Mr. Fix It: Every Coach Has Their Own Toole Box
By Paul Meyer
www.rmucolonials.com
Jan. 17, 2012
Meyer on Morris Link
Moon Township, Pa. - It had been sitting there in a corner of his office for almost a year.
Out of sight, yes. But never completely out of mind. Because, well, you never know.
Let's call it the Toole Box.
It had gone unopened since late last January. It hadn't been needed. After all, until something's broken, it doesn't need fixing.
Last Friday, though, Robert Morris University head coach Andrew Toole sensed that while maybe his team wasn't really broken, it also wasn't totally OK.
So he got the box and put it on his work bench, which most of the time passes for a desk.
Perhaps he smiled, remembering the last time he'd opened the box. It was last Jan. 31. He'd watched his team slog through losses at Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart during a lousy weekend in Connecticut. When the Colonials arrived home, Toole knew he needed to fix his team.
Last season's team repair centered around placing a "padlock'' on the locker room door. The players couldn't use the locker room. Couldn't wear anything with "Robert Morris'' on it while practicing. Had to eat meals in the laundry room.
A week or so later, Toole took the padlock off the locker room door. Fixed, his team zipped to eight consecutive wins and advanced to the Northeast Conference Tournament championship game.
This season, Toole's team won 12 of its first 16 games, including all three of its NEC games.
The Toole Box, a bit dust-covered by now, still sat in its corner.
However, after the Colonials lost at Central Connecticut State, Jan. 7, (they trailed by only four points at halftime but were behind by 18 before that game ended) - and then lost to Quinnipiac at the Charles L. Sewall Center last Thursday (when they led by eight points at halftime), Toole sensed that it was time to reach for the box.
"I just didn't like the dynamic of our team,'' he said.
This time, Toole eschewed the padlock fix-it. Instead, he opted for the tweak-the-starting-lineup gadget.
Russell Johnson, Mike McFadden and Velton Jones would not start against Sacred Heart. Lucky Jones, Lijah Thompson and Anthony Myers would.
Now, the switch of Lucky Jones for Johnson wasn't hard to do. Johnson had come up with an injury to his right hand, so he couldn't play. One could argue that inserting Thompson for McFadden also wasn't difficult. Thompson had been starting in the post until he sustained a recurrence of a foot problem in early December.
McFadden, a transfer from Iona who became eligible Dec. 17, filled Thompson's position easily. But there's that old sports axiom that a starter doesn't lose his starting job because of an injury. When he's healthy, he's back in there. Thompson had demonstrated he was healthy, so he would go back in there.
But not starting Velton Jones? That was some serious tinkering by Toole.
Jones had started 70 consecutive games since Jan. 9, 2010. What's more, he's the Colonials' leading scorer.
Wow!
"I wanted to try to create some more defensive energy in the beginning of the game,'' Toole said. "I felt like in the Central game and the Quinnipiac game we didn't start with any intensity or energy. In the Quinnipiac game, the first three or four possessions our guys were just trotting around. Guys like Mike or Velton (and) Russell are supposed to be leading the charge, and I wanted to put a group together that I thought would have high defensive energy, that would be able to get us going in the right direction at the start of the game, really set the tone for the game.
"I also wanted to remind certain guys that starting is a privilege. It's not a right. And if you're going to start games, then you have to start them out properly.''
So how did this play out?
Well, Shane Gibson, Sacred Heart's leading scorer, began his journey to a game-high 29 points with a three from the right side just nine seconds into the game.
"First play of the game,'' Toole said, "Ant Myers gives up a corner jump shot to Shane Gibson. Hello? Shane Gibson? On a simple in-bounds play?''
And, really,
Velton Jones and McFadden didn't sit on the bench all that long. They both entered the game two and-a-half minutes in. Jones immediately made a basket to get the Colonials off to a 7-3 start in what became a probably closer-than-necessary 70-67 victory.
Toole told Jones about his non-start the day before the game.
Jones' reaction?
"It wasn't any negative reaction,'' he said. "It was more of a positive. Just to try to come off the bench and give some energy.''
And how about being on the bench when the game began?
"It was really weird. Real weird,'' Jones said.
However, there was nothing weird about Jones' final stat line - 18 points, five assists, three steals and just one turnover in a team-high 31 minutes.
"Pretty good,'' Toole said. "I didn't know how he was going to respond, to be honest with you. Even in the shoot-around (Saturday) I don't think he was completely excited with the decision I made, but I thought he responded really well. I'm proud of him for that because we've been talking here in the last couple days and I've been reminding the guys that we're the ones who kind of put ourselves in a two-game slide and so we have to be the ones who get ourselves out of that two-game slide. We can't just HOPE for it to be better. We have to make it better, and Velton definitely went out and made it better.''
