The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
DONNIE MARSH - Men's Basketball
12/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
November 27, 2010
 Donnie Marsh |
| Subscribe to this blog's RSS feed and receive the latest UAB basketball news
|
It's hard to believe I'm still functioning at this hour after a 4:15AM wake up call in Arkansas. After last night's road win over the Razorbacks we wanted to get back to Birmingham as quickly as possible to allow our guys a chance to get as much rest in their own beds as possible and to allow our staff as much time as possible to prepare for a very busy week of games. The first will be at Troy on Monday. We gave the guys today off because several logged a lot of minutes against Arkansas and in a 3 game week having your legs is THE most important thing. We'll get back to work Sunday preparing for Troy. Our guys really battled in Little Rock. I think we got better in that game. When you consider our previous road game at Arizona State when we missed a defensive assignment that led to the game winning shot, I felt like our guys grew up some and are getting closer to following a game plan completely. We wanted to limit Rotnei Clarke, one of the nation's premier 3-point shooters, as I felt he is capable of carrying a team if he gets in rhythm. We wanted to keep a hand in his face and we wanted to limit his touches. If he can't touch it, he can't shoot it. We knew that would open some things for other players but I didn't feel like any other single player could beat us on his own. We switched on some actions, we denied on other actions, and we came from different places on our switches so he couldn't always figure it out. That led to a 2-9 individual night and a 3-21 team shooting night from behind the arc. I am very proud of our guys for that effort on the defensive end. We're not where we want to be yet or where we need to be, but we're gaining on it.
Our 2-1 week included a tough loss at Arizona State. That's one we felt we let slip away. We didn't do a good job building on an 8 point lead in the second half and that allowed them to work their way back into the game. Against South Alabama we were sluggish in the first half. We were beaten to loose balls, we didn't compete on the glass. In short, we didn't "bring the fight". During the break we reminded them that without "the fight" we're just an ordinary group and any team can compete with us, any team can beat us. When we "bring the fight" we have a chance to be special, to beat anyone. We won't let this group settle for being ordinary. This group wants to be special.
Now we have a chance to continue improving in another 3-game week (2 on the road, 1 at home). It all starts on Monday at Troy and I remember the last time we were there. The UAB crowd was sensational. The Troy coaching staff even commented, saying, "Man you guys came in here and took over our place". I sure would like to repeat that scene on Monday. I realize it's a work/school night, but it means so much to our kids when they see and hear the green & gold faithful when we are away from home. I'll look for you all.
I hope everyone had a safe, blessed and Happy Thanksgiving! I know the Marsh household has a ton of things to be thankful for. One of which is being a part of the UAB family.
GO BLAZERS!
