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Coach Bacari Alexander
The Detroit Mercy Titans got Horizon League play going Thursday night at Calihan Hall. The Titans were plenty eager to put the non-conference slate behind them after winning just two of 12 games, with only one victory against a Division I. Unfortunately for “Detroit’s College Team,” the Norse of Northern Kentucky spoiled the holiday party.
The Titans led by five at the half, but a barrage of NKU triples in the second half ultimately turned it into a laugher, 81-70. Here are other points of interest.
They Call Him Ja-Lethal
Jaleel Hogan has been a wrecking ball in the paint throughout the year for Bacari Alexander’s club; when he is able to stay on the floor, that is. Hogan has been prone to pick up fouls early and often, putting him on the bench for extended stretches of the game. In this contest, he defended smartly without drawing silly whistles.
Hogan collected a scant two personals, and as a result, posted a monster line of 22 points, eight rebounds, and eight blocked shots. The junior talked after the game about his commitment to staying on the floor by working for defensive position earlier and not drawing silly whistles while screening on the offensive end. While there is still room for improvement in certain areas for Hogan -- such as reading double teams and passing effectively out of them -- this game showed exactly how dominant he can be when foul trouble is not part of the equation.
Missing in Action: The Titans’ Bench
Granted, Coach Alexander’s rotation was a bit shorter than usual with jumping-jack forward Gerald Blackshear dinged up and unable to play. But even so, the Titans did go nine-deep in this game, meaning four players entered off the pine; and that group was not able to account for a single point. Jarod Williams played 21 minutes and came up empty on all four shot attempts. Williams might be more comfortable facilitating, but the way this Titans team is made up, he needs to dent the score sheet, as well. The other three subs -- Dre Black, Cole Long, and Malik Eichler -- were non-factors during their 18 combined minutes of court time. Some Detroit Mercy fans have become a tad impatient with Alexander during this 2-11 start to the campaign, but when a team is really only getting production from four to five players a night, there’s really very little the head coach can do. By contrast, Northern Kentucky’s reserves registered 16 points and seven assists on the evening.
A Rejuvenated Chris Jenkins
The senior in long sleeves for the Titans hasn’t had quite the season many were expecting. His jumper has been erratic and overall offensive flow lacking. The first half on Thursday night was the Chris Jenkins show, by far his best extended stretch in these first 13 games. He scored 15 points on an array of outside shots and hard drives to the hoop in transition. Jenkins was a major presence on the other end, too, forcing turnovers and owning the defensive glass.
Alexander called his performance “tremendous” in the first half of play, though as has been the custom for the Titans team throughout the season, Jenkins was unable to have nearly the same impact in the final 20 minutes. He’d get just two more buckets, mostly once the game had been decided. But overall, it remained an encouraging sign for the hard-working Jenkins, a player known to roam back out to the darkened Calihan floor after everyone else has left to get shots up and further refine his stroke.
The Deadline Detroit Jinx
Corey Allen
Just last week, we ran an article about sizzling freshman Corey Allen after his dynamic 33-point effort (with nine threes) against Fort Wayne. The question posed was: “Could Corey Allen be the best shooter in the state?”
That could still be the case, but he came crashing back to earth a little bit on against Northern Kentucky. Allen missed all five of his attempts from long range and finished with just five points. Now that Horizon League play is here, Allen will have to get used to being the primary focus of the opposing defense every single night. This was a clunker, but the way Allen has performed in the first couple months of his collegiate career, you would expect a serious bounce-back effort Saturday afternoon against Wright State.
Detroit Mercy Globetrotters? Not so much. . .
In the first half, Titans sophomore guard Josh McFolley was streaking down the floor with a 2-on-1 break. He could go hard at the defender to try and draw contact, or dish off to his teammate for an easy bucket. McFolley decided to choose door number three, which was to pick up his dribble, take a couple of steps, then curl the ball around his back. It was the type of play you’d expect to see in an exhibition or charity event, not an NCAA conference opener. Unsurprisingly, the ball got away from McFolley, the defense recovered, and the Titans quickly put up an errant shot. NKU raced back the other way and drained a 3 in a sequence fairly emblematic of the Titans’ evening and season to this point.
Key New Year’s Eve Clash
Chris Jenkins
By no means is Saturday’s home game against Wright St. a “must win” situation for the Titans. After all, this is a team nine games under .500, so classifying any single contest as “must” anything would be a reach. But with the team embarking on a three-game roadie after Saturday, not returning to Calihan until January 16th, this is a golden opportunity for the Titans to grab their first Horizon win. The Raiders of Wright St. were very good last year, but have regressed a bit. They fired their head coach in the off-season and were just hammered Thursday night in Oakland.
Bacari Alexander continues to harp on “the process” and not getting overly caught up in wins and losses. There is plenty of truth in that statement, but even so, you know that the New Year’s toasts in Detroit would taste a whole lot sweeter with that conference mark evened up at 1-1.
