Cliff Ellis was asked if it feels any different this year as he leads his Coastal Carolina men?s basketball team into the Big South Conference tournament.
Different in the sense that the Chanticleers just narrowly hung on to the No. 2 seed after winning the league?s regular-season championship the last two years. Different in that while the Chants are a much fuller team than the depleted eight-man unit they had in March last season, well, the reality is they?ve lost five of their last seven games.
But no, he said, it?s just another tournament.
Ellis hasn?t been much for big-picture perspective these last few weeks, and regardless, prognosticating what to expect from this bunch has proven to be something of a guessing game anyway.
?You live one day at a time,? Ellis said. ?It?s here, and it?s always an exciting time. The Big South Conference tournament, I think it?s probably going to be the best tournament that I?ve seen in my five years here because anything can happen. There?s so many good teams.?
Coastal (19-10, 12-6 Big South) is no doubt one of them and will look to reinforce that as it takes on No. 7 VMI in the tournament quarterfinals today at UNC Asheville?s Kimmel Arena.
The Chants just defeated the Keydets on the road Saturday, 81-64, but consistency has not been a characteristic of this team the last month.
They had lost five of their previous six games before that, including a game in which the Chants squandered a 15-point first-half lead in a loss to non-conference foe Tennessee Tech. On the positive side, though, their lone win in that stretch came against none other than the top-seeded UNC Asheville Bulldogs.
?Everybody pretty much had the same [mindset] about the whole situation,? junior forward Sam McLaurin said of the rocky finish to the regular season. ?Which is we?re only losing by a few possessions. That means a couple things we do wrong here or there, we do those things right and we win those games so we all pretty much [stayed] pretty positive about the situation. ?
?I think we?re ready. The games that matter are these three games right here. This whole season, we?ve always preached get to March [and] win those three games because last year we won 22 games in a row and still [were] on the outside looking in.?
Indeed, the Chants proved the last couple years there is no surefire formula for winning the conference tournament and earning a spot in the NCAA tourney field ? which Coastal hasn?t done since 1993. After claiming those regular-season titles the last couple years and earning the right to host the Big South event, the Chants were ousted in the tournament finals both seasons.
Now, they?ll try to do it on the road against teams that have far more momentum going into this week. And so be it, they say.
?I think we did need that win just to make sure we are who we think we are,? junior guard Danny Nieman said of the victory Saturday at VMI. ?Sometimes stuff can get misconstrued, but I think we can go win this championship.?
As the No. 7 seed, VMI (15-15, 8-10 Big South regular-season mark) had to play an extra game Monday, when it edged out No. 10 Radford, 55-53, to advance to the quarterfinals.
The winner between the Chants and Keydets in this meeting will then play either No. 3 Campbell or No. 6 Winthrop, which combined to go 3-0 against Coastal in the regular season.
Then again, the Chants don?t have to deal with UNC Asheville, which finished 16-2 in the conference this season, or hot Liberty and High Point teams before the championship game should they get that far.
?The Big South?s a lot better than it has been in the past, so we?ve got tough teams on both sides,? Nieman said. ?I really don?t think there is much of a difference. You?ve got High Point, who?s playing really well, Liberty?s playing really well and they?re on that side, so you almost could look at it like we got a good draw. But we?ve got Campbell and VMI on our side, so we?ve got some tough teams on our side as well.?
As Ellis said, it?s about the next 120 minutes.
?Two years ago, our guys overachieved. I?ll be honest with you, they overachieved,? Ellis said. ?Last year in January, February, we had the best team. But when we lost [point guard Kierre Greenwood], lost players, we went into the tournament and didn?t have the best team. ? This year I think Asheville has shown they?re the best team, but I know how tournament action is. I mean, anything can happen. We?ve just got to go play.?
Different in the sense that the Chanticleers just narrowly hung on to the No. 2 seed after winning the league?s regular-season championship the last two years. Different in that while the Chants are a much fuller team than the depleted eight-man unit they had in March last season, well, the reality is they?ve lost five of their last seven games.
But no, he said, it?s just another tournament.
Ellis hasn?t been much for big-picture perspective these last few weeks, and regardless, prognosticating what to expect from this bunch has proven to be something of a guessing game anyway.
?You live one day at a time,? Ellis said. ?It?s here, and it?s always an exciting time. The Big South Conference tournament, I think it?s probably going to be the best tournament that I?ve seen in my five years here because anything can happen. There?s so many good teams.?
Coastal (19-10, 12-6 Big South) is no doubt one of them and will look to reinforce that as it takes on No. 7 VMI in the tournament quarterfinals today at UNC Asheville?s Kimmel Arena.
The Chants just defeated the Keydets on the road Saturday, 81-64, but consistency has not been a characteristic of this team the last month.
They had lost five of their previous six games before that, including a game in which the Chants squandered a 15-point first-half lead in a loss to non-conference foe Tennessee Tech. On the positive side, though, their lone win in that stretch came against none other than the top-seeded UNC Asheville Bulldogs.
?Everybody pretty much had the same [mindset] about the whole situation,? junior forward Sam McLaurin said of the rocky finish to the regular season. ?Which is we?re only losing by a few possessions. That means a couple things we do wrong here or there, we do those things right and we win those games so we all pretty much [stayed] pretty positive about the situation. ?
?I think we?re ready. The games that matter are these three games right here. This whole season, we?ve always preached get to March [and] win those three games because last year we won 22 games in a row and still [were] on the outside looking in.?
Indeed, the Chants proved the last couple years there is no surefire formula for winning the conference tournament and earning a spot in the NCAA tourney field ? which Coastal hasn?t done since 1993. After claiming those regular-season titles the last couple years and earning the right to host the Big South event, the Chants were ousted in the tournament finals both seasons.
Now, they?ll try to do it on the road against teams that have far more momentum going into this week. And so be it, they say.
?I think we did need that win just to make sure we are who we think we are,? junior guard Danny Nieman said of the victory Saturday at VMI. ?Sometimes stuff can get misconstrued, but I think we can go win this championship.?
As the No. 7 seed, VMI (15-15, 8-10 Big South regular-season mark) had to play an extra game Monday, when it edged out No. 10 Radford, 55-53, to advance to the quarterfinals.
The winner between the Chants and Keydets in this meeting will then play either No. 3 Campbell or No. 6 Winthrop, which combined to go 3-0 against Coastal in the regular season.
Then again, the Chants don?t have to deal with UNC Asheville, which finished 16-2 in the conference this season, or hot Liberty and High Point teams before the championship game should they get that far.
?The Big South?s a lot better than it has been in the past, so we?ve got tough teams on both sides,? Nieman said. ?I really don?t think there is much of a difference. You?ve got High Point, who?s playing really well, Liberty?s playing really well and they?re on that side, so you almost could look at it like we got a good draw. But we?ve got Campbell and VMI on our side, so we?ve got some tough teams on our side as well.?
As Ellis said, it?s about the next 120 minutes.
?Two years ago, our guys overachieved. I?ll be honest with you, they overachieved,? Ellis said. ?Last year in January, February, we had the best team. But when we lost [point guard Kierre Greenwood], lost players, we went into the tournament and didn?t have the best team. ? This year I think Asheville has shown they?re the best team, but I know how tournament action is. I mean, anything can happen. We?ve just got to go play.?
