By Ethan Moore, Staff Reporter.
The men’s basketball team came out for their second home game of the season looking for their first win against Jackson College.
From the onset the Pioneers struggled to get a rhythm going offensively. They shot a poor 38 percent from the field and an abysmal 44 percent from the free-throw line. On defense one of the biggest killers for them was the 50 percent success rate that Jackson had from behind the three-point marker.
Coach McMath was critical of his team’s offensive performance after the game.
“To improve the offense we must learn to attack more and stop settling for jump shots,” explains McMath, “with that being said, some guys are inherently jump shooters so they must practice more on shooting.”
Turnovers were a big problem early on for the team. The initial numbers of a 32-14turnover ratio look bad on paper, however there were multiple instances in the game where the Pioneers turned the ball over.They were trying to steal the ball or get a tough defensive rebound, while these look bad in the box score, the coach had no qualms with these plays.
“Some of those mental mistakes are guys losing focus and concentration in that moment,” says McMath, “but some are actually due to some hustle plays and as a coach I can live with those type of mistakes.”
The 82-69 score placed the Pioneers at an 0-4 start to the season which is their worst start in seven years.However, Coach McMath says the team is in good spirits and is not discouraged by their start.
“The team knows that we play a very tough non-conference schedule season which molds us into a great team once conference season starts,” says McMath,“A season is based on peaks and valleys,but the way we respond to both will help us understand what type of team we are and will become.”
