A season-ending Top Five

   For this week’s article, I decided to do another Top 5, recognizing the team’s that are still in there, the coaches, and team’s who’ve struggled this season.  So, here it goes!

   1-Yes, I am going to be biased.  But I truly believe that my No. 1 spot goes to Coach (Don) Neise, my high school coach, and Mr. (Marco) Lanzoni, my athletic director at Spackenkill High School. My successful basketball season would not have been possible without these two men.  Coach Neise pushed me to be better and believed in our team.  He is the reason that Spackenkill clinched the MHAL Division title and earned the second-highest wins (16) in school history.

   Mr. Lanzoni over sees the sports program. He creates an environment that encourages and promotes the student athlete. While I’m recognizing my coach and athletic director, I would like to say that this first spot goes to all coaches and athletic directors who have worked so hard throughout the season to make us girls happy.  Basketball season would not be possible without all of you.

   2-The Highland girls’ basketball team earns my second spot.  These girls got off to a rocky start.  They had a reputation to uphold and they kept it.  A lot of pressure was put on this team considering the success they’ve had in the past.  Many didn’t think they could pull through with another section title.  But regardless, they were seeded No. 1 in the section and never turned back.  They won their section and are off to the regional’s.  Good luck ladies!

   3-My third spot goes to the Putnam Valley girls’ team. This team has been through so much this year.  And unfortunately, their season was cut short.  Many events occurred and there was a tremendous amount of turmoil in the program.  The girls did not agree with some decisions made, and proceeded to all quit.  Although this is tragic, I respect them for standing by what they believed was the right thing to do.  They stood up for what they believed in and proved a point.

   4-Again, my No. 4 spot was difficult to chose.  But after long consideration, I gave it to the Marist College women’s basketball team.  This year was not like other years in recent Marist history.  I used to walk into home games thinking “I wonder how much they’re going to blow them out by this time.”But this year was different.  They had a very difficult schedule and lost key senior Julianne Viani.  Even though this was an obstacle, the Red Foxes clinched yet another MAAC tournament championship.

   5-Finally, my fifth spot goes to another person from Marist: Chuck Martin, the men’s basketball coach.  I know I came into this process thinking that I would only write about women’s basketball, but this is the one exception.  I truly feel for this man and his team, considering the one-win season.  These circumstances are very difficult to endure.  I don’t know how long I would last if I had to do it. Yet despite the bad things, they finished the season.  Now I fully expect that the coaching staff, players, and administration make sure Marist is the most improved team in the MAAC next year.

   On a closing note, I would like to congratulate every girl and every program on a job well done this season.  I don’t know about you, but I’m already excited for the next one!

Until next time, see you on the court. – Cat

Cat Thompson is a Spackenkill High School student and a junior on the girls' basketball team. You can reach Cat by sending an email to rich@hudsonvalleysportsreport.com. We’re happy to forward all correspondence to her.

The keys to sectional success

   Well the season is almost over, but before I get into this week’s topic I want to offer some well-wishes to Brit Gullo from John Jay for a speedy recovery from her ACL injury. You were a big part of John Jay’s run this year and I’m sure you’ll be there, all recovered, next fall. Do work girl.

   And to graduating seniors and my friends Briana Jones, Mackenzie Hoffman, Rachel Perrone, Jessica Perrone, Sam LaMorte, Jackie Kubala and Gabby Moise (just to name a few), I wish you all the best in your college careers.    

   Postseason play! Now is the time to see if all the practice and hard work has paid off. Girls’ basketball sectionals are in full swing around the area.  For Section One, the championship games are approaching while for Section Nine the fun begins today.

   For those of you who don’t know, sectionals are the best schools in the area, all playing each other to see who will be the ultimate victor.  One loss and you’re out, the season is done.  Every game could be your last.  With sectionals comes a great amount of pressure and stress for coaches and players.  It is important now to stick together as a team and focus on advancing.  In my opinion, there are three key things to better your team’s success in sectionals:

1. Practice hard and play hard because every game could be your last.   

2. Listen to your coaching staff and don’t pick fights with your teammate (believe me, I’m a girl, know how catty we can be :P) 

3. Don’t let the stress and pressure keep you from playing your game.

   The next practices should be the hardest you’ve worked all season.  Push yourselves to be better.  You only have a couple of practices to prepare for the next team you are going to play, considering you never know who you’re going to play next.  The little practice time you have, you need to use wisely.  You want your team to be at its peak performance so push yourselves and your teammates in practice.  You don’t have many practices left so make the most of them. 

