By MONTE DUTTON
A season ago, Furman really started rolling when head coach Bob Richey started talking about joy.
The Paladins started talking about how it was important to have fun, and sure enough, nothing was more fun than winning, and off they went to see the Wizard on a joyous adventure.
This season the weight of Southern Conference superiority, 28-8 and an upset for the ages over Virginia in the NCAA Tournament has been heavy on their minds, so heavy, in fact, that a significant portion of the team got either injured or sick.
Now health has been mostly restored, and victories last week over TDC (The Dreaded Citadel) and ETSU (“Etsu” in The New York Times) brought with them the Thrill of Victory (TOV). I’ve noticed that language is increasingly acronyms and initialisms on the World Wide Web Net, within which I unabashedly function.
“The more connected we are, the more it builds our confidence,” Richey said. “We don’t have this feeling in every player that he’s got to do it all, so that way we can depend on one another.
“I don’t like the word ‘loose’ because it suggests a lack of focus. What we have to aim for is a confidence about us.“
Against the Bulldogs and Buccaneers, the Dins were having fun. The Pep Band was peppin’, the cheerleaders were cheerin’ and those gals up in the far end of the student section were dancin’ up a storm.
Everyone was having fun. I was having fun. When I left, the guy sweeping out the seats seemed to be having fun.
This fun is serious business.
Tyrese Hughey described recent practices: “It’s real chippy, but we’re always laughing. That’s how this team is. It translates to the game so well.”
Carter Whitt added, “It’s a fun style to watch, a fun style to play. That’s what’s our identity is. Just move the ball.”
While finding its identity – that’s this season’s favorite term – the Paladins fell in their first two SoCon conflicts. As they travel to Lexington, Va., to take on the weakest team, Virginia Military Institute (3-14, 0-4 SoCon), Furman (8-9, 2-2) finds itself two games in arrears to Samford and Western Carolina. They play on Tuesday night, so on Wednesday at 6 p.m., when the Paladins take to the court at Cameron Hall, they will trail one by 2-1/2 games and the other by 1-1/2. If Furman wins, the gaps will be two and one.
So much for the simple math. The Paladins’ next two games at Timmons Arena are Western Carolina on Saturday and Samford next Wednesday.
VMI has recently been drilled by Mercer and Samford, but it took Wofford an extra period to win, 87-85. The Keydets are not plodders. They scored 96 points against Samford and lost by 38. Brennan Watkins leads VMI in scoring with a 15.2-point average, followed by Tyran Cook at 12.6.
Furman has made 26 more three-pointers than VMI in 139 more triple tries. The Keydets’ percentage is better, .350-.305. VMI has committed 61 more turnovers and grabbed one less rebound.
On the other hand, Furman, since the return of J.P. Pegues and Alex Williams to the lineup, is trending up.
Any team would be trending down after a 134-96 defeat in Homewood, Ala. The season has to be a major bummer right now in the barracks of Lexington.
Furman’s leading scorer, Marcus Foster, who is averaging 19.4 points but hasn’t played since Dec. 4, is returning. Richey said on Tuesday he is ready.
Lined up behind Foster, in gradual descension on the scoring sheet, are Pegues (17.7), Williams (16.0), PJay Smith (10.3), Whitt (9.8), Garrett Hien (8.8), and Hughey and Ben Vander Wal, each at 6.1.
Furman has been outshot by its opponents everywhere but at the free-throw line but outrebounded them by 3.8 a game.
The Furman women (10-7, 1-1 SoCon) are off until Saturday, when they visit Wofford for a 2 p.m. game.
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