Road Test

Next up 2 road games for the Air Force Mens Basketball Team....Wednesday Night at Boise State. Saturday afternoon at Nevada. If you want to make waves, and get attention and show you are a better basketball team, you win on the road in the Mountain West. Now granted, The Falcons are still young in terms of playing experience. But losses by 6, 6, 7 and 7 points in conference play certainly show this team is capable of winning anywhere. But until those losses become wins it will be a struggle. As time and game situation dictate the Falcons have to be mentally tougher in all areas of the game...shooting, ball handling, defense, and rebounds. And just as important is finishing in the top 5 of the conference because you get a first round bye in the tournament. Yes, its too early to start talking about that, but its never too early to position yourself in the upper half of the Mountain West.

Crawling, Walking, Running

After the Air Force mens Basketball team lost to Wyoming this past Wednesday I talked with junior Forward Kam Williams. The Falcons have lost 4 Conference games by 6, 6, 7, and 7 points. I asked him how do you turn close losses like Wyoming into close wins. Williams replied, "Like Coach said, we gotta grow up." Air Force played at times like a veteran team against the Cowboys, opening up a 15 point halftime lead in the first half. But from then on, in the words of Head Coach Dave Pilipovich, "We got cute." The Falcons threw out their chest and said, "Look at us." They played soft, without as much fire, confident Wyoming would not mount a challenge. Wrong. The Cowboys stayed the course, with their second leading scorer in foul trouble, and their head coach back in Laramie on doctors orders. Late in the 2nd half the young Falcons looked unsure, hesitant, and tentative, and wound up losing, falling to 3-4 in conference play. I got the feeling after talking in the postgame with Pilipovich that he's seen enough. Almost as if he has seen this version of the team the last couple of weeks after an excellent 2-0 start in conference play. That quick burst out of the gate has given fans and media reason to be optmistic about this season. But I also believe it may have given the players a bit of a false sense of how the rest of the season could play out. Pilipovich is one of the rising stars on the national coaching scene. He is an excellent coach and motivator. He will get this team back on track. These Falcons have the potential to be very good this year. But they can't act the part. They have to show it every game, for 40 minutes. They just can't show up and live off two early season surprise wins. You learn how to win by learning from tough losses. You learn to walk as a baby after falling a few times. Can the Falcons go from walking to running this year? Thats the question.

So Close

Another tough loss for the Air Force Mens Basketball team Saturday, falling by 6 at Colorado State. The Falcons have now lost 3 MW games by a 6, 6 and 7 points. Its said there is a fine line between winning and losing. Air Force has toed that line but now must step over it. Look, every game is going to be close, on the road and at home. The Falcons had a 5 point lead with 5:33 left at Colorado State. They coughed that up and trailed by 3 with 22 seconds left. They must find a way to handle both situations. San Diego State has won the last 107 games they've played where they have led with 5 minutes to go. There is an inner toughness, a resolve, to winning games like that. To me, its encouraging to see the Falcons have some of that inner toughness. I think, because of inexperience, they show it in flashes, and have not been as consistent with it as they need to be late in games. We saw it against Utah State. We saw it on the road at UNLV. It was missing against Fresno State and this past Saturday. You need it the most on the road, where, in the Mountain West, you draw the most attention when you win games. The hope is January close game losses turn into February close game wins.

3 AT A TIME

I love the way Air Force Mens Basketball Coach Dave Pilipovich breaks down the conference season for his team. This year the Falcons will play 18 conference games. It's easy to look ahead at some matchups on the road, or a big name team coming into Clune Arena. Pilipovich has broken the 18 games down into 6-3 game seasons. Air Force went 2-1 in the first 3 game period. They are 1-1 in the 2nd with Saturdays game at CSU coming up. Pilipovich said to me, "If we can go 2-1 in every 3 game mini season, thats pretty good isn't it?" Yes it is. And this team, if they continue to grow, can set that as a realistic expectation. Wednesdays win over San Jose State was unique. The Falcons committed 23 turnovers, yet won by 15. You don't see that often. Air Force needs to work on taking care of the ball. They have struggled against full court pressure and will likely see more of it the rest of the way. But if they can manage their turnovers, and keep getting 20 point games from Tre Coggins, and outside scoring from Marek Olesinksi, this is a team that will finish in the upper half of the conference race and will be a very, very, tough out in the MWC. As long as they keep on going 2-1. Listen to Saturdays game against CSU at 4pm on Colorado's 740 KVOR.

THROUGH 4

Had anyone said Air Force would be 2-2 in Mountain West play as they get ready to face San Jose State Wednesday Night at Clune Arena many followers would have said we'll take it. And Rightly so. With a very young team and another daunting schedule in the conference the feeling was, and is, it could be a tough year. 4 games into conference play its clear to me the Falcons will finish higher than 10th place, where the media selected them at the start of the year. Break down the 4 games and you see two losses by less than 10 points, 1 to the now 10th ranked team in the nation. But in order for the Falcons to keep surprising and winning, they need to do the intangibles, the hard things, some clubs won't do.....rebound, get on the floor for loose balls, go to the glass with their offense, and be mentally tougher. This is a fun team to watch, one that has already surprised. Mountain West Teams better not fall asleep on the Falcons.

An Eye Opener

Thats one of many ways to describe the Air Force Mens Basketball Teams' win over UNLV Saturday. In Las Vegas. Where the Falcons had won just once. In Las vegas. And the victory didn't become because of a last second fluke shot. It was the result of hard work, smart play, great coaching, and a basketball team growing up in front of our eyes. As Coach Dave Pilipovich said in the postgame on KVOR, "You can't measure this (pointing to his heart) and you can't measure this" (pointing to his head.)And those are the intangibles this team has this year, along with a toughness that will surprise a lot of people. Air Force had several chances to pucker up and fade in this game, but their will only got stronger. They stared down the Runnin Rebels, and UNLV blinked. Its only the 6th time Air Force has opened conference play at 2-0, and yes its just one game in an 18 game conference schedule. But they way the Falcons won, and the belief they have in themselves right now, is a recipe that could lead to a very surprising season in conference play. Wednesday night its another test at much improved Fresno State. Liste to it live at 8 on 740 KVOR.

Eye Opener

A big win Wednesday Night for the Air Force Mens Basketball Team. They edged a very good Utah State Aggie squad 73-72 in the conference opener for both teams. Have to admit,I did not have a good feeling before the game. Even without suspended center Jarred Shaw the Aggies are an excellent team with a veteran coach. But it was the Falcons who played with moxie and courage, wiping out a 9 point second half defecit, and then shutting down the Aggies on their final possession. Coach Dave Pilipovich made 2 brilliant moves in the second half. First, the Air Force started going hard to the glass every possession. They got fouls, 3 point plays, and points and Utah States defense got very tired. 2nd, with the Aggies having the ball and 11 second left, Pilipovich had his team switch men on screens within their zone defense. Utah States Spencer Butterfield, an excellent shooter, never got close to touching the ball. Preston Medlin, his teammate, an outstanding player, got the ball at the top of the key but had no room to shoot because of the defensive strategy. That left it in the hands of a Freshman Jalen Moore, who played a solid game, but wasn't the guy you wanted to take a game winning shot, and especially a 3 pointer, when all they needed was a 2 to win. From a confidence standpoint this win is off the charts for the young Falcons squad. Great start to conference play, but there's a lot of games to go.