Think of Henderson as a kingdom. The Kingdom of Henderson. Now with any kingdom you must have a king and Dr. Welch is our king. You also have people who live in the kingdom, and that would be all the students. Finally, a kingdom must have warriors to protect itself from its enemies.  So who are the warriors of the Kingdom of Henderson? All of the Reddie Athletes. They are the ones we send out to do battle with the enemies of the Kingdom of Henderson.

Who are our enemies? Other schools. We can think of them as kingdoms as well and every time we face one of these kingdoms in a sporting event we are doing battle against them.  Our Reddie warriors are fighting for the Kingdom of Henderson. They go to battle every time they step out on the field or court. Every point scored by a Reddie moves our kingdom one step closer to victory. We have warriors that go out and do battle almost every night of the week throughout the school year.

Now if Henderson is a kingdom, then the goal of the enemy would be take over the kingdom. Now I’m not an expert on the inner working of kingdoms, but I would think that while the warriors were out battling the enemy that the people in the kingdom would be supporting them in their efforts. They would be helping by preparing armor, helping with the sick, and most all they would cheer on their warriors as they fought and welcome them home with cheers and praises. All of those things help the warriors in their battle efforts. For the warriors are not only fighting themselves, but the warriors of the Kingdom of Henderson are fighting for the people of the Kingdom of Henderson.

Like the warriors of old, our Reddie warriors need our support too. They need to feel that they are fighting for more than just themselves. They need to feel as though they matter, that the people of the kingdom are behind them, supporting them in their fight. We can support them by going to the games, by showing them that we care if win or lose, and most of all cheering them on as they do battle. Everyone works harder and performs better if they have support and our Reddie warriors are no different.

So I ask you, are you supporting your Reddie warriors?

The answer for most students would be no. I know this because I go to games and I see the lack of fan support. By support I mean more than just showing up, I mean as fan you should be into the game. You should care if we win or lose. Think of the Kingdom of Henderson, would it not matter if this was an actual battle? Would you not want your warriors to win an actual battle? Of course you would. Why should a sporting game be any different? Sports are the closest thing to a battle that we can participant in without actually going to a war. Sports on a college campus do matter and that is the point of this blog. I want the students of the Kingdom of Henderson to care. I want them to be proud of their school and show their spirit at the games. I want the games at Henderson to be so loud and so fierce that the enemy or the other school are scared to play here. I think Henderson can get this way, but the students here must start caring about their school. They must get some Reddie Spirit. I found this article online about the top 10 college basketball student sections in America, and I thought to myself, how I would love to see Henderson on a list like that. Check it out. Would you not want to be involved in a student section like the ones on that list? I know I would. I would love it.

This will be my last blog for a while seeing how school is letting out, but I will try to update as much as possible.

-Coach Joiner-

It’s a beautiful sunny day, not a cloud in the sky, and a tennis team is about to start practice. The women get their racquets and start warming up. Tennis balls start to fly back and forth across the net until the coach calls a halt to the warm-up. It is time to run some drills.  The women line up as coach carries a basket of balls and her oxygen tank out on to the court to start the drill. She stands there, feeding balls to her team as her oxygen tank lies at her feet.  This is a reality for Coach Brenda Joiner, the head coach of Henderson’s tennis team.

The doctors have diagnosed Joiner to have an interstitial lung disease which has progressed into pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis is the scarring of lung tissue, making the lungs stiff, which, makes the lungs unable to transfer oxygen and carbon dioxide to the body probably.

Coach Joiner has been treated for asthma since she was young, but has just recently found out that she has never had asthma.

“They (doctors) believe now that the interstitial lung disease has just progressed my entire adult life until the end result of pulmonary fibrosis,” said Joiner.

When Joiner was 13 years old she was caught in a house fire. Her house had caught fire in the middle of the night, and she was knocked out by the smoke. Eventually, her Grandmother was able to pull her out of the house.

“They can never be 100 percent sure what caused the damage, but they think it was triggered by the fire,” said Joiner. “They think I possibly I could have suffered a thermal burn during the fire or possibly the toxins that I inhaled during the fire could have triggered the disease.”

