Basketball coach wants better defense

After a disappointing loss to Brookhaven 91-90 on Jan. 24, Head Coach Tim McGraw had his team in the gym for a hard practice with defense as his main focus. “We are good at scoring, but we lack hustle getting back on defense,” said McGraw. “I would like to see better defense from everyone.”

The Blazers allow 72.5 points a game while scoring 79.9 points a game, but the team is shooting a dismal 47.1 percent from the field and an even worse 35 percent from 3-point range.

Coming off a national championship season last year, the Blazers had to rebuild the team and rebuild their chemistry. They suffered some early season losses, dropping 5 of their first 7 games. The team rallied and won 5 of their last 7 games before the loss to Brookhaven.

“The chemistry is coming around and the leadership of Tim Nelson and Ehis Osunde has helped,” said McGraw.

Players on the team are struggling to figure out their roles and what type of basketball to play. The team looks more like the Phoenix Suns with a high scoring team that wins by outscoring their opponents, rather then the balanced team that wins with a good transition game and shut'em down defense that Coach McGraw wants. The Blazers lack a solid point guard, and when they do get one, he plays too low to be effective and can't swing the ball around to the open man.

The Blazers do rebound well with some players averaging close to 5 rebounds a game. When the Blazers do get the rebound and the fast break, they don't go for the lay up and often try to make too many passes and hit the pretty shot.

Despite these shortcomings, the Blazers are 3-1 in conference play and are currently second in the conference. With 8 games left, Coach McGraw hopes his team can find its defense.

Unless the freshmen can step up and fill their roles, the Blazers might be rebuilding this off-season, too.

— Matt Anderson is a staff writer of the News-Register and majoring in journalism.