Meyer on Morris Link
 
Moon Township, Pa. – Karvel Anderson's nor'easter scoring storm in Connecticut and Rhode Island last weekend earned the Robert Morris guard the Northeast Conference Player of the Week award Monday, and it might have given him a leg up on a much more significant honor.
 
"You talk about a Player of the Year-type performance, he's had two in a row," Bryant coach Tim O'Shea said.
 
It's early to be discussing the NEC Player of the Year award. But there's no denying Anderson's spectacular spree at Sacred Heart and Bryant.
 
"Impressive,'' teammate Lucky Jones said.
 
Anderson dropped 36 points on Sacred Heart last Thursday and 32 more on Bryant Saturday afternoon. That made him just the second Colonial to produce back-to-back 30-point games.
 
Gene Nabors was the first 30-30 performer. In the NEC Tournament played at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, N.J., in 2000, Nabors scored 38 points against St. Francis (Pa.) in a 72-52 Colonial victory March 3. In the next game a day later, Nabors had 35 points against Mount St. Mary's in an 80-61 RMU win.
 
In those two games combined, Nabors was 26-of-43 from the field, including 11-for-18 from three-point range. In his two big games, Anderson shot 27-for-42 (12-for-20).
 
It was no coincidence that Robert Morris won its first two NEC games.
 
"Some of the shots he made in both games were huge in us coming out with victories,'' RMU coach Andrew Toole said.
 
Against Sacred Heart, Anderson made a long three-pointer as the shot clock ran down to give the Colonials a win-clinching 77-70 lead with 29 seconds remaining. Against Bryant, Anderson scored RMU's final nine points in a 71-67 win.
 
Those details certainly went into the league's decision to award Anderson the Player of the Week honors.
 
"I'm happy for him, and I think it's nice that the NEC recognized what he contributed this weekend to us getting two wins,'' Toole said. "Looking back at some of the data, it's been a while since we've had a Robert Morris player be Player of the Week all by himself.''
 
The most recent Colonial to be named NEC Player of the Week was Karon Abraham Jan. 17, 2011.
 
"It's a credit to all the hard work I've put in throughout the years,'' Anderson said, "but I can't really take much of the credit. A lot of it comes from my teammates getting me open, screening for me and having confidence in me to take and make those types of shots. Some places, some of the shots I took the last couple of games might have been frowned upon. Even in this program where offense has never really been a focus. Having the players acknowledge me for that and wanting me to be the person to take those type of shots -- and sometimes depending on me to do that -- is a good privilege.''
 
It's a privilege that's been well earned.
 
Anderson leads the Colonials with a scoring average of 19.3 points per game. He's shooting 52.8 percent from the field, including an NEC-best 47.7 percent from beyond the arc.
 
"When he shoots the ball, I don't even go in there and rebound,'' Jones said. "It's pointless. It's going in, you know? That's the kind of confidence I have in him.''
 
Anderson had big scoring games previously in his career.
 
Two seasons ago, he scored 54 points for Glen Oaks Community College in a game against Schoolcraft College. And in his final home game for Elkhart (Ind.) Memorial High School, he broke the school record with 46 points against South Bend Clay.
 
"The Glen Oaks game was just one of those games,'' Anderson said. "Senior Night in high school was a little different. There were a lot of emotions built up in me. It was Senior Night. I didn't have anybody to walk with (during pregame introductions). It was one of those nerves-type things that kind of came out on the basketball court.
 
"These two (against Sacred Heart and Bryant) are different because the level of competition is different. I've always dreamt of playing Division I basketball, so being able to achieve that while doing what I like to say is my dream is something that's pretty amazing to me. It's a great accomplishment. And, again, I credit it to the hard work I've put in, the amount of shots I've put up (in practice).''
 
Let's not forget that Anderson in recent years has had three surgeries on his right (shooting) wrist.
 
"I don't know how I can still do it,'' Anderson said. "I'd like to thank God and the work ethic and whatever muscle memory I have in this arm.''
 
Nobody knows how many shots Anderson's put up on playgrounds and in gyms over the years. But because of whatever number it is the man can shoot. He's a shooter in the best sense of that word. And shooters usually can tell early on in a game whether they'll have a good night or not.
 
"I like to think like that before I even take my first shot -- that it will be a good night,'' Anderson said. "That's just the positive mentality I have when it comes to the offensive end of the floor. After I get the first (field goal), depending on where it is, then I kind of have a feeling that it might be a good night. My first one at Sacred Heart was a layup, so that one was kind of different. But my first one at Bryant was a pretty deep three, and it felt good when it left my hand. The next one, I got another jump shot, and I'm like, 'Yeah.'''
 
Like all good shooters, Anderson has a feeling about a shot as soon as it leaves his fingers.
 
"For the most part,'' he said. "Some of the shots I make are the shots I work on and I have confidence in them when they do go in. Most of the time I know when it leaves my hand it's good.''
 
Again, like most great shooters, Anderson rarely needs the benefit of the "shooter's roll.'' Most of his shots are nothing but net.
"When I used to work out at my high school with my shooting coach, whether it was form shooting or free throws, I couldn't finish a drill without making whatever the number was -- maybe five in a row -- but they had to be nothing but net with no rim,'' Anderson said. "So that was always a focus -- making shots without the ball touching the rim -- so I never really got to use the 'shooter's touch.'''
 
