The first half was a thing of beauty. The second half was the stuff of nightmares. That’s how it went for Navy in their Patriot League opener as the Mids fell to Bucknell, 85-77.

This game was an excellent demonstration of everything you need to know about Navy basketball. Navy’s offense consists mostly of setting picks around the perimeter, trying to create an open 3-point attempt; more than half of Navy’s 65 field goal attempts were from beyond the arc. When that doesn’t work, the Mids create their own “open” look by simply shooting from so far away that the defense doesn’t bother guarding them. When the 3-balls fall, Navy can hang with anyone. When they don’t, it gets really ugly, really quickly. Navy went into halftime with a 46-39 lead after shooting almost 44% from 3-point range in the first half. In the second half, Navy shot 28% from 3-point range and was outscored 46-31. I actually cringe when we make those long 3-point attempts because all it does is encourage the Mids to shoot more of them. It’s just unrealistic to expect the team to make those kinds of shots consistently, and when they don’t, they have nothing to fall back on. To compund the problem, how often does a missed 3-pointer turn into a long rebound and transition bucket going the other way? We see it in every game.

Navy played aggressive man-to-man defense for much of the game, and at times it was very effective, generating 9 steals and transition baskets of their own. But aggressive defense doesn’t have to mean reckless defense, and failing to recognize that distinction is what ultimately cost the Mids the game. While the defense did generate steals and turnovers, it also left Bucknell with some wide-open looks, allowing them to shoot 51% from the floor. It also led to some stupid, stupid fouls committed 20+ feet from the basket. Those fouls led to a critical 4-point play in the second half as well as two of Navy’s best shooters, Chris Harris and Greg Sprink, getting into foul trouble. Sprink committed his 4th foul only 3 minutes into the second half, and that was the turning point in the game. With Sprink forced to sit on the bench, Navy scored only two field goals over the next 11 minutes before Greg returned and hit a layup with 6:54 remaining. By then it was too late, as Bucknell had a 10-point lead that the Mids just couldn’t overcome.

As usual, Navy was outrebounded. As usual, Navy’s fortunes turned when the 3-point shooting dried up. But Navy still could have won this game if it played smarter defense. Unfortunately, the Mids made the same mistakes that we’ve seen for all too long, and an opportunity was missed. This year’s Patriot League season has started the way last year’s ended– with a loss in Sojka Pavilion.

Navy basketball wrapped up the non-conference portion of their schedule on Saturday night, winning the second of two games with Longwood, 73-55. After a sloppy first half that ended in a 23-23 tie, the Mids charged ahead in the second half, scoring 50 points to put away the Lancers (4-14). The win moves Navy to 7-8 as they closed out the first half of the season. That might be the shakiest 7-8 record in history, too. The Mids won 4 in a row after a 3-8 start, and those 4 wins came against teams that have a combined 9-56 record so far this season. Yes, every win is a good win at Navy. But let’s be real here; who didn’t expect to win these last 4 games, even when we were 3-8? Even before the season started I said that the last 4 games of our non-conference slate were going to be a cakewalk. And for the most part, they were. Now the real test begins, as Navy heads to Bucknell on Friday to open the Patriot League season.

Bucknell is not the same team that they’ve been the last few years. Gone are notorious goat-killers Abe Badmus and Chris McNaughton, although they are still a talented group. Nevertheless, at 5-9 with a 2-3 record vs. RPI 200+, this should be a game in which, at least on paper, Navy should compete. But paper only tells us so much. Six of Navy’s 7 wins (and two of their losses) have been against teams with an RPI of 200+. Yeah, a win is a win, but some wins tell us more than others. And when it comes to Navy’s 4-game winning streak, I don’t think we learned much.

With both teams relying heavily on jump shots this year, the edge goes to the team that rebounds better. That’s bad news for the Mids. In theory, Navy should match up better physically than in recent games against the Bison. We’ll see.

