Monday, December 9, 2013
The Tufts Daily
13
News
One game remains for Jumbos before break
Jordan Bean | Sacked
MEN’S BASKETBALL continued from back
“It’s not an energy thing,” senior tricaptain forward Andrew Dowton said. “I think early in the season we had a little trouble with that. We’ve worked that out. It’s more a focus thing now.” The Jumbos are still working to adjust as they play with an altered lineup due to injuries. Sophomore big-man Tom Palleschi was diagnosed with an enlarged aorta in the preseason and can no longer play basketball; junior guard Ben Ferris, the team’s leading scorer last year, has yet to play this season due to a stress fracture in his hip; sophomore guard Stephen Haladyna has missed the last three games with mononucleosis; and sophomore forward Brian Kilgore, who saw limited playing time, is out with a torn meniscus. Coach Bob Sheldon said Ferris will be cleared to play Dec. 15 and Haladyna will be cleared on Dec. 20. “We’ve had the injuries, [so] it’s been a learning process from Nov. 1 on,” Sheldon said. “We’re getting better as a team. We’re gonna play [tomorrow], and then everybody’s healthy for January and we’ll hopefully make a run next semester.” The injuries have meant big responsibility for some freshmen, including center Hunter Sabety. The 6-foot-8 big man from Oceanside, N.Y. has shown tremendous upside and remains a work in progress. “We’re throwing a lot at him,” Sheldon said. “He was doing some things [in high school] that he can’t do here. So he’s just got to learn how to play hard all the time. He’s gonna be really good.” Like every NCAA team, the Jumbos are also adapting to new rules that discourage hand-checking and have resulted in more whistles across the country. On Sunday, Tufts found itself in a bind when Sabety and freshman forward Drew Madsen each had four fouls early in the second half. “I think it’s definitely a change,” Dowton said. “Everyone’s played the game for however many years being able to ride people a little bit, put your hands on them a little bit. Now, it’s the cliche: Play defense with your feet. Now, you really have to do that and keep your hands off.” In both games this past weekend, a long-range shooter gave the Jumbos fits. On Saturday, it was Salem State junior guard Bryan Ortiz. On Sunday, in the consolation game, it was Brandeis senior guard Gabriel Moton, a transfer from Boston College. “It’s a focus thing,” Dowton said. “We had the scouting report on Ortiz, we know he’s a big shot-taker and that he’s gonna look to have the ball in his hands. A lot of those shots were open ones, or ones where we had a guy [there] and just didn’t have a hand [up]. “Same thing with Moton,” Dowton continued. “A couple of his threes late
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Caroline Geiling / The Tufts Daily
Senior forward Tommy Folliard led Tufts offensively this past weekend with 37 points in two games in the New England Big 4 Challenge, on his way to being name to the All-Tournament team. were open ones off of swings. It’s not enough to just be there. You’ve got to be up in a guy’s stuff to make sure he’s not getting a good shot.” Moton shot the lights out against the Jumbos. He had 29 points, including 21 in the second half, and made 7-of-8 threepointers and 8-of-8 free throws. The Jumbos entered the locker room against the Judges leading 46-43, but they went cold in the final 20 minutes. After shooting 54.5 percent in the first half, they shot 39.3 percent in the second. The Judges, on the other hand, peaked at the right time. In the first half they shot 36.1 percent; in the second half they shot 61.9 percent and made seven of 10 threes. Ultimately, Brandeis increased its lead and won 90-82. “I think we can score, but we can’t [afford to] give up 90,” Sheldon said. “Part of the big thing is, Ben [Ferris] is a great defender, Tommy Palleschi’s a big talker. We haven’t replaced those two guys yet on defense. We [have to] keep working for that. It’s gonna come.” Saturday was similarly frustrating for the Jumbos, who jumped out to an 11-2 lead against Salem State and controlled the pace throughout the first half. At halftime their advantage was 47-36, with senior forward Tommy Folliard hitting 5-of-7 first-half shots for 12 points and sophomore guard Ryan Spadaford converting 6-of-7 first-half free throws for 11 points. But the Vikings refused to fade away
in the second half. The Jumbos’ lead hovered around five points until the 10-minute mark, when Ortiz hit a pair of threes and teammate junior Jon Perez hit a third. With 8:51 remaining, the Vikings took their first lead of the game, 65-64. For every shot Tufts hit, Ortiz had an answer. With his team trailing 76-70, Ortiz nailed back-to-back three-pointers to tie it with 3:40 to go. Neither team made a field goal for the remainder of the game. With under a minute to play, Perez hit a pair of free throws to give the Vikings an 80-77 edge, and then, down 80-78 at the 14-second mark, the Jumbos called timeout. Freshman guard Tarik Smith ran a pick-and-roll with Sabety, who streaked toward the basket. Smith lobbed an alleyoop in Sabety’s direction, but Sabety was well-guarded and the Vikings came down with the ball. Firempong was forced to foul Vikings senior Robert Morin with three seconds left. Morin made the first shot and missed the second, and Sabety grabbed the rebound and passed it to Firempong. Needing a three to send it into overtime, Firempong pulled up several feet behind the arc. His contested shot came up short. The Jumbos have now lost three straight games after winning five of their first six. They host Plymouth State tomorrow at 7 p.m. — their last game until Jan. 4. The team resumes practice on Dec. 30.
