepare for the 15-5 (4-1), conference leading, North Dakota State Bison Thursday at 7 p.m. in the DakotaDome.
Follow reporter Grant Bosiacki on Twitter @gbos2