OK, let’s be clear about something: Canisius is terrible. I mean terrible. They were 0-2 coming into this game, having dropped their season opener against Colgate (61-47) and following that up by getting blown out at Penn State, 93-40. They are probably the youngest team Navy will face this season, starting two freshmen, two sophomores, and a junior, and having only one senior on the roster. Included in those 5 starters are two guards shorter than 6-0 and nobody taller than 6-6. Canisius makes up for this inexperience and lack of height by being completely unable to shoot, making only 26% of their shots from the floor in those two losses.

That said, Navy still deserves credit for the win after topping the Golden Griffins, 71-60. There are some things to be encouraged about.

The Good: The most encouraging thing to me is that for the second straight game, it looked like the Mids were finally putting together a half-court offense as opposed to just shooting 3-pointers at the first opportunity. Navy only attempted 12. Not coincidentally, Navy also outrebounded its opponent for the second straight game. When your offense consists of four shooters standing around the perimeter and a tall guy to try to catch their missed shots, you aren’t going to grab many boards. Now, Navy has more people in position to grab the rebound. The biggest beneficiary of this was Brian Richards, who had a fantastic night with 15 points and 5 offensive rebounds. Navy dominated the offensive glass, 16-6, and all those offensive rebounds allowed Navy to outscore the Golden Griffins in 2nd chance points, 14-4.

Navy’s defense was OK. Canisius actually shot better than they had all year, but they also turned the ball over more. Navy played a 2-3 zone most of the game, which made sense given that Canisius had been unable to hit shots from the outside in their first two games. The Golden Griffins’ 30 turnovers became 30 Navy points, while they were only able to score 3 off of Navy turnovers.

Mark Veazey continued to show progress, with 7 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots in 19 minutes.

The Bad: Speaking of turnovers, Navy had 19 yesterday. Better than the 27 they had against UTSA, but still far too many. The number should go down as the team becomes more accustomed to the offense. At least, that’s what I tell myself.

The Ugly: Greg Sprink led Navy with 17 points, but getting there was pretty ugly. Sprink was 5-21 from the floor, including 0-4 from 3-point range. His wasn’t the only ugly night. Romeo Garcia started in place of Kaleo Kina and went 0-5 from the floor.

Next up: The Big East’s Seton Hall from the Palestra on Friday. The Pirates are 3-0 and coming off of a 94-80 win vs. Loyola. Robert Morris took them to overtime before falling 111-107 in a crazy game. Seton Hall is led by G Eugene Harvey and G/F Brian Laing, who average 42 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists between them per game. The game will be shown on CN8, which also allows you to watch online at http://www.cn8.tv/cn8home/default.aspx?lc=ma

Navy came out on fire against Longwood, and fought back into the game in the second half against Drexel. You might have let these two performances give you hope for the season. If you did, I am so sorry. Your hopes were probably dashed last night as you watched Robert Morris run the Mids out of Alumni Hall, 93-77.

It is obvious that Navy is a very fundamentally flawed team. You can’t play up-tempo basketball if you can’t rebound. You just can’t. It leads to far too many wasted possessions when you chuck up a bad 3-point attempt but can’t hit the glass to get a chance for a second, better shot. RMU had 11 more shots from the floor last night than Navy. That’s 11 more chances to score. If you are weak on the boards, then you need make the most out of each and every possession. That means working for a shot instead of gunning the first slightly-open 3-ball you can get off of your fingertips, then having a long rebound turn into a layup on the other end. Anyway, moving right along…

The Good: Let me get back to you on this one.

The Bad: OK, so how much time do you have?

Navy was outrebounded 50-28. FIFTY to 28. By a team that was actually smaller than the Mids. Grabbing 22 more rebounds allowed RMU to outscore Navy 27-5 on 2nd-chance points. The smaller Colonials also held a 42-28 advantage in points scored in the paint.

Navy followed up a 9-30 performance from 3-point range against Drexel with a 7-27 night against Robert Morris. Believe it or not, that stat is deceptively good. Navy made their first two threes of the game, then made their last two in garbage time. That means that there was a stretch through most of the game where the Mids were 3-23 from beyond the arc. That’s 16-57, or 28%, in the last two games. On 2-point field goals, Navy has shot 33-72, or 46%, during that same stretch.

Birddog Expert Analysis: Stop chucking so many goddamn 3-balls.

The Good: Dude, give me a minute, OK?

