When Navy coach Ed DeChellis gathered his players for practice Thursday afternoon, he admonished them for their “poopy faces.” Not that sour looks were completely unexpected. The Midshipmen were 19 hours removed from their ninth straight loss, including eight in which they held a second-half lead. They also were shaking off the effects of an early wake-up call and return from the most distant outpost in the Patriot League, Holy Cross.
It has been a frustrating first season at Navy for DeChellis. He has witnessed incremental steps to improvement as the Mids have transitioned from the uptempo ways of Billy Lange to his patient system.
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| Up next |
| Army at Navy |
| When » Saturday, 2:30 p.m. |
| Where » |
| Alumni Hall, Annapolis |
| TV » CBS Sports Network |
But there has been no scoreboard satisfaction. Their last win came Thanksgiving weekend against Mount St. Mary’s. Six days later, in a sign of things to come, they lost to Elon on a 35-foot desperation bank shot.
In a 65-63 loss to Lafayette on Saturday, Navy led with 2:30 left. In Wednesday’s defeat, the Mids were up with less than seven minutes to go but surrendered a 12-0 run. Navy (3-13, 0-2) shares last place in the Patriot League, with six points separating them from a tie for first.
“We’re much better than we were a month ago but [have] nothing to show for it,” said DeChellis, the coach at Penn State the last eight seasons. “We gotta play for 40 minutes and do all the things down the stretch that it takes to win a game.”
When Navy plays host to Army (7-10, 0-2) on Saturday, the Mids will be as anxious to end their streak as they will be to play their archrival. The game at Alumni Hall is sold out.
“We’re right there,” senior guard Jordan Sugars said. “It’s nothing we can’t fix.”
According to DeChellis, the Mids’ woes at the end of games can be attributed to their youth, unsettled backcourt, lack of depth and, most of all, a lack of confidence.
“I’m not the wizard,” DeChellis said Thursday as he stood at midcourt, surrounded by his players. “I can’t give you confidence. You’ve got to give me confidence in you.”
Sophomore J.J. Avila has progressed rapidly under DeChellis, leading Navy in scoring (15.8 ppg), rebounds (6.8), assists (2.9), steals (1.3) and blocks (0.5). After suffering through the worst shooting slump of his career, Sugars has averaged 18.5 points in the last four games.
“My confidence was down low,” Sugars said. “The coaches sat me down and told me to just go out there and have fun.”
Finding support for Avila and Sugars has been difficult, especially in the inexperienced backcourt. Sophomore Isaiah Roberts, a conference all-rookie team choice last year, has struggled and lost his starting job. The most reliable backcourt player has been Jordan Brickman, who was at the academy the last two years but didn’t play basketball.
Finding rotation players on a roster that includes 10 freshmen has been difficult.
“Our guard spots have been a constant change,” DeChellis said. “The backcourt has been whatever — the flavor of the day. It’s kind of like trying to play three quarterbacks. It’s just impossible.”
