Rachel Crader is the editor of semoball.com. She graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in May of 2009 before spending the summer covering the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

Highlights from Rachel's days in college include having a class down the hall from Chase Daniel and having NCAA wrestling champion Ben Askren hold the door open for her at Brady Commons, Mizzou's student center. She spent time covering Mizzou basketball, softball and baseball while working for the Columbia Missourian and is excited to return home to Southeast Missouri to cover local sports for semoball.com.

Rachel has covered three Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournaments for the Southeast Missourian and semoball.com, and she'll see you courtside again this year.

COLUMN: It's time for the Southeast men to win

Posted Friday, January 2, 2015, at 10:31 AM

It's time for the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team to realize its potential.

It's time for the Redhawks to accept their ability to be great -- to own it, appreciate it, even show it off for the world to see.

Above all, it's time to take advantage of it.

"All you can ask on the road is have a chance at the end, and we had our chances," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said following the Redhawks' 78-77 loss to Belmont on Thursday. "We just didn't execute in that last 10 seconds, and that was disappointing because we had our chance."

It's time for having a chance to win to stop being enough.

It's time to win.

Better yet, it's time to expect to win because these players are good enough to win.

The Redhawks have talked about winning and competing for championships for years now. I'm still not sure they believe they can or know if they ever will.

Winning and believing you can win are like the chicken and the egg -- it's hard to know which one comes first.

"What I told them after the game is I think our non-conference, brutal schedule prepared us for a game like this," Nutt said. "We're getting closer, but at the end of the day it's still a loss."

Outside of an exciting, buzzer-beating win against now 7-7 Southern Illinois, the Redhawks mostly feasted on bad teams -- 0-11 Central Arkansas, 1-9 Alabama A&M and 3-10 Southeastern Lousiana to name a few -- for wins during the non-conference portion of their schedule.

They played Missouri close on the road in a game they had a chance to win and suffered an eight-point loss to 7-3 Bowling Green. Five other losses have been by double-digits to the likes of 4-10 Loyola Marymount and 7-7 San Diego without star guard Jarekious Bradley and Missouri State (7-6), Ole Miss (8-4) and Arkansas (9-2) with him.

Nutt has said repeatedly that playing that schedule would pay dividends come conference play.

"Playing in tough arenas, getting down, showing some toughness -- all of those things," Nutt said of how the schedule prepared them. "I think we're tougher. We're tougher as a program, we're tougher as a team. Our record doesn't show it right now, but there are a lot of conference games to play. We've got some veteran guys. I've got three seniors, but I also have a lot of young guys -- guys like Marcus Wallace, TJ Thomas, playing in places like these," Nutt said.

Thursday's environment was hardly hostile, though. There were just 1,597 people in the Curb Event Center and they weren't particularly raucous at any point.

Nutt also likes to point out that winning on the road is extremely difficult. Maybe it is, but the great teams do it.

That brings us back to this team's greatness. Or at least it's potential to be great.

Saturday's game showed once again that Southeast can play with the league's elite. The Redhawks have done it multiple times in the last few seasons, though they've been routed against great opponents as well.

Southeast took their final lead against Belmont with 17 minutes, 17 seconds left in the first half but never trailed by more than 10.

With 12:17 to go it looked like the momentum had swung to the Redhawks when forward Nino Johnson dunked and was fouled, leading him to release a primal scream.

Johnson made the free throw, and the Redhawks forced the Bruins deep into the shot clock on defense before drawing a miss.

Johnson then scored in transition, pulling the Redhawks within two.

Then Belmont hit a 3-pointer on each its next four possessions to once again give itself a little cushion until Southeast made another push in the closing minute.

Ultimately, the Redhawks never got a shot at the win.

But they could have.

After the game Nutt said his defense, which entered the game focused on slowing down the Bruins from behind the arc, played well. He said the offense was fine, too.