   Unity within the team can make or break you.  We all know how girls can be (haha), but now more than ever the team needs to stay together.  The chemistry helps a team play better together.  I am probably the most stubborn person I know and I never admit I’m wrong, but this is the one time where I have to.  Our coaches know what they’re talking about – we players need to listen to them.  It is impossible to win without coaches. They have such a huge impact on a team’s success and failure.

   Another factor in winning come sectional time is your mental attitude. Play how you always do.  Don’t let the stress and pressure get to you, just play your game. Obviously, if you are in sectionals, you’re good enough to be there.  Don’t worry about what court you’re on, or who’s watching, or the fact that it could be your last game.  It’s important that you just play your game. 

   I hate losing and I’m a sore loser. I know how it feels to lose an important game.  Going in the locker room afterwards, the bus ride home, the next day in school … they are all hard knowing you lost the most important game of the season.

   My sophomore year at Lourdes we made it to the County Center, a huge feat in Section One basketball. We played a team we had beaten by double digits twice.  We were confident that we were going to advance into the finals.  But the outcome of the game was not what we expected.  Afterwards, we sat in the somber locker room, most were crying, knowing that the season was over.  The next day, most of us didn’t even show up for school. Losing sucks, especially when you know you could have done better.

   I also experienced a difficult loss this year at Spackenkill.  We won our division and were going to MHAL’s.  Again, the outcome of the game was not to our liking.  Everyone was tense afterwards, and the bus ride home was silent.  Everyone was asking about the game the next day, and it was so hard to tell them we lost.  I actually had teachers coming up and hugging me and telling me how sorry they were.  It seems dramatic, but if you play basketball, you know how we felt.  Although this was not the end to our season, it was still a devastating loss.

   Nobody likes to lose and it’s really hard to accept losses.  But no team is perfect, everyone loses sometime and if you’ve done your best then you need to be proud of your accomplishments.  We have to cope with these losses and move on and work to get better.  It seems impossible at the time, but you can improve and come back stronger next season.  And for the seniors, you can always play in college. 

   As much as we would like for the season to continue, it has to end whether it’s with a loss or a state championship.  So to all the teams still playing, PLAY YOUR HEART OUT!  Work together, listen to your coaches, don’t give in to pressure, and play with passion.  You’ve made it this far, might as well make the best of it!

   Until next time, see you on the court. – Cat

Cat Thompson is a Spackenkill High School student and a junior on the girls' basketball team. You can reach Cat by sending an email to rich@hudsonvalleysportsreport.com. We’re happy to forward all correspondence to her.

Thank you for everything

   POUGHKEEPSIE -- Dear Marist College Women’s Basketball Team,

   As one of the many beneficiaries of your stellar play, I just wanted to take the time to personally thank you all, especially the seniors.

   Head coach Brian Giorgis put it best when he said that you seniors – Rachele Fitz, Lynzee Johnson and Brittany Engle – “meant more to me as people than players.” It’s not just about basketball. Bringing a community together is hard to do, yet you managed.

   So when Giorgis said that you three were “the best we’ve ever seen,” all I could do was nod in agreement.  

   It’s not that often a team compiles a winning percentage north of .850. It’s even rarer when a team does that over the course of four seasons. Throw in the fact that the team has been headlined by the same three players each season, and you’re looking at a mini-dynasty.

   The numbers speak for themselves: a 112-19 overall record, four consecutive MAAC championships, a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2007 and to the second round in 2008. Not too bad for a mid-major team, right?

   It’s been one hell of a run (and that’s still probably an understatement). Although, there is one bone to pick – you win so easily sometimes that the games get less interesting. But beggars can’t be choosers, right? A win is a win, and you certainly know how to win.

