The Overtime Report: Lancers Looking to Find Their Stride
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Shaq Johnson and the Lancers had trouble slowing down former Longwood recruit Winston Grays last night. (Photo via: JMU Sports)[/caption]
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So I don’t typically do a write up following non-conference road games but because of JMU’s “Madizone,” I was able to watch the game last night. This won’t be as much a write up as it will be more of a brief opinion/observation. At this point, I don’t care to talk much about the game itself. I’d rather open up about the mood following this game.
Look, I know we lost by 22 points to an in-state rival but we were shorthanded and let’s not forget we have 8 new players. Yes, they’ve practiced together for months now but that’s nothing compared to playing a Division I game. They’re still learning and trying to figure each other out. The good news is that Quincy Taylor will help that transition and will certainly help get the guys on the same page.
There were times last night where the Lancers looked good (specifically their ability to turn over the Dukes in the first half). Then there were times that the Lancers just looked beat. They looked defeated and Gee even said they looked “scared” at points in the game. There were mistakes being made on defense. There was little flow on offense. Guys were turning the ball over left and right. It was just one of those “hit you in the mouth” type games.
I feel like that was a good thing for this team. Call me an optimist, that’s fine but the Lancers now get to put their full attention on basketball. The team left for Michigan early this morning and they’ll stay there until Sunday when the EMU Showcase tournament is concluded. Taylor will return Saturday while Victor Dorsey should see his first college action Friday. Dorsey will allow Longwood to play bigger rotations considering Damarion Geter, Lotanna Nwogbo, and Shaq Johnson are splitting the playing time for the 4 and 5 spots currently. Adding a fresh body to the mix should help Longwood compete in the 3 games over 3 days. Also, the opposition will be pretty equal when it comes to talent and ability. These three games will be good for a team that is continuing to build on-court chemistry. We will simply have a better idea of how this team operates. It’s much easier to see trends after 5 games and don’t get me wrong, they’ll continue to grow when they visit George Washington, Iowa, Miami (OH), etc. But it’s important to remember, building some relevancy isn’t going to happen after one game. It’s going to take a continued effort and stacking up some wins over the course of the season.
We will learn a lot more about this Longwood team over the next 4 days. It’s likely that I will post another “Overtime Report” on Monday in an effort to recap the entire weekend of games.
