| 11 February 2011
It's probably the calmest Tyler Geving was all night.
After spending two hours watching Portland State drop a heartbreaker to Idaho State after another slow start and poor finish for the Vikings, Geving slowly walked away from some emotional post game comments only to start talking basketball again.
"Did Portland lose?" Coach Geving asked about the cross town University of Portland Pilots, who fell on the road to Pepperdine.
The losses are never easy to take. For Geving and Portland State, they know that truth all too well.
Against Idaho State - a team who had previously lost 24-straight road games, including going winless in Big Sky Conference play since February 19, 2009, before beating the Vikings on Thursday night - Portland State fell behind by 17 points before exhausting themselves to get back in the game.
"There's just a lack of enery and a lack of competitivness to start games. I told the guys after the game that I am not taking the blame for that any more," Geving told Beyond the Beat after the 84-79 loss.
"I will take a lot of blame as a head coach, but I'm not taking the blame for this. I've been harping on this deal for a month."
Over that time, the Vikings have continued to struggle by digging themselves an early hole in games, leaving them with an 11-13 overall record and 4-8 record in the Big Sky.
"We've had games where we come out and act like we are the NBA champions or something and think we can just roll out there and play. We don't play hard. I'm sick and tired of harping on it and they need to look in the mirror, every single one of them.I keep harping on that. We have zero energy at practice and we do different things at practice to try and create energy. But at the end of the day, when you put on a jersey, your butt better be ready to play basketball. And if you are not, and you're not ready to go or you're lackadaisical, then that's on you."
The odds have been stacked against Coach Geving and Portland State since before the season even started. With a number of academic sanctions, the Vikings have played the 2010-11 season with little hope: last season the NCAA took away two scholarships and restricted the amount of time the team could practice. To make matters worse, this year the NCAA banned the Vikings from all postseason competition.
So is it hard playing for so little reward?
"I guess it is for them. I keep telling the guys that that's a loser mentality. That is the biggest loser mentality when you think you don't have anything to play for," explained an emotional Geving.
"If you are going to go out there and just go through the motions, then we ought to cancel the season."
That's not going to happen. But countless frustrations will surely mount along the way, especially during a stretch where Portland State have now lost three-straight and gone 2-7 over the last month.
"We need to start looking in the mirror and learning how to compete. I'm repeating myself on the same stuff. They need to grow up. The losing starts messing with you. But then that means you need to play harder or do something to get out of a slump. But not playing hard? I don't get that one.
"That's another problem. We have zero leadership on this team. I've said that from day one. Nobody steps up as a leader and nobody talks. It starts with the seniors. We have poor senior leadership. We just have poor leadership. I don't care, print it."
Melvin Jones, Paul Guede, Phillip Thomas, and Alonzo Brandon may not like the sound of that, but with six games left in the season, they might be hearing more of the same if they are not careful.
There's no doubt that Coach Geving is fighting a long and tiring uphill battle in his second season at Portland State and he's not done fighting yet.
"We're going to practice hard. What ever we do the rest of the way, I am not quitting as a head coach," said Geving.
" I am going to go hard everyday and I'm going to make them go hard."
photo: psuvikings
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
