Shooting woes hurt men

By Jon Moffett

YOUNGSTOWN — Jerry Slocum said one of the common denominators in his Youngstown State men’s basketball team has been its inconsistency on offense.

“We haven’t shot the basketball,” he said at his weekly press conference at the Beeghly Center.

Slocum said the team’s defense has been steadily improving, despite being in the middle of a four-game losing streak. The Penguins (7-12 and 2-7 in the Horizion League) have given up 69 points in each of their past two games, after having given up 91 in a game at Valparaiso Jan. 14

“I really thought that we defended extremely well last week,” Slocum said of losses to Milwaukee (69-59) and Green Bay (69-55). “I thought we did a really good job of taking people away from what they do in terms of their strengths.”

Slocum highlighted turnovers and inconsistent shooting as some of the reasons the team has hit a sort of mid-season funk.

“We’ve got to put the ball in the basket,” he said. “If you put the ball in the basket, you feel better about yourself and the kids’ confidence grows. That’s the key, you’ve got to put the ball in the basket.”

One thing the Penguins have struggled with lately has been free throws.

YSU shot 64.7 percent (11-17) from the free throw line against Butler, but that figure has steadily increased. The Penguins shot 73.1 percent (19-26) against Milwaukee and 78.9 percent (15-19) against Green Bay.

Slocum said he hopes the team can mirror its defensive hustle and aggressiveness when playing offense.

“You’re not going to win [shooting] 3-of-14, 4-of-13 and seven or eight turnover; nobody wins [like that],” he said. “We’re no different than anybody else when those situations happen. We’ve got a lot of basketball left to play. We’ve not quit on this group, there’s not sitting around, moping about what could have been. All we’re looking [at] is what’s ahead of us in terms of what we can do.”

Alluding back to the free throws, Slocum explained the need to make the free baskets

“It’s not rocket science, guys,” Slocum said to the media. “Fifteen feet away from the foul line there’s a little hole up there, and you have to get that little pill in there. And the same goes for open jump shots.”

jmoffett@vindy.com