Meyer on Morris Link
Moon Township, Pa. – Dec. 7 ,2013 – Andrew Toole was not thrilled that Robert Morris established a school record in Youngstown, Ohio, Wednesday.
"It's really disgusting,'' the RMU coach said.
Not to mention disappointing, disheartening and discombobulating. Maybe not disgraceful -- yet -- but for sure RMU's apparent decision to diss on defense is disintegrating their record.
The losing streak reached four straight and their record dropped to 3-6 with an 84-76 loss at Youngstown State, and if YSU's point production sounds familiar, well, it should.
It was the sixth consecutive game in which Robert Morris allowed at least 80 points -- the first time that's happened in program history.
"More of the same,'' Toole said. "I don't know what it's going to take for them to realize how important defense is. Maybe I'm not selling how important it is well enough. Maybe I'm not explaining it well enough. Maybe I'm not communicating it well enough. I'm probably the most frustrated (about it).''
The players don't seem frustrated about it. Toole cited a meeting with the team after the Colonials lost at Cleveland State, 87-74, Nov. 23.
"They talked about shooting,'' Toole said. "Shooting? I felt like I was in bizarro world.''
The Colonials' next game certainly doesn't appear to be what will cure what ails Robert Morris. Toledo (7-0) visits the Charles L. Sewall Center Saturday at 4 p.m.
The Rockets average 92 points per game and scored 90-plus for the fifth time in their first seven games Wednesday night in a 91-75 victory over visiting Detroit.
We'll get to the Rockets later here. For now, let's get back to the Robert Morris "defense.''
Youngstown State (7-3) shot 52.5 percent from the field and had 23 assists on its 31 field goals. The Penguins had only three turnovers, a strong indication they weren't bothered much by the Colonial defenders.
"In the past, our teams were known for their toughness and intensity,'' Toole said. "I don't know what we're known for now, but it's certainly not toughness.''
Toole mused before the Youngstown State game about shortening his bench and using his more defensive-minded players for more minutes.
It seemed at Youngstown State, however, that initially Toole tried to involve everybody in an attempt to produce some defensive pressure. Eleven Colonials played at Youngstown State, but as the evening wore on, the bench's contributions waned. The six players who didn't start amassed a total of only 54 minutes.
"It's hard to put your better defenders out there when night to night you don't know who your better defenders are going to be,'' Toole said. "Everywhere you turn, people are breaking down.''
Toole recalled Colonial teams of a few years ago that excelled defensively -- all the way through the roster.
"On some of our old teams, guys would come off the bench and change the intensity,'' he said. "They'd fly around and provide a spark.''
Those bench players didn't seem to be concerned about whether they scored. Their focus was on keeping the other team from scoring.
"Now everybody wants to worry about offense," Tooel said. "Your job is to make sure that whatever is going on in the game, you bring energy. You fly around. You make effort plays. That's what guys have to do. We don't have guys doing that.''
Toole paused, thinking.
"We're looking for all strategies,'' he said. "I'm as disappointed as anybody, but we're going to keep swinging until we get it fixed.''
The Colonials did have some bright spots offensively against Youngstown State.
They shot 50 percent from the field, converted 16 of their 20 free-throw attempts, posted just 12 turnovers and outrebounded the Penguins, 36-25.
Freshman point guard
Kavon Stewart, playing for the second time following a six-game suspension, played 13 minutes off the bench and scored four points and had an assist. His return has helped.
"Very much so,'' Toole said. "It would have been nice for him to have some more games under his belt. He didn't play very well in the Delaware game. He was just trying to do too much. It was just his second college game. He makes a lot of things happen -- some positive, some negative. He's got to cut down on some of the negatives and still improve the positives, but I think he can help us facilitate offense, and I think he can make plays for people.''
Junior
Lucky Jones scored a career-high 24 points. Guard
Karvel Anderson had 18 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Jeremiah Worthem continued his recent solid play with 12 points and eight rebounds. Senior
Mike McFadden had 10 points, giving the Colonials four players in double figures. Point guard
Anthony Myers-Pate had five assists and no turnovers in his 30 minutes.
If one didn't know better, he'd look at those stats and think, "Well, the Colonials must have won.''
Nope.
Perhaps finally playing at home again Saturday will give the Colonials an energy boost. They played seven of their first nine games on the road. Hard to get in a comfortable routine when the only routine you know is boarding a bus.
"The early-season schedule was extremely difficult -- even the timing of the games,'' Toole said. "We might have put ourselves in some tough situations, to say the least. We have to be really tough and disciplined to go on the road and beat some of the teams we needed to beat at their places. But (it was) a great learning experience and a great challenge. I wish we could have responded better to the challenge than we did. That's the disappointing part -- that guys who are fairly intelligent about the game not being able to make some of the necessary adjustments and maybe us as coaches not making some of the necessary adjustments that are going to put ourselves in a better situation to win. That's the frustrating part.''
If there's a silver lining to the schedule it's that some of the teams played -- and will play -- on the road this season will visit the Sewall Center next season.
"That would be the hope,'' Toole said.
Buffalo, Delaware, Lafayette, Duquesne and Oakland will be home games for Robert Morris in
2014-15.
If there's a silver lining to unbeaten Toledo's visit Saturday it's that the Colonials have fared pretty well against Mid-American Conference (MAC) teams recently.
They lost at Eastern Michigan by five points (69-64) a few weeks ago. Last season, they beat Bowling Green and added a fourth consecutive victory against Ohio University -- no small achievement. And as visitors they routed Toledo, 69-51, in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) two years ago.
"I think the MAC is a league that the Northeast Conference would love to be considered on the same level as,'' Toole said. "Obviously they have some great basketball tradition. They have some teams that have great facilities. They have FBS football, which really helps their ability to have strong basketball programs. Some of the teams in that league pay guarantees and travel really, really well. It's a league that we're glad that we can compete with and glad that we can have some wins against, but it's also a league that when we go play them I think we have to be playing at a high level to get wins.''
Does Toole think Mid-American Conference teams respect those in the NEC?
"I think some of the teams probably respect some of the teams in our league,'' he said. "I wouldn't say as a whole they look at us as a peer. Some teams in our league have fared well and some have not.''