The symptoms of interstitial lung disease or pulmonary fibrosis are hard to diagnose, and normally do not show up until the disease has progressed into an advanced stage. Joiner had noticed symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue years before she was diagnosed, but she would think they were coming from her growing older or her asthma.

“You could always find a reason not to pay attention to it,” said Joiner, “But about a year and a half ago the shortness of breath and the fatigue then set in to the point that I was getting short of breath taking a shower or getting clothes out of the dyer, just normal day to day things it was getting hard to do.”

It was then that she started asking her doctor what was going on, but the symptoms of shortness of breath and fatigue are so generic, and can be caused by so many things, it was tough for the doctors to find the cause. They would eventually send her to a pulmonary specialist to test her lungs.

“While performing a test called the six minute walking test, they realized at just walking that my oxygen saturation levels were dropping down to like 80, which is damage your organs level,” said Joiner.

In May 2009 she was put on oxygen 24 hours a day, because her doctors could not risk her walking around with her oxygen levels being that low, even though they still did not know what was wrong with her. In August the doctors would perform a lung biopsy and finally diagnosed Coach Joiner with intestinal lung disease and pulmonary fibrosis.

“The up side is that we know now what’s wrong with me,” said Joiner, “The down side is there is no real treatment for it.”

She has tried the one treatment out there, but the side-effects of the treatment and the lack of effectiveness in the treatment would eventually cause her to stop the treatment. Coach has been off treatments and is waiting for a new treatment to be approved.  As for right now she is trying to adjust her life to work around the disease.

“The main change is a little loss of independence, I can’t burn the candle at both ends anymore,” said Joiner, “I can’t go do whatever I want to do whenever I want to do it. I have to plan ahead.”

She has to plan for her overnight trips to make sure she has enough oxygen.  At home she hooks up to an oxygen machine. It now takes her longer to recover from long days working and coaching.

“I just have to make sure I don’t over do it,” said Joiner.

When it comes to practices, Joiner has gotten a longer cord to connect to her oxygen tank to allow her to set the tank beside her instead of carrying it on her back, so she can still be active during practice and not become too tired.

“It really hasn’t affected practices, because I am still able to be there and feed balls, and tell them what to do,” said Coach Joiner. “It hasn’t really been as big of a problem as I thought it might be.”

Becca Staton, senior chemistry major, has played for Joiner for four years now and hasn’t seen much change in her since her diagnoses. “Coach is still the same coach she was freshman year. She hasn’t lost her spunk or energy,” said Staton.

The all of the players on the team have responded well to Joiner’s condition.

“They are very protective of me now,” said Joiner, “They take care of the little things like taking my chair out to the court and loading the van up for me, without me even asking. They really have taken it upon themselves to take care of me.”

Staton and the rest of the team understand that Joiner sometimes can overwork herself during practices.  “Sometimes we have to make her sit down because she wants to be out there and she gives it her all,” said Staton.

Why do players like Becca Staton and Meredith Massey, senior business finance major, want to play tennis for Coach Joiner?

“It’s really hard to find a coach like Coach Joiner,” said Staton. “She really cares for us so much. She is really like a mother.”

“I really wasn’t planning on playing tennis in college, but I randomly met people who went to school here and they said I should visit so I did,” said Massey. “And you could tell it would be like a second home and she would be like a second mother, so I decided to play tennis here.”

As for this season the Lady Reddies have won four conference matches and have lost to Delta State and Harding. The Lady Reddies have just beaten Southern Arkansas 8-1 on March 30. They are 3-3 in conference and have just clinched a position in the Gulf South Conference (GSC) tournament in Montgomery, Ala. when they beat Ouachita Baptist 6-3. The Lady Reddies played rival Arkansas Tech on April 10 losing 6-3.

John Ragni, Excess Service Liberian and former Head Coach of the now-defunct men’s tennis team at Henderson, has played and coached tennis for many years now, and still helps out during the Lady Reddie’s practices speaks highly of Coach Joiner and the program she has built here.

“Coach Joiner is real hands on and she knows her players really well and gets along well with her players,” said Ragni.

Ragni believes Joiner has a successful program because she maintains the program, she recruits type of players she wants, and she makes sure that they play to the best of their ability. “A lot of that is trying to create a harmonious situation and from what I’ve seen Coach Joiner seems to be doing a good job with that,” said Ragni.

