The Otterbein men’s basketball team finished the 2014-2015 season with an overall record of 3-22, including 2-16 in OAC play.
The Cardinals season ended on a down note, with the team losing its last 13 games in a row. Otterbein's win totals have also decreased for four consecutive seasons - from thirteen in 2010-2011, to three this past season. In spite of that, third year head coach Todd Adrian believes there are some positives to take from this season.
“I really like our young players. We had an inexperienced group this year, with just one senior and junior. We have a lot of great guys that really care about each other, and love being around each other. If you have that, and guys that want to work hard in the off season, they’ll come back next year and be a lot more comfortable.”
The Cardinals also battled a myriad of injuries this season. Players combined to miss 32 games due to injuries. Some of the notables include leading rebounder and second-leading scorer Matt Hughes and Grant Fenner. Sophomore guard and OAC Freshman of the Year Jake Phillis also missed time down the stretch due to a concussion.
“The biggest need we have is to stay healthy. Matt Hughes is a very important part of what we do; he missed the last six games with a shoulder injury. Grant Fenner missed the first eight games, and he started 15 games last year as a freshman,” Adrian said. “In the past, when I’ve had teams that had successful years, we had very few injuries. Especially when you’re trying to turn the program around, you don’t have a lot of depth, which means relying on freshman and sophomores to play a lot of meaningful minutes.”
Turnovers were also one of the biggest problems for the Cardinals this year. Otterbein was last in the OAC in turnovers, averaging nearly 18 per game, which put defense in some tough spots.
“We are not a bad defensive team at all,” Adrian said. “When you turn the ball over like we did, especially against the pressing teams, it just kills you. Our guards just need to mature and we need to get better with the ball; we need to understand what you should do against the press, and what you shouldn’t do.”
Adrian also added that the three-pointer is something the team will look to improve on, saying that he will look to develop guys on the current roster, as well as recruit the high school ranks.
“We have some good shooters that didn’t shoot the ball well this year, so next year I would expect that to be a lot better. This year we had guys not shooting with confidence, and not making them, we really had to shut that down and do some other things.”
Despite the declining win totals during his tenure, Adrian has an unwavering belief in his system, and is selling hope for the fans of Otterbein basketball who are looking for improvement.
“Hang with us. We have very talented kids that once they become juniors and seniors, we’re going to be at the top of the OAC. I know that because we’ve done it before, and we’ve played close games with a lot of the top teams in our league. The more that our fans and our students get to know this group of guys, they'll realize this is the kind of crew that they’re going to want to help win and help rebuild the tradition here.”
