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Thursday, December 30, 1999
Loss to Ragin' Cajuns no surprise to A&M-CC men
Islanders coach Arrow says lackluster efforts in practice prior to game previewed letdown
By Mark Zuckerman
Caller-Times
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| Arrow |
If an uninspiring, eight-point road loss to Louisiana-Lafayette Tuesday night wasn't bad enough for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, consider this: Everyone saw it coming.
The Islanders looked lackadaisical in Monday's practice and Tuesday morning's shootaround, despite coach Ronnie Arrow's harsh words prior to the game.
Arrow warned his players of the possibility of a letdown.
"Whatever it was, I saw it coming in practices," Arrow said Wednesday of his team's 85-78 loss to the Ragin' Cajuns.
Some may look at a first-year program like A&M-Corpus Christi (5-6) and say an occasional poor effort should be expected.
Arrow, however, has never subscribed to that belief.
"Maybe I'm asking too much too quick," he said. "But if I can ever get these players focused, we can be a better team than we even are now. It's my job to take this team as far as I can each game and each practice. I didn't do a good job preparing these guys to get them ready to play mentally, and that's my job."
From the start against UL-Lafayette, the Islanders looked out of sync. A&M-Corpus Christi shot just 29 percent from the field in the first half, was outrebounded and outhustled by a Cajun team that didn't play all that well itself.
Compounding matters for Arrow was an unbalanced offensive attack. Forward Michael Hicks scored 26 points and guard Lee Denmon added 20, but the rest of the team managed only 12 baskets combined.
It's been a recurring theme for A&M-Corpus Christi this season, particularly among its seven junior college transfers - the Islanders' only players with any previous college experience.
"The problem is the only experienced players we have aren't showing up ready to play every night," Arrow said. "And it's not fair for us to have to ask our freshmen to dig that deep. If our junior college players don't show up, that really hurts us. They have to be our mainstay."
A&M-Corpus Christi has little time to dwell on the UL-Lafayette loss. After arriving back in town at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning following a nine-hour bus ride, the Islanders took their NCAA-required day off, leaving the team with only two days of workouts before it leaves town again Saturday morning for a seven-day, three-game trip to Oregon.
The lack of practice time shouldn't be a problem, assuming the Islanders keep their latest loss fresh in their minds, Arrow said.
"You hope you have mature enough players that feel the same way you do," he said. "That bad taste you have in your mouth has to stay with you."
Staff writer Mark Zuckerman can be reached at 886-3747 or by e-mail at zuckermanm@caller.com
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