2008 Woodie Awards
Golden Rams must be judged by more then wins and losses
By Matt Lombardo
Issue date: 1/21/08 Section: Sports
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"We just got outplayed in every aspect of the game," Delaney said. "They're quicker then us, more experienced and we didn't play well at all. We looked like a rookie team out there, which is disappointing after we've played 13 or 14 games, they just outclassed us in every aspect, coaches, players everything, even effort."
Any casual observer of Saturday's debacle at Hollinger would have a difficult time arguing against any of those points. At times this team looked dreadful from beyond the arc, miniscule on the inside and perhaps most damning, disinterested at about the midway point of the first half.
The opinion here is that this team cannot be judged by Saturday's outcome, and moreover, the results of this season as a whole.
Last year's disappointing last place finish not withstanding, WCU lost seven seniors and entered this season with six freshman on the roster, senior forward Lenwood Greenwood, Junior Sam Scott and sophomore guard Kenneth St. George being the only carry overs from 2006.
With so much youth on the roster, there's no question that a basketball season will be a growing process. It is imperative that this season not be judged on wins and losses, but rather, whether there is visable improvement from night to night, week to week and month to month as the Golden Rams sojourn through a grueling conference schedule.
Kutztown used the speed and athleticism of Chester County natives Stephen Dennis and Dave Ben all game long, at times running the Golden Rams off the floor.
Dennis, who Delaney called "Easily the best player in our league," ran up and down the floor with the grace of a gazelle, running the Golden Bear offense and contributing what seemed like much more then the 11 points and five assists that showed up on the final stat sheet. Ben chipped in 14 points and seven of KU's 41 rebounds in the victory. All told, the Golden Bears had three players with double figure point totals and Andre Woodlin pulled a game high 10 rebounds.
When the dust settled West Chester was out rebounded by a margin of 41-31, lost the turnover battle 15-14, and shot a dismal 36 percent from the field.
Saturday's loss was abysmal to sit through and undoubtedly will be worse to watch on film for the players in the coming days. But try for a second to clear this game from your mind, and understand what this team accomplished leading up to their division opener.
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