Rebounding problem for 0-3 Apaches
By John Baracani
The Apache men’s basketball team fell to 0-3 on the 1998-1999 season with three losses to Division I schools Highland and Kankakee, and also to Black Hawk East.
Coach Mike Riley knew that this season was going to be tough. He did, however, expect shooting and defense to be the Apaches’ stronger points. Early in this season, the defense has been strong, while the shooting has been lacking.
"I still think shooting will be our strength, but this early in the season, the defense is ahead of the offense," says Riley. "We just cannot put the ball in the hole. We’ve played great defense, which has allowed us to get ourselves back into the game."
In their 90-57 loss to Kankakee, the Apaches played a team that was ranked in the top 20. It was a team that Coach Riley says was, "big and athletic. They were really good."
"Our team played hard again, but we had a lot of mismatches. Again, we gave up too many rebounds."
Howard Rowell, Derek Baird, and Eric Hayward led the way by, "doing some good things, and playing aggressively," the coach said.
On November 12 against Black Hawk East, the team could have and should have won, but free throw shooting hurt them. They missed 14 of their 27 free throw attempts in a 62-58 loss.
"That was just a lack of concentration," said Riley. " The defense was excellent, we climbed back into the game because of our defense."
The Apaches opened the season with a 88-53 loss at the hands of Highland.
Commenting about the early season loss, the head coach said that his team did not take good shots and that they weren’t focused.
Due to the team’s lack of size, with the tallest players being 6’5, rebounding has been a problem.
"Games are won in rebounding," Riley said. " The bigger and stronger team wins most of the time," Riley said. They were out rebounded 48-22 by the Highland team which the Apache head coach said was "just huge".
"They were just bigger and jumped higher," said Riley "Our lack of size is showing. The mismatches put on a strain on our players."
Besides, rebounding being a weaknesses, the head coach also said that having only three players who have played college basketball before is a problem. The three players are Lacey Tyler, David Sharp, and Jeff Rounds. He believes that his team just needs to get used to the quickness of games at the college level. He says it is "a learning process," and that he is still trying to find a lineup that can step up and play at this level.
The head coach also believes that the schedule is not the kindest.
Even with the three losses, the head coach credits his team with working hard, and says, he cannot fault them for a lack of effort.
Riley did say that the play of freshmen Rowell, Baird, and Craig Olson has been key.
Upcoming games for the Apaches include the Danville Classic on November 20 and 21, a home game against Black Hawk West on December 1, and the Apache Invitational on Dec. 4 and 5.
"We (will) have four games under our belts, and hopefully the offense will be better," said the head coach, referring to the Danville Classic. Participating in the tournament are St. Ambrose University, Annison College, and the hosts from Danville. "We’ll do the best we can with what we have."
The Apaches will be facing St. Ambrose University , Annison College, and the hosts from Danville College.
Riley sees the home game versus Black Hawk West as a tough one. He says that they are better than Black Hawk East, but he doesn’t believe that they are better than Highland.
According to the head coach, his team will have to slow them down somehow.
The Apache Invitational first round will see, IVCC vs. St. Ambrose JV, Morton College vs. Highland, Waubonsee vs. Olivet Nazarene, and Triton vs. Glen Oaks.
Riley says he thinks his team will be competitive against St. Ambrose JV.
"It will be important for us to be competitive," said Coach Riley.
11/19/98 the Apache