Colonials Corner

Brian Nash used an interesting phrase to describe Robert Morris’ success against his team this season. It also applies well to the Colonials’ success in January.

You can read about Nash’s description of the “Robert Morris curse” in the game story we wrote for the Beaver County Times. The larger point though, is something worth exploring.

Robert Morris is now 26-2 in January under Mike Rice. They are 45-7 in the NEC in those three years, with 8 regular season (and potentially 3 tournament games) left to play. The 74-56 win over St. Francis by Robert Morris dovetailed with Quinnipiac’s loss to Mount St. Mary’s to give the Colonials sole possession of first place in the NEC.

So what gives? Why has Robert Morris been so successful? Talent has helped. A dangerous trio of A.J. Jackson, Jeremy Chappell, and Tony Lee helped Rice become familiar with the conference in his first year. Chappell and Rob Robinson, with an assist from Jimmy Langhurst and Bateko Francisco, made the Colonials really tough to play last year. And now Rice has something that’s rare in good teams, albeit a bit frustrating: Anyone can step up and be a star for a night. No one expected Karon Abraham to do what he’s done, but when Abraham has an off night, Rice still has Robinson, Velton Jones, Mezie Nwigwe, and Russell Johnson available to take control.

And if one of those guys needs a helping hand? Apparently Rice can now add Josiah Whitehead and Brad Piehl into the mix.

Piehl, along with Lijah Thompson, should be looked at as gravy when it comes to production this year. They’re freshmen, they’re talented, but they have a lot to learn. Rice is spotting minutes based off of how they work in practice and the match-up (zones and ball movement favors Piehl, athleticism and man defense favors Thompson). But Saturday night was Joe Whitehead’s coming out party for 2010. Expected to be a significant presence off the bench heading into the season, Rice has demanded more from his senior forward. He got it Saturday with Dallas Green a bit gimpy and the Terriers playing zone to make up for a shallow bench.

“In practice, I shoot a lot and I make most of my shots,” Whitehead said. “Coach always tells me to carry that over to the game. I got loose, I got more confidence, and when I had an open shot I made it.”

So talent and depth – to go and get 16 points out of your 8th and 9th players off the bench is unheard of in the NEC – is certainly part of the equation.

The other? Physical defense would have to be up there. The physical part can be cumbersome – offsetting technical fouls again Saturday night, although that was instigated by the errant hand/fist of Herman Wrice – as well as 50 total fouls in the game.

“We’re in the top 25 in the country in personal fouls. We’re 6^th in disqualifications,” Rice said. “That’s something that we’re going to work on.”

RMU was 15th in total personal fouls entering the game, tied for 24th in personal fouls per game, tied for 11th in player disqualifications (5 fouls), and tied for 2nd in technical fouls.

Certainly room for improvement, but also not indicative of success. Other frequent foulers? 17-4 Kansas State, 17-5 Western Carolina, and 14-7 Washington.

The key is that physicality allows for Robert Morris to be a presence against top scorers, both physically and mentally. After going off for 29 points in the first meeting, Robert Morris held Ricky Cadell to 12 on 4 of 13 shooting Saturday. Thursday, Long Island’s Jaytornah Wisseh (16.4 ppg) was good for just 9 points on 1 of 12 shooting. Reggie Holmes of Morgan State (22.9 ppg, 4th in the nation) hit for just 11 point on 3 of 15 at the beginning of the month.

“We’ve done a pretty good job of taking away their leader, or making them shoot for a low percentage,” Rice said. “It’s a team effort. I think our team just locked in and made everything difficult for them.”

Difficult for them, successful for Robert Morris.

Box from Yahoo:

	1 2 Total St. Francis (NY) 25 31 56 Final Robert Morris 34 40 74