MOON TOWNSHIP, PA (93.7 The Fan) – It could be said of all the local Division 1 basketball teams, they are looking for a return to glory. For Robert Morris, head coach Andy Toole believes it’s done one way.
“Defense wins games and offense determines by how much,” Toole said.
That’s the phrase he used a couple of times after the Colonials overwhelmed Pitt-Greensburg 84-49 for a first win of the season.
“We can’t go away from that,” Toole said of the defense. “However many years ago I got here as an assistant, that’s how we built it and it continued on. Last year was one of the worst defensive teams we’ve had since I’ve been here. That’s just not a recipe for success and not a program we want to have.”
To that point, Toole said when the coaches met in the spring after the end of an 8-24 season. They discussed needing to change their identity.
“Trying to find some players and people that value the game the way we do,” Toole said. “I don’t know any other way to play other than hard and aggressive and hustling. That’s probably why I tore my Achilles four-and-a-half months in a men’s league. That’s the only way I know how to play.”
“When you don’t have people that see the game somewhat through that lens, it’s like you are talking to aliens. You are talking about a different sport.”
Robert Morris kept four starters and set out to bring in 11 other players from the outside for this season. Guys they could mold into the types of players fighting for NCAA tournament bids instead of hoping to get double-digit wins in a season. Enoch Cheeks is one of the returners and Toole said he has improved tremendously in buying into the defensive mindset, but it took time. He thinks some of the newcomers have that edge as well.
“I like that we are all willing to get better, they have that grit about them,” Cheeks said. “Guys that are willing to watch film, do the extra work. A bunch of guys willing to make the extra effort and that’s what we are going to need in the long run.”
“We’ve had more guys that are willing to put their bodies in harms way, more willing to be physical, to dive on the floor,” Toole said. “You don’t have to be the strongest guy to be physical, you have to be willing.”
Cheeks is joined by returners-forward Kahliel Spear (32 starts, 14.7 points, 7.7 rebounds), senior guard Michael Green started 29 games at guard last year averaging 10.4 points and 2.3 rebounds. He missed the game Wednesday due to the flu. Also returning is forward Matt Mayers, the 6’8” senior had eight points and four rebounds in the game against Pitt-Greensburg and five points in the opening loss at Ohio State.
It won’t be as easy as it was against a division three team Wednesday, there is also a way to go defensively. If Toole can get more buy-in from this rebuilt roster, maybe they can get back to winning the only way they’ve proven then can at Robert Morris.
“If we defend the way we are supposed to defend, the offensive stuff will take care of itself,” Toole said, and so will a first winning season since joining the Horizon League a couple of years ago.
Up Next
Colonials are back home again Wednesday, November 16 hosting West Virginia Wesleyan at 7p.