Stackhouse "Revamp What We Have And Figure Out A Way To Get A Win"
Jerry Stackhouse was under no illusions that fixing what was broken with the Vanderbilt Commodores basketball program would be easy. He said as much on Tuesday when he met with the media as his team prepares to host Alabama tonight.
While things started out positively for him and his Commodore squad, injuries, inconsistent play and an over lack of depth have derailed them and sent them into their current five-game losing streak, including the four conference games.
"For us, it's about us trying to get our first (conference) win this season," said Stackhouse.
"Everything that happened last season, it's a new year and we had a team that we were really excited about and obviously there was a kind of wrench thrown in that a little bit, a couple of times, but for us, it's about trying to revamp what we have and figure out a way to get a win, " added Stackhouse. "That's the only thing that's on these guys mind is how we can put it together for forty-minutes and come out on top.
Those wrenches he referred to were the injuries to Clevon Brown and Aaron Nesmith that have sidelined his best player and best inside presence. While Brown could return this season, Nesmith is out for the rest of the year which has forced Stackhouse to basically start from scratch and redesign his offense.
The results through two games have no been pretty and tonight could be more of the same for the COmmodores as Alabama comes in with the number three scoring offense in the nation, averaging 83.5 ppg so far this season.
The Tide also has the upset of then-unbeaten and 4th ranked Auburn under their belts and plays an uptempo style that could cause problems for the Commodores.
So how does Stackhouse the challenge as a coach in remaining positive and keeping his team positive to working through the tough times?
"Again it's part of knowing what you were getting yourself into, right, I mean I knew the situation that I was coming into and I was still optimistic at that point," Stackhouse said. "Nothing has changed from that, but obviously we've hit some obstacles and now it's about looking down our roster to find the best way to help these guys offensively."
"Defensibly I think we're doing a lot of good things and doing it for a little longer stretches, but now we've got to figure out how to do it for a little bit longer and do it a little bit harder and I think those are the things we have to hang our hat one, Stackhouse said.
His team's defense will certainly be tested tonight as the Tide's guard-oriented team lead by Kira Lewis Jr. and John Petty Jr. might well be the best backcourt the Commodores have faced this season as both players average over 16 points per game.
Tipoff is set for 8 pm and the game can be seen on The SEC Network.
