Meyer On Morris Link

Moon Township, Pa. – The pothole-pocked pavement Robert Morris traveled this season ran out at the Curb.
 
There just wasn't enough patch, and almost not enough players, to go any further.
 
Thus, the Colonials lost to Belmont, 82-71, Friday in Nashville, Tenn., at the Curb Event Center in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.
 
The personnel-challenged Colonials, down to eight players by Jan. 23, were down to seven players for their game against the Bruins because David Appolon was on crutches with a foot injury. When Lucky Jones fouled out with 31 seconds remaining, there were only six Colonials available.
 
The war of attrition had ended in a campaign that produced a lot with a few.
 
"We had a great group to work with,'' RMU coach Andrew Toole said. "As we faced some adversity, the group continued to grow together, and I was fortunate to work with them every day and proud of the effort they showed every day on the floor. This group really, really taught me a lot about coaching and taught me a lot about being able to figure out a way to be successful regardless of the odds, because that's what this team did over and over again.''
 
The Colonials finished 22-14, their sixth 20-victory season in the past seven years, won the Northeast Conference regular-season championship for the second straight year with a 14-2 record and won an NIT game for the second straight season.
 
"We can't ask for any more than they gave,'' Toole said. "All season long, especially in the last 17 games, they gave everything they could. I don't care if (the Belmont game) is the first time you've seen Robert Morris play or you've seen every game we played this season, you can't say that (what) these guys gave was anything but a high-level effort.''
 
Against odds that began growing long before Jan. 23.
 
Remember that Coron Williams transferred to Wake Forest almost a year ago. Gone were 9.1 points a game and 41.6 percent shooting from three-point range.
 
Yes, Toole brought in Charles Oliver to take Williams' place as a shooting guard. However, Oliver's production, 6.3 points per game and 33 percent shooting from deep, didn't match what Williams probably would have supplied as a fifth-year senior.
 
Then, just before fall practice began, Lijah Thompson, who missed last season because of a knee injury, decided to transfer to Division II Lincoln. The 6' 8'' Thompson would have helped in the middle, especially after senior Mike McFadden opted out in early January. Also at that time, junior Desjuan Newton left the team.
 
Then came the capper. Four Colonials, including freshman starter Jeremiah Worthem, were suspended indefinitely, Jan. 23, which became the rest of the season.
 
That night, the eight remaining and undaunted Colonials routed Sacred Heart, 91-65, making a strong showing that this season had not been wrecked. It was as if the more players they lost, the more games they won.
 
Robert Morris put together two seven-game winning streaks en route to reversing a 5-10 start. It won at St. John's in the NIT, the program's first victory against a Big East team, and it went to a postseason tournament for the sixth time in seven seasons.
 
All in all, a remarkable season for a team that never did have all it could have.
 
In the end, though, it will be remembered for who it did have.
 
Two of those players won't return next season.
 
Seniors Karvel Anderson and Anthony Myers-Pate played their final collegiate games at Belmont. Each made his final collegiate shot, Myers-Pate on a layup with 27 seconds left in his career and Anderson fittingly with a three-pointer with eight seconds remaining in his stunning two seasons at RMU.
 
When the game ended, the two immediately hugged each other near midcourt, an emotional moment.
 
Myers-Pate finished his career with 805 points, 148 steals and 449 assists, a total that ranks sixth in program history. He stands just ahead of his cousin, Derek Coleman (2003-07), who's seventh with 440 assists. Myers-Pate played in more games (137) than any member of the Colonials and had his capable hands in 90 wins, one short of the career mark.
 
"As soon as he came on campus he established his ability to work and his ability to be coached,'' Toole said. "I think he would do anything he possibly could for his teammates for them to be successful on the floor. He's so worked hard. He's a guy who never questioned anything we asked him to do. He just shows up and works every single day. He's been a joy to coach. I tell him all the time if I'm lucky enough to have an Anthony Myers-Pate on every team I coach I'll be a lucky coach. He just had so much energy and enthusiasm, and he maintained it throughout his entire four-year career.''
 
Anderson, who transferred from Glen Oaks Community College, produced an absolutely astounding senior season. He set program single-season records for points (710), field goals (248), three-pointers made (119), double-figure scoring games (33), 20-point games (19) and 30-point games (four) and was named the 2014 NEC Player of the Year.
 
He became just the fourth NEC player to shoot at least 50 percent overall (51.0) and at least 45 percent from deep (46.3) in a season.
 
In his two seasons, Anderson scored 1,123 points, which ranks 18th on the program's career list.
 
Without question, he'll always be mentioned whenever anybody discusses the best players at Robert Morris.
 
"He's right up there,'' Toole said. "There have been some good ones, obviously.''
 
Toole cited Myron Walker, Chipper Harris, Jeremy Chappell , Tony Lee and Velton Jones.
 
"He's in that category,'' Toole said. "Karvel unfortunately was here for only two years, but I don't think people will forget him for a long time for some of the performances he had and the way he carried himself.''
 
The graduation losses of Myers-Pate and Anderson will be huge.
 
"I told those two guys from the day they set foot on this campus the way they found this program it is unquestionably better today as they are leaving,'' Toole said. "Now it's everyone else's job to keep the program at the level that they've established and continue to elevate it even further.''
 
