It’s week two of Lasky’s Lounge and I just returned from Evansville, Indiana with the men’s basketball team. This is your one stop shop for some interesting tidbits about UMES athletics, in particular, the men’s and women’s basketball programs. If you have any questions or comments for me, please feel free to email,
umesbroadcast@gmail.com. Talk to you all on the radio soon!
Did that Happen?: It was relatively easy to find something that screams “Did that Happen?” this past week. The Lady Hawks were locked in a dandy against LIU on Wednesday evening. With the score tied at 49, there was a 30-second timeout called by LIU. Ashley Palmer was ready to inbound the ball from the sideline near her team’s bench. Palmer was up against the 5-count, panicked and called a time out. However, LIU was out of time outs. Technical foul. The Hawks weren’t able to capitalize and win in regulation but it brought back memories of Chris Webber. Let’s take you into the time machine. It was April 5, 1993 and Michigan was playing UNC for the NCAA title. Michigan is trailing 72-69 with 46 seconds left when they call their last time out. Then, Webber scores after a UNC turnover to trim the deficit to 72-71. UNC’s Pat Sullivan is fouled and he makes the first and misses the second free throw. Webber grabs the rebound (gets away with a travel) and brings the ball into the forecourt. He then gets trapped and calls a timeout. Technical foul. UNC’s Donald Williams hit both free throws and UNC seals the title. Williams was the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. (Kansas and Kentucky were the other two teams in the final four in case you were wondering).
10 Second Violation: During the LIU broadcast, one thing that Dave Byrd and I discussed was the missing 10-second violation in women’s college basketball. It puzzles me that the men’s game enforces a 10-second count in the backcourt but the women’s game doesn’t. I understand that the men’s game is played at a different speed but still. You mean to tell me that
Bria Jackson,
Casey Morton and
Amber Cook can’t get the ball across in 10-seconds? I don’t buy that for a second. The only thing the lack of a 10-second count affords the ladies is a chance to casually bring the ball across. Sometimes late in games you’ll see the point guards dribble in the backcourt and evaporate the clock. They could do the same thing in the frontcourt right? Also, I feel that at least 95% of the time, they get the ball across in under 10 seconds anyway. I’ll have to get coach Batchelor’s thoughts on this. Maybe he has a profound explanation.
What are some of your theories? Should the 10-count be enforced?
Trivia time: Who is the only UMES basketball player (men’s or women’s) to make at least 100 3-pointers in a single season since the 2002-03 campaign?
Shout(s) out of the Week: I have multiple so let’s start.
- Adobi Agbasi for stepping to the forefront and making the coaching staff look like geniuses for diagramming the biggest two plays of the game (against LIU) for her. Agbasi tied the game with a lefty lay in with 57 seconds left. She is tough to guard when moving to her left and turning over her right shoulder.
- Kevin White for chasing a ball in the second half against Evansville (when they Hawks were down big) that was destined for his own bench and diving full-extension after it to try and save it. It wound up being out of bounds off the Hawks but it’s those types of hustle plays that will be paramount come conference play. Kevin really asserted himself in the second half.
- Tyler Hines for recording his third career double-double against Evansville (11 points, 11 rebounds). Hines ripped down six offensive rebounds. He is a tireless worker.
Road Warriors: We had a Thursday afternoon departure with the men’s basketball team for Norfolk, Virginia. The hotel in Norfolk might be one of my favorites for three reasons…1) It’s literally right across the street from the Ted Constant Center. We left the hotel and walked across the street – can’t beat that for convenience. 2) Breakfast provided a wide variety – eggs, sausage, fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, bagels, muffins, waffles, pastries, juice and more. 3) Complimentary tea and honey…for a broadcaster suffering through a winter cold, that is as clutch as a free throw with seconds left to ice a game. We awoke at 6:30 a.m. to catch our flight to Chicago (we transferred and caught a flight to Louisville and then bused to Evansville). One thing I found interesting on the aircraft was the food the flight attendants handed out. Everyone was offered a “Newtons Fruit Crisps” bar. Whatever happened to pretzels and peanuts? I guess I’m just old fashioned. Nothing out of the ordinary in Evansville except for the constant change of the time zone we were in. We flew to Chicago (central time) then transferred and flew to Louisville (eastern time) and then bused to Evansville (central time). Easy trip though. Kudos to
Curtis Peery and the coaching staff for taking good care of everyone. It’s a lot harder than you think to travel with a group of 19 people, especially when there are practices, games, laundry to be done, food to buy, scouting reports to finalize, flights to catch and so on.
Number(s) of the Week: 406 – the number of points
Tim Burns has scored since arriving on the UMES campus. Burns scored 10 second half points against Evansville to cross over the 400 points marker in his career with the Hawks. Burns has 640 college points (two seasons at High Point).
15.2 – the percentage that the Lady Hawks are holding the opposition to from beyond the 3-point line. Through five games, opponents are 12-of-79 from 3-point range against UMES. Syracuse sputtered to a 1-for-23 night from deep and LIU shot 1-of-7 from deep.
41 – The number of bench points that
Fred Batchelor received last week against Manhattan and LIU combined. The Hawks scored a total of 107 points. Therefore, 38% of their points last week came from the reserves.
Five Stars: Time to crown the crème de la crème from the last week. Ladies first. She sometimes reminds me of watching a game on West 4
th street in the cage or at Rucker Park with her razzle-dazzle shake-‘n-bake dribbling style but she has a silky smooth jumper that will splash the net from NBA range.
Kwinnyata Mercer had a “Five-Star” type of week. Mercer poured in 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the two games last week. She made the two technical free throws late in the second half to give the Hawks a brief lead vs. LIU. She nailed a three-pointer early in overtime to give the Hawks a 54-51 lead. She also made two free throws in OT. It was a challenging week for the men’s basketball team so it took some thought to decide who would receive the award. I’m giving “Five-Stars” to
Tim Burns this week. He scored ten points (all in the second half) against Evansville. In the four UMES games prior, Burns had only scored six total points. Burns has lost a lot of playing time of late (8.0 minutes per game in the four games prior to Evansville) and maybe his performance against the Purple Aces will get him back in the thick of the rotation. Remember, Burns started 21 games last season and averaged 33.1 minutes per game (second most of the team). He was also second on the Hawks in scoring (11.2).
Two for the Road: Next up for the men’s team… the Pitt Panthers. Here is a little nugget to digest about Pitt. Before Tennessee tripped them up on last Saturday, they had won 58 consecutive non-conference games in the city of Pittsburgh. Bucknell downed Pittsburgh on Jan. 2, 2005 (last loss before Tennessee). The Lady Hawks next two opponents are Towson, Saturday Dec. 18, and Wake Forest on Monday, Dec. 20. The Lady Hawks have never beaten Towson (0-7 all-time). It has been 23 years since the UMES women’s basketball team has faced Wake Forest. The ‘Deacs beat UMES 73-61 in 1987.
Trivia Answer: If you guessed Toni Kennedy of the women’s basketball team, you are correct! Kennedy knocked in exactly 100 3-pointers during the 2005-06 season. Kennedy made 157 3-pointers in two seasons with the Lady Hawks.
If you have any questions for me, please feel free to contact me at umesbroadcast@gmail.com.
This week’s broadcast schedule:
Thursday – Coaches’ Corner 7-8 @ Peaky’s Pub (WGOP 540 AM, 100.7 FM)
Saturday – Men’s basketball @ Pittsburgh (95.5 The Sports Animal)