"We did some good things," he said. "We've just got to put them away. I thought we did a good job defensively in the last seven or eight minutes. We finally got some stops that we needed. I thought our press was good, I thought it bothered them a little bit and I thought they wore down a little bit at the end. They shoot the ball extremely well here, and we give them credit for that, but our guys are getting better. We're getting better."

Getting better is laudable. No great team is at their best on Jan. 1, but it's possible to win in the meantime, beginning with a conference matchup against 3-12 Tennessee State on Saturday.

So go ahead and win, Redhawks. Win a lot. Win all the games you have left on your schedule. Win the OVC tournament. Go to the NCAA tournament. Go ahead and beat someone there.

You can.

It's time.

Comments

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Not happy with the tone of your article! If you are trying to get the team fired up you failed. Give them a few games in the conference before you write this type of article...if it's needed then! You should give them praise for their first conference game, away from home, against the best. Go Redhawks!

-- Posted by little bo peep on Fri, Jan 2, 2015, at 1:58 PM
I don't agree with most things Rachel types. This though is spot on. I've watched our center for 4yrs now with the same leadership from the sidelines, and have yet to see development of him being any better as a all-around basketball player. One stat that stands out to me is our Center is only attempting 3 free throws a game. That tells me he probably isn't getting the ball in position to score. I remember when 7000 fans used to fill the Show Me Center, and I promise you those fans didn't show up because SEMO was losing close games. We all are entitled to our own opinions and views on things, but I've watched enough college basketball to know that other teams are getting better in our conference and I just don't believe we are.

-- Posted by BobbyKite22 on Fri, Jan 2, 2015, at 2:59 PM
Peep, how do you know the article failed to fire up the team. Maybe we'll know after the next game. I for one think it was time for an article like this, time to know more is expected than just coming close to a win. These are big boys in a big boy sport, no more praise for just being in the game at the end.

Also, as far as timing of the article, better to get this bunch going at the start of the conference schedule than waiting till we're once again 3 or 4 or more games down.

-- Posted by SPORTSJUNKIE82 on Fri, Jan 2, 2015, at 3:05 PM
I think she should write an article that it's time for a change and hire a coach that can win a close game. She talks about this talent they have and puts it on the players well it's does fall on the players but a lot of times in close games it falls more on the coach and his ability coach them up.

-- Posted by BIGELW on Fri, Jan 2, 2015, at 5:11 PM
I'm tired of hearing him say year after year, they play such a tough schedule and how young his team is. According to Dickey we've had 6 years of tough schedules and young teams. SEMO isn't young and they haven't played tough schedules. You can't play 3 SEC teams and then a bunch of cream puffs and then say you've played a tough schedule. Your 3 best players are seniors, you're not young. Just pathetic excuses he's had year after year. The last three years we've had as much or more talent than any team in the conference and SEMO continues to be .500 or worse.

-- Posted by The Deuce on Fri, Jan 2, 2015, at 6:18 PM
I think Coach Nutt does a good job recruiting in a mid-major conference. What I think he struggles with is X's and O's and fundamentals on the floor. Coach Nutt was around a .500 coach when he was hired, and that's basically what he's done since he's been here...I guess you get what you pay for.

-- Posted by BonScott on Fri, Jan 2, 2015, at 6:23 PM
I agree with bonscott. As far as this year goes it's still way too early to make an assessment, no matter how disgruntled we may be about the past. And the have played a pretty tough schedule to this point. Semos program doesn't rank above Loyola Marymount, San Diego, bowling green, Mizzou, ole miss or the hogs or SIU or Missouri state. That a pretty tough non conference slate. If they'd got blown out at Belmont I'd feel worse but they had a chance to win. We will see.

-- Posted by jwhitlock on Fri, Jan 2, 2015, at 7:08 PM
"Nutt also likes to point out that winning on the road is extremely difficult. Maybe it is, but the great teams do it"

Thank you! I feel like Coach likes to make excuses for this team when we lose. Time to make players accountable and the coaching staff accountable. I think Coach Nutt is a great guy and is a good coach for a team trying to get out of the hole like SEMO was when he came in. But it is now time to move on and time for Alnutt to find a great coach to bring this program over the hump.