The Ugly: I can only assume that it was technical difficulty that prevented the game from being shown on Navy All-Access. The women’s game didn’t show either. While I should probably be grateful for not having my eyes stained with the image of this debacle, I hope the kinks are ironed out in the future.

I wrote about the solid start that Mark Veazey had in his first two games, and the Patriot League agreed, naming him their first rookie of the week. Mark had a bit of a market correction last night with 6 turnovers. He did have 8 rebounds, though, so he’s still doing what is asked of him. Freshmen are going to have these kinds of games and make mistakes once in a while.

By the way, Robert Morris was picked to finish second in the NEC’s preseason poll. Who was picked first? That would be Sacred Heart. The Pioneers lost to Army on Monday night, 64-49.

The Good: OK, I got something. I thought that Scott Brooks might not start last night since he seemed to struggle in the first two games. Well, he did start, and he responded with 12 points and 5 rebounds on 4-5 shooting in 20 minutes. His free throw shooting was shaky, but Brooks showed his first flash of the young season.

Next up: Off to San Antonio to play UTSA in the Alamodome on Saturday night. I’ve seen Navy football play Tulane in the Superdome a couple of times. The first time was 7-8 years ago, and the only word I can use to describe what it was like to see so few people watching a game in a building so huge is “creepy.” If that was creepy, then seeing Navy play basketball against UTSA in the Alamodome is going to be a straight-up haunted house.

Drexel (2-0) beat Navy hoops yesterday, 86-70. That looks bad, but it could have been a whole lot worse. The Dragons were in control from the beginning as the Mids had no answer for Frank Elegar, the 6-9 center named preseason all-CAA and considered by many to be an NBA prospect. Elegar had 24 points and 14 rebounds as Navy didn’t have anyone to really match up with him. The loss drops the Mids to 1-1 and sort of brings them back to earth after an impressive opening victory.

It shouldn’t bring them down too much, though. Navy got off to a slow start and trailed Drexel at halftime, 49-29. Both teams could have coasted after that, but they didn’t. Navy went on two separate runs of 13-3 and 13-4 to cut the lead to nine, 77-69. Drexel went on a run of their own to put the game away at the end, but the Mids deserve credit for the way they battled back in the second half. Drexel is as good a team as any that Navy will face this year, and Billy Lange’s squad wasn’t exactly run off the court. There are no moral victories, but it wasn’t a loss to panic over either.

The Good: Other than the team’s second half effort, the best part of the game might have been the performance of Mark Veazey. Coming off the bench to play 21 minutes, the plebe big man had 10 points on 5-7 shooting, 6 rebounds, 1 blocked shot and 3 steals. Two of those buckets were putbacks after offensive rebounds. All this coming against what assistant coach Eugene Burroughs described as possibly the best center that Veazey would go up against all year.

Chris Harris was another bright spot for the Mids, putting up 16 points.

Navy was outrebounded for the second game in a row, but they actually had more offensive rebounds than Drexel (13-9).

The Bad: I was worried after the Longwood game what our offense would look like if all the threes we were chucking didn’t fall, and yesterday I found out. Navy was 9-30 behind the arc. The Mids only shot 36% from the floor, although they were at a more respectable 43% in the second half.

The Ugly: Greg Sprink had 13 points and 8 rebounds, but getting there wasn’t pretty. Greg shot 5-17 from the floor, including 1-8 from 3-point range. Some of those 3-point attempts were shot that no player in any league would have any business attempting. It appears that Chris Harris might be emerging as a consistent shooter, so hopefully we’ll see fewer of those wild shots. Kaleo Kina joined Sprink in the freezer, shooting 3-11 from the floor and 1-5 from 3-point range. He finished with 10 points.

Scott Brooks was 0-4 from the floor and had 3 turnovers. Adam Teague and Bryce Brigham both had much more productive games in equally limited playing time, and either may start ahead of Brooks on Wednesday.