   In regards to the seniors, I hope that you got from us everything we have received from you: support, success, even bragging rights.

   I know the season is not over and there are still many important games left to play. But I also know that when the time clock struck zero and the buzzer ended Sunday’s 71-52 win over Siena, something special ended.

   Unfortunately, the majority of Marist fans will never again see Fitz, Johnson and Engle sporting Marist red and white.

   That’s what made the day so special. We got to see three players who have been friends literally since day one – Engle told me that immediately after their first recruitment visit to Marist, she texted Fitz, saying “If you go, I go” – play one last game together in front of the fans who have been cheering them on for four years.

   The Marist community owes more than they realize to these three. They helped to make this program successful. They helped attract new recruits. They made us allergic to losing.

   “I thank God everyday that I have these three,” Giorgis said.

   Yeah, I’m still nodding.

   Take care and many thanks,

   The Marist Community

We've all lost a friend

Youth coach, community icon Mort Laffin passes away

Thankfully, there's women's basketball

   POUGHKEEPSIE—There’s not too much to be excited about these days at Marist. It’s cold, we didn’t get off for President’s Day, and our men’s basketball team has a better chance of winning tomorrow’s Mega Millions.

   It’s just a bad time of year. Football is over, baseball is still over a month away, and even with the spectacle that is the Winter Olympics, excitement and suspense are low thanks to unfavorable weather conditions and unforeseen tragedy.

   But thankfully we still have our women’s basketball team.

   As Marist methodically pulled away from a challenging Manhattan team Monday, the theme of the night, and arguably the year, became clear — the Marist community is brought together by a group of dedicated female athletes. And I’m not just talking about the women’s basketball team; the women’s water polo team was awarded their MAAC Championship rings and trophy at halftime.

   For me, the story is in the stands. Crammed would be an understatement to describe the crowded bleachers at the McCann Center. Being that it was a slow Monday and half the students on campus were still hurting from the weekend’s activities, I was not expecting a huge turnout. And yet there they were, dressed in their finest reds, cheering for every Marist success and booing Manhattan from the start.

   You should have seen the place when Erica Allenspach drained a half-court shot, pretty much just for fun, as the game neared the end. Goosebumps is an understatement.

   “When I first came [to Marist] and found out that the sports are dominated by women, I was disappointed,” said Marist sophomore Glenn Shapiro. “But after I went to a few games, I realized that the intensity that is usually at men’s games was there.”

   For me, my decision to come to Marist to pursue a career in sports journalism was a difficult one. I knew Marist’s sports were not as glamorous as the big universities. But I also knew that the atmosphere at these games would be hard to match, wherever I went.

   There is a reason that Marist is the only school in the nation to sell out its women’s Pack the House competition three years in a row. Actually, there are two reasons. First, the Marist fans know how to root their team on. And secondly, and most importantly, this team knows how to carry a community on its shoulders, and win in the process.

(Joseph Brosnan is a sophomore at Marist College and a frequent contributor to Hudson Valley Sports Report.)

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2010

Webutuck is my TEAM of the year

   Normally I’d open with individual shout outs, but this a “TEAM” week so I’ll save them for the Thompson Top 5 in my next column.

   As I thought about who I would name the Thompson “TEAM OF THE YEAR”, I had to think about what high school basketball is all about. I had to ask myself what were the qualities that made a basketball team worthy of notice. Is it simply wins and losses, or individual statistics? Or is there something more to this game I love so much? After some thought, I realized that there is so much more to this game than just the win-loss column.

   Sure it’s easy to look at a team’s record and pile heaps of praise on teams with great records. But if they are a team loaded with talent you would expect nothing less. Even I could look like a great coach if I was coaching a team with five Michael Jordans on it. Just sit back and enjoy the game.

   But that’s not the way it is in high school sports. Coaches are given the task of putting together a team with the people that live in the district.  So when I listed those qualities that made a team successful, I looked beyond the wins and losses and focused on sportsmanship. Defining sportsmanship is kind of like grabbing Jell-O with your hands – just when you think you have it, it slips away.

