— by David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — It took Marshall men’s basketball coach Dan D’Antoni added time to reach the post-game gathering with the news media Saturday night. He had a lot to ponder as he made the trek from the floor at the Cam Henderson Center to the media room on the second level.
D’Antoni appeared in a somber mood because of what he had just witnessed. Miami Ohio led his Thundering Herd by 18 points with slightly more than 3 minutes left and a furious 15-2 closing rally fell short as the RedHawks escaped with the win, 79-74.
“It’s not about winning and losing. We’re not playing well,” D’Antoni said. “When you don’t do that, you’re probably not going to win. Sometimes you do. This one started with me. Got to get ready better. Change the way we’re practicing. Try to be much more involved. Find a rhythm to score better. Take it from there. I never give up. I never think a ship’s going down. I can bail out faster than the water comes in. We’re going to bail it out. I trust these guys will stay with me.
“Me, assistant coaches, every player down the line. Each one of us. It starts how we practice shooting. What you say in the locker room. Told them before the game I’ve seen a lot of preps coming out for games. Those who jump up and down, holler, dance, have a pep rally before you go out. That’s fake enthusiasm. I’m not used to that. I’m used to like seeing a resolve in them. Let’s go and we’re out. Not stand there for five minutes for a pep rally. That doesn’t work. Got to have more resolve and less fake enthusiasm. Get more resolve about what you’re supposed to be doing. I trust these guys to pull this season back around.”
So at Monday’s practice, the former Marshall standout and NBA assistant coach was to test the new approach at the age of 76.
“I assign certain segments to certain coaches,” D’Antoni said. “I guess I assign all segments right here. Always found in my life if something isn’t right, I’m taking it on. Ain’t backing out of nothing. Nothing keeps me from giving my best shot. Got to be actively participating in everything in practice. Cannot allow a lack of effort or focus whether it’s the 16th guy or first guy. Whatever it takes. Be more in tune with everything. Maybe one day say, ‘go home, sit out today, go away.’”
Then there’s the case if a player, be it a returnee or from the transfer portal, falls short of standards. The way Cam Crawford, transfer from Indiana State, did Saturday night, when he did not play against Miami Ohio — a contest that marked the fifth loss over the last six games for a Marshall team that’s won only two of its first seven contests.
“He hasn’t deserved to be on the floor,” D’Antoni said. “When he does, he’ll be there. He’s a talented young man. There’s a lot more to winning than talent. I told him that. There are a lot of good airport teams. You know they get your coach fired. My thing is coming in every day, you have to buy into what we’re doing. It doesn’t work if everybody doesn’t buy in.
“There’s social media. It’s hard to isolate them from what they hear. Good teams do it. Look at the Sun Belt. I’m looking at winning teams that don’t go to the portal. Appy State, James Madison, most of them coming back. Got to take a hard look about the decision to use the portal, how to make the portal better. For all the success you see, I can show you about 20 failures. For one who makes it, I can show you 20 who didn’t. There’s a way. We’ve got to be really good at how to use that. It’s another wrinkle into the game that a lot of coaches are trying to figure out. That’s for another year. This year we have to step up and be a better team.”
Marshall, which lost 7-footer Micah Handlogten (Florida) and Andrew Taylor (Mississippi State) to the transfer portal, started the season with an impressive November schedule, including a trip to The Greenbrier Resort to play Radford and a trip soon after to the Cayman Islands Classic for three games. Then came a game at ationally-ranked Kentucky. The Wildcats blasted the Herd, but last Saturday, they lost at home to UNC Wilmington, 80-73. UK tallied 69 points in the first half against Marshall.
“Maybe ease in,” D’Antoni said of the early games. “The Greenbrier, Cayman Islands, UK. You feel some success enjoying the trip to the Caymans down to the team (Kentucky) that was hot as heck a couple of games and gets its butt beat tonight. It happens in basketball. Things can turn on a dime. We want to get out there and make sure we’re giving our fans and school our best shot.”
It comes down to the younger guys such as Ryan Nutter and Kycen Pruett, transfers such as Nate Martin, Kevon Voyles and Crawford, and vets such as Camdyn Curfman, Jacob Conner, Obinna Anochili-Killen and Wyatt Fricks showing they are ready for primetime full time.
Against Miami, Martin led with 14 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double. He was plus-7 for the night. Conner totaled only nine points and Obinna Anochili-Killen nine as well to go with 10 rebounds and a minus-16.
Conner went 2 of 12, Anochili-Killen 1 of 6 and Voyles 4 of 11 from the field.
“Got to get the older guys to step up,” D’Antoni said. “(Nutter, Pruett) come in and give us a lift, a pop. The heavy row has to be with the older guys. Obinna’s got to be better. Kevon guarding people. Pull up the big boy pants and let’s play.”
The next chance is Wednesday against Duquesne at Henderson Center. Tip is 7 p.m.
Duquesne, which plays in the Atlantic 10, is 5-2. The Dukes beat UC Irvine, 66-62, in their last game November 29. Their losses were to Princeton at home and at Nebraska.