LOUISVILLE, Ky. – An appearance in the NCAA Tournament can teach a mid-major university’s basketball team a lot about itself.
A young team may learn how their players react to the bright lights of the Big Dance for the first time.
A team with strong depth may learn that all it takes to upset one of the big boys (or girls in this case) is a revolving door of fresh legs.
A small team may learn where it needs to focus its next recruiting season.
Enter BGSU.
In 2007, the Falcons upset two teams and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen during their last NCAA Tournament.
Fast forward three years.
Known more for their outside shooting than their play in the paint, the 2009-10 Falcons have discovered that their problem of not having a large post player needs to be corrected sooner than later.
The Falcons were outmatched by Michigan State during a 72-62 loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, playing against a team that BG coach Curt Miller called “bigger, faster and stronger” more than once before the game.
BG was nearly outmatched by Toledo in the Mid-American Conference championship game a week earlier, too, and at that point, Miller made a realization.
“Every once in awhile, a coach comes into this league and changes the whole dynamic of the league,” Miller said. “One of the things you’re going to see this Toledo program and [coach] Tricia [Cullop] do for this whole league is that we’re all out there looking for physical post players. They’ve absolutely changed the whole dynamic of this league.”
When the Falcons are able to adjust to that change, it will help them be more productive in games against bigger teams – whether in the NCAA Tournament or not.
That’s not to knock center Tara Breske – who played her final game with the Falcons on Saturday – or any of the other centers and forwards on BG’s roster. Though Breske is only six-feet tall, she has been instrumental in the team’s success the past three seasons.
But the truth is, the Falcon post players were knocked around like pin balls at times against Michigan State, and Michigan State pounded the paint with a variety of players, including 6-foot-9 Allyssa DeHaan and 6-foot-1 seniors Aisha Jefferson and Lauren Aitch, who both have wider bodies than anyone on BG’s roster.
As a team, the Falcons scored just four points in the paint. The Spartans had 28. In the second half, Michigan State was able to wear down the Falcons on rebounds, holding a 23-14 advantage and grabbing 11 on the offensive end.
“Their intensity going to the offensive glass in the second half really wore us down,” Miller said. “They’re bigger, stronger [and] faster. It’s like playing against your practice guys for two straight hours.”
A mid-major can sometimes negate its small post players with strong perimeter shooting, but how long can the Falcons continue using sharp shooting as their crutch and continue winning?
Miller recruited Jill Stein – a 6-foot-2 post player from Clyde, Ohio – for next year’s squad, but it is too soon to tell if she is the answer to the Falcons’ problem.
For continued success, Miller must continue trying to persuade big post players that they are the last piece of the puzzle for his team.
BG won’t likely be landing 6-foot-9 women any time soon, but if Miller is able to land a dominant player who is 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4 with a wide body to play center while continuing to recruit strong shooters, think of how good this team would be.
Because if that happens, the Falcons may once again learn what it’s like to pull off an upset in the NCAA Tournament.
