Formation shift powering Vandy soccer hopes
January 22, 2014
Terrebonne hoops struggling, fighting hard
January 22, 2014
The Nicholls men’s basketball team is enjoying one of its best starts to the season in years, and a big part of that is the team’s play at home and on defense.
With their 66-64 victory over Houston Baptist Jan. 16, the Colonels improved to 5-0 at home this season to begin the year 4-1 in Southland Conference play.
Nicholls ran into an equally hot Texas A&M Corpus Christi team over the weekend and suffered its loss at home this season, falling just short in a 70-67 defeat that saw the Islanders improve to 5-1 in Southland play and 4-0 on the road.
Still, Nicholls’ hot start in league play was their best in years. Not since the Colonels’ 1997-98 season had the team begun the conference schedule 3-0, and that season ended with the school earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Nicholls coach J.P. Piper knows that whatever fate lies in store for his team is still a long way from being decided, but he admits it has been a promising start to the season.
“Normally we have to convince people we’re a little better than what they think we are, because maybe we’ve lost a close game or haven’t played up to our potential,” said Piper, now in his 10th season as Nicholls’ coach. “These guys look like they’re playing up to their potential, so now people are saying it’s like the ’97-98 team.
“I wouldn’t go there yet. We’ve got a lot of basketball to play before we can start having that conversation. But what an honor and what a compliment to this group of kids.”
Leading the team this season has been senior guard Dantrell Thomas, who leads all Colonels scorers with an average of 14.7 points per game through 15 contests.
Senior guard Jeremy Smith is second on the team, averaging just shy of 12 points a night.
But it has been the Colonels’ defense that has stood out in many of Nicholls’ victories this season and what Piper has been pleased with most.
In Nicholls’ seven wins this season, the Colonels have held their opponents to an average of 65.5 points per contest.
In a victory over Lamar earlier this month on Jan. 9, Nicholls struggled to make shots from the floor at times throughout the night. But the Colonels’ defense combined to hold Lamar without a field goal in the final 8:32 to slip past the Cardinals in a key come-from-behind victory.
Consistently getting defensive efforts like those will keep the Colonels competitive in many more games as the season progresses, Piper said.
“Our guys from top to bottom are working very hard to have a defensive identity,” he said. “It’s gotten a little better each game. I thought our effort against Lamar was tremendous. We were just really locked in and that gives you a chance every night when your team is built on defense.”
Not every night will produce those same types of results, though, as the Colonels have learned that over the past two weekends.
Nicholls followed up the Lamar game by suffering its worst showing of the year in conference play, an 88-61 loss to hot-shooting Sam Houston State Jan.11 that saw the Colonels trail by as many as 30 points at one point in the final 20 minutes of play – the team’s largest conference deficit of the season.
The same defense that at times smothered its opponents in the first three games of conference play allowed the Bearkats to shoot 60 percent from the floor in the second half and get 50 points in the game from its bench.
Piper hopes that showings like the one in Huntsville – and to a lesser degree, last Saturday’s game against the Islanders – are merely a hiccup amid what has otherwise blossomed into a promising defense.
“Sometimes players fight you,” he said. “Not literally, but they resist you. This group is not fighting at all; they’re trying to do everything we ask, exactly the way we ask it. It’s been fun to coach them and it really turned at the IUPUI game. You could see the light go on for them. The way we guard, the energy we guard with, the way we communicate with one another, there’s an edge and an intensity about us that’s fun to watch.”
As for the Colonels’ success at home this season, a lot of it has to do with familiarity. Strong play at home will also be a key to Nicholls’ hopes of reaching the Southland Conference tournament in Katy, Texas, in March.
“Playing at home, there are advantages as far as taking care of your body,” said Smith, Nicholls senior guard. “For the younger guys, they’re more mentally prepared and their mindset is different. It’s very important to win at home because the formula we always talk about is winning all your home games and at least half of your road games.”
Nicholls’ next home game is at 8 p.m. Jan. 30 against Oral Roberts.
In the meantime, the Colonels have a bit of a light week this week with only Tuesday’s game at McNeese State.
Nicholls State guard Dantrell Thomas makes a move toward the basket during a game this season. The Colonels are off to a strong start in Southland Conference play this year – a jolt that is powered by a strong record at Stopher Gymnasium.
