Bonesville: The Authoritative Independent Voice of East Carolina

News & Features from ECU, the AAC and Beyond

  • Home
  • News & Features
  • Recruiting
  • Photos
  • Audio
  • Roundup
  • Comments
  • Legacy Archives
  • • ECU 2021 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
  • • ECU 2021 BASEBALL SCHEDULE

Insights from Brett
Plot takes a turn in tale of two seasons

December 16, 2019 By Brett Friedlander 1 Comment

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin

I have deliberately refrained until now from commenting on the struggles of the East Carolina basketball team during the first month of its 2019-20 season.

Considering the makeup of the squad with only two scholarship returners on the roster, one of which hasn’t played since the team returned from the Bahamas last month, it’s simply too early to make any rash judgments about the state or the direction of coach Joe Dooley’s program.

It’s tough to figure out who you are and who you’re going to be as a group when you’re still in the process of figuring out who everyone on the team is.

Consider that over the first 10 games, Dooley has started nine different lineups. So it’s only fair to chalk up the Pirates 3-7 start to experience. Or in this case, the lack thereof.

But that grace period only lasts so long. At some point, it’s a reasonable expectation for the group to begin jelling, defining roles and showing signs of growth — especially in home games against the Coppin States of the world.

It’s a process that may finally have begun Saturday afternoon at Minges Coliseum with a 79-67 win against Campbell.

The Camels came into the game at 6-2 with wins against Florida Gulf Coast, UNC-Wilmington and Coastal Carolina to their credit.

And yet ECU jumped out to an eight-point halftime lead, its biggest advantage after 20 minutes this season, placed three other players besides star sophomore Jayden Gardner in double figures and scored more fastbreak points (28) in one game than it had in its previous five games combined (27).

It was an encouraging performance Dooley said he saw coming based on the previous few days leading up to the game.

Joe Dooley (ECU Media Relations)

“We had a good week of preparation,” he said. “We’ve probably won five of the last six practices. We were good which means we won the day. We talked about trying to stick with that. If we can win four out of five, or five out of six, you’re going to get better.”

Winning practices is one thing. The next step is stringing together a few wins when the lights are on, the band is playing, the popcorn is popping and there are fans in the stands.

With upcoming home games against Maryland-Eastern Shore, Charlotte and Eastern Kentucky on the schedule before the American Athletic Conference season tips off at Wichita State on New Year’s Day, this is an opportunity for the Pirates to start building that momentum.

“It’s a tale of two seasons,” Dooley said in the aftermath of Saturday’s win. “You’ve seen teams that have started slowly and gotten better all year, and you’ve seen teams that started out great and sort of fizzled off at the end. Hopefully we can sort of keep building and these young guys will figure some things out.”

Two of those young players showed visible signs of growth against Campbell, with 6-foot-6 freshman wing Brandon Suggs posting career highs of 16 points and nine rebounds while 6-5 classmate Tristen Newton added 11 points and eight boards.

It also helped that junior college transfer J.J. Miles returned to the lineup after missing the past two games to injury and picked up where he left off against Kansas City in the Bahamas. With two other older newcomers — Tyree Jackson and Tremont Robinson-White — also contributing on a consistent basis while Gardner is in the process of putting together an All-AAC season, the potential of this team is starting to show.

Now its a matter of fitting all those pieces together and learning to play and communicate as a unit, something Gardner said is already beginning to happen.

“We’ve been getting practice really established and we’ve been doing a really good job at it,” he said. “And we got some good results (Saturday).”

As important as communication, chemistry and all those other intangibles that are instrumental in helping young teams like the Pirates develop an identity, nothing is more important than a little positive reinforcement.

Now that ECU has finally gotten some, it will be interesting to see what it does with it.

Like Dooley said, it’s a tale of two seasons and the second one is only just beginning.

ECU 2019-20 BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
PLOT TAKES A TURN IN TALE OF TWO SEASONS’
PIRATES DEFEAT CAMPBELL, 79-67
MISSING BOWL HAS BENEFITS
ENDURING TRUTHS STILL HOLD ONE YEAR LATER
COVETED QB GARCIA HEADED TO SHRINE BOWL
ECU HOOPS LOOKS TO DIG OUT OF HOLE
GILBERT PETITIONS FANS TO STAY THE COURSE
Tweet
Share
Share
Pin

Filed Under: News & Features

Comments

  1. Dick Denton says

    December 17, 2019 at 9:35 am

    Wow, this sounds like a positive article, or are you just quoting Dooley?

