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This one hurts
Commentary by Tim Flagstad
Joe O'Brien made a point of telling the assembled media members that things won't get any easier for the Idaho State men's basketball team in weeks to come. "It gets tough now, guys," the third-year coach said. Yes, it most certainly does, which is why Tuesday's 88-82 double-overtime loss to Long Beach State at Holt Arena may prove to be the most damaging of the six nonconference overtime losses the Bengals have suffered in O'Brien's short tenure.
With the defending Mountain West champion BYU coming to town Saturday followed by a trip to face Washington State of the Pac-10 followed by a host of other difficult games, Idaho State needed to beat the 49ers. As everything stands now, the Bengals won't enter a game as the favorite until Idaho visits the mini-dome four days after Christmas. By then, Idaho State very well could be staring at a 1-11 record, a 10-game losing streak and a cavernous venue filled with empty seats.
Going into Tuesday night's game, the talk was that the matchup would be for the men's basketball team what the North Dakota game was for the football team. Remember that one? The Bengals returned home following two lopsided losses to Bowl Subdivision teams and lost to the fledgling Championship Subdivision members 38-35.
Idaho State never recovered, and fan interest dropped off significantly after that defeat. Had the Bengals won, the season would've been completely different. O'Brien's bunch faced a similar litmus test against Long Beach State.
Had Idaho State won, it would enter its upcoming gauntlet riding a wave of confidence, and the ever-fickle fanbase of southeast Idaho would be energized. Certainly the Bengals showed improvements against the 49ers. Junior Deividas Busma played like a legitimate big man, scoring 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Three of his teammates joined him in double figures, meaning junior guard Amorrow Morgan didn't have to carry the entire offensive load himself.
"Now we've gotta learn how to win," O'Brien said. That lesson would've been easier to learn against Long Beach State or two average Western Athletic Conference teams like Boise State and Hawaii.
Instead, the Bengals must try to pull out victories against foes guaranteed to be bigger, faster and more athletic. An upset in more than one of the games would've been more likely had the team felt a win first. The comparison with the football team isn't completely fair, of course. In basketball, Idaho State will play 16 conference games, and they're the only ones that matter. No committee selects the Big Sky's representative in the NCAA tournament, so aside from possible seeding in the Big Dance, these early games mean next to nothing.
The Bengals have plenty of time mesh, and as long as they're playing their best when 2008 melts away into 2009, they'll be all right. Still, Pocatello has shown that it is quick to lose interest in teams that accumulate losses faster than wins. Also, losing can quickly become contagious, and confidence and team chemistry easily can vanish when the number on the right side of the standings keeps growing.
"We've played four game and felt like they were all winnable," O'Brien said. "Starting Saturday night, the caliber of opponents is gonna go up a couple notches." It certainly would've helped the Bengals' chances of raising their level of play accordingly had they won those games they knew were winnable. Tim Flagstad's column normally appears Mondays. With comments or story ideas, contact him at 239-3124 or by e-mail at tflagstad@journalnet.com. Article RatingReader CommentsSubmit a CommentCommenting RulesWe encourage your feedback and dialog. All comments are subject to deletion by our Web staff.
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