   But for me it’s all about attitude and behavior. How did the team handle adversity? Did they quit playing in the games? Did they shout at each other on the court? Did they shake hands at the end? Did they have foul mouths? Did they stick together as a team the whole season? These are but a few of the factors I weighed when making my decision.

   So after looking at things, my choice for the Thompson Team Of The Year is ………. Webutuck High School girls’ basketball.

   I know some people will think I’m nuts, and I can hear the gasps through the computer screen. But read on and you’ll realize I made the right choice.

   Webutuck has lost every game it has played this year. The Warriors have their senior night this Tuesday (weather permitting again) while the four division winners square off in the Mid-Hudson Athletic League semifinals. So the first thing I want to do is to congratulate all the girls on their season and wish the seniors the best! Also, a big congratulations to Coach Casler on your new baby born on February 4.

   Let me tell you what it’s like to lose and the adversity you face each and every game. I was on an AAU team – the first year of Triple Threat – and we lost more than 20 games. We finally won our first game at the last tournament on Father's Day in June. I heard people look at the schedule board and say ‘Triple Threat; easy win, they suck.’

   So I know what it’s like when others think how bad you are each and every game you play. I know how hard we worked as a team and we still got blown out most games. It’s frustrating and I'm sure we wanted to quit many times, but somehow, with the coaches’ help and encouragement, we stayed together. Nobody took the time to notice how we had improved as a team or what an accomplishment it was to finish the season.

   Hi again, girls’ basketball fans, players, and coaches!

   I had so much free time last week with only one basketball game, but I had to take a Regents exam.  So here are a few shoutouts to recap the week.

   Teneka Whittaker from Our Lady of Lourdes scored her 1,000th point against Beacon on Friday; congratulations on that milestone Teneka!  Kudos to Kaelan Reynolds from Webutuck for her 19-point effort against Marlboro. Sara Bender keeps leading her team with a strong post presence with 22 points and 11 rebounds in an important win over Onteora. And Kelsey Roa from Poughkeepsie lead her team with 17 points and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe against Newburgh.

    So last we spoke, we talked about the next step – college – and now you want to know what the differences are between Division I, II, and III colleges.

   The differences are very simple. All you have to do if decipher a mere 1,200 pages of rules, regulations and by-laws!

   The Division I rule book is 431 pages, D-II is 357 pages, and D-III is 332 pages.  So, I took the time to call the NCAA membership services desk to inquire about the differences between the three and ask how many scholarships DI schools have.  Let’s just say, that got me even more confused.  “It’s simple, just look at by-law number 15.5.5.2 you’ll discover that there are only 15 DI scholarships allowed in women’s  basketball during any school year.”

   So you can see my confusion during this phone call.  There are so many papers and little rules I wish they could just sum it up.  Well, that’s what I’m here for. 

   Generally speaking, Division I schools have to sponsor at least seven sports for men and seven for women.  According to By Law 20.9.1.2(b) they must give “financial aid representing a minimum aggregate expenditure of $1,148,451 in 2009-10, with at least $574,225 in women’s sports.”

   What that simply means is that whatever they spend, women’s sports have to get half.  These funds do not come from the school’s general budget but from a separate athletic fund. If the school has a football team that plays in the Football Bowl Subdivision, they have to meet the minimum attendance requirement of 15,000 people in paid attendance per home game (that’s By Law 20.9.7.3).

   Also, these teams must give at least 200 athletic scholarships each year OR spend $4 million on athletic grants in aid to students. That’s By Law 20.9.7.4(b) if you are even remotely interested. There are also 50 pages of recruiting rules in Article 13, but that’s next week’s topic.

   To round out the boredom, there is a sophisticated chart on page 193 of Article 15-2 on who is a “counter” – that is, who is counted against the maximum number of scholarships each year. This is my real simple interpretation: You can get aid, but if you don’t play you’re not a counter. I don’t need charts, graphs, venn diagrams or a boolean data table to figure that out.

   There are also a zillion rules on how to count attendance. Let’s just say in Division I it’s all about the money. Big schools, big money, so you’d better have big talent. And oh by the way, if they pay for you, they own you.

