Final Pre-Season Scrimmage

November 12

It’s hard to explain the feeling of playing a college basketball game on your home floor. It’s an extremely unique experience. There isn’t a huge stadium of people watching and we don’t play in a big arena, but there’s something about the atmosphere that makes me feel like I’m about to play the biggest game of my career. There may not be as many people at our games as say, Tennessee’s or UConn’s, but the close relationships we have with those who come, and also those who are kind enough to help out with game duties, make the experience particularly special.

So when I walked on to the floor to start our scrimmage tonight against Bard College, I welcomed that feeling of playing at home for the first time this year. With this ‘homecoming’ energy, our goal was to come out strong, grab a quick lead, and put them away early. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite go as we had hoped.

We were able to grab a lead, and although we led the majority of the game (along with an extra ten minute period tacked on at the end) by about 10-15 points, it rarely felt that way. There were definitely bright spots; freshman Brittany Parks had a solid, all-around game at the point guard position and again our frontcourt proved itself productive on the offensive end. Yet we were out of sync as a team; our communication lacked and our sense of urgency came only in spurts. It’s not that we didn’t play hard – I truly believe we all played hard, but it was a matter of playing together and playing with emotion. We didn’t do much of that tonight, and the most frustrating part about it is we didn’t have an answer as to why. It wasn’t one of the generic reasons teams struggle: the players cared more about their own statistics so they played individually or they just didn’t really care that day so they didn’t play with emotion or energy. Sometimes, there is no concrete reason. It was just a funk that we never managed to pull ourselves out of. But the important thing isn’t that it happened, because it happens to every team, it’s that we learn from it, and we come to practice tomorrow with the same energy, emotion, and enthusiasm for the game and for each other that we always have. We can’t replay the scrimmage tonight, but we can make sure that what held us back tonight doesn’t hold us back in our opening game next Tuesday at Brooklyn College.

To feel frustrated after a 15-point win may seem strange, but what it shows about this team is that we hold ourselves to a high standard and we won’t accept less than that from ourselves; we know we are better. Experiences like tonight test our ability to not make excuses for ourselves and just come out tomorrow and flat out do better. And we will.