That isn't to say that all was instantly fixed against Sacred Heart.
The Pioneers dressed only eight players because second-leading scorer Justin Swidowski (11.7 points per game) and Evan Kelley (8.4) were injured. Yet, Sacred Heart battled and whittled a 15-point deficit with 11:31 remaining to zero with 2:37 left.
And Sacred Heart did shoot 50 percent (12 of 24) from beyond the arc.
On the other hand, Toole did a ton of substituting in an effort to keep a fresh five on the floor as much as possible against what had to be a tiring Pioneer team.
That produced some unusual groupings for the Colonials.
"At one of the timeouts, I don't think even (Toole) knew what lineup he had in,'' Jones said, smiling.
"I was trying to keep the defensive intensity high,'' Toole said. "You know I hadn't been happy with the defense over the last two games. We didn't hold (Sacred Heart) to a great percentage and obviously didn't guard the three very well, but I thought maybe continuing to throw bodies at them and continuing to try to keep our guys fresh maybe helped them miss one or two threes. I don't know. I was just trying to make sure guys were as fresh as they could be and were as locked in as they could be because not only does your body start to tire but your mind starts to tire.
"It's interesting to play-call when you have certain guys who have never been in certain positions before. It's hard. From a defensive standpoint, it shouldn't be as much of an adjustment because in theory we should have guys who can guard multiple positions and guard in the post as well as on the perimeter. Offensively is where I think the biggest challenge arises because you have to figure out what plays guys know from different spots. In a perfect world, everyone would know every play from every spot, but we know this isn't a perfect world, so it really makes it interesting to play-call and try to maybe isolate two guys on one side of the floor to be able to make a play.''
Coron Williams, who didn't reach double figures in the previous three games, led the Colonials with 20 points. He scored half of those in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the second half to help RMU get out to its 15-point lead.
"He was aggressive,'' Toole said. "He hunted shots, which good shooters have to do. We talked to him about this - he has to be aggressive looking for his shot. I thought once he started getting going guys started looking for him, which is, you know, how you're supposed to kind of play. That's the mentality he has to go into games with, and I think our team has to do a good job of understanding when he does get it going - or even when he's not. He's someone we have to look for in order to score the basketball.''
Williams sustained a left ankle sprain with 12:50 left. He returned to the court seven minutes later, but he went to the bench for good 90 seconds later.
"It was just a little bit too painful for him,'' Toole said. "He didn't feel he'd be effective defensively and be able to move as well as he would have liked.''
Toole expects Williams will be able to play Thursday when the Colonials visit Fairleigh Dickinson.
"And hopefully Russell (will be able to play) as well,'' Toole said.
What will Toole do with his starting lineup Thursday?
"I don't know,'' he said. "I have to figure out who's going to be available. I think we can still tinker a little bit to get the right chemistry and the right lineup in there so that we can start games better.''
And play the games better. And finish them better.
"I told them Friday (that I thought) aliens invaded this locker room and have taken over our team,'' Toole said. "Two weeks ago, we were rolling and guys were kind of locked in and everyone knew their role, and then all of a sudden things kind of got flipped up in the air and turned around sideways and I think we had to get their attention again and remind them that what we did to be successful previously was defend, play hard, share the basketball. Those are things we have to do if we're going to continue to be successful.''
The Colonials did share the basketball impressively against Sacred Heart. They had 19 assists on their 24 field goals.
Still, the Colonials didn't play a complete game, and Toole conceded his starting lineup tweak seemed "a failed experiment.''
That doesn't mean it wasn't worth trying.
"I just really felt that something needed to be done,'' Toole said. "I don't think it was time to wait. I'm happy to have won the game. It was great to bounce back after two tough games and get a win, that's for sure. But there's so much stuff we have to clean up, it's scary.''
In short, Toole isn't sure all is right with his team.
"No, I'm not totally convinced,'' he said. "It's game to game. Sometimes, day to day.''
So don't be surprised if the Toole Box goes on this weekend's trip, which includes a stop at Monmouth Saturday.
Velton Jones, for one, wouldn't be surprised if Toole finds more stuff in that box.
"It's not OK, but it's getting better,'' Jones said of the Colonials' play. "A win is a win, but we still have to go back on the road next weekend.''
Jones sighed deeply.
"We just have to get back to our winning ways,'' he said. "Losing (stinks). We just have to go to practice and do whatever we can to get back.''