Next up: The home opener vs. the NEC’s Robert Morris on Wednesday night. Finishing 16-11 a year ago, the Colonials have a new head coach in former Pitt assistant Mike Rice and were picked to finish second in their conference. RMU opened with a 72-66 win at home against Iona. Junior guard Jeremy Chappell came off the bench to lead the Colonials with 20 points, while forward A.J. Jackson added 16 points and 5 rebounds. An undersized team, RMU relies on the quickness of its guards and started 3 against Iona. Chappell and fellow guard Tony Lee had 4 steals apiece and led a defense that forced the Gaels into 21 turnovers. Navy might have a tougher time wearing down Robert Morris than they did Longwood; the Colonials’ bench outscored Iona 34-19 as 6 different players logged at least 20 minutes of playing time.

Navy basketball unleashed 20 minutes of hell, then coasted in the second half to wrap up a 88-72 win over Longwood last night. Greg Sprink led the way with 28 points, eight rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Not that he should have been the Patriot League preseason POY or anything. Nolan Richardson used the phrase “40 minutes of hell” to describe the way his Arkansas teams played, and for the first half the Mids did their best vintage Razorbacks impersonation. Navy set a frantic pace to start the game, and Longwood just couldn’t keep up. The Mids went on a 36-14 run after the Lancers were clearly gassed, and never looked back.

The Good: There’s a lot of it.

-First and foremost was the Navy defense, which forced 22 Longwood turnovers. Fourteen of those turnovers were by way of Navy steals. Kaleo Kina had 5, while Sprink and Clif Colbert had 3 apiece. Man to man defense made its glorious return.

-Navy’s bench outscored Longwood’s, 34-21. Leading the way off the bench was Adam Teague, with 11 points and 3 assists in 27 minutes. Mark Veazey impressed in his collegiate debut, scoring 8 points and grabbing 5 rebounds in 17 minutes.

-Navy needs a scoring threat to take pressure off of Greg Sprink, and against Longwood 4 different Mids scored in double figures. In addition to Sprink and Teague, Chris Harris had 12 points and the Flyin’ Hawaiian, Kaleo Kina, had 11.

The Bad:

-Navy had a tough time adjusting to its own pace early in the game, and it led to 19 turnovers of its own.

-The Mids were outrebounded by Longwood, 37-36.

The Ugly: 

-Navy attempted 29 3-point shots. While they shot nearly 45% from behind the arc, there will be nights when those shots don’t fall.

Yes it was only Longwood, and yes, it was only one game. But it was a good start for a team with some challenging games ahead. The first of those games comes on Sunday against Drexel.

Basketball season already? Hell yeah. Navy opens the 2007-2008 campaign with the first of two games this year against Longwood. Tip-off is at 7:30 in Farmville.

This is Longwood’s first season as a full-fledged Division I member, having completed their four-year “reclassification” period. The Mids faced the Lancers last year in an ugly, turnover-filled 61-59 win. Navy was down 7 with 3:33 left to play, but Greg Sprink and Corey Johnson led a Navy comeback and forced the game into overtime. Navy shot 4 for 4 in the extra frame, including an Adam Teague 3-pointer, to take a 9-point lead and eventually hang on for the win. Greg Sprink had 16 points, and Corey Johnson had 12, with 11 of those coming in the second half and overtime. Kaleo Kina had 11 points and 3 steals.

Longwood has three starters returning from last year’s game: forward Lamar Barrett, Magruder High School product Brandon Giles, a 5-10 guard, and the Lancers’ most athletic player, 6-6, 200-pound forward Kirk Williams. Williams had 12 points and 5 rebounds against Navy last year and is Longwood’s leading returning scorer, having averaged 10.2 points per game. Along with his 4.8 rebounds per game, Williams also had 30 assists, 25 steals, and 16 blocks last season.

Navy’s projected starters for this game according to the Navy game notes are Sprink, Brooks, Biles, Harris, and Kina.

Matchup to watch: Longwood’s most athletic player, Williams, vs. Navy’s most athletic player, Scott Brooks.

Key to the game: Bench scoring. Last year, Navy outscored Longwood 14-1 off the bench. This year, the Mids look like they’re as deep as they have been in a long time, with T.J. Topercer, Adam Teague, and Derek Young all having seen significant playing time last year.

The women’s team also plays tonight, against Rice in the Winthrop Classic.