The Cougars host another non D1 Chicago school on January 21. The NAIA Cougars from St Xavier come in 11-6.

St X should provide a bit more of a challenge than the East-West game. This should be another nice opportunity for some fine tuning while also getting some deserved court time for some of the substitutes.

It will actually be a double header, as the women play Central Michigan at 2pm, before the men take the court at 4.

At least St. X has three players 6-8 or taller.

Chicago State rolled 108-58 today.

My own Player of the Game was Cameron Jernigan. He had a double double, 14 points and 11 rebounds, also 3 blocks, an assist, a steal, and shot 7/10 from the field. And that’s all great, but more importantly, he played 24 minutes with no fouls. Maybe he’s turned the corner.

He has such ability and has been held back all season by his inability to not foul. I mean, he’s had a game where he fouled out in less than 10 minutes! So to see him not foul the whole game and be productive is such a good positive sign for him this season, and next. He has great physical ability but is slowly getting coached out of some of the bad habits that have been holding him back. Great sign!

And that’s the name of the game, coaching. Teams at lower levels aren’t getting the best players typically, so what the coaches can mold their players into is key. And Jernigan is a guy with massive potential, who’s already played at a couple schools and mostly rode the bench, so seeing him make real on court progress is nice.

And while he did have a good game overall, he keeps getting really dumb goal tending calls. And most of them are on shots that weren’t going in. I’m not sure why this is such a problem with him. Just stop grabbing the rim for no reason…

(01-21-2024 11:40 PM)Todor Wrote:  Teams at lower levels aren’t getting the best players typically, so what the coaches can mold their players into is key.

That has been one of my proverbs for years. It is no shame if the other team beats you, because sometimes they will have better talent or be hotter that night or the ball just bounces their way. But when you beat yourself by stupid or sloppy play, then you ought to be ashamed. Coaches who can bring discipline to a lower level team are going to surprise a lot of people. John Chaney did not have the best talent in the country, but everyone hated to play his teams because they did not turn the ball over. If you made a stupid turnover, Coach C was going to be explaining it to you - on the bench - in very explicit terms.

I wince every time I see a player make a dazzling move to get off a shot, but he throws it at the rim instead of shooting it (or just dunking it) and gets nothing but a zero for his effort. Coaches need to drum into their players heads that possessions are precious things and if we waste one we will never get it back. You don't get style points on the scoreboard.