Another winless weekend for the University of Calgary men’s basketball team.
Yikes!
The Dinos dropped two games while visiting the University of British Columbia last weekend, losing the first 71-52 and the second 64-61.
"We played well Saturday. We did not play well Friday," said Head Coach Cory Russell in response to his team’s losses over the weekend. "[The team] said they were nervous. We were out of sync. We were flat."
Whether you call it nervousness, jitters or a bad case of diarrhoea, it really doesn’t matter. The Dinos were not mentally prepared for UBC. With the two most recent losses suffered at the hands of UBC, the Dinos find themselves with an 0-4 regular season record: a record that is by no means envious.
Game one saw the Dinos score only 52 points in 40 minutes of play, and make only 12 of 24 free throw attempts. With such a lagging offence and a free throw percentage of only 50 per cent, it’s hard to win games. As a result the Dinos were outscored by 19 points.
Game two told a slightly different story for the team. The Dinos led for 37 of the 40 minutes, but once again, horrendous free throw shooting was their downfall. They played a much better game Saturday, but the result was the same as the day before. The team only managed 7 of 17 free throws, a dismal 41.2 per cent. If the Dinos had managed to put in just 4 more free throws, the sweet taste of victory would have been theirs.
But even with the two losses to UBC, certain individuals on the Dinos continue to stand out. Brad Gallup continues to play well, and has now had four good games in the regular season. Scoring a total of 28 points on the weekend, Gallup is emerging as a strong player for the squad. The play of second-year player Wes Jickling also continues to improve as well.
So what is it going to take for the Dinos to win some games this season?
"More confidence," replies Russell. "Winning will give these guys confidence but I’m not sure we are going to win until we get some confidence. It’s sort of the chicken and the egg thing."
Well, whether the chicken or the egg came first, it really doesn’t matter, one of them better come fast if the Dinos hope to win this weekend against the University of Victoria. They are ranked number three and the U of C Dinos will once again be in tough. But hopefully playing on their home turf for the first time this season will give them the added boost they need to win. Then, perhaps the Dinos can get out if this winless rut they seem to be stuck in.