The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Donnie Marsh Blog
11/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2009
It is great to be back on the hardwood again! It's hard to believe it but there is no better feeling for a basketball coach. We already have 3 games under our belts and the season isn't even a week old. That's the beauty of the Multi Team Events (MTE). We were able to get 3 games that only count as 1 in our total number of games we are allowed to play. You are allowed to schedule 29 games with no MTE or 27 if you schedule an MTE. Some events include 4 games that count as 1. That's why you see some teams with 30+ games played before they hit their conference tournaments. Our plan is to try to host an MTE next season. We'll see how that pans out. We are flying back as I write this first blog of the season. If you want some real irony, we are on the same flight with Samford who we just played and fortunately beat to go 2-1 in the event. We also beat a very physical, very tough UW Green Bay team, but lost to the host Kent State. Green Bay beat Kent State in the final game of the weekend. Three teams finished 2-1 while Samford finished 0-3, but could very easily have won all 3 of their games. Howard Crawford & Elijah Millsap were named to the All Tournament Team. Congrats to both of them. Perhaps the real "story" that emerged from the event was Dexter Fields. Dex came off the bench to provide a much needed spark at both ends of the floor against Samford. His 4-7 shooting from 3 and his beautiful dish to Howard Crawford for a dunk were all huge plays for us. He helped ignite our pressure defense in the second half that contributed to us holding Samford to 24% FG & 0-12 3FG. We expect Dexter's contribution to continue and we have high expectations for a couple of other freshmen to crack the rotation as the season progresses.
We are kind of the "new look" Blazers in 2009-10. Some fresh faces to go along with a few veterans in increased roles. Things are still shaking out right now. Our guys are learning who their leaders are; we are learning who our go to guys are; those guys are adjusting to those roles; and our players are learning how to close out games. We found out some important things about our guys this weekend. We were stronger in the 2nd halves of those games; we are in very good condition as we lined up 3 consecutive days and improved in different areas; we have some fight in us as we were able to bounce back after a tough loss to Kent State and with very little prep time pulled out a win over a Samford team whose style is a challenge for any team with a week's preparation time. I'm proud of our guys for their effort and their attention to detail. It is sure making this trip back home to Birmingham a whole lot more enjoyable.
Now it's on to Jacksonville State on Tuesday. We will practice in Bartow on Monday and keep our kids in Birmingham Monday night instead of traveling to Jax St that night. We want our guys to miss as little class time as possible so we will travel there on the day of the game after some early morning classes. I hope we get a nice crowd over there much like the ones at Troy & Southern Miss last year. The kids would absolutely love that! By the way, thanks to the fans who came out to Kent. We really do appreciate that support. Well I'll get back with you all throughout the season. It truly is great to be back! GO BLAZERS!
