Question: How does the men's basketball team, with just four NESCAC wins in the past three seasons, deal with the graduation of its only three players who started all 23 games in 2009−10?
Answer: Its members don't think about the past and only look to the future.
"We see it as a fresh start," senior co−captain Sam Mason said. "I think those past seasons are not only making us hungry for a great season this year, but also they're giving us a chance to prove ourselves to our opponents. No one gives us any respect entering this year, and that's motivation for us because we haven't given them any reason to respect us."
Entering a season with high internal expectations, the Jumbos are trying to forget the mediocrity associated with their 6−17 season and move beyond the era of Jon Pierce (A '10), the Jumbos' all−time leading scorer; Dave Beyel (A '10) and his 16.5 points per game; and Dan Cook (A '10), the team's biggest 3−point threat.
To do so, Tufts, which kicks off its season at home on Saturday against Skidmore, will turn to an exciting and youthful core, accompanied by a few seasoned veterans, to try and reverse what has become an unfortunate trend.
"It's not something that we think about often, but it's something that coach reminds us about, about how that type of a season sticks with you and how it feels in the end, when you feel like you haven't accomplished anything," Mason said. "It's a bad taste in your mouth which makes us hungry to have a great season this year."
"It's not like you really want to remember that stuff, so it's not difficult to put that away," coach Bob Sheldon said. "With the new faces and the new way we're going to play, I think we're helping everybody forget about the last couple of years."
To do so, the Jumbos will need to find new some new outlets to help remedy the NESCAC's worst offense. In 2009−10, Pierce (18.3 ppg) and Beyel (16.5 ppg) accounted for over 50 percent of Tufts' total scoring and were the only two Jumbos to average in double figures. This season, Sheldon's squad aims to spread the offensive load throughout a deep roster.
With Beyel and Pierce primarily shouldering the scoring load, it became easy for opposing teams to game−plan around Tufts' clear top−two options. Now, with both gone — along with four other seniors — the Jumbos hope to have eight to 10 players each hovering around eight to 10 points per game, avoiding the predictability of years past.
"It's different from last year, when there were a lot of set roles already, and you knew what was expected of you," Mason said. "Now, there's a lot of room for proving yourself. The goal is to really not have one single threat who can be shut down. The hope is that everyone will step up, and that will make us a much more difficult team to guard."
Sophomore Scott Anderson is the team's returning player with the highest points per game last season, having averaged 9.0 ppg in his rookie campaign. The 6−foot−5 forward was also second on the team with 5.2 rebounds, including 2.83 offensive boards per game — good enough for fourth in the conference.
In the frontcourt, the Jumbos will benefit from the arrival of junior Alex Orchowski, who transferred in from Div. I Lafayette. Originally recruited by Tufts, the 6−foot−5 Orchowski possesses exceptional versatility and, coupled with his size, should provide a much−needed physical boost on both ends of the floor.
"He's got a little something to prove, because he wants to become a big part of a team," Sheldon said. "As somebody who had a smaller role for the past two years, he's excited to maybe get into the limelight."
While offenses in past years revolved primarily around half−court sets designed to pump the ball to Pierce, Tufts looks to switch to a more up−tempo style of play in 2010−11.
Returning to the backcourt rotation is senior co−captain Matt Galvin, who was 10th in the NESCAC with 3.15 assists per game and has been a staple at point guard for the past two seasons. Sophomore Alex Goldfarb is the team's top returning 3−point threat.
In addition to the veterans atop the rotation, Sheldon plans to quickly shuttle newcomers off the bench, including the five new freshmen who, according to the coach, will all receive substantial playing time.
On the defensive end, the Jumbos have revamped a defense that gave up 70.7 points per game last season, second worst in the conference. Excommunicated from the playbook is the old half−court, man−to−man set, and in its place is a full−court pressure system built around Tufts' newfound speed and depth.
Sheldon admits that, at least on paper, the Jumbos have not yet earned any respect from the rest of the league. But this is a squad that lost eight games in the last 30 seconds in 2009−10, suffered a quadruple−overtime defeat at Wesleyan and fell in four consecutive games by a combined 13 points. Embracing an underdog mentality is fine with him.
"Nobody fears us," Sheldon, who holds a 314−235 record through 22 seasons at Tufts, said. "Nobody respects us because of the last couple of years, so we're going to try to make the trip from being a nobody to a somebody. We are going to be the underdogs, and we just hope to get things rolling."
As long as Tufts keeps its sights ahead on a bright future, Mason said, the proper pieces will fall into place.
"With the attitude at practice that I've seen thus far, and with so many new guys, it's almost like the old team isn't around," Mason said. "We don't think about the old team anymore, because it's such a new dynamic, they're not even comparable."
