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Bulls hit right formula to turn around season

By ANTONYA ENGLISH

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 21, 2000

TAMPA -- This time last month, the South Florida men's basketball team was in the midst of a 2-3 start, and the whispers were starting to get louder: "What's wrong with the Bulls?"

Going into arguably their most touted season, the Bulls lost to Utah State, Colorado and Fordham. They weren't playing the kind of defense coach Seth Greenberg prides his teams on. And they weren't looking good in defeat.

Thirty-two days later, South Florida is 6-3, riding a four-game winning streak and looking at the possibility of being 8-3 after this weekend.

USF hosts Buffalo, Alcorn State and Eastern Illinois tonight and Friday in the USF Shootout.

Though this tournament doesn't boast big-name competition, make no mistake: These games are vital to the Bulls.

"This is a very important two games," sophomore guard Reggie Kohn said. "It's very important to go into the break, with the days off, happy. And it's important to go into (the next game) 8-3 with a good shot to move up if we beat Wisconsin at Wisconsin."

For Greenberg, the early struggles never were cause for panic. There were reasons for the losses: The Bulls didn't have a cupcake schedule, as many thought, and the trip to Alaska took a physical toll on the players before their opening games.

But most important, Greenberg has said, finding the right chemistry and rotations with a multitalented group of players proved to be more of a challenge than he had anticipated.

"I'm getting a better feel for it, and it's the combinations you want to play together and the combinations you don't want to play together," Greenberg said.

"But we've got to play the big guys more. I've got to find time. ... I'm smart enough to know that long term, Mike (Bernard) and Will (McDonald), as a tandem, have to contribute."

It also took the players a while to adjust to each other.

"At the beginning I don't think we really had the team chemistry that we needed to be successful," sophomore Gerrick Morris said. "But now I think we're bonding more, we're learning how each other plays, and that has led to winning more games."

"I definitely think that the rotation in the beginning was kind of hard," senior Artha Reeves said. "We have a lot of athletic people, a lot of people that can play, and that's kind of hard on the coaches to find when to put the right people in at the right time."

There also was external pressure.

The Bulls have Conference USA preseason player of the year B.B. Waldon and preseason all-conference team member Altron Jackson. And there were expectations USF could win the National Division.

It was new and unexpected, and in retrospect, it may have been too much to handle at first.

"Putting (high) expectations on someone is always pressure, I think," Reeves said. "If you don't live up to it, you can either fold or you can bow your neck up and get right, straighten up. I think we're starting to get it right now. We're not worried about what people think about us or what we should be doing or if we should be going to the Sweet 16. We're just playing basketball right now."

Added Kohn: "I don't know if there was pressure, but there was the sense that we were supposed to be really good this year. I don't know if we felt the pressure or not. I think we came out and we had a little bit of a bull's-eye on us. Now we're handling it. Now we're coming together. And we're playing our roles, and that's just part of being a team."

Though the Bulls have enjoyed a taste of success the past few weeks, none are satisfied that this team is where it wants to be when late February rolls around.

"Our goal is to be 8-3 going into the break, being happy with that," Reeves said. "But that's not where we want to be. We still have a pretty good ways to go. We just try to get better every game."

Greenberg said the recent play is the result of the Bulls getting back to playing their style.

"I think what we've started to do is get back to ... having a little bit of an attitude to our game," he said. "That makes good teams -- attitude in terms of work ethic, toughness, picking up the garbage, competing. Good teams have attitude."

USF men's basketball shootout

WHO/WHEN: Tonight: USF vs. Alcorn State, 7; Buffalo vs. Eastern Illinois, 9. Friday: Consolation game, 7; championship, 9.

WHERE: USF Sun Dome, Tampa.

RADIO: WQYK-AM 1010, WAMR-AM 1320.

RECORDS: USF 6-3; Alcorn State 2-6; Buffalo 1-4; Eastern Illinois 6-3.

COACHES: USF -- Seth Greenberg (62-63, fifth season; 167-133 overall). Alcorn State -- Dave L. Whitney (463-255, 25th season; 517-318). Buffalo -- Reggie Witherspoon (4-24, second season). Eastern Illinois -- Rick Samuels (298-285, 21st season).

KEY PLAYERS: USF -- B.B. Waldon, F, 6-8 Jr. (17.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg); Altron Jackson, F, 6-6 Jr. (19.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg). Alcorn State -- Marcus Fleming, F/C, 6-8 Sr. (15.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg); Jason Cable, G, 6-4 So. (11.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg). Buffalo -- Robert Brown, F, 6-4 Jr. (17.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg); Jason Robinson, G, 6-6 Jr. (14.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg). Eastern Illinois -- Henry Domercant, F, 6-4 So. (24.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg); Kyle Hill, G, 6-2 Sr. (22.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg).

NOTES: South Florida enters on a four-game winning streak. Alcorn State has won its past two after starting 0-6. ... This is the second meeting between the schools. USF defeated the Braves 104-84 in 1991. ... With his start tonight, senior Cedric Smith will have played in all 97 possible collegiate games. Jackson enters needing eight points to reach 1,000. ... If Buffalo and USF meet Friday, it would be a matchup of the only Division I schools that use "Bulls" as their nickname and mascot. ... Buffalo's win came against Duquesne. Buffalo is coming off a loss to North Carolina. ... Buffalo trails the series with Eastern Illinois 4-2.

-- Compiled by ANTONYA ENGLISH

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