-- Posted by arich35 on Sat, Jan 3, 2015, at 1:50 AM
It's hard to win D1 conference games on the road.

-- Posted by Dustin Ward on Sat, Jan 3, 2015, at 2:09 AM
Me and jwhitlock agree almost always.

-- Posted by Dustin Ward on Sat, Jan 3, 2015, at 2:10 AM
Once again Dustin, your comments seem to come out of nowhere, especially for a sports writer.

-- Posted by BonScott on Sat, Jan 3, 2015, at 2:52 AM
It's hard to win road conference games at the D1 level Bon Scott.

-- Posted by Dustin Ward on Sat, Jan 3, 2015, at 3:08 AM
Nutt was increased his win total every year at SEMO and enjoyed winning seasons each of the last two years.

-- Posted by Dustin Ward on Sat, Jan 3, 2015, at 3:12 AM
Dickey Nutt is a sub-.500 win career coach after almost 19 years, and that is all he will ever be. It is time for Mark Alnutt to realize that . . .

-- Posted by Marion_Morrison on Sat, Jan 3, 2015, at 8:16 AM
It's hard to win road conference games at the D1 level Bon Scott.

-- Posted by Dustin Ward on Sat, Jan 3, 2015, at 3:08 AM

Do you think people don't know that already?....It's harder to win on the road at any level.

-- Posted by BonScott on Sat, Jan 3, 2015, at 10:14 AM
I agree with the article. But to me it's an easy thing to write this now, when it should've been said after last year. 8-8 in the OVC, just wait. And it may be hard to win, they may not be a Bigtime program blah blah blah, but it's the same way for the other OVC teams and it's time SEMO wins.

-- Posted by Bill Shakespeare on Sat, Jan 3, 2015, at 11:50 AM
Everyone knows it is hard to win on the road, why does Nutt have to say it all the time. It sounds like excuses to me. There has to be a point where .500 isn't good enough anymore.

And Dustin, when you are a mid major in a conference like the OVC, conference record is really the only thing that matters. 8-8 last year with the talent they had was pretty poor.

-- Posted by arich35 on Sat, Jan 3, 2015, at 12:56 PM
I applaud Rachel for writing this column. She's saying what most semo basketball fans are thinking right now. I really feel as if Nutt is making excuse after excuse as to why they aren't winning. I also feel as if the players aren't being held accountable....on and off the court. Time to clean house in the mens basketball department.

-- Posted by Harp1979 on Sat, Jan 3, 2015, at 4:45 PM
http://m.semissourian.com/story/143686.html

Also, had a friend from Carbondale being this to my attention. This is who we having coaching these young men?

-- Posted by Harp1979 on Sat, Jan 3, 2015, at 4:48 PM
Semo's talent level has to be as good as anyone in the OVC. It seems like they always have trouble guarding. Offensively they are fine. I listened to the Belmont game on the radio and they rained threes. It seems like the RedHawks have difficulty making adjustments on defense.

-- Posted by jwhitlock on Sat, Jan 3, 2015, at 6:58 PM
Good to see Nino with 0 points at half vs the worst team in the OVC. Their center is from Nigeria. Cmon.

-- Posted by Bill Shakespeare on Sat, Jan 3, 2015, at 8:58 PM
All I know is that numbers don't lie Coach Nutt has improved every single season he has been here and has taken a program that was practically last in all of NCAA basketball and put them back into a respectable and competitive level. People here act like SEMO is some sort of basketball haven and while I have immense love for the program and want nothing more than an OVC championship for the Redhawks I think that it is unfair to throw Nutt under the bus.

