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Robert Morris University Athletics

Marcquise Reed

Men's Basketball By Paul Meyer

Meyer On Morris: Collectively Over Individually

Moon Township, Pa. – One definition of frustration is "the feeling of being upset or annoyed, especially because of the inability to change or achieve something.''
 
The Robert Morris Colonials can relate.
 
However, RMU's definition of "frustration'' can be defined much more succinctly -- 2-6.
 
That's the record after eight non-conference games. What's particularly annoying about that is half of those six defeats have come at home. What's kind of upsetting about that is before this season began those three games, against Lafayette, Youngstown State and Buffalo, seemed winnable. At least two, anyway.
 
But to lose all of them? Annoying, for sure, and upsetting.
 
"There is frustration,'' RMU coach Andrew Toole said. "There's a lot of frustration from a coaching standpoint of continually seeing the same mistakes that we feel we've addressed and pointed out but haven't gotten corrected. I know every coach in this office is using that frustration to figure out how we can explain better, how we can teach better, coach better, demand better and improve overall. From a players' standpoint, there's frustration because of some of the losses and lack of success. I'm not 100 percent sold yet that everybody realizes that each of us can do better through our overall ability.''
 
Does the frustration stem from the realization that the Colonials aren't improving quickly enough, Northeast Conference play does begin in less than a month, after all, or from the knowledge that two wins in eight games aren't very many?
 
"From a coaching standpoint the frustration is that we're not improving quickly enough,'' Toole said. "I think from a player perspective I'm sure they just look at wins and losses. They're much more outcome-based than they are process-based. That's one of the disconnects that we have. As coaches, we're trying to describe how each detail and decision will impact our ability to win. If you follow the process and you make the right decisions during the course of the possession, chances are you're going to get a stop more times than not. If you follow the details and do them to the best of your ability offensively, chances are you're going to get a good shot.
 
"Our guys, at times, live in the world of, 'Well, they missed.' Or, 'Well, we made it.' Well, that might have worked on that individual possession, but over the long haul? That's not how we're going to want to build a successful season, and that's where I think there's some disconnect. That worked for me that time, so it must be OK. Well, it's not OK. Unfortunately things that work for us once or twice or a low percentage of the time we're more than happy to accept if they work for us early.''
 
The thing about being frustrated is that it can work in one of at least two ways. It can lead to a feeling of desperation and can create a resolve to work harder to make the situation better. Or it can manifest itself in a feeling of just giving up.
 
"Frustration,'' Toole said, "can be a good thing if it changes your behavior, if it drives your behavior to evaluate yourself, take stock in how you can improve and better help the team. Maybe it drives you to learn the plays better. There's a million ways to compete harder. There's a million ways that frustration can be a positive. I think we're trying to make sure our players understand that that's the direction they need to go with their frustration. They need to take it out on the floor where it actually  can turn into something positive versus allowing them to stop doing what they know is right.''
 
Perhaps the Colonials will take out their frustration on the court this afternoon when Duquesne visits the Charles L. Sewall Center for a 4:00 p.m. tip. Maybe it will take another game or two for the Colonials to further evaluate themselves and do that taking stock exercise.
 
Something that's certain is that Toole and his staff will continue to evaluate their teaching and coaching methods to determine if there's a better way to go about conducting business.
 
"We do that all the time,'' he said. "We're always evaluating. Are we consistent in our message? Are we presenting the message in a way that they'll understand? There are times we find errors in our ways and try and correct those ways. Regardless of how you present it, there's also got to be a desire to learn. That's where we have to meet in the middle.
 
"Your decisions reflect your priorities. I know the coaching staff wants to be more successful than we are right now. I believe the players want to be more successful than we are. Well, that's going to take some adjustment all the way around. We understand as coaches we have a lot of guys who are playing minutes who haven't done this before, and so we're trying to be patient and positive in the way that we're delivering the message. (The players) also have to adjust to the fact that they're now Division I basketball players. They're not high school players or junior college players. There's more to this than just showing up. Trying to get everybody on that same page has been a little bit difficult and, obviously, has resulted in us not being as successful as everybody wants to be.''
 
A listener wondered if this has been the most difficult of Toole's five seasons as the Colonial head coach relative to getting the message across to his players that this is Division I basketball they're playing.
 
"I think obviously my first year was hard because it was my first year and I thought I was going to die every day,'' Toole said, managing a small smile. "But, yes. I think last year was challenging, and I think this year's been more challenging. Challenging from a perspective of just trying to get through to everybody and (getting) them to understand that you can't just go out there and do whatever you want. There has to be some purpose and some understanding within the group that if one guy just goes off and does whatever he wants, well, the other four guys don't know what he's doing. There has to be some connect between the players on the floor and what they're doing and how they're playing.
 
"I feel we have a lot of talented individuals who are playing individually instead of collectively. Yes, we have some talented individuals, but some of the games we've played and some of the games we will play, you can't win here just as an individual. Or anywhere. It's not just here. It's anywhere.''
 
Toole and his staff this week had to balance the need for constructive practices with the players having to study for and take semester exams.
 
"You're trying to not just waste their time, trying to make sure they're being efficient with their time so that they can get back to their studying or their tests,'' Toole said. "Not wasting their time is the biggest challenge. Obviously we have a lot of stuff we have to improve on, so we have to be smart about how we plan practice and set practice so that we can have productive practices and can still continue to improve while they're doing their academics.''
 
At the conclusion of finals week is yet another test for the Colonials, which is the game against Duquesne.
 
Included in the Dukes' 3-3 record is a 76-62 loss to Pitt Dec. 5 in the City Game. This game Saturday could be called the Sort of City Game rivalry.
 
"I know it's important to us, and I believe it's important to (Duquesne),'' Toole said. "I probably get more emails and comments on our Duquesne game each year from alums and people around campus, so I think it is important. I think it's a game our guys look forward to. I think they get excited to play it. Hopefully, they'll get excited to play it Saturday.''
 
The Dukes dropped to .500 this season with a 64-62 loss at Penn State Wednesday night. Micah Mason had a hurried shot to win it just before the buzzer, but his three-ball from the top of the key fell short.
 
That game began well enough and early on appeared as if it would be a high-scoring affair. But then …
 
"It got ugly,'' Duquesne coach Jim Ferry said. "It turned into a rock fight.''
 
More like a brick fight.
 
Neither team shot well. The Dukes made 40.4 percent from the field, while Penn State shot 37.7 percent.
 
Both teams came up dry from international waters. Each made just 4-of-19 casts (21.1 percent) from beyond the arc. The Dukes entered that game shooting 45.8 percent from three-point range, something the Colonials no doubt highlighted on their scouting report.
 
"We're going to have to do a great job of taking away their ability to make three-pointers, there's no doubt,'' Toole said.
 
Robert Morris enters Saturday's game having won four straight against the Dukes.
 
However …
 
"Duquesne is getting better,'' Toole said. "They're more talented, more athletic and have more size than they've had in the past, so it will be a great challenge for us to see how we respond from our last couple performances and see if we can keep getting better.''
 
And, perhaps, rid themselves of some of their frustration.


 
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