   Division II schools have to sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women. There are no attendance requirements for football. There are maximum financial aid awards for each sport that a Division II school must not exceed. For women’s basketball, by-law 15.5.2.1.2 says that there can only be 10 full scholarships given per year. Many Division II student-athletes pay for school through a combination of scholarship money, grants, student loans and employment earnings.

   Division II athletics programs are financed in the institution's budget like other academic departments on campus. Because the budget comes from the college, the games played are mostly regional and closer to home than in DI. There also are a whole mess of recruiting rules in D-II similar to D-I.

   Division III schools also have to sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women. Division III athletics features student-athletes who receive no financial aid related to their athletic ability, and athletic departments are staffed and funded like any other department in the university. Division III athletic departments place special importance on the impact of athletics on the student-athletes, rather than on the spectators as in DI and DII schools.

   Games are primarily regional and conference competitions. One good thing about D-III financial aid is that if you get hurt playing you won’t lose your aid since it’s not athletically related. I forgot, that’s by-law 15.4.1 in the D-III manual.

   It makes sense that the size of the school is related to the Division it is in – it’s all about the money. Bigger schools can do more fundraising for their programs and meet the zillion requirements, but that doesn’t mean it’s the place for you.

   Lastly, there are the NAIA division schools. Even there you have two divisions. In Division 1 NAIA schools there can be 11 full women’s basketball scholarships and only six in Division II NAIA schools. There are extensive academic opportunities in NAIA schools.

   In fact, all college divisions have their own tournaments like the NCAA D-I tournament. ESPN2 now televises D-II tournaments and some D-III games as well. With more and more colleges connecting with cable companies, many more small schools are being televised through local cable networks. You can still have fun and get a good education – and maybe a little camera time as well.

   I want to close by offering some advise that my Dad has given me about going to college. First, pick a school that you like for the educational program and not the basketball coach. He said a coach could be given a better offer and leave at any time and doesn’t care that you came just because of the coach. Second is the fish in the pond rules. If you are a big fish in a little pond, you won’t be happy. If you are a little fish in a big pond you won’t be happy. But if you are a medium fish in a medium pond you’ll probably be happy. I guess what he’s trying to tell me is that the school and your playing ability need to be a fit, along with the major you choose.

   Next week, I’ll try to decipher the recruiting rules.

   Until next time, see you on the court! – Cat

(Cat Thompson is a Spackenkill High School student and a junior on the girls' basketball team. You can reach Cat by sending an email to rich@hudsonvalleysportsreport.com. We’re happy to forward all correspondence to her.)

New enrollment figures hard to figure

   Thirteen years out of the loop is a long time, but that’s how long it was between the time I left the Poughkeepsie Journal in 1996 to go out and cover the University of Michigan football and basketball teams for the Ann Arbor News, and the time that I returned to start Hudson Valley Sports Report last summer.

   There have been many changes during that time on the local sports landscape, names I’ve had to learn, things I’ve had to re-learn, and I must say that this first six months has been among the most rewarding times I’ve had in 24 years as a sportswriter.

   I’m thrilled to be back, thrilled to have started hudsonvalleysportsreport.com, and thrilled by the community response to the site.

   Here’s what I’m not thrilled about – what’s happening to high school sports these days, both in our area and in the state.

    Take, for instance, the latest BEDS numbers (a fancy term for ‘enrollment’) from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. The NYSPHSAA has already approved revised numbers for team sports – baseball, softball, boys’ and girls’ basketball and boys’ and girls’ soccer – in order to better reflect what they feel is falling enrollment numbers in high schools across the state.

   The new numbers are:

Class AA: 925 and up (was 950)

Class A: 525-924 (was 550-949)

Class B: 305-524 (was 325-549)

Class C: 175-304 (was 193-324)

Class D: 174 and under (was 192)

   Wow.

   Kind of reminds me of a scene from the movie “Moonstruck” when Cher’s character goes to church for confession.

   Loretta: “Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. Twice I took the name of the Lord in vain, once I slept with the brother of my fiancée, and once I bounced a check at the liquor store, but that was really an accident.”

   Priest: “Then it's not a sin. But ... what was that second thing you said, Loretta?”

