Meyer on Morris Link
Moon Township, Pa. – Nov. 30, 2013 – One of the most important reasons for the success of the Robert Morris program over the past several seasons was that the Colonials played defense.
And more defense.
Relentlessly.
However, seven games into this season, defense has seemed to be a thing of the past for the Colonials.
They lost at Buffalo Tuesday evening, 81-66, to fall to 3-4.
The record isn't so alarming. Heck, the Colonials have played only two games at home.
But those 81 points Buffalo scored? That's what's alarming.
It was the fifth time in seven games to open this season that the Colonials allowed at least 80 points as well as the fourth consecutive game in which that happened.
That's rare for Robert Morris.
One has to go back to the 1994-95 season to locate the last time Robert Morris allowed at least 80 points in four consecutive games. Late in that season, the Colonials permitted an opponent to eclipse 80 points plus in five consecutive games and lost all five contests.
For the record, the Colonials lost those five games to Marist (80-77), St. Francis U. (89-75), St. Francis Brooklyn (89-82), LIU-Brooklyn (87-70) and Monmouth (82-62). They then beat Wagner, 81-79, in the regular-season finale before ending their 4-23 season with an 87-80 loss to LIU-Brooklyn in the NEC Tournament.
That was then, of course, and doesn't much matter anymore.
But this is now, and that matters a lot.
"We still haven't bought in defensively for 40 minutes,'' said assistant coach
Joe Gallo before the loss at Buffalo.
Gallo filled in as the game coach at Buffalo because RMU head coach
Andrew Toole was laid low following a bout with kidney stones that afflicted him Monday night. Toole did sit on the Colonial bench Tuesday night, but Gallo handled the team.
Gallo was diligently working on his scouting report on Delaware, RMU's opponent this afternoon, when he got a call from Toole.
"Make sure you have a pre-game speech (ready),'' Toole told Gallo.
With that, Gallo closed his laptop on Delaware and began preparing to coach the Colonials against the Bulls.
"It was a little bit of a different feeling,'' Gallo said.
In the end, though, there wasn't much difference.
The Colonials couldn't stop the Bulls, especially after finishing the first half in a 38-38 tie.
Buffalo snowed under the Colonials in the second half.
Midway through those 20 minutes, Buffalo led, 63-52, and with 3:27 left, Robert Morris trailed, 78-58.
RMU got off to a decent start Tuesday. It led the Bulls, 21-16, halfway through the first half when the game changed -- twice.
RMU point guard
Anthony Myers-Pate drew a foul. At that point, Buffalo had been called for nine personal fouls. The Colonials had three. The Bulls drew a technical foul following the call that sent Myers-Pate to the line. Myers-Pate made two free throws.
Karvel Anderson made two free throws on the technical, and the Colonials led, 25-16, with 9:55 remaining in the half.
Things looked promising for Robert Morris.
However, two minutes later, Buffalo led, 26-25. Robert Morris would hold slim leads thereafter in the first half, but the Colonials had missed their opportunity to take control of the game.
In the end, the foul count changed rather dramatically.
RMU was whistled for 25 personal fouls in the game and Buffalo finished with 22. The Colonials were 20-of-27 from the line, while the Bulls were 25-for-39.
Through seven games this season, the Colonials have been whistled 169 times. Last season through the first seven games, a span in which Robert Morris also owned a 3-4 record, it had 128 personal fouls. Yes, the new hand-check rule is a factor in that, but there's this, too. Last season through those same seven games, RMU's opponents were called for 141 fouls. This season, the opponents have committed 145 fouls.
So the Colonials are getting whistled far more often than their opponents, which contributes to their defensive problems.
Speaking of fouls -- or fowls -- the Colonials' game with the Delaware Blue Hens (3-3) will be played just two days after Thanksgiving and all its turkey-related festivities.
Delaware, which has played only one home game, evened its record with an 80-70 win at Route 1 rival Delaware State Monday evening. Senior transfer Davon Usher, a 6'6" guard, led the Hens with 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Usher, from Baltimore, transferred from Mississippi Valley State, which was placed on Academic Progress Rate probation after last season. Usher last season led the Southwestern Athletic Conference with an average of 18.8 points a game.
"The way we play, our style fits a scorer,'' Delaware coach Monte Ross told the Delaware State News. "So if you can score, why would you not want to play for us? And his knack for sharing the basketball is wonderful. When you combined those things, it's easy to fit in with us.
"It's great to have somebody like that on your team. He makes everybody else feed off of him because he's so energetic, so positive. He's always talking in the huddle and doing everything that we need him to do.''
Usher leads Hen scorers with an average of 19.2 points per game. He's also averaging 7.8 rebounds per contest.
Usher's scoring has been a key for Delaware, which is without senior guard Devon Saddler. Saddler scored a total of 46 points in the Hens' first two games this season before being suspended for seven games.
The Hens, who average 83.5 points per game, have three other double-figure scorers -- junior Jarvis Threatt (16.8), junior Kyle Anderson (14.7) and senior Carl Baptiste (11.7).
Delaware is shooting 38.1 percent from beyond the arc and allowing its opponents to shoot just 25.8 percent from three-point land.
The Hens finished 19-14 last season, including 13-5 (second) in the Colonial Athletic Association. They were picked to finish fourth in the CAA this season.