Joiner became the head tennis coach at Henderson in 1993 and has coached here for 17 years.

“This is where I was raised, this is where I grew up, this is where I hope to stay as long as I am able to coach,” said Coach Joiner.

She was born in Arkadelphia and grew up in the small community of Trinity.  Her love for tennis would start at the age of 12 when she was asked to play in a youth tennis tournament by Jerry Childers, because there weren’t enough players.

“I had always been big into athletics, I played softball, basketball, and volleyball pretty much every sport that was offered but I had never played tennis,” said Joiner.

Childers would teacher her how to the game worked, how to keep score, and worked with her a few times on how to play.

“I went ahead and enter the tournament and ended up winning it, so I was bitten by the bug from then on, and that summer I really started taking it seriously and really started playing,” said Coach Joiner.

She attended Gurdon High School, with no tennis team available for her to play for, but that did not stop Coach Joiner from playing.  She and three other girls, who had started playing together, decided that they would try and start a high school team.  The four girls went to the principle and superintendent of Gurdon and ask permission to start a high school team. They were granted permission, but they needed to find a faculty member to sponsor or chaperon the team. Joiner and the other girls found a teacher to sponsor them, and the team was formed Joiner’s tenth grade year.

“They (Gurdon) have had a team ever since then,” said Joiner. “And we even fielded a boy’s team that year too.”

Joiner graduated from Gurdon in 1976, and decided to go to Henderson, where she would play as a Lady Reddie on the tennis team. She graduated from Henderson in 1979 with her degree in business management.

Joiner was not the first or the last of her family to be a Reddie.  Both of her parents went to Henderson.  Her father was an all-conference baseball player. Her mother taught in the English department for Henderson for 35 years. Duke Wells, the man the hyper center is named after, is Coach Joiner’s Great Uncle. And both of her children went to Henderson, with her son Reid Joiner working as the Webmaster for Henderson now.

“I have bled Reddie blood since the day I was born,” said Joiner.

Coach Joiner is a true Reddie. She loves coaching tennis at Henderson, and always keeps a is positive outlook on her life.

“I have my good days, and I have my bad days,” said Joiner. “But as long as I have more good days than bad, I’m doing alright.

Now I know that many people cannot get into tennis because they do not really understand it, well I will try to give you the basics on how tennis matches are set up and how to play tennis, so you can go and play yourself.

College tennis matches, like Henderson’s normally last a few hours. The match starts with doubles (a match between two teams of two players each.) and then goes to singles (I think you can figure this one out).  Tennis has many terms that can be hard to understand so to learn more tennis terms and their definitions check out this website.

To understand tennis fully you may need to know so history of tennis and how the game became what it is today.  For that check out this article.  Basically, the game of tennis was more a royal game and the royalty did not want the uneducated common person to understand the game and how to play, so they made the rules and scoring confusing.  So, if you are thinking to yourself I don’t understand why tennis scoring makes no sense, it is because it is meant to be confusing.

Now let me explain how to keep score and a little bit about how to play.  Keeping score in tennis is a lot different than most sports, but is easy to understand once explained.  You start off love-love or 0-0 (love= 0).  Then if your serving and you score it is 15-0 or 15-love because the servers score is always announced first.  If you score again then it is 30-0, then 40-0.  The next point is game point (or set point but this will be explained later).  If the game is tied 40-40 then this is called “deuce.”  The next person to score then gets the “advantage” because if they get the next point they win.  The player servings score is announced first and you can win a point by the other player hitting the ball out of bounds or into the net or not hitting the ball at all.  The first to win 6 games wins the “set.” A match is won when a player wins either 2 out of 3 sets (women) or 3 out of 5 sets (men).  Now that you know how to keep score you can go to the Lady Reddies tennis matches and understand what is going on.

Well knowing how to keep score doesn’t help you actually get out there and play, but here are some videos that show the basic hits in tennis.

First there is the serve.

Next there is the forehand.

Then there is the backhand.

Don’t let the videos fool you these basic hits are hard to prefect and take practices, but playing tennis is a lot of fun.  So next time there is a nice afternoon and you and a friend don’t have anything to do, head down to the tennis courts.

The Diamond Reddies played OBU at OBU on Saturday March 6.

