Cards’ hustle wins over fans, coach

It wouldn't have been a bad play. The Roadrunners would've had little time to get the ball up court and run an offensive play.

 

Instead, Miles contested the catch and jostled with the guard before diving and knocking the ball out of bounds. Miles stood up to a standing ovation from the fans and his coach, Pat Knight.

 

Three times during Saturday's 80-66 win over UTSA Cardinals hit the floor for loose balls, and each time they came up without the ball. 

 

It didn't matter. Each effort was followed by applause from the crowd of about 2,700.

 

For the first time in many years, it appears that Beaumont finally has a team that represented them — blue collar. 

 

"This team reflects the way I want my teams to play," Knight said. "It's good to see guys diving for loose balls, getting hard rebounds and doing ‘garbage' work, too. Sometimes it doesn't look pretty, but that style is a lot harder to play against than just running down and jacking up shots. This team, out of my four years of head coaching, reflects how I want my teams to play. That's what drove me nuts at (Texas) Tech. My teams are blue-collar teams.

 

"Especially when you have a refinery outside of your arena, you'd better be a blue-collar team."

 

The players appear to have finally made the switch from previous coach Steve Roccaforte-style, consisting of high scores with little to no defense, to a team that values every possession and knows the psychological advantage they gain when every defensive possession ends with a contested shot or a steal leading to an emphatic dunk.

 

The transition hasn't been easy. Early in the season, guard Mike James was suspended for three games for being "uncoachable," as Knight put it. James was known for being a streaky scorer with a flair for the spotlight. Many, myself included, were uncertain if James could maintain a blemish-free season. So far, James has been the poster child for the turn-around Knight has accomplished. 

 

I don't completely blame the players. Any time someone is taught to do something for four years, that's how they're going to play. I give the players and Knight credit for being able to come this far in this amount of time.

 

The biggest change seems to be that the players realize what good basketball looks like now. They realize that they can still have good games and win without scoring 100 points or shooting until one of them catches fire.

 

Following Saturday's game, Knight mentioned that he told the players it was up to them to change the culture of the program. 

 

"These seniors deserve to go out as a winner," he said. "These fans deserve to have a team that they like to come see, talk about and be proud of. I was fortunate enough to be on great teams, not that I had anything to do with it. I go back to Indiana, and you would think I was an All-American because I was on a good team.

 

"I want these guys to leave and people say, ‘You remember that first team Pat had? They got it started. They had a heck of a year. No one gave them a shot because they were down for three years, same guys returning — they're not going to change their way of playing. Boy, they really finished strong.'"

 

That's what is on the line in these last few games. This group will either be remembered as the last of Roccaforte's era, or the beginning of Knight's.

 

Right now, the ball is in the air. The Cards can be satisfied with what they have accomplished, or, diving on the ground for it — face first.