Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Truett / Seniors...

Another senor night has come and gone. I still find it amazing how quickly the years go by! We had a lackluster first half, but really played well in the second half and got a good win vs. a very scrappy bunch from Truett McConnell. We were led again by Will who chipped in 22 points (18 in 2nd half), Josh had 19, Lee finished with 14 and Tim ended with 10. Stefan did a great job with energy in the 2nd half on their scorer. Corey got in and contributed 3 points...he got an unselfish pass from Michael on a break. Bentley knocked down an important 3 in the first half...there were some bright spots. It was great the see Coach Tellus again here in the Cage.

It was neat to see all the families represented for all four seniors. It has been an honor to coach and be around these four! Thanks for the memories!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Seniors...Will, Mix, Bentley, Lee

I am always amazed at how fast 4 years can go by. I vividly remember recruiting Will at Harrison. I remember Mix coming down for a workout and watching him go through a bunch of drills and thinking that we might get a steal with him. I remember meeting the Sparks when Bentley came up and asked about a student assistant / manager type spot. I remember when Lee showed up and we beat Shorter here in the first Berry / Shorter game in the Cage! It certainly has been a fun class watch mature and grow. Will, Mix, and Bentley were a part of a turnaround their Sophomore season when we went from 9 wins to 18 wins. Lee joined us last year and we continued to get some wins. Then they were able to amass 19 wins last year. After losing 5 scholarship players and the move to D3, we have gotten some big wins together this year. The season started with a huge win vs. Lee in the second game of the season. A win vs. Lee has not happened 5 years! Then we had a huge home win vs. AUM. Probably the highlight of the season is the win over Shorter at home. After the thumping we took at their place, it was certainly bittersweet to get the one at home in a convincing fashion!

I am so proud of the achievements these four have reached. They have won between 54 and 56 wins, they have been named academic All-American 4 times, 6 times all-academic all state by the GA. Basketball Coaches Association (GABCA). They are some of the most recognized students on campus and they have represented our programs in fine fashion.

I hope their memories of Berry College will be fond ones and I hope they will look back on their time here and be proud of their accomplishments!

Emmanuel home game...

Emmanuel is a very dangerous team! They are able to score the ball in so many different ways and when they shot the ball well it can be a long night for any opponent. We played over at Emmanuel about a month ago and we were convinced they could not play much better, but they came close. Tedrick Hudson, their leading scorer, put up huge numbers vs. us after we threw a number of guys at him. They just seem to have our number. We continued with our balanced scoring...with 5 guys in double figures with Will leading the way with 19 points. Stefan played well contributing 10 points, but playing with a lot of passion off the bench. Josh and Lee played well.

No SPSU game...

We tried to make up the game with three different dates and we have been turned away. I hate it for the Marietta guys...Will, Stefan and Tim. It is always a fun game down there and one our guys are always excited to play. I wish we got one more crack at them!

Shorter Win!!!

We have had three of the biggest wins this year and none was sweeter than getting a big rivalry victory vs. Shorter! We played about as well as we could on the defensive end of the floor. Kendall and Josh did an unbelievable job containing Jerrenda Wheeler for Shorter. He really hurt us over at their place (but their whole team did!). Lee and Tim did a great job on Marqise Wright holding him down to just 8 points and 4 rebs. We were able to hold a very good basketball team to 54 points. Our team only had 4 turnovers and got 18 offensive rebounds! We always talk about the "passion" plays...loose balls, charges, offensive rebs, etc... and we got them the other night! Offensively, we were very balanced with our points. There were so many big shots hit by our guys. Josh hit a big one to answer, Tim hit a big one, I'm sure Will hit a few big ones, Lee had a huge tip, etc... Lots of highlights! It was about as excited as I have seen a bunch of guys in a few years!

What a great way for the four seniors to wrap up a career vs. Shorter! We are always talking about making memories...and we certainly did on Feb. 16th in the Cage!!!

Monday, February 15, 2010

SPSU game...

The SPSU game was canceled on Sat. due to the weather that hit us on Friday. The SPSU campus was closed all day Sat. not allowing us to play. The roads looked awful on Sat. morning, but quickly cleared up after the cancellation. Hopefully we will make the game up next week.

Brewton Parker road game...

