Earl Austin Jr: Bills lose heartbreaker in D.C.

Bills lose heartbreaker in D.C.
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Earl Austin Jr on 28/01/2010 16:28:00
 
We built the big advantage in the second half with some great ball movement and
excellent 3-point shooting, particularly by freshman Cody Ellis, who finished
with 20 points on six 3-pointers. We looked like a machine on offense while our
half-court defense was excellent as well. In the last several minutes of
regulation, GW went to an aggressive man-to-man defense and our offense got
stagnant and tentative. Meanwhile, GW started to attack the basket on the
dribble-drive. It worked as they shot 59 percent in the second half after
shooting less than 30 percent in the first half. Their overall team athleticism
came to the forefront as the game wore on. In the overtime period, we appeared
to be fatigued as GW coach Karl Hobbs played 12 players and kept the pressure on
with a variety of trapping defenses. It took its toll as they appeared fresher
and more energetic down the stretch as we appeared to lose our legs and our
poise in process. As the saying goes, with tired bodies come tired minds. We had
three costly turnovers and failed to block out on a missed free throw in the OT.
It was a tough night to endure. In my 19 years of broadcasting SLU basketball,
this was one of the toughest losses for me. It was the beginning of a tough
stretch on league games where we played four out of five on the road. Getting
the first road win in this stretch would have been huge, but we let it slip
through our fingers. Unfortunately, it goes with the process of being a young
team trying to develop. You are going to have a few moments like these and they
are indeed painful. On the road, you have to be that much more mentally tough
and be able to make some tough shots down the stretch and that didn't happen on
Wednesday night. I was still pleased with the way we built that lead in the
first place. Despite another bad start (didn't get our first field goal for
nearly eight minutes), we started to move the ball and get wide open looks
against their traps. At one point, we shot 10 of 20 from 3-point distance for 50
percent. So, that part was good. What we have to do is to start better. Our slow
start offensively gave us bad memories about our 20-point debacle in D.C. two
years ago. We must also shoot free throws. We were only five for 10 last night,
so the charity stripe contines to be a sore spot. Despite the heartbreak, we
have to put it behind us pretty quickly because we have a tough game at Richmond
on Saturday. The team left for Richmond last night right after the game. They
will watch the film of the game today in what should be a great teaching moment
for Coach Majerus and his staff. They will also get in a practice as well later
today. Rammer and I are staying in D.C. an extra day to take in some of the city
and see a few sights. We will then take the train to Richmond on Friday
afternoon. I'm looking forward to seeing how our Billikids respond to the
challenge. They are a pretty resilient bunch, so I think they will go out and
compete well against a Richmond team that would like a little revenge on us
after losing at the Chaifetz a few weeks ago. What we have showed early is that
we will compete on the road, which is a big improvement on the way things have
been in the past. All three of our A-10 road games have gone into overtime, with
the Duquesne game going into double OT. That's a sign of progress. Now, we have
to find a few ways to close games and that takes mental toughness and maturity.
So, the kids will continue to learn from these experiences because there are
going to be a lot more close games like this, at home and on the road. Stay
tuned, it should be interesting.