Now softball is a sport that I don’t watch all the time, but when I do get to watch it I really enjoy it. The atmosphere at the game a great, it was a beautiful day, it wasn’t too hot or too cold, it was the kind of day that you just want to be outside doing something. What better way to spend an afternoon than to watch some Diamond Reddie softball.

I showed up a little late to the first game, the Diamond Reddies were tied 1-1 with OBU when I got there. This would be the score it would stay until the very last play of the game when OBU scored the winning run, ending the game at 2-1. This was a heart-breaker for the Diamond Reddies losing in the last inning, but they would have their chance to retaliate in the second game. The first run scored in the second game came from a thunderous home-run by freshman, Julia Schulz.  From there the Lady Reddies never looked back.  They would finish the game, scoring 4 more runs, with a final score 5-0.

I watched a lot of back when I was in high school because a few of my friends played, so I would go watch them play.  I loved going to the games, they are a lot fun.  The one thing you can say about softball players, is that they are spirited and that is really fun to watch.  The game of softball moves much faster than baseball.  In high school the softball game would be over, just as the 4th inning in the baseball game was beginning.  What does that mean? It means the games are faster and more exciting to watch.  Now I don’t mind baseball, but it is really slow.  This is someone I think should change, baseball games need to be played faster.  A faster game would more fans into the game, which in-part makes it a more exciting game and a better game.

As for the Diamond Reddies, they played a great second game against OBU, and they are fun to watch.  If you haven’t seen them play, then you should.

The Diamond Reddies schedule can be found by clicking here.  Their next home game is against Delta State on April 2 & 3.

Unfortunately, both the Lady Reddies and the Reddies would lose to Ouachita. It would take a last second desperation three pointer by the Lady Tigers to get the 79-77 victory over the Lady Reddies on Thursday, Feb. 25. For more on the game check out this article by Josh Briggs.

As for the Reddies, they came out to a slow start and couldn’t bounce back. Like most of the Reddies’s games they would keep it close, but they could never make that push to get ahead. Because of this the Reddies would lose 81-73.

One positive I saw at the game was there were actually Reddie fans. Most of them didn’t cheer for the teams, but hey at least they showed up. What I would love to see though would be a fan section that was so loud and so into the game that the Tigers were not even able to hear their coach call plays from the sidelines, but I’ll take what I can get. Maybe next season.

Now it was senior night so let’s look at who all we lost.

The Lady Reddies lost:

Danyelle Harris- 4.7(R/G), 1.8 (A/G), 54 (STL), 8 (BLK), 13.1 (PTS/G)

Haley Rogers- 2.2 (R/G), 0.2 (A/G), 7 (STL), 4 (BLK), 4.0 (PTS/G)

Asaiah Lowe- 5.9 (R/G), 0.8 (A/G), 22 (STL), 8 (BLK), 4.0 (PTS/G)

*2009-2010 season statistics

The Lady Reddies finished the season 15-14 overall and 6-8 in conference.

The Lady Reddies’s season ended with all kinds of heartache, first with a last second buzzer beater against OBU and then they would lose a coin toss to see if they would make it into the Gulf South Conference (GSC) tournament as the fourth seed.

With the loss of Harris the Lady Reddies will have to step up offensively to replace Harris’s offensive presents.One highlight is that Jazmine Ellis will be returning for to the Lady Reddies. Ellis is an offensive machine for the Lady Reddies, but I think Coach Matthews should move Ellis to a small forward position instead of posting her up so much. She is able to handle the ball well enough to drive in the lane, she has a pretty good 3 point shot so the defense must respect her on the wing, and she is big enough that most teams will not have a small forward the same size and then you’ve got a mismatch. I think it’s a smart move, but the Lady Reddies will need someone else to step up and play down low for that to work. Overall the Lady Reddies seem to be in good shape for next season.

The Reddies lost:

Lance Smith- 13.3 (R/G), 1.1 (A/G), 13 (STL), 55 (BLK), 18.4 (PTS/G)

Kyle Oldham- 2.1 (R/G), 1.3 (A/G), 13 (STL), 3 (BLK), 11.9 (PTS/G)

Vincent Patterson- 4.5 (R/G), 1.6 (A/G), 40 (STL), 15 (BLK), 10.9 (PTS/G)

Darnei Bates- 2.8 (R/G), 1.9 (A/G), 25 (STL), 1 (BLK), 5.9 (PTS/G)

*2009-2010 season statistics

The Reddies finish the season 8-19 overall and 1-13 in conference.