We traveled to Mount Vernon, GA on Thursday to take on the Barons of BPC. This will be the last time we travel down there as members of the SSAC. It is certainly not an easy place to get to!
The women's team had a great victory! They got revenge on them by winning a close game. Coach Dunn has done a great job this year and the women have really played with a lot of passion and heart.
Our game started with a tribute to Q. Kelley, who was a member of the BPC men's basketball team. He was shot and killed the previous weekend while visiting his hometown. The BPC family did a wonderful job in their tribute to him and it certainly was a reminder of how precious our lives are.
We played fairly well but just had too many turnovers. We built a 9 point lead with about 10 minutes to go in the 2nd half, and just couldn't finish it off. Tim shot the ball really well. He finished making 7 threes on the night.
It certainly was a long day and I was proud how the guys handled to circumstances with the player from BPC.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

AUM Win!!!

What a big win! Our guys shot the ball so well and got some timely stops to secure a big win! Will finished the game with 32 points going 8-14 from the arc. Big Dave had another very good game with 15 points and 13 rebounds, but ore importantly going 5-5 from the FT line. Josh came in and gave us a huge boost off the bench with 14 points. KG, Bentley, and Lee had solid games. Tim made a big three to start overtime. We certainly played with a sense of urgency for the whole 45 minutes. They are a talented team that is down right now in terms of numbers. What a great win for the program!
As we move into the D3 world, we will not get a chance to play many of these teams again...Lee, AUM, Faulkner, SPSU, etc...You always want to leave your best impression the last time.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

We needed that!!!

We got a big win last night! What a way to find a way to get a much needed win. The team played with passion last night. They played with determination. They played together as a team. They played with a lot of pride. Our whole program was proud last night. We had many contributors last night...Will had 28 pts, Dave had 16pts and 10 rebs, KG had 15, Tim had 10. There were many highlights last night and it is hard to list them all. Bentley hit a huge three for us down the stretch, Dave got a huge offensive rebound off a FT and put it back, KG hit a big floater down the stretch, Will hit a few big shots...I could go on! But the icing on the cake was the old Marietta connection of Tim to Stefan. DT had a great call to get Stefan in the game and look to throw it at the front of the rim. Will set a great screen and the lane opened up for Stefan to catch a great pass from Tim. The toss and score led to a 85-83 win. The game was nip and tuck all night long and I am so proud of the determination our guys showed. What a great win for them!!!

Will, KG and Josh...

The Berry College athletic department started the "athlete of the week" in January. We have had three guys that have been named already this month.

Will Blackwell was named athlete of the week for the week of January 11...Will is having one of the best seasons in recent memory...http://berry.edu/athletics/story.asp?ID=2828&sport=WRunning

Kendall Gadie was named athlete of the week for the week of January 25th...here is the article...http://berry.edu/athletics/story.asp?ID=2839&sport=WBasketball

Josh Bracken had a break out week and was named athlete of the week for February 1...here is the article...http://berry.edu/athletics/story.asp?ID=2846&sport=MBasketball

Congrats to our guys! They certainly deserve the accolades they receive!

A few bumps in the road...

Every year a team faces adversity and every year the team has choices to continue to fight and scratch and claw or do the other. We certainly did not play well for a four game stretch starting over at Emmanuel. We ran into a buzz saw with the Emmanuel and we just couldn't get going offensively and that in turn affected our defense. The Emmanuel game also led to some pretty serious injuries for two guys that are our leaders, Will and Lee.
We hosted a pretty athletic team in Southern Wesleyan. We battled, but just couldn't finish the task. We had the lead for a good bit but just did not get the win. There certainly was some bright spots with the play of Josh Bracken and Kendall Gadie. We had 5 guys in double figures, which is something we haven't had in a long time.
We had a short turnaround and got to go to the big crosstown rivalry over at Shorter College. We faced a team that was very determined and very hot! They shot the ball so well and we just couldn't get enough stops and rebounds to give our guys a chance to get the win. It was a night that was tough for the whole program. Again, there were some bright spots from some guys. Kendall finished the last two games playing 80 minutes of the 80 minute game!
We then faced a daunting task going to Lee University to square off with a team that, I'm sure, did not forget the loss we gave them here in the second game of the season. With the injuries, it has been difficult to string together practices to have a great sense of ourselves heading up to Cleveland to face Lee. We went into halftime down 9 points. We competed with them possession for possession for the first 20 minutes and then we just hit a wall. They scored to the first 7 points out of halftime and we did not recover. Lee has a chance to have a special year!
I have always known that adversity will make you stronger. Our team has faced some bumps along the way with injuries and some very hot teams. I know the character of the team will eventually get us out of the rut that we are in. I know this can be a good team!