   The bottom four classes I can see. But … what was that Class AA number, again?

   The gap in Class AA, the disparity, is shocking. You’re asking schools on the small side of Class AA to compete with behemoths.

   This especially hurts a school like Poughkeepsie, whose BEDS number is approximately 946 (BEDS refers to the enrollment between ninth and 11th grades). Under the old system, Poughkeepsie would have been classified as a Class A school next season since it had less than 949 students.

   Now? Another year of not only competing against Arlington, John Jay and Ketcham in the same league since Section One is likely to approve the same conference alignment as this season, but playing in Class AA in the sectionals.

   This is a time when we should be enhancing and encouraging high school athletics, not creating a disparity in play.

   And the situation is only getting worse. The economics that last year forced cuts in the number of games played is also playing a part in all of this. I was reading the minutes from December’s monthly meeting of Section Nine – for research, not for pleasure – and came across this gem:

      “The MHAL and OCIAA support the current reduction of athletic contests. (Section Nine Executive Director) Bob Thabet remarked that the school districts may not have seen the worst yet with regard to school finances.”

   Great.

   Hey, I have an idea ! Let’s just skip the regular season and just throw everybody into six-game sectional tournament, hey? Then you’d really be saving money !

   Wake up, people. We’re hurting our high school athletes with all this “decision-making,” and I use that term loosely.

   Sometimes, it’s just better to leave well enough alone.

Fascinating look at Pioneers

Laffin's coaching offers insight to how he motivates his team

   With all that talent, you would think it was the easiest job in the world being the boys’ basketball coach at Poughkeepsie High School.

   Just roll the ball out on the floor and let nature take its course.

   It doesn’t work that way, though, as we all know.

   Oh, there’s no doubt that Poughkeepsie is head and shoulders the best basketball team in the area, maybe even better than defending state champion Newburgh Free Academy, which the Pioneers will play on Feb. 6.

   But what head coach Brian Laffin is doing with this group provides a fascinating insight into how he keeps the Pioneers motivated and sharp when they’re winning games by 30, 40 and 50 points.

   And that’s not meant to disparage the rest of the teams in Conference I, League A. Quite the opposite, actually. Poughkeepsie is just that good this season.

   So Laffin has had to create what might be called a game within a game. He literally is challenging his players at almost every turn, from star players Dayvon Whitaker and Nate Gause right on down to the last role player, breaking the game into segments that carry a certain emphasis – i.e., grab 10 rebounds in the next four minutes, or take three offensive charges this quarter, etc.

   There are four different points that Laffin emphasizes.

1)     Create a “culture” that allows players to be successful doing things that they are good at. Identify their roles based on their talents and the team's need.

   For example, Poughkeepsie star football player Reuben Frank is on the basketball team. But he isn’t a great scorer, and doesn’t have to be on this team.

   “We will not burden a kid like that with a major scoring responsibility but rather challenge him to get as many rebounds as he can in a short stretch,” Laffin said. “Then the next guy that comes in will try to beat what Reuben has done. The result is a couple of kids playing the same position going as hard as they can.”

2)    Organize practices to be as competitive as possible.

    The Pioneers’ best competition this year just might be themselves. There are 15 players on the roster, and while Laffin initially thought that to be an un-workable number, it has actually proven to be effective.

   “It has worked out where we do various 5 on 5 on 5 drills. Each group has to execute offensively and put constant pressure on the ball defensively. We extend the out of bounds and encourage aggressiveness,” he said. “Challenging the team in practice and making them compete for almost everything helps build on the culture of competitiveness.”

3)    Keep specific rituals and routines prior to the game, and emphasize unconventional – even non-traditional – goals.

   This is where things like deflections and offensive fouls and forcing shot clock violations comes into play.

   “We might tell the kids that tonight we have to get 20 deflections to win,” Laffin said. “We revisit it at halftime and see where we are at. Our staff might take a kid aside and let them know that they have six deflections, and that helped win the game. It becomes a part of their personal success, along with the traditional stats.”

   A perfect example? Last year Whitaker had 32 points against Newburgh in an amazing performance. But Laffin made sure to tell the star guard that 12 of those points came directly off five deflections that he had.

