Danny Davis
January 22, 2007
Panty-clad man arrested in Mulberry area
January 24, 2007
For the Nicholls basketball team, early season woes against upper-tier competition may have seemed like it would never end. That feeling carried over in to Southland Conference play, when the Colonels opened their conference schedule with back-to-back losses.
“I’ll be honest with you,” said head coach J.P. Piper, “it’s a little dicey when we went 0-2 (to start conference). But we reminded the kids that it was a 16-game deal, and there was a lot of basketball left. We responded well, and we find ourselves at 2-2.”
That was before the weekend’s road game at Southeastern, a game the Colonels dropped 75-69, that tipped off a five-game stretch against Eastern Division opponents, a stretch Piper says is crucial to building momentum for the remainder of the regular season.
“I think now, with each game, you take them one at a time,” he said. “You build a little momentum. If we can go win on the road … it gives you a little momentum to come and play. It kind of snowballs from there.”
After starting 0-2 in Southland Conference play, the Colonels built momentum by recording consecutive home wins. The first came in an 83-81 overtime win over Texas-Arlington, followed by a convincing 82-67 win over Texas State. A major reason for the back-to-back wins is because of depth.
Because of academics and injuries, the Colonels went through a stretch of dressing just eight players. In the two victories they have nine, after guard/forward Aaron Scott returned from an injury. In each of the two victories, the Colonels had four players score in double figures.
“I think that’s going to be important for us down the stretch,” Piper said of getting scoring contributions from multiple players. “In past years, I thought our first five were up to the task, and we would find ourselves in games. But we would sub, and going to the bench, we really lost a lot. Now what we’re getting is some variety in how we can beat you. It’s not the same guy every night.”
While Piper is right about different players stepping up, guard Stefan Blaszczynski has remained the team’s go to player. Blaszczynski leads the team with 19.1 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game. Nicholls was without Blaszczynski early in the season, due to injury, and Piper says that may have been a blessing in disguise.
“The silver lining in all of that is that we were able to get to play some guys who might not have otherwise gotten quality minutes,” explained Piper. “I think as a result, you’re starting to see guys like Mitch Boyce emerge. He had to play a lot of minutes with Stef was out, and while we did not fare as well early as we would have liked … we may reap some benefits from it down the stretch, because we’ve gotten some guys some experience.”
Other players that have stepped up for the Colonels have been Adonis Gray (14.1 points per game) and Ryan Bathie (10.8 points per game). Because of that, Piper says that teams who focus their defensive game plan on stopping Blaszczynski may be playing right into the Colonels’ hands. “I think we have enough guys around (Stefan) that can make plays, that (focusing on him) may be a dangerous plan,” said Piper. “You better not forget about the other four guys on the floor, because they can hurt you as well.”
And in the six-point loss to Southeastern, that nearly happened. Blaszczynski was held to just 10 points, but James Dixon (16 points) and Ryan Bathie (15 points) led the team in scoring.
The loss dropped Nicholls to 2-3 in the conference and 3-16 overall. But Piper said lessons learned early in the season could come in to play as the Colonels make a push to earn a Southland Conference Tournament bid. “What that schedule did for us, is it helped us develop some toughness,” said Piper. “We learned against some pretty good teams that we can be pretty good at times. We also learned where we weren’t good. It gave us things to come home and work on. I think we’ve done a good job of that, and we’re beginning to kind of pull it all together.”
Piper stressed that quality minutes that came early in the season will pay dividends in the conference schedule’s stretch run. “We’ve got guys coming off the bench, that honestly, under different circumstances might be starting,” he said. “So we’re able to go seven, eight and sometimes nine guys deep with quality.
“It really makes a difference,” he added. I felt the last couple of years we would lose games in the last two or three minutes.”
This season, Piper says, the games the Colonels lost in past seasons will turn into wins. And eventually a possible Southland Conference Tournament bid.
Matt LeBlanc can be reached at matt@tri-parishtimes.com.
Staff photo by MATT LeBLANC • Tri-Parish Times * After starting 0-2 in Southland Conference play, Nicholls State reeled off back-to-back wins to even their record at 2-2. With a four-game stretch against teams in their Eastern Division, the Colonels have a prime opportunity to set themselves up for a SLC Tournament bid.
