The St. Joe’s men’s basketball team has played seven games since the start of winter break on Dec. 17. During this stretch, the Hawks went 2-5.
You may look at that record and be content, especially when looking at who the Hawks played over winter break−The College of William and Mary, University of Richmond, University of Dayton, Duquesne University, Davidson College, University of Rhode Island and University of Pennsylvania.
The term “rebuild” has been labeled to the men’s basketball program since last spring when it began to crumble following the firing of former Head Coach Phil Martelli and a brigade of players and commits leaving the program. These exits include Charlie Brown Jr., who is currently in the NBA on a two-way contract with the Atlanta Hawks, Lamar “Fresh” Kimble ’19, who is a graduate transfer at the University of Louisville, as well as Hakim Hart and Jameer Nelson Jr., each of whom decommitted from the Hawks and are playing at the University of Maryland and The George Washington University, respectively.
The hiring of Head Coach Billy Lange began that rebuild along with the acquisition of freshmen guards Cameron Brown and Rahmir Moore and freshman forward Chereef Knox late in the recruitment season. Lange also was able to add transfer guards Dennis Ashley, Myles Douglas and Greg Foster Jr.
The rebuilding of the men’s basketball program is midway through its first year. At 4-14, it is what many expected from the season. There is no shame in having a losing record in your first season of a rebuild.
This Hawks team should feel shameful for a different reason: a lack of passion and drive to compete.
There have been two games this season where the Hawks should have stayed in the locker room. The Dec. 10 Big 5 game at Temple University and the Jan. 2 game at the University of Richmond.
On Dec. 10, the Hawks were thrown out of the Liacouras Center and onto North Broad Street by the Temple Owls. The final score of 108-61 is the worst loss for the Hawks since at least the 2002-03 season (which is the furthest ESPN.com has archived NCAAM schedule results). It was a pathetic performance.
Three weeks later, on Jan. 2, the Hawks opened Atlantic 10 conference play against the Richmond Spiders following an emphatic win against The College of William and Mary, which gave fans hope for a better 2020.
The Hawks proceeded to be entangled in the web of the Spiders’ defense and be eaten by an efficient Spider offense. The Spiders shot an impressive 31-62 from two-point range.
The Hawks lost the game 84-52, confirming the difficulty the Hawks will have in A-10 play this season.
My irritation from these two games comes from the Hawks’ notion that this is all a part of the rebuilding process. We need to “Trust the Process” as the Philadelphia 76ers did.
Wake up.
This is college basketball, not the NBA. While the Hawks have had some early success with recruiting, getting blown out will not do them any favors with a couple of the more high profile targets they are pursuing. Any given game, one of their recruits may be watching from behind the bench, and if they don’t like what they see, they’ll most likely take their talents elsewhere.
I understand that the Hawks are young and it is going to take them time to figure out how to win at the Division I level. This isn’t about winning and losing, it is about going out and competing at full effort every game.
The Hawks may be rebuilding, but it is time to rebuild the mindset of the entire organization to encompass a passion for winning. It is time to instill that sort of culture within the locker room. Right now, it seems like everyone is just looking towards next season, but we still have 13 games to play.
Start showing there is some fight left in you.