Overall, this was a really bad season for the Reddies. They are a team will a lot of talent, but they don’t seem to be able to win the game. They lead at half-time many times this season and would lose control of the game in the second half. This is something that must be addressed this off-season.

The Reddies must learn how to execute better in the second half. On offense they need to learn to move more without the ball. When I watch them play it was like watching a bunch of 70 year old men play basketball. None of them wanted to move. This is something else Coach Weaver will have to address during off-season. As always I am looking forward to next season, where hopefully the Reddies will bounce back from this disappointing season.

Now that Henderson’s basketball season is over it is time for me to turn my post towards sports I don’t know as much about- baseball and softball. This weekend I will be attending a Diamond Reddie softball game against OBU. You are all welcome to come and support them with me. The game starts at 1 p.m. at the softball field. It’s a double-hitter, so if you can’t make it at 1, then show up and watch it at 3, and if you can’t make it Saturday, then don’t worry they are also playing Sunday at 1 and 3 p.m. against OBU. There are plenty of chances, so come check it out.

If you’re more of a baseball fan then you are in luck because Reddie baseball team is playing Northern Kentucky at noon on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

1.  I saw the Lady Reddies come back from being down by 21 in the second half to win the game against the Lady Bucs with a final score of 86-77. It’s not easy coming back from being behind, but coming back from being down 21 is ridiculous.

I hear all the time that women’s sports are boring especially women’s basketball, but what I saw on Saturday was anything but boring. Both the Lady Reddies and the Lady Bucs played with passion, there was tears shed, there was blood drawn, and bodies bruised all in the hopes of a single victory. All of that just to win one game only to do it again next time. If there is one thing you can say about women’s basketball, it’s passionate. Women themselves are passionate beings, and they take that with them on the court. I know that you’re not going to see some girl drive down the lane and dunk it over someone, but what you do see is a girl who gives everything she’s got and plays with reckless abandonment for her own body just to score a single basket.

2. I saw the Reddies struggle against the Buccaneers in their 74-62 loss. The Reddies have been close in last the few games, but it seems like they just can’t finish the game. They have talent on the team- it is like they are just missing the final piece of the puzzle put to make them a good team.

One thing I will say is that I do not care much for the coaching style of Coach Weaver. The men’s team has struggled since I have been here, and it may be time for a change in the coaching department. I hate to talk bad about a coach, but you have to win to keep your job in college basketball and winning isn’t something he has done much of this season.

3.  I saw a lot of empty seats. I mean, I understand that you might have school work to do during the week, but this was a Saturday afternoon. What could have so many students have been doing? Going to the none existent Arkadelphia movie theater? Oh, I know I bet most students were looking up words in the dictionary to expand their vocabulary. Maybe they were gearing up to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II for 24 hours, or maybe they just don’t care anything about showing their school spirit at a Henderson basketball game. Seriously, it’s getting ridiculous seeing more away fans than Henderson students at the game.  Something that just really bothered me while I was sitting at the game was the cheerleaders. I looked over in the direction of the cheerleaders, you know the ones who are suppose to be cheering for the teams, getting the crowd (or lack thereof) into the game, and being enthusiastic about the game, and saw one of themtexting while standing there on the sidelines. I know that you might not like basketball very much, but you’re a cheerleader. How about doing your job and cheering for the Reddies. Isn’t that what you signed up to do? Or am I just confused at what cheerleaders are suppose to do at games?

So, I went ahead and looked up the definition of cheerleader just in case for some reason I was confused and that it was normal for cheerleaders to text while the game is going on. Dictionary.com defines cheerleader as:

1. One who leads the cheering of spectators, as at a sports contest.

2. One who expresses or promotes thoughtless praise.

Okay, definition number one says that cheerleaders lead the cheering of spectators. I don’t think texting is leading the spectators in cheering unless the cheer is how to show your Reddie support by texting one another. Now definition number two states that a cheerleader expresses or promotes thoughtless praise. I really doubt that a cheerleader texting is expressing praise to the teams as they try to win. Of course, who knows, she could have been texting all the players telling them how good they are doing out on the court, or maybe, she could be texting all her friends and telling them to come to the game though I don’t think it worked.

