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Pirate Notebook No. 169 Tuesday, January 13, 2004 By Denny O'Brien Staff Writer and Columnist

Improved league has ECU playing catch-up

©2004 Bonesville.net

The way it's looking, East Carolina could approach mid-February in a dogfight for a bid to the Conference USA tournament. That's not the scenario we anticipated after the Pirates cruised to an 8-1 start.

After three-consecutive losses and with a bout versus heavyweight Louisville quickly approaching, it is the harsh reality in which the program still exists.

It would be tempting to suggest ECU has regressed since the 2001-02 season, the Pirates' first in C-USA. After all, Coach Bill Herrion was able to guide a team with far inferior talent to five league wins — including upsets of Louisville and Marquette — and a spot in the conference tournament.

By the end of that year, the Pirates were playing as well as any team in C-USA. As a result, fan support and expectations bubbled to an all-time high for a school not accustomed to hardwood success.

Currently winless in the new year, some now are beginning to question the direction Herrion has the program heading. To that, the answer is simple.

Up.

Records aside, Herrion has improved the program by almost every measure. From top to bottom, the roster is filled with better players than what he inherited. Though still missing a proven sharpshooter and polished all-around post player, ECU has undergone a significant upgrade in talent over the past four years.

An even greater achievement has been the increased passion within a fan base that once spent eight months out of every year in hibernation. Credit that to the tireless efforts of Herrion, whose accessibility to the fans and media has far surpassed his predecessors.

If only it would produce better results in the win column.

The major obstacle for the program has been membership in a league that continues to improve. Already considered a high-profile conference when the Pirates joined, C-USA's NCAA tournament participation has doubled in just two seasons.

At this stage in the season, it appears C-USA will receive at least four NCAA bids, with six a realistic possibility. Only the ACC and Big XII clearly are better leagues this year.

Bottom line, high-profile coaches combined with storied programs have created an even greater obstacle for ECU than originally expected.

But that soon will change.

As early as next season, C-USA will undergo a dramatic makeover — with its most valuable stock shifting to the Big East. A significant downgrade in competition will make it much easier to compete, but also more difficult to recruit.

The new challenge will be a familiar one — pitching East Carolina basketball independent of an elite conference.

Given ECU's history as a football school in the shadow of its basketball-crazed in-state neighbors, the climb to respectability will remain steep. However, up until the last five years, the Pirates never had a coach with proven success at the major college level.

That's why giving up on Herrion would be a huge mistake.

Pressing issue

East Carolina got its first taste of full-court pressure last Wednesday against UAB.

The result? A whopping 22 turnovers.

"It's nothing like the real thing," Pirates forward Derrick Wiley said. "You can prepare for anything, but once it comes... they do it every day.

"You never know how it really is. We just try to prepare for it."

And that can be difficult to emulate in practice. Perhaps last Wednesday's loss to the Blazers will serve a good purpose after all — as preparation for Thursday night's showdown with Louisville.

"We're not a pressing team," forward Erroyl Bing said. "We tried our best to simulate what UAB does on a nightly basis.

"We handled it somewhat. I think most of our turnovers were in the half court and not in the full court. So in that aspect, we handled getting the ball across half court. We've got to be stronger with the ball in the frontcourt and make plays down the stretch."

Bing, Mikulas hit milestones

There were a couple of positives produced from Wednesday's loss to UAB.

Bing scored his 1,000th point, making him the tenth player in school history to score 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in his career. On top of that, Bing snared his 800th rebound, which places him sixth on the Pirates' all-time list.

But Bing said the honor was no consolation for the disappointing loss.

"I guess I scored my 1000th point, but I would have rather won," Bing said. "It doesn't mean anything when that happens... we lose the game. It's hard to be happy or celebrate something like that, but we've got to keep our head up."

Mikulas also moved up the career ladder, becoming the 11th player to join the 1000 points-500 rebound club.

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02/23/2007 01:56:03 AM