Four years ago, the men's basketball team had one of its best seasons in program history. The squad went 23-7, racking up more wins than any of its predecessors and made it to the NESCAC championship game as well as the third round of the NCAA Tournament. But ever since then, Tufts has been caught in a downward spiral.
The Jumbos posted an overall record of 15-10 in 2006-07, followed by marks of 11-13 and 9-15 in the subsequent two years. They also posted NESCAC records of 1-8 in both seasons, putting them in the cellar of the conference and out of the postseason.
"Last year, our starting point guard [then-sophomore Matt Galvin] got hurt halfway through the season," said coach Bob Sheldon, who has a career 308-218 record in 21 seasons with Tufts. "That's like losing your quarterback. The two guys we had behind him had never played point guard at all. So last year, we never got comfortable with our point situation, which is my fault; we should have had more point guards in the program.
"I think in the past our defense hasn't been where it needs to be," Sheldon continued. "I joke that our team has ADD: attention defense disorder. So we're taking our Adderall now, and we're flying high."
After letting up a conference-high 79.2 points per game last season, Sheldon and the Jumbos have placed more emphasis on their own end of the floor in hopes of returning to the upper echelon of the NESCAC standings.
"We've worked more than we ever had on defense — individual as well as team," Sheldon said. "A lot of the times we've played a real up-tempo game, taking the first shot we've gotten. We've slowed that down, and now we're taking the best shot, not the first shot. Teams aren't going to get as many chances off us, so that in and of itself will help."
"Any time the other team scored the past couple years, we'd grab it and be up the floor," senior tri-captain forward Jon Pierce added. "We want to slow down a little bit, and as far as defense goes, we're making a huge commitment to communication and being on the help side. It's been an everyday focus, where no matter what drill we're doing, if someone's out of position or there's no communication, coach will stop us and point it out ... Keeping the focus on defense has helped us a lot in these first two weeks of practice."
The Jumbos will once again be led on the court by Pierce, who was tops in the conference with 21.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game last season. Pierce, who currently sits in eighth place on Tufts all-time scoring list with 1434 career points, has earned multiple NESCAC honors during his time with the Jumbos — including a Rookie of the Year award in 2006-07 and second team All-NESCAC recognition in the past two years — but will be relied on to do even more this season.
"Of course, he's our go-to guy," Sheldon said. "We've asked him to do more, to make his teammates better — set better picks, get some assists. We've asked him to not just go out and get 20 and nine, but get assists and more rebounds and be more of a complete team guy. So far, he's responded well."
"I've established what I can do individually, but basketball isn't a game won by one person," Pierce said. "What we've worked on is to pass up maybe the first good shot and instead work it around and look to get others involved so they have the confidence to take next good shot. It's on me as captain and senior, being in program as long as I have and knowing the system as well as I do, to bring up level of play of those around me."
Tufts will also be returning senior forward Dave Beyel, who boasts a 40.6 career three-point percentage, as well as his classmate, center tri-captain Tom Selby, who finished second in the conference with an average of 2.0 blocked shots per game last season. Galvin, now a junior, will be trusted to run the offense.
The Jumbos graduated one senior starter from last year's squad — former captain Aaron Gallant (E '09), whose 11.8 points per game last season were third on the team. He will be replaced in the starting lineup by senior tri-captain Dan Cook, who played in all 24 of Tufts' games last season as the team's sixth man.
"Aaron's going to be hard to replace — he was a tough, hard-nosed kid — but [Cook] works just as hard," Sheldon said. "He actually shoots better, but he can't take it to the basket like Aaron. I think the point is that [Cook] and [junior] Sam Mason are going to replace Aaron ... Sam is big and long and athletic, so together they're going to take care of the numbers from Aaron."
The Jumbos will begin their season this weekend when they travel to Rochester, N.Y. to take part in the Chuck Resler Tournament. Tufts will face Brockport on Friday, followed by Rochester on Saturday.
"I'm excited," Pierce said. "Obviously, this team went through some struggles last year; we were young, we went through some injuries — guys who hadn't played at all in college were expected to step into starting lineup. That said, going into our first game, playing a smaller team, we're going to utilize our size and strength and experience. It's the first game of the year; if you can't get excited for that, you shouldn't be in the sport."
