Where is the best basketball show in Cleveland? You can find it right downtown, at Cleveland State.
View full sizeJeremy Montgomery's determination to get this loose ball away from Illinois-Chicago's K.C. Robbins symbolizes the Vikings' relentless defense this season. "They turn up and heat and get after people," Flames coach Howard Moore said. "They don't let up. It goes on the whole game."CLEVELAND, Ohio -- If you love basketball and are deflated by The Decision, the plight of the pro game and the decimation of the Cavaliers -- how about trying something different?
What about Cleveland State?
Why not take a look at a team that is 15-1? A team that is winning games by an average of 13 points? A disciplined, gritty team whose coach doesn't tolerate foolishness from his players and demands they defend each possession as if it were their last meal in a month?
That's what Cleveland State put on display once again in a 83-59 victory over Illinois-Chicago Saturday at the Wolstein Center.
"They play with reckless abandon," said UIC coach Howard Moore, in his first Horizon League season after being a player and later an assistant at Wisconsin.
Moore could not stop talking about the Vikings defense, about three guards (all 6-2 and under) who simply swarm each man catching a pass and battle for every dribble when an opposing guards brings the ball up the court.
"They turn up and heat and get after people," said Moore. "They don't let up. It goes on the whole game."
At halftime, the Vikings had forced 13 turnovers -- and committed only two. It was 24-6 for the game. When the Vikings beat South Florida on Dec. 22, they forced 24 turnovers and made only four.
On the season, they pressure opponents into nearly 17 turnovers a game, compared to 12 for CSU. That's the secret of Gary Waters' surprise team. They force you to make mistakes. Balls bounce off your foot. Passes sail high and wide. Shots are forced from impossible angles as the 35-second clock ticks down.
"It's the fatigue," said CSU star Norris Cole (21 points, six each of rebounds, assists and steals). "You can see them bending over, holding their knees."
Hearing that, Waters added, "You know what it really is? Fear. You can see it in their eyes. You can hear it in their voices. Teams don't want to play us. I'm telling you, it's fear."
The closest any members of this overachieving team are to high school McDonald's All-Americas was grabbing some Big Macs and fries. Waters raves about Tim Kamczyc, a walk-on from Strongsville who starts at power forward despite being only 6-6. His job is to trigger the Vikings' full-court press.
Now on scholarship, Kamczyc had a team-leading seven rebounds Saturday.
Guard Tre Harmon had a career-high 24 points, but Waters said the real value of the 6-1 guard was "his defense, covering the opposing point guard from baseline to baseline. He works and works and works.
Harmon is averaging 15 points, but said, "We think we're the best-conditioned team in the country."
New Years is not the greatest date for a college basketball game, and only 2,142 fans saw one of CSU's most dominating performances. They are averaging 2,450 fans. In the previous two home games, CSU drew season-high crowds of 4,711 and 4,044. Some people are getting the message -- basketball in Cleveland can be fun again.
But there is plenty of room for more as these Vikings will be in competing for a Horizon League title and a possible NCAA bid all season.