On Thursday, Feb. 25 at 6 and 8 p.m. the Henderson Reddies play the Ouachita Baptist Tigers at Henderson. It’s OBU everyone if there is one game that you can drag yourself from your dorm room to go to let it be this one. I want to walk into the gym and see nothing but Reddie fans in the stands. See you there.

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I mean the Lady Reddies has actually won more than one conference game this season, and have had winning seasons in the past.  That is why I hate going to the games, and looking around at the empty stands during the girls games.  The best thing is when there is about 10 minutes is left in the girls games then more people start showing up to the game, not to see the girls play, but they’re just early to the guy’s game.  I know that people think that girls sports aren’t as exciting as guys sports, but since most of the students who show up for the game don’t cheer anyways, why not show up a little earlier and watch a team that is winning.  It’s just a thought.

Now let’s talk about the game. The game was tied at half time 46-46. Both teams were shooting great from the field.  The Lady Reddie’s were shooting 45.7% while the Golden Suns went into halftime after shooting 50% for the field.  It would go back and forth in the second half with both teams blowing their leads.  At the end of regulation the score was 80-80 (a ridiculous score for even a lot of men’s teams).  But most HSU students would know because they don’t ever show up to boys or girls games.

So the Lady Reddies were now heading into overtime with the fifth ranked Golden Suns having the momentum, but the Lady Reddies would strike first with a free-throw.  Unfortunately this would be one of only two free-throws made by the Lady Reddies in overtime.  The Golden Suns would go on to win 90-86.

What was the problem for the Lady Reddies?

They couldn’t hit but 2 out of 5 free-throws in overtime.  Like I have mentioned before in a previous post, FREE-THROWS ARE CRUIAL especially in overtime, the Lady Reddies have no one to blame for their lose except for themselves because they had chance after chance to put away the Golden Suns if they could hit their free-throws.  It was a tough lost for the Lady Reddies for more on this game check out this article. The Lady Reddies then went on the road to face Southern Arkansas were they would have another close game that would turn out badly for them.

As for the men’s team I was actually really impressed at how close the Reddies would play the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys.  The final score was the Wonder Boys 79, Reddies 69.  The Wonder Boys are ranked first in the nation, and with the Reddies coming into the game without a conference victory, I have to be honest I didn’t think we had much hope.

The Reddies would start the game off in foul trouble after only 5 minutes of play the Reddies had racked up 7 fouls.  They would go on to stay close to the Wonder Boy throughout the rest of the first half, going into halftime only being down by two, 33-31.

The Reddies would start off the second half much like the first, staying close but never leading.  The Wonder Boys would eventually jump up to a 10 point lead, but the Reddies battled back to tie the game at 49-49 with 11:53 left in the game.

It would be shortly after this that I would witness one of the worst moves I’ve seen a coach make in a long time.  Lucas Whisenhunt would get his fourth foul with 11 minutes left in the game.  Now in this situation most coaches would sub a player in for Whisenhunt so he doesn’t foul out early in the game, but not our coach he leaves Whisenhunt in and what happens?  On the very next play Whisenhunt commits his fifth foul and now gets to sit the rest of the game.  It was a dumb foul, but it was a dumber move for him to still be out there with that much time left.

The Reddies would try to stay in the game after this, but the Wonder Boys were just too strong for the Reddies.  They would go to pull away from the Reddies and eventually defeating them 79-69.  For more details see this article.

I would like to say congratulation to the Reddies for getting the first conference win over Southern Arkansas with a score of 67-65. I hope they can build off this win and finish the season strong.

It was slippery both inside and outside last Thursday night as the Henderson Reddies played the Harding Bison. The Reddies let the game slip away as they were leading at half time, for the third straight time.  Both teams were playing great in the first half, or at least on the offensive side.  With both teams shooting 60 percent from the field that means either the two teams are great offensively or they’re not good defensively.   I’m going with the second one.  At half-time the score was 45-38 Reddies lead.  The Reddies leading going into half-time is not uncommon, but the Reddies winning a GSC game this season now that’s unheard of.  The Reddies are 7-14 overall this season and 0-8 in Gulf South Conference (GSC) play.

