Spring 2009 - Issue 5

The Silversword: Home > Sports > CUH men's hoops blasted in Maui, ready for Pac West play

CUH men's hoops blasted in Maui, ready for Pac West play

By Ali Blasing
Chaminade Silversword

The Chaminade men’s basketball team brutally fell during the Maui Invitational losing by double digits in all three games against UCLA, Georgetown, and Tennesssee. Although the experience was a tough one, they are already looking into the future for victories. Having played only six games so far this season and winning only three of them, the Swords are preparing for the next four games they face in December.

The Maui Invitational, which took place on November 21-23, was a real eye opener for Chaminade.

“UCLA, Georgetown, and Tennessee we great tests for us,” coach Eric Bovaird said. “They are all elite teams in NCAA Division. I and as expected they exposed a lot of weaknesses. We have taken what we have learned from those three games and hopefully will use that to benefit the rest of the season.”

Chaminade brought all they could to those three games in the competition, but it wasn’t enough to win. However, the experience to be on the same court with some of the best teams in the country was what the team enjoyed the most.

“It’s my third Maui, so it really fun,” said senior forward Matt Cousins, who leads the team in points. “Not so much the shell-shock experience I had the first year, but it feels great to be among the ranks of those unbelievable teams and programs. Especially Duke being there and Kansas, which both have so much tradition.”

The Maui Invitational showed the Swords that they could put up points and play offense, but when it came to defense, they struggled.

“We know we need to play consistent throughout the whole game,” said freshman guard Lee Bailey, who leads the team in playing minutes. “We played really good in spurts and in halves, but we need to put a full game together. Team defense is something we really need to fix. We did a lot of just one-on-one defense, so when one guy got beat it was an easy basket. Once we start helping each other out and then moving a little more on offense we will get better.”

Another feature that the Swords have struggled with during these past six games are their 3-point shooting. They have currently only made 28 of the 98 attempted.

“We practice 3-point shooing for about 30 minutes a day,” Cousins said. “Some of those games they just weren’t falling. I’m sure we will have many games where a majority of our shots will fall in. I’m confident if we keep doing what we are doing it will work for us.”

With four games this December and a total of 19 games left in regular season the Swords looks forward to playing their conference games.

“We feel good about our upcoming conference games and we feel that we can be at the top and hopefully win Pac West,” Bailey said.

The team is still figuring out all its bumps in the road. With a new head coach and new players involved it is bound to have a few faults but hopefully bring many successes.

“The team is playing well together, they all get along, they encourage each other,” Bovaird said. “We are doing a lot of things well, but my expectations for them are really high and they know that.”

The Chaminade men's basketball team will play a difficult game against Seattle Pacific on December 9 at 7:30 p.m. on home in the McCabe Gym.