Elevating this program to a higher level, the Colonials have averaged 23.3 wins per season in this seven-year run, will take some doing, but the next group will, of course, give it a go.
 
Having forward Lucky Jones back is a good place to begin.
 
Jones in his first three seasons has scored 1,190 points, which ranks 16th all-time at Robert Morris, and grabbed 662 rebounds, which slots sixth. He's 90 rebounds short of becoming the Colonials' all-time leading rebounder. Anthony Dickens (1985-90) and Lee (2004-08) each had 751.
 
Kavon Stewart seems the heir-apparent at Myers-Pate's point guard position.
 
"His development has been extremely helpful,'' Toole said. "He's going to have to make another big jump next year in terms of his ability to control the game, his consistency, his ability to help us organize. He has a great skill set as well as the talent to be able to get in the lane, to create offense, draw fouls and put pressure on the defense. He's going to have to do those things on a more consistent basis next year for us to be a good team. He's going to have to help us create offense. He's going to have to add some more things to his game like a consistent shot. I think he's a guy who can shoot it better than most people would know. He's going to have to shoot it from time to time to keep people honest so that he can continue to get in the lane.''
 
Stewart needs to demonstrate he can shoot the ball with some range. He attempted only seven three-pointers this season, and he must improve from the free-throw line. As a penetrator who will get fouled, Stewart needs to shoot better than 60.2 percent from the stripe.
 
There's some hope in that regard. Velton Jones, who became one of RMU's all-time greats, shot only 58.9 percent from the free throw line as a freshman. He improved the next season to 70.8 percent, then 76.7 percent as a junior. He finished as a 71.9 percent career shooter at the free-throw line and the program's all-time leader in free throws made (495).
 
So Stewart has an example he can follow in his bid to become a better shooter at the chalk.
 
"Which would be great because he has some of those essential things that you can't teach,'' Toole said. "If we can help him improve on some of the things that we think he can become better at, it's just going to make him that much better a player. I think that the way he plays next year and the maturity that he brings to the point guard position is going to be a real indicator of how successful we are as a team.''
 
Appolon returns in 2014-15 for his senior season and ranks as one of the bigger success stories from this year. He didn't play much in his first two seasons but became a starter, Jan. 23, and quickly morphed into an energy and production provider.
 
"I think Dave really got comfortable and really bought into what we needed him to do,'' Toole said. "The thing for Dave is keeping that consistency and continuing to work. He's got to add some things to his game, as well. At the end of the year, some people started guarding him in a different way, and he's got to be creative enough to figure out a way to make them pay for that. He definitely rose to the challenge that we faced as a team. There were four or five occasions where he made plays in games that really turned the tide for us. We've always felt him capable of that, and I was glad he stepped up and showed it.''
 
Junior-to-be Stephan Hawkins also improved beginning Jan. 23. He took on a greater scoring role, expanded the range of his jump shot and steadily improved as a rebounder.
 
"Hawk definitely made progress,'' Toole said. "I think he became much more comfortable on the floor. We're going to need him to continue to stay on the same path of development that he's been on, be able to score around the basket a little more, be able to rebound the basketball a little more and have him buy into defending a little more. It's stuff we talk to him about all the time. We know he's talented enough and gifted enough to be able to do it. He's got to be someone we can rely on night in and night out and have some of those defensive flashes he showed. He needs to be a constant for us.''
 
Oliver has large shoes to fill as Anderson's successor. Or at least one of his successors at the shooting guard spot. There's potential there, as he had seven double-figure games. Aaron Tate, another returnee, proved a capable rebounder. He had 10 rebounds at Belmont.
 
Like this season, the Colonials next season figure to have a bunch of new players to merge with the six returners. Robert Morris has two signed commits for next season, an incoming guard and an incoming forward. Toole has five more scholarships available.
 
Toole had six new players join the program before last season, so perhaps having done it once will help him with the process again.
 
"That doesn't make it any easier because we're still dealing with having guys learn all over again,'' he said. "Hopefully, some of the people who will come in might catch on quicker. That would make it easier, but it's not going to be any less challenging for our staff to be able to educate these guys on how to be successful at this level. Even if you have everybody back you still have to go through that process of building your team, establishing all the roles, establishing what's important and what you're emphasizing and having guys go out and execute that on a regular basis.''
 
But the six returners can help with that, right?
 
"Hopefully," Toole said, "it will be fresh in their memory banks and they can easily explain what needs to be done and how things are done.''
 
One other thing about next season.
 
The Colonials this season relied far more on a 2-3 zone defense rather their traditional man-to-man defense. The zone was highly effective, but one wonders if Toole might return to the man next season.
 
"I don't know,'' he said. "It will be an off-season decision. I look at some of our current personnel and say, 'Why are they going to take a great jump defensively?' I look at some of them and say, 'They should be able to take the jump defensively.' I look at some of the guys we have coming in and say, 'OK. I think these guys can contribute in either defensive style.' Obviously, we need to bring some more guys in, and that might dictate which way we go.
 
"It will be interesting to deal with this spring and summer. Maybe it's a combination of both. It's hard to be really good at two defenses, but I think we have to get good at a defense first.''

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