I was evaluating the SEMO men's basketball records as put on ESPN.com for the past fifteen years and our records go as

01/02- 5-21

02/03- 11-19

03/04- 11-16

04/05- 15-14

05/06- 7-20

06/07- 11-20

07/08- 12-19

08/09- 3-27

Nutt takes job

09/10- 7-23

10/11- 10-22

11/12- 15-16

12-13- 17-16

13-14- 18-14

14-15- TBD

So if you evaluate these numbers based on the past fifteen years SEMO has not been exactly a basketball powerhouse. Before Nutt we had four seasons where we lost more than 20 games with two seasons also losing 19.While Nutt's first two years we did have 2 years of 20 + losses those are rebuilding years. A wise man once told me that it takes five years to build a program and three years to kill it. People want instant results and it just doesn't happen in sports unless you are at a place that you can immediately recruit and bring in the top tier talent, Kentucky. So many times people get very impatient and have all of the answers that have never even been a head coach before or even played basketball. I know that we are all hungry for a championship and I know we all want this team to get over the hump. I personally feel that the team has improved every year and while this team has had its ups and downs they have improved upon areas that they were weaker in last year particularly defense. Let's not all jump on the lets hate Coach Nutt bandwagon just yet and let this team continue to grow and improve and hopefully by the end of the season we will have a team that is poised to win the OVC tournament.

-- Posted by Dancing Clown on Sun, Jan 4, 2015, at 3:57 PM
-- Posted by Kim Anderson on Sun, Jan 4, 2015, at 3:57 PM

Please show us where ANYONE said SEMO was a powerhouse...I'm going by Coach Nutt's track record, and that would be roughly a .500 success rate. So he's pretty much right on par into his sixth season at SEMO. In my opinion, he's not the guy that's going to get you over the hump. And I said the same thing when they hired him.

PS...Kim, I would quit worrying about SEMO and concentrate on things in Columbia...:)

-- Posted by BonScott on Sun, Jan 4, 2015, at 4:06 PM
I want them to win NOW but they need to stay the course. Like KA showed, there has been improvement in each of Nutt's five years at SEMO. The first big hurdle has been cleared (i.e. get back to respectability and consistently make the OVC tournament). The next hurdle is to get over the 20 win plateau along with a winning conference record and consistently go deep into the OVC tournament, putting yourself in position to win it all. Nutt's .500 career record aside, running him out at this point does not make sense. He helped get to this point and he needs to have a fair shot to see it through. If things level off & stall out after next year then it may be time to take another look...but not yet. If I'm not mistaken wasn't his contract extended last year to go through next year? I think that is very reasonable and makes perfect sense. If they finish well this year don't be surprised if another one year extension is tacked on. Go Redhawks!

-- Posted by Grussman on Mon, Jan 5, 2015, at 9:02 AM
Hey folks!

Did you see where Coach Nutt and 3 of his players spent their Christmas Day feeding the needy? Thank you gentlemen for supporting our community and showing what right looks like.

It sounds like a few bloggers could take some lessons from the mens basketball team on what "true support" looks like.

-- Posted by Positive Zen on Mon, Jan 5, 2015, at 12:24 PM
-- Posted by Positive Zen on Mon, Jan 5, 2015, at 12:24 PM

Positive Zen, do you know what every blogger did with their time and resources during the holidays? I would gather some facts before you make a statement like that.

-- Posted by BonScott on Mon, Jan 5, 2015, at 5:53 PM
And the most important thing of all....the real reason these boys are here.....They are graduating! Coach Nutt recruits the best character boys and they are graduating. To me, that is the most important thing in all of this discussion! Check the graduation rates at other OVC schools.

-- Posted by little bo peep on Tue, Jan 6, 2015, at 10:33 PM
Coach Nutt has brought a great deal of stability back to the program. That is obviously a key component in getting the program back to a place where a winning culture can be sustained. Now I sincerely hope he can help take the program to the next level of winning more games. It appears the pieces are in place and I can't imagine anyone wants it more than him!

-- Posted by Grussman on Wed, Jan 7, 2015, at 8:00 AM

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