An interesting aspect of Anderson's performances at Sacred Heart and Bryant is that he rather uncharacteristically scored throughout each game. Often during his two-season career at Robert Morris he'll have a good first half and then a pedestrian second half. Or vice versa.
 
At Sacred Heart, he scored 14 points in the first half and 22 in the second half. At Bryant, he had 15 points in the first half and 17 after intermission.
 
"At Bryant, I was just trying to stay aggressive,'' Anderson said. "I've had a lot of meetings with my coaches. Like in the beginning of the year I wouldn't score in the first half and then get like 15 or something in the second half. (They said) they needed me to be more consistent throughout a 40-minute game. So just being aggressive whenever I got (the ball) was my mindset. Not always to score but just do whatever the play was at that time.''
 
"Maybe it was him sensing especially in that second half at Bryant and even in the second half at Sacred Heart that we needed somebody to kind of step up offensively and be that scorer who could help us win the game,'' Toole said. "It's funny. I think sometimes -- as good a shooter as he is -- there are times when he'll miss a couple or three (in a row) and be shaken a little bit maybe and say, 'Well, I don't want to miss anymore.' There are a lot of shooters who don't even remember their last miss. They only remember the makes. He's kind of a little bit different in that regard.
 
"Sometimes you have to remind him that he's going to make the next three or four in a row. Just look
at his percentages. He does go into situations where he does score in spurts, and we talk to him a lot about your best opportunity might be early in the game. It might be late in the game. But you have to continue to look for that opportunity when it arises and take advantage because that's how you help our team best.''
 
Anderson followed that advice last weekend, and the result was an unforgettable weekend.
 
"He had two incredible performances back-to-back and hit huge shots in both games, was really locked in and focused in terms of his ability to diversify offense, get it to the rim, take mid-range pull-ups, threes,'' Toole said. "I think his teammates did a great job of finding him, helping him get open. As I said after both games on the radio, as much as he scored he kind of did it within the context of everything that was going on in the context of the game. It wasn't necessarily where he was forcing things or trying to do things he wasn't capable of doing. He was getting opportunities and taking advantage of his opportunities.''
 
Another result was that Karvel Anderson earned a high place in Colonial basketball lore.
 
"I root for him anyway because I coach him,'' Toole said, "but I think if I was an outside observer and I just watched the way  that he plays I would be a fan of his. It's funny. Friends of mine or family members who come to games for me or (the assistant coaches) always say, 'There's something about No. 15. He's my favorite player. I really like 15. Who's 15?' That's what they ask all the time, so I don't think it's just me who has an affinity for the way that he plays the game and the way that he carries himself on the court. I've been asked numerous times about who he is and what he is, and a lot of people say that he's their favorite player.''
 
Why?
 
"They all say there's just something about him,'' Toole said. "There's something about the way that he plays. There's something about the way he competes. There are games where he's had great shooting nights and then games where he hasn't had great shooting nights. It's been really a combination of both. People just like the way that he carries himself. It's really a privilege to be able to coach him.''
 
A third result of Anderson's 68-point combo is that he definitely moved up the ladder on opposing scouting reports. It wasn't as if he were unknown around the NEC before last weekend, but now he's really known around the NEC because of last weekend.
 
"I would assume that he's going to be public enemy No. 1 on peoples' scouting reports when they come and play us,'' Toole said. "That's where he has to be intelligent about his decision-making. I thought one of the things he did well at the beginning of the Bryant game was that he got a couple of assists. He drove to the rim and was able to get some other guys some good shots. When he can diversify his offense in that way, then I think it makes him harder to focus on because other guys maybe are scoring and getting (positioned around) the basket and all of the attention they're giving to Karvel opens up opportunities for other people. When they now kind of balance out where they're putting their focus, he might get more opportunity to shoot.''
 
"I've been that person each place I've been just because of my ability to shoot the ball,'' Anderson said. "I've been somebody they might want to try to take away. I've always liked that challenge. If they do, that opens up everything else for my teammates. They can't just take me away and win the game, so they have to worry about Lucky and (Anthony Myers-Pate) and all the other guys, too. So if they're focusing on me so much, then congrats to the rest of my teammates.''
 
For his part, Jones doesn't seem too worried that Anderson has become a defensive focus.
 
"With a person who can score the ball like that, it's kind of impossible to make it difficult for him because he is the type of person who can go off at any given second,'' Jones said. "And when he's in that kind of zone it's really hard to stop him.''
 
NOTES: In his third game in the NEC tournament in March, 2000, Nabors' scoring spree ended abruptly. Against Central Connecticut State, Nabors made only two of 15 shots from the field, including one of six from international waters, and scored just five points. CCSU won, 63-46, and the Rick Mickens/Corsley Edwards-led Blue Devils advanced to the NCAA Tournament. They lost to Iowa State, 88-78, in the first round in Minneapolis … Two other Colonials came close to having back-to-back 30-point games. Myron Walker, RMU's career scoring leader with 1,965 points, scored 31 points in the season opener at Duquesne Nov. 27, 1993 and 35 points at Maryland-Baltimore County Dec. 4, 1993. In between, the Colonials played at West Virginia Dec. 1. Wesley Fluellen in 2001 scored 31 points twice in a four-game span -- against Mount St. Mary's Jan. 27 and at Wagner Feb. 3 … Walker had six 30-point games in
his career.