After most 18-point wins, most basketball coaches are pretty happy.
Manny Furtado isn’t most coaches.
The second-year Lakehead Thunderwolves bench boss said he was hoping for a little more from his first- and second-year hopefuls, pressed into duty Friday night against the American junior college Hibbing Cardinals – a Minnesota town best known as the home of Bob Dylan and NBA hall of famer Kevin McHale.
Buoyed with a 20-point lead by the time they broke a sweat and the starters departed, the Thunderwolves youngsters hung on for an 86-78 non-conference win at the Thunderdome. Fighting for playing time and roster spots, Furtado said he just didn’t see the overall effort needed to succeed this season, with the OUA opener slated for next Friday against the visiting Guelph Gryphons.
“Defensively we’re just nowhere near where we need to be right now, to be honest,” Furtado said after the win.
“We’re just getting blown by on the dribble too easily. We’re not helping with any purpose.”
It’s not that the Wolves didn’t impress at times. Mike Theodore showed he belongs in the top seven, a spot Furtado said the Ottawa freshman has all but locked up.
Theodore posted a team-high 16 points and grabbed six boards, tops on the Thunderwolves.
“But he’s the only guy I thought stepped up and made some plays when he needed to,” Furtado said. “It’s not the end of the world, but with these guys, we talk about when you get an opportunity, you’ve got to take the opportunity and make the most of it. And I don’t think guys took this team seriously enough. I don’t think they realize what’s at stake.”
It wasn’t all that bad, at least in the Cardinals end of the court.
Rookie Brandon Persad showed a sharp shooting touch, hitting his first three three-point attempts and finished with 11, while Tanner Parrington was 2-for-6 from beyond the arc and also hit double digits with 10.
Michael Poirier and Antony Flores also showed they can find the net, each finishing with seven points.
However, Furtado said he’s not measuring his team against the Cardinals, he’s measuring the stats against the top one or two teams in Canada.
Shooting 47.1 per cent from the field just won’t get the job done, he said.
Furtado was also disappointed the Wolves allowed the shorthanded Cardinals’ top players to crack the 20-point barrier, Brandon Emery collecting 21 and Elliott Johnson scoring 20.
Lakehead's starters played the first five minutes and departed, with the exception of Quincy Johnson who left after the 10-minute mark with nine points.
The two teams will tip off again on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Thunderdome.
