As Ball State prepares to lead into 2014, it’s still lacking a vocal leader on the court.
Ball State has lost four straight games and will kick off a three-game road trip this week. If any leadership is going to be established for the Cardinals, now would be the time.
“We have had a good week of practice? it [was] exam week so our guys [were] studying a lot,” head coach James Whitford said. “We’re continuing our goal from the beginning of the year, which is continuing to get better and be a team that can really be hard to play against in February.”
The Cardinals are currently last in the Mid-American Conference West at 2-5. Ball State will travel to Milwaukee on Tuesday to face the Big East’s Marquette Golden Eagles (5-4).
Ball State will then play Saturday at Southern Illinois and finish the year Dec. 30 at James Madison. The Cardinals have been out of action since a 50-69 loss to Valparaiso at home.
The Cardinals were unable to put together any offense as the team finished the game shooting 26.9 percent from the field. That night also revealed the team’s lack of leadership.
Statistically, the Cardinals are led by freshmen Zavier Turner, who is averaging 13.4 points per game while shooting 48.5 percent from three-point distance. Turner and senior guard Jesse Berry, who is averaging 13 points per game, have been a constant for the Cardinals young offense instructed by their first-year head coach.
That doesn’t fix the lack of intangible leadership.
“I want Tyler [Koch] and [Chris Bond] to step up.” Whitford said about players taking on more of a leadership role. “When you look at the players and who they respect, they see Koch and Bond as the leaders of this team.”
A road trip could be motivation for a team, especially when the Cardinals are working around a surprise shift in the bench rotation.
Senior guard Kindon Crowder received praise from Whitford and is expected to see the floor a lot more.
“The things that he brings us right now, we’re missing.” Whitford said. “He communicates, he dives on the floor, he hustles his tail off, he’s a good open shooter, he’s a great team guy, and he is widely respected by everybody — most importantly, me.”
The Cardinals have been looking for the type of player that will hustle and bring energy. Little did the players know it would come from their former three-year team manager.
“I moved him from the scout team and into the A-team.” Whitford said about Crowder’s recent promotion. “I view him as a guy that I’m trying to put in position to place now.”
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