Tufts hopeful for improvement coming off break WOMEN’S SWIMMING continued from back
fourth-place finish in the grueling 1650 freestyle and freshman Amanda Gottschalk’s sixth place finish in 400 individual medley. Sophomore Laura Cui also dropped around five seconds in her 200 individual medley and 200 breaststroke, a significant improvement in those events. The teams’ divers, who hadn’t lost a single diving event this entire season, saw their undefeated streak broken this weekend against much tougher competition. Senior Sami Bloom took sixth in the one-meter event and eighth in the three-meter, while teammate freshman Kylie Reiman finished eighth in the one-meter and 10th in the three-meter. The results are not necessarily ominous, though. In both events, the top five finishes were claimed by divers from Harvard, so relative to the other teams in their division, Tufts still did well. Next for the team is its annual winter training trip to Florida, where they look to continue improving and spring
into the second half of their season healthy, in shape and ready for their first win. “We are really going to need to be disciplined about swimming every day over break and keep up with our lift regiment, as well,” Hu said. “The whole team has made so much progress in the last five weeks and the girls know we can’t get out of shape over the holidays if we want to swim fast and achieve our goals at the end of the season.” With this training regimen, many of the swimmers are confident that they’ll be able to develop their endurance and catch up to the level of training that many other programs have had. “Once we return from our training trip over winter break, I think we’ll be in a great position for fast swimming in the second half of the season,” Sliwinski said. The next time women’s swimming and diving competes, they will be looking to defend their home pool and take revenge against MIT on Jan. 18.
It’s all about me
nine-yard first down run becomes “The Cam Newton Show.” A dunk in the middle of the second quarter is a chance to give a menacing stare into the crowd. Batting a first-and-ten pass away in the secondary gives you a right to wave your hands and do a little dance. There’s a culture in sports — the “me” culture. Every play, every down, every point is a chance for athletes to celebrate and draw attention to themselves. It’s as if they were the only one in the play. The offensive line didn’t give Newton the time he needed to scramble. The wide receivers didn’t set up crucial blocks downfield. No — it was all about Newton getting to do his trademark celebration so that he can make sure all the eyes are on him. Every player has a right to express themselves how they choose; however, I can choose how I perceive and react to it as well. And my perception is that the winners and losers both share common characteristics. Derek Jeter, Russell Wilson and Tom Brady, just to name a few, are “team guys.” You’ll rarely hear them use the words “I” or “me.” It’s always “we,” “the team” or some variation of these when describing the events that happen on the field. A leader adopts this attitude of putting the organization in front of themselves. They assume the responsibility for the bad and redirect that for the good. At the beginning of the season when Brady’s numbers were bad, it was never, in his words, the receiver’s fault. It was that he wasn’t making the passes and he wasn’t grooming the players properly to be in a position to win games. Now, with the offense rolling, it’s that the receivers have developed and are making the plays, not that he finally has people catching his passes. The blame was assumed and the praise deflected. It’s not all that surprising that so many players elect to congratulate themselves because the fans and media have created this situation. We feed their egos. From a young age, the star athletes are told how great they are. Scouting services give them four and five star ratings, raving about their abilities. College coaches court them around campus offering them everything they legally (and sometimes illegally) can, giving them the impression that they’re above the others. They’re given awards and flown across the country in first class for games. They’re drafted in the first round, given millions of dollars at a young age, and treated as superhuman. Does the mediaappointed nickname “Super Man” for Newton ring a bell? If you tell someone that they’re special enough times, those who aren’t mentally strong enough will come to believe and act on it. It is again not surprising to see that those who put the team first were often snubbed across their careers. Brady was a backup for some time at Michigan and drafted in the sixth round. Wilson was told he was too small to succeed in the NFL. Jeter hailed from a small Michigan town called Kalamazoo. Athletes with something to prove will play like it. It doesn’t matter how much success they achieve, there’s always a chip on their shoulders. Those who are constantly told that they’re better than the rest will play like it too. Success will get in their heads and inhibit them from more in the future. It’s time for these players to grow up. Their actions are immature and once this attitude stops, the winning will start. As Coach Casey once told me in a conversation, “Everyone is replaceable.” Someday, these players will be the ones replaced too, and maybe then they’ll realize that the game doesn’t revolve around them. Until this attitude is cleaned up, to the players — you’re sacked!
Caroline Geiling / The Tufts Daily
Although they did not win the MIT Invitational last weekend, strong performances helped the Jumbos to a fourth place finish.
Jordan Bean is a sophomore majoring in economics. He can be reached at Jordan. Bean@tufts.edu.