4)    Break the game into various stages and try to win that stage.

   With 15 players on a 10-0 state-ranked team that is one of the favorites to capture Section One, playing time is at a premium. Laffin breaks the game down into segments and challenges the Pioneers to win that segment.

   “We might say we’re going to try to give up only X amount of points over a four-minute stretch,” he said. “That is a challenge they have to take seriously or they won’t stay out there. Having that goal, it gets their attention to give a solid effort.”

   Laffin comes from a large, loving, basketball-playing family. One of the things he learned, especially from his father Mort, is to let the players know you care about them as people first, and make sure each and every one knows how important they are to the success of the team.

   “The key is to find positives in almost everything,” he said. “There will be moments this year where we are not very good. Losses may happen, but as long as it is not due to lack of effort I am fine with that.”

Coaches Tournament needs a champ 

Don't blame Martin

   What’s wrong with the Marist College men’s basketball team?

   Perhaps the better question is, what isn’t wrong with the Red Foxes?

   They can’t score. Candon Rusin and Daye Kaba lead the team, averaging 9.4 points per game each. Imagine that? A Division I-A program that doesn’t even have one player who can crack double digits in average? Overall, Marist is averaging 56.7 points per game and only 23.2 in the first half of games, a telling stat when you consider the Foxes have gotten off to some awful starts this year and have been run out of the gym before halftime.

   They can’t play defense. They’re allowing 70.9 points per game and opponents are making almost half their shots (47.3%) from the field against Marist.

  And they can’t hang on to the ball, having turned it over 138 times in nine games. Worse, at the other end, there’s no distribution, with only 83 team assists. That’s not the kind of assist-to-turnover ratio you want.

   It all adds up to an 0-9 start, three losses away from tying the 0-12 mark the 1990-91 team set as the worst start in school history.

   I covered that team, which ultimately finished 6-22, during my 10-year sportswriting career at the Poughkeepsie Journal.

   This current team is worse.

   According to the Sagarin Ratings (see story at left), Marist is the 343rd worst team in the country. That’s out of 347 schools. Ouch.

   And, in all likelihood, this Marist team will set the school record for futility. If you trust in those numbers that Jeff Sagarin runs through his computers, Marist, theoretically speaking, will lose its next four games by 13 points at home to Vermont; by 16 on the road at Bucknell; by 13 at home to Manhattan; and by 15 on the road at St. Peter’s to break the record for worst start.

   In fact, Marist could be 0-15 before its next best chance at a victory, on Jan. 11, when Rider comes to town. The Red Foxes only lost by four, 55-51, to the Broncs on the road earlier this month.

   So, who do you blame?

   Not Chuck Martin, I can tell you that much. Don’t even think about putting any of this on him.

   Martin, Marist’s second-year coach, inherited a mess when Matt “Happy to be here, now who else is hiring?” Brady left the program in a lurch. Vagabond Matt took off for James Madison so fast – gee, and right when Jared Jordan was graduating. What a coincidence, hey? – that the door truly didn’t have time to hit him in the ass when he left.

   Boltin’ Brady also took four top recruits with him who had already committed to Marist. So not only did he leave Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard bare, he took her food money, too.

   Martin was left with spare parts last year; this year, he had nine new players counting freshmen and transfers.

   Now, Villanova transfer Casiem Drummond was supposed to help. He was supposed to be the big man Marist needed in the middle to help shore up the interior defense, and provide a little inside scoring on the other end.

   But now Drummond is academically ineligible.

   So if you want to quibble with Martin – and the school and its faculty advisors, for that matter – for not keeping a better eye on Drummond, there’s little room for argument. I mean, let’s be real here. The kid had a full year to get his you-know-what together while sitting out the mandatory 12 months after transferring. And Marist finds out the day before he’s supposed to make his debut that he isn’t academically eligible for the whole year?

   Still, this isn’t Martin’s fault. You almost feel for the guy, being thrust into this situation in his first head coaching job.

   Can he turn it around? Let’s hope so.

   Because in the meantime, the Red Foxes are coming awfully close to being the worst team in the country.