Experience key for Braves

By Joel Beachum
Staff Writer

Experience is stressed in everything today. To get better in class, you need to get experience, to find a good occupation you need experience and to win takes experience.

That is exactly what the UNC-Pembroke men’s basketball team is gaining from the 2005 season, as the youth-led Braves play in the difficult Peach Belt Conference.

“It’s just the way it is with experience. Experience is something that you can’t teach. Now we just have to start playing smarter,” Jason Tinsley, first-year UNCP head men’s basketball coach, said.

In nine games to date, UNCP (2-17, 0-8 PBC) has taken it wire-to-wire with losses of 12 points or less. Within the PBC, three of those games came against Lander University at home, 70-61, at Georgia College and State University, 73-66, and hosting USC Aiken, 81-70 – a scoring margin of 59 points in nine games.

Tinsley commented on how the team is learning more about hustle through a system used to keep track of each game. They have what is termed “hustle plays” in seven categories, according to Tinsley. The Braves always aim for 50-plus hustle plays.

“In our first two games, we got beat pretty good. We didn’t give enough effort to win. Because of our lack of hustle, we struggled,” he added. “In our three conference losses (against Columbus State, Clayton State and Augusta), our ‘hustle plays’ were below 50. It has been as high as 53, 54, and even as high as 57. (When that happens) we’ve been in the game until the end. That is the first thing that we want to get out of our team – effort.”

Frank Foster, a 6-1 guard from Summerfield, LA, commented on the Braves being in a place to win a number of games, but a few plays each game prove costly.

“Losing close games are always tough. All we can do is come back each day and get better and better. Some nights we come out and look great in spurts, but then we have two or three breakdowns in a row,” said Foster.