Mids feeling good inside
Patriot League play has brought positives, negatives
Navy men’s basketball opened Patriot League play in impressive fashion, beating Colgate and Holy Cross in back-to-back home games.
The Midshipmen stumbled a bit in their first conference contest on the road, allowing American to score on nine of its last 10 possessions in falling 71-63 in D.C. on Wednesday night.
Head coach Ed DeChellis has talked about the importance of protecting the home court against Patriot League opponents and Navy (5-9, 2-1) will try to stay unblemished at Alumni Hall when it hosts Boston University (8-8, 1-2) on Saturday
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The Terriers, under the direction of eighth-year head coach Joe Jones, have lost four of their last six games – largely due to a defense that is giving up an average of 84 points. Boston is led by 6-foot-8 junior forward Max Mahoney, who is scoring 16.4 points and grabbing 6.1 rebounds per game.
“I’ll tell you one thing: We better be a very physical and aggressive team against Boston,” DeChellis said. “They have a strong interior player in Mahoney along with good speed and athleticism on the perimeter. They go very hard after the ball on both ends of the floor so we must be prepared to rebound and match that energy level.”
DeChellis, in his eighth season in Annapolis, has seen enough already to predict a knockdown, drag-out battle within the Patriot League this season.
“I think the league is as good as it’s ever been from top to bottom. I don’t think there are any bad teams,” he said. “It has become a very balanced conference and you had better bring it every night.”
The Capital spoke to DeChellis on Friday and he discussed three positives and three negatives that have emerged for Navy after three games of conference action.
Positive: Navy is tough on the boards
DeChellis has always emphasized rebounding as a staple for winning and this year’s squad seems to have taken that to heart.
Navy has out-rebounded opponents throughout the season and that trend has certainly continued into conference play. DeChellis was like a proud father after watching his troops pound Holy Cross on the backboards, 47-27.
“We absolutely rebounded our brains out tonight,” he said afterward.
Senior forward George Kiernan and freshman swingman John Carter Jr. lead Navy in rebounding with averages of 5.4 and 5.1, respectively. Backup forward Luke Loehr is grabbing 3.8 boards per game, slightly better than starting pivot Evan Wieck and starting point guard Hasan Abdullah (3.6 each).
“I’ve always thought rebounding was very important because it shows activity,” DeChellis explained. “If you have good movement on offense, you tend to get offensive rebounds. If you are working hard and maintaining good position on defense, you tend to rebound well on that end.”
Navy out-rebounded both Colgate and American by three. As DeChellis mentioned, that category will be crucial against on Saturday versus Boston University.
“We’re not an overly big team, but we all do a good job of boxing out,” DeChellis said. “I’m trying like crazy to get our guards to rebound the ball. If that happens, you don’t need to outlet the ball to get into transition.”
Negative: The Mids are misfiring from field and free throw line
Navy has snagged 42 offensive rebounds through three Patriot League games, which is both good and bad news. It means the Midshipmen go hard to the glass, but also that they are not shooting the ball very well.
Navy shot 42 percent from the field (73-for-172) in its first three conference outings with most of the made baskets coming from two or three players. Far too many members of the rotation have posted 1-for-8 type of performances.
DeChellis is particularly concerned about the perimeter shooting as the Midshipmen are a combined 18-for-18for-61 (29 percent) over the last three games. Navy was a woeful 2-for-17 from beyond the arc at American, which is no surprise since Bender Arena has traditionally been a house of horrors for the visitors from Annapolis.
“Our 3-point shooting has not been what it needs to be. We’ve got to be more consistent in that department,” DeChellis said.
Even more disturbing to DeChellis is that Navy has suddenly struggled shooting foul shots, making just 12 of 23 over its last two outings.
“We shot something like 76 percent on free throws during the non-conference schedule and that has dipped a bit since we moved into the league,” DeChellis said. “We missed four straight the other night, and some of those are the front ends of a one-and-one. You can’t leave points on the line like that. It’s just a lack of focus.”
Positive: Freshman guard Greg Summers has really emerged
Summers has seen his role increase since Patriot League play got underway and has responded. The 6-foot-3, 190pound wing totaled 11 points and six rebounds against Colgate, grabbed seven rebounds versus Holy Cross and contributed seven points, three rebounds and two blocked shots at American.
“Greg has been a very positive player off the bench. He does a lot of little things that don’t show up on the stat sheet,” DeChellis said. “Greg will keep the ball alive after a missed shot and that enables someone else to get an offensive rebound. He gets a lot of hockey assists.”
Summers, a Florida native, spent last year at the Naval Academy Prep School and therefore has more experience than a typical plebe.
“Greg is an athletic kid who has some physicality to him. He drives the ball and creates for others,” DeChellis said. “Greg is a guy that is starting to get more comfortable and the game is starting to slow down for him. He brings some toughness in terms of defense and rebounding.”
Negative: Freshman guard John Carter Jr. has struggled of late
Carter has started all 14 games at wing guard and was a pleasant surprise during the non-conference portion of the schedule. For a while, the 6-foot-4, 188-pounder was leading Navy in rebounding while ranking second in scoring.
Unfortunately, Carter has not been nearly as good against Patriot League competition. He has scored just eight points on 3-for-15 shooting and committed nine turnovers over the last three games.
“John is a good player who is going through a little slump. He hasn’t played very well offensively and it seems to be affecting other parts of his game,” DeChellis said.
Part of the problem is that Patriot League opponents have closely evaluated Carter and he is now high atop the scouting report.
“I’ve told John that you can’t go in there and try to hit home runs. Just make contact with the ball,” DeChellis said. “Stay in your lane and be who you are. Concentrate on being a good rebounder and defender. John is a mature enough young guy that I hope he snaps out of it.”
Positive: Senior point guard Hasan Abdullah has stepped up
Abdullah has been the catalyst so far against conference competition and is averaging 14.3 points and 5.6 assists. The 6-foot senior has done a solid job of running the offense while also coming up with steals, loose balls and rebounds.
“Hasan has played very well of late. He is operating under control and playing smart basketball,” DeChellis said. “Our point guard play has been good enough that we could be 3-0 in the league, to be honest,” DeChellis said.
Abdullah grabbed eight rebounds against Holy Cross and swiped three steals versus both Colgate and American. He has done a good job of defending the opposing point guard.
“We ask Hasan to do a lot both offensively and defensively. He must multi-task quite a bit,” DeChellis said.
Negative: Substitutes have been missing in action
Navy used six reserves against American and five of them went scoreless on 0-for-2 shooting. Worse yet is that some of the substitutes have made critical mistakes such as turnovers and defensive lapses.
“I need to find a way to get more production off the bench,” DeChellis admitted. “We’ve got guys going into the game and just not getting anything done.”
As previously mentioned, Summers is the only reserve providing consistent contributions. Loehr has done some good things, but Navy needs more out of forward Danny Ogele, wings Ryan Pearson and Isaiah Burnett along with freshman point guard Josiah Strong.
“I think we have decent depth, it’s just young. We have sophomores and freshmen that haven’t done it before,” DeChellis said. “Some of these guys don’t understand how hard you have to play in the Patriot League. When you come into the game you need to be ready to roll because every possession is critical in the conference.”