Kevin Castaneda/ Staff Writer
It is undeniable that the FIU men’s basketball team had a run for the ages. Their 11 conference wins this season were the most ever in school history. Their 18 wins were the most the program has ever recorded since joining the Sun Belt Conference 13 years ago. The team even had a five-game home win streak, which surpassed the four consecutive home wins during the 2006-2007 season.
All this led to the Panthers’ first SBC championship game. So after such a glorious run, why did FIU lose to the sixth ranked Western Kentucky Hilltoppers? Youth and inexperience is what Head Coach Richard Pitino, who could not be reached for comment, would tell you.
His four active seniors this season combined for an average of 14 and half minutes a game. This is skewed, because Manny Nunez averaged only a minute per contest while Cameron Bell was on the floor for about 20 minutes a game.
The point is that Pitino lacked veteran presence on the court. The veteran experience that Bell and Tola Akomolafe provided as returning players from last season was seemingly nonexistent. They were a part of a turmoil fueled 8-21 team just a year ago.
The players who averaged the most minutes were Malik Smith, Tymell Murphy and Jerome Frink, were also the best players.
Smith is a junior who played about 30 minutes a game, and was the leader of the team.
Murphy, who had a great season for the Panthers, is only a sophomore. His 33-minutes-a-game allowed him to average 15 points and seven rebounds, both team highs.
Finally, freshman Frink clocked in just over 30 minutes per contest. The time he spent on the floor this season was a learning process for Frink, so his time on the floor was a trial by fire approach.
The significance of looking at the amount of minutes allocated explains why the team was so inconsistent this year. Every minute became a learning experience for all of his players. Even the returning players of last season needed to adapt to the new culture brought by Pitino.
A common theme Pitino used this season was referencing back to past games. That was the only way he could teach his players what they did right or wrong. The only problem is that Pitino never had a way to reference a championship game. This was his first year as a head coach and this was something the Panthers had never done as a program.
Even though the team lost in the championship to Western Kentucky University, it was the best learning experience for the team. They have tasted morsels of success that Pitino can now reference to next season.
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