2008 Woodie Awards
Tough [Get] Going
Goucher's men's basketball team is still a contender, but the tough Capital Athletic Conference is providing some major competition.
Tyler Adams
Issue date: 2/9/05 Section: Sports and Wellness
A month ago, the Goucher men's basketball team was 11-2, poised to burst into the Division III top 25 after knocking off number 11 Franklin and Marshall in their own gym. Four weeks later, the Gophers have emerged with a few more battle scars, going 4-4 as conference play resumed.
With three away losses, to Catholic, Mary Washington and Capital Athletic Conference-leading York, plus the first home loss of the season, a nail-biter to St. Mary's, Goucher can testify to the pitfalls of the CAC schedule.
As the season has progressed, it has become apparent that Goucher is a team that will go as far as its veterans take it. With no less than five seniors making significant contributions - Tony Posteraro, Jermaine Saunders, Kevin Green, Trevor Quinn, and Garrett Smith - Goucher is not a team lacking in leadership.
Depth is also not an area of concern; Coach Leonard Trevino runs mass substitutions much of the time. The Gophers have placed six players in the top 30 scorers in the conference, more than any other team. The bench usually extends nine deep, which has been more than enough to handle most teams.
Rebounding has been a concern - while senior star Smith is pulling down a CAC-leading 9.4 rebounds per game, Goucher ranks seventh in the conference in rebounding defense. Down the stretch, extended possessions for opponents have let some teams back in games, or enabled them to extend a lead. Still, Goucher has proven to be a good team down the stretch, pulling out close, at home victories against York, Chowan, Cabrini, and Widener.
Goucher plays better at the Sports and Recreation Center. It is a fact. Sporting an 8-1 home record (15-6 overall, 6-4 CAC), and with the upcoming opportunity to avenge two of its conference road losses, the Gophers have a chance - an expectation, actually, to go far in the CAC playoffs. With threats from inside (Smith and Quinn) and outside (junior Jonathan Garritt and sophomore James Russo), plus the slashing presence of second-year forward Cameron Brown, '06 off the bench, Goucher's offense should not stall as much as it has. Leave it to Trevino, one of the top coaches in the nation, to figure it out by playoff time.
If that happens, if the Goucher team that reeled off eight straight wins gets rolling, look out. This year's seniors - remember, there are five of them - have been here before, and that experience should pay huge dividends at crunch time.
It seems that the seniors have had a major effect on the younger players as well: over the course of the year, players like Russo, a deadly long-range shooter, and Brown, who wreaks more havoc than his 6' 3" frame would imply, have improved greatly.
Goucher men's basketball can be viewed as two completely different teams at this point in the season; they are either a team that got hot early and played above their heads until the CAC brought them back to earth, or they are the sleeping giant of the conference, maybe the region, and will shake off the midseason missteps to return to their early-season form. Now the Gophers have to go out and show which team they really are.
With three away losses, to Catholic, Mary Washington and Capital Athletic Conference-leading York, plus the first home loss of the season, a nail-biter to St. Mary's, Goucher can testify to the pitfalls of the CAC schedule.
As the season has progressed, it has become apparent that Goucher is a team that will go as far as its veterans take it. With no less than five seniors making significant contributions - Tony Posteraro, Jermaine Saunders, Kevin Green, Trevor Quinn, and Garrett Smith - Goucher is not a team lacking in leadership.
Depth is also not an area of concern; Coach Leonard Trevino runs mass substitutions much of the time. The Gophers have placed six players in the top 30 scorers in the conference, more than any other team. The bench usually extends nine deep, which has been more than enough to handle most teams.
Rebounding has been a concern - while senior star Smith is pulling down a CAC-leading 9.4 rebounds per game, Goucher ranks seventh in the conference in rebounding defense. Down the stretch, extended possessions for opponents have let some teams back in games, or enabled them to extend a lead. Still, Goucher has proven to be a good team down the stretch, pulling out close, at home victories against York, Chowan, Cabrini, and Widener.
Goucher plays better at the Sports and Recreation Center. It is a fact. Sporting an 8-1 home record (15-6 overall, 6-4 CAC), and with the upcoming opportunity to avenge two of its conference road losses, the Gophers have a chance - an expectation, actually, to go far in the CAC playoffs. With threats from inside (Smith and Quinn) and outside (junior Jonathan Garritt and sophomore James Russo), plus the slashing presence of second-year forward Cameron Brown, '06 off the bench, Goucher's offense should not stall as much as it has. Leave it to Trevino, one of the top coaches in the nation, to figure it out by playoff time.
If that happens, if the Goucher team that reeled off eight straight wins gets rolling, look out. This year's seniors - remember, there are five of them - have been here before, and that experience should pay huge dividends at crunch time.
It seems that the seniors have had a major effect on the younger players as well: over the course of the year, players like Russo, a deadly long-range shooter, and Brown, who wreaks more havoc than his 6' 3" frame would imply, have improved greatly.
Goucher men's basketball can be viewed as two completely different teams at this point in the season; they are either a team that got hot early and played above their heads until the CAC brought them back to earth, or they are the sleeping giant of the conference, maybe the region, and will shake off the midseason missteps to return to their early-season form. Now the Gophers have to go out and show which team they really are.