The Seton Hill University (SHU) Men’s basketball team had a tough season last year, posting an overall record of 12-15. The Griffin’s did have a bright spot in their season as they went 11-9 in West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) play. This gives me a certain amount of hope going into the Griffins 2008-2009 campaign. Any time you can have more wins than losses against divisional opponents in any sport, any coach will tell you that they would mark that as a plus in their book.
However the Griffins need to improve on the defensive side of the ball. Eight out of the fifteen losses that the Griffins tallied last season were double digit losses, and in a conference with powerhouses like Pitt-Johnstown and West Virginia State, defense is the key to winning basketball games.
By Steve Meredith
Senior Staff Writer
The Seton Hill University (SHU) Men’s basketball team had a tough season last year, posting an overall record of 12-15. The Griffin’s did have a bright spot in their season as they went 11-9 in West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) play. This gives me a certain amount of hope going into the Griffins 2008-2009 campaign. Any time you can have more wins than losses against divisional opponents in any sport, any coach will tell you that they would mark that as a plus in their book.
However the Griffins need to improve on the defensive side of the ball. Eight out of the fifteen losses that the Griffins tallied last season were double digit losses, and in a conference with powerhouses like Pitt-Johnstown and West Virginia State, defense is the key to winning basketball games.
Another area in which I look for the Griffins to improve is their stamina. Losses hurt more when they are by the slimmest of margins, and last season, six of the Griffins fifteen losses were by less than five points. To fix this problem, I look for the Griffins to work on their ability to dig deep and pull out a win in the final seconds of the game. If the Griffins could have clinched any two of those six losses last season, they would have ended up with a record of 14-13, and could have deemed the 2007-2008 campaign, a winning season.
I have a full an unwavering confidence that the Griffins will be able to fix their trouble areas from last season and turn the 2008-2009 season into a successful one. To help do this, the Griffins return key players such as sophomore Stefan Vujicic and Drazen Lakic, Cody Boone, juniors, and Emmanuel Jackson, Jordan Thomas, seniors.
Thomas is a great all-around player, while Jackson’s forte is in his three point shooting ability. Boone and Lakic are 6’9” and 6’10” respectively and along with Vujicic, all three players have the ability to score inside the paint.
If I know Men’s basketball head coach Tony Morocco, I would tend to think that he’s looking forward to the opportunity to put last season behind him and keep up the age old SHU motto “hazard yet forward.” This academic year and fall semester of sports has been a time of great change for SHU. The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) was welcomed onto the hill just as the new SHU Performing Arts Center was, and still is, being erected just off of it. The SHU Football program is on pace to have the first winning season in the team’s short history, and even that came with a new head football coach and some fresh faces to the team.
This season, I look for the SHU Men’s basketball team to continue the trend of positive change, and return to their winning ways.
