|
BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
-----
|
From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, January 27, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
 |
Big challenge means
big opportunity
By
Brian Bailey
©2008 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Opportunity comes to the
door riding a 47-game
Conference USA winning
streak on Wednesday
night.
Memphis, a team that
came so close to winning
the national
championship last
season, is off and
running again this year.
The Tigers are 16-3 and
5-0 in league play.
The last time Memphis
suffered a C-USA loss
was March 2, 2006, when
the Tigers fell on the
road to
Alabama-Birmingham
80-74.
Pirate coach Mack
McCarthy understands the
significance of the long
conference winning
streak.
"It’s unbelievably
impressive,” said
McCarthy. “I was a part
of some long winning
streaks in the Southern
Conference and it’s
really hard to maintain
that. It’s really hard
to keep that thing
going.”
Coach Mack says the only
way to keep a streak
like that going is to
get intense effort on a
consistent basis.
“Two things stand out
about Memphis,” he said.
“Number one, they play
hard every single night,
and very few teams in
America can say that.
The other thing is that
they are athletic as
heck, and they can beat
you a lot of different
ways because of their
athleticism.”
The Tigers are tall and
athletic and that’s been
a tough combination for
East Carolina this
season. ECU hung tough
with Wake Forest for the
first half, before being
blown out in the
second half
by the Deacons.
“They are probably more
similar to Wake Forest
than any team we’ve
played," McCarthy said.
"They press a little bit
more and they do more
off the dribble. They
have a little less
structure from an
offensive standpoint,
but it’s a very
sophisticated offense
when it comes to spacing
and what they are trying
to do with it.”
The Pirate players had a
little hop in their step
at Monday’s practice.
That’s what a victory on
the road will do for a
struggling team. The
Pirates hope the
80-74 win over
Southern Methodist
provides momentum going
into Wednesday night’s
clash with the
18th-ranked Tigers.
Freshman Darrius Morrow
scored a career-high 21
points to lead five
Pirates in double
figures. Brock Young
continued to play well,
scoring 16 points and
dishing out 11 assists
for his fifth
double-double of the
season. James Legan and
Jamar Abrams both had 14
points, while Sam
Hinnant had an even
dozen.
“We’re very excited,”
said Legan. “A win over
Memphis would mean a lot
to this program.”
Morrow agreed. “If we
can be the team that
snaps the streak, it
would be amazing,” he
said.
Coach McCarthy knows
what his team has to do
in order to upset
Memphis on Wednesday
night.
“Staying out of foul
trouble and rebounding
are the keys for us
every single game,” said
McCarthy. “We have to
match their intensity
which is really
difficult. The second
thing is that we have to
play well for forty
minutes because they
keep coming at you, in
waves, they keep coming
at you.
"Also, this place needs
to be rocking!”
Williams Arena can be an
intimidating place for
the opposition. Coach
Mack and his band of
Pirates are hoping to
provide a house of
horrors for John
Calipari and company
this week.
It’s happened before.
Just ask current Indiana
coach Tom Crean.
Crean had his Marquette
team ranked 9th in the
nation both years, but
limped out of Greenville
with back to back losses
on Feb. 26, 2002
and
Dec. 30, 2002.
This Memphis team is
loaded, but not as good
as last year’s national
runner-up squad that
lost to Kansas. Still,
that Conference USA
winning streak has
continued on to 47 in a
row.
Williams Arena should be
rocking Wednesday night.
It’s the type of game
that can really catapult
a program.
Opportunity will
certainly be knocking.
BB
Send an e-mail to
Brian Bailey.
Dig into Brian Bailey's archives.
01/27/2009 01:18:28 AM |
Replay
Monday night's
Brian Bailey Show with guest Chuck
Humphrey, Ronald Vincent and Grady
Little. Eastern North Carolina's longest running sports
radio call-in show airs every Monday night at 7
p.m. on Pirate Radio 1250-AM and 930-AM.