To be good or to be great, that is the question for the Fort Lewis College Men’s Basketball team as they come into this 2016-2017 season.
Coming off of a campaign where the team went 28-4 and made the NCAA Division II playoffs for the first time since 2013, this team is looking to improve upon last year and grow into a great team instead of a good team.
“For us, success is doing the best you can every day,” Pietrack said. “Last year we had great senior leadership and we meshed well and it turned into a miraculous season.”
Bob Pietrack, head coach of the Skyhawks, was named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference coach of the year last season after leading FLC to the best record ever at the school. But this year he faces a the challenge of finding new leaders on the team.
The team lost six seniors to graduation this year so the team is always changing, Pietrack said.
Joshua Blaylock, senior captain and member of the All-RMAC preseason team, said last year the six seniors on the team really led the way and showed all the new players the ropes, especially himself.
Blaylock transferred over to FLC from Otero college in La Junta, Colorado before the 2014-2015 season.
He said he was instantly wowed by the team and family aspect of the school.
“When I came on my visit here, everyone showed me love,” Blaylock said. “Coaches loved me. They came down five times to see me and that showed me that they really wanted me.”
The special thing about the team this year, and the team last year, is the sense of unity that they all have. They are like family and the brotherhood that they all have is partly what makes them a successful unit, Blaylock said.
“The close bond is something that we always try to preach,” Pietrack said. “We are at a campus that is a little bit isolated so it is incredibly important that our guys are feeling a connection between each other.”
Pietrack and Blaylock agree this year should be fun and they want to improve with their only expectation being to improve each and every day.
“My only expectation, truly, is that we play good team basketball and that we are getting better each week,” Pietrack said. “With that the wins and losses will take care of themselves. I don’t like to put a number on it and say that we need to win this many games or hit this goal because so many things change and the season is so fluid.”
This team has a lot of talent and they will look to prove that their 15th overall national ranking is not a farce, Blaylock said. The FLC men’s basketball team won their first exhibition game of the season with an 88-75 victory over Northern New Mexico on Saturday, Nov. 5.
The team travelled to Canyon, Texas on Friday, Nov. 11 to play West Texas A&M and suffered their first loss of the season 90-82.
FLC went into halftime of that game up 45-36 but could not put together a good enough second half to win the game. Rasmus Bach and Joshua Blaylock led the team with 21 points apiece.
FLC looked to rebound against Eastern New Mexico University Saturday, Nov. 12 and did just that with an 88-87 victory. Rasmus Bach scored with 22 seconds left to give the Skyhawks the lead for good after a very tightly contested game.
The Skyhawks will look to expand on this win streak when they play another exhibition game at Colorado State University on Nov. 16. Then the Skyhawks have four home games in two days when they play the Skyhawk classic here at Whalen Gymnasium on Nov. 18-19.
“We have got to take it one game at a time, but, real talk, we want to win the championship like we did last year,” Blaylock said. “We have just got to take it one game at a time, man.”