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Dick Denton Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent News & Features

Baseball News
ECU dealt first defeat

Baseball News
ECU prevails over Eagles in first road game

VIEW FROM THE EAST
Pirates prep for challenging start in 2021

Baseball News
Pirates use long ball to down Duke

Football Recruiting Report
Banner recruits keep American on the rise

Basketball News
Postponements continue to mount in AAC hoops

Baseball News
Pirates complete sweep

Baseball News
Norby paces Pirates to series win

Baseball News
Pirates edge Rams, 3-2, in 10 innings

"VIEW FROM THE EAST" ON ECU BASEBALL
Godwin has good news as season starts

More News & Features

ECU Schedules

  • ECU 2021 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2020-21 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2021 Baseball Schedule

ECU Recruiting

  • Football Recruiting Class of 2021
  • Football Recruiting Class of 2020
  • Football Recruiting Class of 2019
  • Football Recruiting Class of 2018
  • Football Recruiting Class of 2017
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2021-22
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2020-21
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2019-20
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2018-19
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2017-18
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2016-17
Tweets by bonesville

Past Football Schedules

  • ECU 2020 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2019 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2018 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2017 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2016 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2015 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2014 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2013 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2012 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2011 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2010 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2009 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2008 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2007 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2006 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2005 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2004 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2003 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2002 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2001 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2000 Football Schedule
  • Historical Schedules

Past Basketball Schedules

  • ECU 2019-20 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2018-19 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2017-18 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2016-17 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2000-2015 Basketball Archives

Past Baseball Schedules

  • ECU 2020 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2019 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2018 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2017 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2016 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2015 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2001-2014 Baseball Archives

Recruiting Class Profiles

Football Recruiting Report
Banner recruits keep American on the rise

ECU Recruiting Evaluation, Part 2
Defensive report card: Pirates lure experience

ECU Recruiting Evaluation, Part 1
Offensive report card: Skill positions reinforced

ECU Football Recruiting - Early Evaluation
Pirates fortify secondary

Football Recruiting
Pirates land lineman with ‘nasty attitude’

Football Recruiting
Former TCU linebacker sets new path at ECU

Football Recruiting
Florida produces another quarterback gem for ECU

Football Recruiting
Legacy of ECU’s receivers helped sell Keigley

Football Recruiting
Pirates reaping dividends from Tri-City focus

Football Recruiting
Close relationship with ECU staff swayed Temple

Football Recruiting
Timely recruiting helped Pirates land Wright

Football Recruiting
COVID-19 opens door to FBS for Jason Shuford

Football Recruiting
ECU secondary secures Bama grad transfer Knott

Football Recruiting
ECU wins battle for coveted safety Clyatt

Football Recruiting
Grad transfer Chase rekindles ties with ECU

Recruiting Evaluation: Class of 2020 Defense
Defensive class caps off sterling recruiting effort

Recruiting Evaluation: Class of 2020 Offense
Gifted QBs, RBs headline offensive signees

Football Recruiting
Garrison’s route to ECU anything but typical

Early signing class evaluation
Pirates on the rise in recruiting wars

Football Recruiting
Healing prep star Hudson on track to sign early

Football Recruiting
Coveted QB recruit Garcia headed to Shrine Bowl

Football Recruiting
Help is on the way for ECU running game

Football Recruiting
Tackle took trek from ballboy to superstar

Football Recruiting
Crump brings ‘shut-down corner’ skills to ECU

Football Recruiting
ECU emerged from the pack to land McIver

Recent Web Roundups

GREG VACEK'S DAILY WEB ROUNDUP
Thursday, February 25, 2021

GREG VACEK'S DAILY WEB ROUNDUP
Wednesday, February 18, 2021

GREG VACEK'S DAILY WEB ROUNDUP
Saturday, February 13, 2021

Writer Archives

  • Bonesville Staff
  • Brian Bailey
  • Sammy Batten
  • Bethany Bradsher
  • Brett Friedlander
  • Al Myatt
  • NFF
  • Greg Vacek
  • Danny Whitford

Recent Web Roundups

GREG VACEK'S DAILY WEB ROUNDUP
Thursday, February 25, 2021

GREG VACEK'S DAILY WEB ROUNDUP
Wednesday, February 18, 2021

GREG VACEK'S DAILY WEB ROUNDUP
Saturday, February 13, 2021

GREG VACEK'S DAILY WEB ROUNDUP
Friday, February 12, 2021

GREG VACEK'S DAILY WEB ROUNDUP
Thursday, February 11, 2021

GREG VACEK'S DAILY WEB ROUNDUP
Tuesday, February 9, 2021

GREG VACEK'S DAILY WEB ROUNDUP
Monday, February 8, 2021

More Web Roundups

Copyright © 2021 Bonesville.net · Website by Seaport Webworks. · Log in · Privacy Policy