Men's basketball: La Salle still has fight in a war of attrition
The Explorers take on URI tonight at the Ryan Center with only seven scholarship players, and one of them might not play.
02:00 AM EST on Tuesday, February 15, 2005
BY PAUL KENYON
Journal Sports Writer
SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- As challenging as this season has been for the University of Rhode Island's basketball team, with one damaging injury after another, the Rams have not been alone. If it is any consolation, the URI side can exchange stories about trying to work through difficult times with its opponent tonight, La Salle.
The Explorers come to the Ryan Center for a 7:30 game with only seven scholarship players on their roster. And one of those, guard Jermaine Thomas, might not play. Thomas suffered a finger injury in Saturday's loss at Dayton and spent part of his day yesterday being examined by a specialist to determine how serious the injury is.
For first-year coach John Giannini, it is simply another setback in what has been a tough first year at La Salle.
"We aren't feeling sorry for anyone," Giannini said. "I don't care what situation people talk about . . . No one can match ours in terms of numbers. That's just a fact."
The problems for La Salle actually began over the summer. Both the men's and women's basketball programs were rocked by accusations of sexual assault. The matter is now in the courts. It led to the loss of three players on the men's team and the loss of his job for coach Billy Hahn. A fourth player, David Bell, transferred to East Carolina.
In August, when Giannini, the coach at Maine for the last eight years, was hired, he inherited a team with nine scholarship players. The fact that La Salle comes to the Ryan Center with a 7-15 record, 3-8 in Atlantic 10 play, is more of a positive than a negative.
"We will have a chance to win when we go to Rhode Island because of the type of players we have," Giannini said yesterday. Before losing to Dayton Saturday, the Explorers had beaten Fordham and Richmond in their previous two starts.
"I'm very pleased with the team because the players are giving us everything they can," Giannini said. "As a coach, I'm very pleased with the effort. We're pleased with the kids we have. We just have to build a talent base that will allow us to be more successful."
The roster has dwindled from the original nine. Freshman guard Sherman Diaz has missed most of the season because of injury problems and is not expected to play tonight. Sophomore forward Mbainai Narmbaye is out with an ACL injury. Now, Thomas might be out, too, dropping the team to six scholarship players.
"We really can't practice five on five," Giannini said. "We're scrimmaging against walk-ons. We've been scrimmaging against walk-ons since October. That makes it hard to improve, hard to know where you really are."
The one sure thing La Salle has is Steven Smith, one of the dominant players in the A-10. The 6-foot-8 forward leads the conference in scoring (21 points) and is second in rebounding (8.6).
"Steve Smith is as good as any player in our league. He's a pro prospect," said Rhody coach Jim Baron. "He can do so many things, go inside and go outside."
Giannini has built his team around Smith. He had the time to do that.
"The difference with us is that you could see this coming into the year," Giannini said. "Other teams have lost top-level players during the season. With us, it was easy to see it coming." Losing Thomas will be a bit more difficult because it will force the team to adjust on the run.
"We're all an injury away from having things change pretty significantly for us," Giannini said. "We know injuries are part of the game."
No one knows that better than Baron. URI continues to pile up the injuries. Guard Ty Sullivan was accidentally poked in the eye at practice last Friday night and saw only limited action Saturday at St. Bonaventure. It is the same eye he had injured in the game at Richmond.
"He's wearing goggles," Baron said. "We hope he'll play, but you can tell he's not right."
Also, Marcel Momplaisir and Terrence Mack are hampered by bumps and bruises, but likely will go. Baron knows about La Salle's personnel shortage, but he likes the players the Explorers have, especially Smith.
