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For East Carolina coach Bill Herrion, Saturday night's victory over South
Florida couldn't have been more timely.
After bolting to a 10-2 start which included marquee wins against Ole
Miss and Marquette, the Pirates, now 11-6, were mired knee-deep in a
four-game losing streak.
For much of the Pirates' Conference USA clash with the Bulls, it appeared
as if that string would painfully extend to five.
Eventually, though, East Carolina clawed its way back from a14-point
halftime deficit to win, allowing Herrion to exhale a huge sigh of relief.
"It's the weight off your shoulders," Herrion said. "Now we're 2-4 in the
league and it keeps us alive to get into that conference tournament at the
end of the year.
"Our confidence has been very, very fragile the past couple of weeks. The
problem is in a league like Conference USA, you keep looking down the
schedule and keep looking down the road and you never know when you're going
to win another game."
Outside of Ole Miss and Virginia Tech, East Carolina's non-conference
schedule was relatively light. However, since C-USA play began, the Pirates'
strength of schedule has risen dramatically after playing four of the
nation's top 40 teams in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).
Now facing a three-game road stretch that begins tonight in Milwaukee,
the Pirates are seeking their first-ever C-USA win away from Williams Arena
at Minges Coliseum — but it won't be easy.
"It's been a tough grind here, but road doesn't get any easier," Herrion
said. "It's just one at a time. It really is. This is going to be a brutal
stretch. Marquette is obviously going to be a payback game. They're going to
be waiting for us. There's no question about it."
That's the bad news.
The good news is Marquette, winners of five straight, may have ripened
itself for another upset and will be facing a team that has renewed
confidence.
Even though East Carolina continues to struggle offensively, the Pirates
are improving in other facets of the game.
"The positive thing is, we're rebounding the ball in this league against
everybody," Herrion said. "We held (South Florida) to 33 percent from the
floor. That's the third consecutive Conference USA opponent that we've held
in the 30s.
"We're doing the job defensively and we're doing the job rebounding.
We're just having a really tough time trying to figure out how to score. But
if we don't guard in this league and we don't rebound, we have absolutely no
chance."
Since Louisville blistered East Carolina with a 58 percent shooting
performance, the Pirates have clamped down on their opponents defensively.
The Pirates have held each of their last three opponents — DePaul,
Cincinnati, and South Florida — under 40 percent from the floor.
The challenge now is to get more offensive output from the perimeter,
particularly against the zone.
"We did some nice things against the zone," Herrion said. "We just didn't
knock down any shots. That's what keeps putting more pressure on you
offensively on every possession. We've got to figure this thing out on
offense."
That's where Luke Mackay and Jonathon Moore could factor into the
equation if they can improve their defensive play. The reserve wings gave
the Pirates solid minutes in the victory over USF, with Moore contributing
five points to the winning cause.
"If we're going to keep getting zoned, we've got to get shooters on the
floor," Herrion said. "Luke Mackay can make shots — he's been drilling it in
practice. Now he's got to be able to play on the defensive end of the floor.
We put him in and we get hurt a little bit on the defensive end of the
floor.
"The same thing with Jonathon Moore. We've got to get something out of
one of those two guys offensively if we continue to get zoned. We've got to
get some shooters on the court."
Board warrior
Erroyl Bing's shooting woes continued Saturday. Bing, who has been in a
major offensive slump over the past month, hit just 3-of-11 shots from the
floor and 1-of-5 free throw attempts en route to a seven-point night.
Still, that didn't keep the Largo, Fla. native from making a strong
showing against his old friends from the Sunshine State. His 24 rebounds
tied the East Carolina single-game record.
"I've been struggling offensively," said Bing, whose relentless work on
the boards also tied a C-USA regular season, single-game record. "I can't
make a shot.
"But there are other parts of the game. Eventually, my shots are going to
start falling. It happens to every player. You go through a slump, so you've
just got to do other things. Rebounding is really my main thing. Every
rebound I can get just gets us closer to another win."
Some of Bing's struggles could be attributed to the officiating, which
has allowed for very physical play underneath the basket in C-USA
competition. That has not played to the Pirates' strength — their frontcourt
— but Bing says he never concerns himself with the officials.
"You can't worry about the referees," Bing said. "It's going to happen.
We take a lot of punishment down there — Gabe, Moussa, and I. It's really
frustrating to know you're working your butt off and you can't get anything.
Then to go to the other end and get a touch foul here and a touch foul
there... it kills you."
Greenberg apologetic
Few coaches can match the enthusiasm Herrion generates during his grand
entrance into Williams Arena. Perhaps no coach has made a more memorable
exit than South Florida's Seth Greenberg.
After East Carolina took its first lead at 64-62 Saturday, Pirates guard
Travis Holcomb-Faye blocked Reggie Kohn's shot, leading to a Belton Rivers
lay up to put USF away. Following the play, Greenberg let out a barrage of
verbal assaults aimed toward official Mike Kitts, who administered the Bulls
coach a technical with 12.4 seconds remaining.
Seconds later, Greenberg was tossed, sparking a brief pushing-and-shoving
match between several players on the floor.
When asked about the incident following the game, Greenberg was
apologetic for the outburst, even though he believed he had a legitimate
case.
"I apologize," Greenberg said. "I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't
have taken away from the effort our team gave. I just know Reggie Kohn got
fouled and it wasn't called. After that I really couldn't tell you (what
happened). I'm sure there were a lot of fouls during the course of the game
that weren't called."
Bing, who had a close up of the play, had a different viewpoint.
"I was standing right there and I'll tell you right now, he didn't touch
him," Bing said. "He didn't foul him. It was great defense. Game over. End
of the losing streak. We win."
