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Bailey's
Take on Pirate Sports
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From the Anchor Desk
Wednesday, November 3, 2004
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By Brian Bailey |
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Herrion: Young Bucs not short
on athleticism
�2004 Bonesville.net
East Carolina opens the exhibition basketball season on Thursday night,
hosting Division II Newberry.
NCAA rules have changed, allowing teams to play other schools in
exhibitions. Division I teams can actually play other Division I teams in
the preseason, but that would have to be in a closed scrimmage situation.
Most schools would rather play Division II or III schools and play in
front of a crowd.
Moussa Badiane has a tendon strain in his thumb. He�ll miss the first two
exhibition games and will try to come back for the opener against Pepperdine
in Raleigh.
Moussa�s absence may pay dividends down the road.
�You never, ever want to see a player get injured,� Pirate coach Bill
Herrion said. �Moussa is just an outstanding kid. He has worked so hard
throughout his career and he�s had a great off-season."
"However," Herrion added, "since he is out, some of our other big men are
going to get more minutes in the preseason. They�ll have to step up now, and
that should help us in the future.�
Coach Herrion enters his 6th season as the Pirate coach. He has never
been as positive about his team.
�We are very young,� said Herrion. �That means we have to be careful.
Many of our players have yet to put a uniform on.
"However, they are great kids with tremendous enthusiasm. They are
working very hard in practice. Collectively, this is the quickest and most
athletic team that we have had here, and I like that.�
The Pirates have two exhibitions before the opener in the BCA in Raleigh.
Coach Herrion says his team will go into these first two games with a very
serious approach.
�It says exhibition on the schedule, but we�ll definitely treat it like
the real thing," he said. "We need our fans to come out and be there for
this team. I really think they are going to like this team, but they�ll have
to be patient because we are so young.�
Football Bucs strive for streak
East Carolina heads to Houston this week after winning two of its last
three games.
Nothing does more for a football program, a school, and a community then
a win does.
Now the challenge is to go on the road and be competitive.
The Pirates have been outscored on the road 166-40 in the three losses at
West Virginia, Louisville and Southern Mississippi.
�Those are bad numbers,� said Coach John Thompson. �But the numbers are
going to start at 0-0 on Saturday, so we can�t do anything about those
numbers. We�ll just have to work to improve the numbers beginning this
week.�
Houston is a 14-point favorite this week. The thing that worries me about
the Cougars is that it seems like they audibilize into running plays.
Thompson says that could cause problems.
�You see an offense that takes advantage of every little thing,� Thompson
says. �Their quarterback, Kevin Kolb, runs the show. He takes advantage of
what the defense gives up. If you give them a bubble somewhere in the
running game, they�re going to run it right at you.�
That�s been the problem all year, stopping that running game. The Pirates
showed improvement against Army, but the Cougars will bring better athletes
to the table on Saturday.
The Pirates showed some athleticism of their own in beating the Black
Knights this past week. If the Pirates can again limit the turnovers and
establish a running game, there�s no reason to write off the prospect that
Pirates might nail down the first two-game winning streak in the Thompson
era.
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02/23/2007 01:29:51 AM |
