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ECU-ODU preview: Herrion searching
for 'truth'
By Al Myatt
©2004 Bonesville.net
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Bill
Herrion
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East Carolina basketball
coach Bill Herrion seems to be facing the same sort of challenge as the
panel on the old "To Tell the Truth" television show.
The program was based on
determining which among three guests was actually the person they
claimed to be.
Herrion's youthful 2004-05
club has played seven games and the Pirates coach may be asking himself,
a la "TTTT," "Will the real ECU please stand up?"
Hopefully for Herrion,
he'll soon see the group of Pirates who have beaten
Pepperdine,
Oregon State and
Toledo in a somewhat puzzling
4-3 start — not the guys who
couldn't shoot straight at
Gardner-Webb or the ones who
endured an all-night bus ride back from
Western Carolina after an
overtime loss on Tuesday night.
ECU should provide some
answers with a 1:30 p.m. game today against Old Dominion (7-1) in
Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
"We'll have to play well,"
Herrion said. "We've beaten some good teams. It's just a consistency
thing with so many young kids."
ECU didn't play ODU last
season but took a 75-67 win over the Monarchs on Dec. 7, 2002 in
Norfolk. The personnel that accounted for that victory gives an
indication of just how inexperienced ECU's current crop really is. Post
player Moussa Badiane is the only Pirate to have seen action in his
career against ODU.
Meanwhile, ODU coach
Blaine Taylor's charges have shown their maturity with wins over South
Alabama and Texas Christian.
"They've got a group
that's been together," Herrion said. "Alex Loughton, the Australian kid,
was the preseason player of the year in the Colonial (Athletic
Association). Isaiah Hunter was a freshman when we played them two years
ago. You could tell back then that they had guys who were going to be
good players."
Hunter, a guard, averages
a team high 12.9 points. Sophomore Arnaud Dahi is scoring at a 12.3 clip
and Loughton is hitting 12.0 per game.
ECU counters with Badiane
averaging 16.3 points, sophomore Mike Cook at 16.0 and junior Corey
Rouse, who has stepped up his game, at 12.0.
At least the Pirates
aren't faced with a trans-state bus ride round trip as was the case with
their last game against the Catamounts.
"We didn't really play
that bad out at Western," Herrion said. "Obviously if we had made a few
more plays down the stretch in regulation, we could have stolen one on
the road."
Herrion has been juggling
his lineup to find the most productive combinations. Eight of 11 players
on the roster have starts and four different groups have opened games
for ECU.
ODU leads the series
32-14, but since 1996 the teams have split 14 games. The Pirates have
won five of seven at home during that span. Herrion is 4-2 all-time
against the Monarchs.
ECU won't play again until
a 7 p.m. home game on Friday night with Winthrop, which will allow the
Pirates some time to focus on exams. Herrion expects to know the status
of 6-foot-10 freshman Charles Bronson, who has not been playing, after
first semester.
Today's game should reveal
a little more truth about the guys who have been playing.
02/23/07 12:47 AM
Compiled from Bonesville.net
staff reports. A story from The (Charleston, SC) Post and Courier was used
as a reference in writing this article.
©2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All
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