Joe Paterno once wrote, ‘Teams don’t lose because of injuries, they win because of them.’
Head coach Ed Cooley has never met Paterno, but he can surely relate to him given the myriad of injuries and ailments that the Stags have suffered through during the court of the season.
‘I think I should become an M.D.; I think I could make a lot of money on my own team,’ Cooley added.
Cooley cited a bruised and battered roster, as well as relatively little game experience, as the main factor in the Stags setback to Niagara, a 75-50 loss on Sunday afternoon in Buffalo, N.Y.
Collectively, the Stags committed 21 turnovers, 11 of which came from underclassmen guards that are attempting to fill the void for senior point guard Jon Han, who announced that his decision to leave the team on Monday afternoon.
Furthermore, a multitude of role players that now play key roles in the team’s rotation were held scoreless, including freshmen Ryan Olander and Sean Crawford.
‘When you look at the best teams in the league, they don’t play freshmen,’ Cooley said. ‘Most good ball clubs don’t use freshmen, just like in the NBA. How many first-year players play a ton? Not too many.’
All things considered, the third-year head coach is optimistic given the recent grueling schedules, and the team’s success prior to Sunday loss against the Purple Eagles.
The Stags entered the game winners of three consecutive games, including a thrilling, second-half comeback against Marist and a dominant showing less than 48 hours later against Loyola (Md.) a few days later that sealed a season sweep of the Greyhounds
‘The injuries, I don’t know if any coach in the country has gone through a 12-day gauntlet like we have gone through,’ Cooley said. ‘And we got three wins out of it. I don’t care if it was against a good high school team; that was tough.’
Cooley added, though, that continuity has been a challenge given the flurry of injuries and inconsistent practice participation. Sophomore forward Yorel Hawkins (hamstring), junior forward Greg Nero (back)’ and senior guard Herbie Allen (wrist and the flu) ‘- arguably the three most experienced players remaining on the active roster ‘- have played through injuries since well before the calendar turned to 2009. The three have also seen limited participation in practice for weeks.
‘You basically don’t have a starting (five), and who could survive that?’ Cooley said. ‘You take away (Kenny) Hasbrouck, (Edwin) Ubiles and (Alex) Franklin from Siena, [and] how are they winning? If we were healthy they wouldn’t be playing. I’d probably sit all three of them.
‘Right now they are playing on just pure fortitude,’ Cooley said.
Following a four-day respite, the Stags return to action in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. on Thursday evening against Marist, and then return home for a rematch against Niagara, which currently sits tied for second place in the MAAC standings.
The Stags hope that a few days off’ will be enough to lick their wounds and make all the difference.
‘Right now our number one goal is to try to finish in the top half of the league,’ Cooley said. ‘That has been our goal since giddy-up. We just have to get ready for the next game. Just be great for the next 40 minutes, be as good as we can be.’
‘I would say that this is one of the great learning experiences for a young coach like myself,’ Cooley added.
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