The men’s basketball team
lost 82-62 to the toughest
team on their schedule,
Ocean County, last Thursday.
The team has started the season
winless, but the outlook
is far more positive for the
remainder of the season.
After starting off the season
with losses to St. Joe’s
JV, Stevens, Reading, Central
Penn, Montgomery, and
Lehigh Card, Harrisburg, and
now Ocean County, the team
has found themselves in a
“We played hard, but it’s
tough,” guard Chris Esteves said
after the loss to Ocean County.
“We’re a good group, just have to
keep battling and hopefully we
win on Saturday.”
Esteves played a particularly
strong game against Ocean
County, making an offensive play
nearly every time he got the ball.
“We just have to keep our nose
to the ground and keep pounding,”
center/forward Dave Durkin said.
Durkin, after having to make
some early adjustments, had a
strong game against Ocean
County; he played especially well
in the paint offensively and defensively.
“It was a little different tonight,
not used to playing against guys
taller than me,” Durkin said.
“After I settled into the game, I
feel I played pretty well.”
During the game Coach Steve
Coyne paced in front of bench,
full of energy despite being down
by double digits most of the game.
However, he did not do that to
keep his players motivated.
“I’m always up and yelling, it’s
how I am,” Coyne said. “I don’t
need to keep my players motivated;
they keep themselves into
it and they give it all every time
they’re on the court.”
Coyne and the team knew that
Ocean County was not only an
out-of-conference team, but the
hardest team on their schedule.
They saw the game as a learning
experience and a chance to make
strides in their game.
“Deep down, I believe in my
players; they believe in each other.
We just need to get a win,” Coyne
said.
The team’s 0-7 record would indicate
poor play, but that is not the
case.
“I feel bad for our players right
now because their hard work and
talent hasn’t had results,” Coyne
said. “If you look at our team
man-for-man, we are better than
most of the teams.”
Though the team’s record would
indicate otherwise, Coyne feels
that the team is much stronger
than they were last season. He
found two reasons why things
have been off.
“Turnovers and just not scoring
has been our Achilles heel,”
Coyne said.
Coyne said turnovers are a particular
point of concern.
“If you have turnovers, all the
defense in the world is not going
to be good enough to win,” Coyne
said.
However, when the team is not
turning the ball over, they have
had trouble making baskets.
Coyne said that none of his
players has been playing poorly;
he feels the team in just in a bit of
a jam.
“I think that it is bad luck because
we have guys that can
score; it’s like someone has just
put a lid on the bucket,” Coyne
said.
Coyne truly feels that bad luck
has held the team back.
“We have not had trouble with
other teams’ defense,” Coyne said.
“The ball just has not gone in; I
can’t be more blunt.”
While some bad luck has been
in the offensive zone, it has not
been in the defensive zone.
“Defensively, we are strong, but
we can always do better,” Coyne
said. “We emphasize defense because,
in any sport, defense is
what will give you the best chance
to win.”
The wins will certainly come
soon; the team is very talented.
“We have speed on the roster,
but not quite enough height,”
Coyne said, “which makes our
team very guard oriented.”
Coyne feels that the team’s
small height has not been an issue
since the guards have played well.
There are also intangibles that
will help the team that can’t be
found on a roster.
“We have great chemistry on
our team,” Coyne said. “Our players
all get along very well and
work very hard in practice.”
The team is very young. Of the
13 players on the roster, 11 are
freshmen.
To be able to create team chemistry
early with such a young team
is crucial. The roster includes
players from: Philadelphia, upper
Bucks County, lower Bucks
County, etc.
“It’s hard when you have freshmen
coming from all over the
place,” Coyne said. “It’s not like
these guys are all coming out of
the same middle school together
or something.”
The two sophomores, the captains,
Durkin and guard/forward
Tim Respass, lead the team. For
Durkin, the season has brought
new challenges.
“The games have been like
heartbreakers,” Durkin said. “I
think we’ve lost a lot of our games
by 10 points or less.”
Durkin feels the team has to get
things rolling. In order to do that,
he said that they have to keep their
head in the right place and stay
motivated during the rough start.
“Yeah we’re 0-5 right now, but
we play like 20 more games this
season,” Durkin said. “We definitely
have the talent to make
some noise.”
Coyne has been very pleased
with the leadership of Durkin and
Respass, not only on the court, but
off of it as well.
“There are no cliques; I think
that is due to the leadership,”
Coyne said. “They have taken
these guys under their wing and
showed them how to act and how
to be teammates.”
While Durkin and Respass lead
the team, Coyne would not say
they are the stars of team.
“I don’t like to name ‘standout
stars’,” Coyne said. “I let them
show their actions on the court.”
Coyne has always had a problem
with seeing certain players as
standouts.
Coyne believes that picking
standout stars can cause problems,
that it can cause problems between
players, players and
coaches, and more.
“We’re a team.We win together,
and we lose together,” Coyne said.
An 0-7 record is a rather large
hole to be in at start of the season
However, the team will have
four more games before the winter
break, two of which are home
games: Dec. 9 against Delaware
and Dec. 15 against Johnson.