Men's Basketball Mid Season Report
The Southwest Virginia Flying Eagles Men's Basketball Team head into Christmas break with a 6-6 record while going 2-5 in in conference play. Coach Mullins had this to say about how the season is progressing.
"I feel like our team is moving in the right direction. The month of November was a great learning experience for us. The margin for victory is so tight at this level. The team's that figure out how to play defense and offense at a high level with the five guys on the floor are the teams who will find success. We have made improvements in the quality of our shots and how we defend, but we are still very much a work in progress trying to seize each opportunity to grind and continually get better.
The Flying Eagles MBB team has seen some team and individual successes in several offensive categories so far this season. "Right now, we are leading Region X in points per game with a 92.6 average and FG percentage at 50.8%. The high FG percentage is primarily a result of getting out in transition and getting some easy buckets before the team can set their defense. Our team has some tremendous finishers in the open court," Mullins added.
One of those finishers is freshman Jaden Lyles, who leads the conference in points scored while ranking second in the conference in points per game at 20.2, while boasting a 73.4 field goal percentage. "Jaden is a very physical, downhill offensive player. When we can get stops and get the ball out, he can be a handful on the open court, Mullins added. Caleb Fuller is another Flying Eagle leading the conference in an offensive category, with a 3 PT FG percentage at 50%. "Caleb is a very smart player and can really shoot it. We have to do a better job of finding our shooters when we get dribble penetration. I feel getting more quality three-point attempts, not just for Caleb but for our other shooters, is a major goal for us in the second half of the season. We don't want to settle for a three, but when defenses must account for a three-point shot, it can really spread the floor and open up driving lanes, creating better scoring opportunities for everyone. We have the pieces to be very balanced offensively; we just have to do a better job of sharing the ball and finding the players in their spots when they are open," added Mullins.
When asked what the second half of the season will look like, Mullins responded, "Our success in the second half of the season will depend on rebounding. Defense isn't over until you clear a rebound, and right now several of the games we have lost have simply been the result of giving up too many offensive rebounds. When you take into account that our team is leading the conference in points per game and FG percentage and we are only 2-5 in the conference, something is off. What is off is the fact that our opponents are sometimes getting 10–12 more shot attempts than we are simply because we are not clearing a rebound on defense. This must be a focus for us, and I need to do better as a coach, preparing our guys to "hit" their man and attack the glass every time a shot goes up. I simply haven't done a good enough job emphasizing and coaching how important it is to limit a team to one shot per offensive possession. Critical would be an understatement. I believe if we can improve our rebounding, we can be very competitive in the second half of the season.".
Despite the early challenges, Coach Mullins remains optimistic. "I'm so thankful for the opportunity to improve and compete with this team. Like life, our sport is all about where you finish, not where you start. We are going to try our best to win as many conference games as possible in hopes of preparing for the conference tournament in March. That's what we are working towards, and that's when, as a team, you want to be firing on all cylinders. Get to the conference tournament and see what happens.".
Indeed, there's a reason it's called March Madness.