So what happen to the Reddies?

Answer: Zone Defense

After the Reddies came out in the first half and killing Harding with their transition game and also scoring in the paint with Lance Smith.  Harding decided to go with a 2-3 zone defense.  For those of you who don’t know what that looks like, here is a diagram.

A 2-3 zone made it harder for Lance Smith to score inside because the defense collapses on him.  This is a good defense, but like everything there are ways to beat it, unfortunately, the Reddies couldn’t do it.  Check out this site on how to beat a 2-3 zone defense.

Like I said in my last post the Reddies have to get some motion in their offense.  This is especially crucial when playing against a zone.  The players without the ball should be cutting or trying to get open at all times on offense.  Then once you’re open you have to hit your shots.

One thing that I saw the Reddies attempting to do multiple times during the game, which works only a few times, was to lob the ball over the defensive player to Lance Smith.  The problem with this was, I  and probably everyone else including the people who know nothing about basketball could see this pass coming.  Everyone knew that the Reddies were about to try and lob it to Lance Smith, so what happened when they did, well the help side defender would move over and set the charge.  Smith had two charging fouls called on him.  He would eventually foul out with 4:13 left to play in the game.  Now the lob pass did work sometimes, and it also got the Reddies to the free-throw line.  The problem was the Reddies were 8-16 for the line.  50 percent for the line is not going to cut it.

Here is something the Reddies could do with Lance Smith, since Smith is an athletic player they should give him a chance to face up to the basket and make a move.  Letting get it at the free-throw line and either score or fine the open man for the shot.  Maybe try some pick and rolls.

Once Smith fouled out it was like someone just let the air out of Henderson’s balloon.  They couldn’t make anything, and the Bison finished the game out scoring the Reddies 10 to 2.   The final score was 80-66.  The Reddies have a break right now before they play their next GSC opponent Arkansas Tech on Thursday Feb. 11.

To all the Henderson students out there, the Lady Reddies and Reddies will need your support against Arkansas Tech, so come to BOTH games and show your support.

On Thursday January 28th the Reddies traveled one street over to play HSU’s arch rival Ouachita Baptist University (OBU). This historic rivalry dates all the way back to 1895 when Henderson State was known as Arkadelphia Methodist College and Ouachita Baptist was just Ouachita College. The story I heard was that when the Baptist in Arkadelphia decided to build a school the Methodist came together and decided to also build a school so that the Baptist weren’t the only ones with a school in Arkadelphia. This meaning that from the minute OBU and HSU were built, we were rivals.

Now we move forward 115 years to Thursday night at OBU. The Lady Reddies were in a fight to the finish against the Lady Tigers. The Lady Reddies would be up at half-time with a score of 44-38. Though the Lady Reddies would not trail the Lady Tigers the rest of the game it was a battle between the two teams all the way down to the last few seconds. Nothing would come easy for either team; they would both have to work hard for every point.

A big boost for the Lady Reddies was the strong play by Junior Jazmine Ellis, who would go on to drop 30 points on OBU. Ellis was scoring from all over the court. She was 7-13 from the field and 3-5 from behind the three. She would muscle her way around down low and draw the foul. At the free-throw line she made 13 out of 16 total. Ellis would also come away with 10 rebounds. If you add all that up you get one heck of a game put on my Jazmine Ellis.

While Ellis was putting a show for the fans, OBU player A’Laeshia Adams was keeping it close with a strong performance of her own, scoring 22 points. What would lead the Lady Reddies to victory were the key free-throws made at the end of the game. The Lady Reddies were 78% from the line, making 32 out of 41.

The final score was 79-76. Lady Reddies victorious over the Lady Tigers.

Reddies

Now on to a less impressive performance put on by the Reddies. The Reddies would lose this game 80 to 52.

It was a tough game offensively for the Reddies. They could make a shot within 7 feet of the basket for most of the game. It didn’t help that they weren’t connecting with their 3’s either. As a team their field goal percentage was only 28.3%, they were 17-60 from the field. Combine that with 3-15 from the 3 point line and you’re definitely going to have problems, but on top of that you add in that as a team they only made 15 out of 27 free-throws and you just shot yourself in the foot offensively. They’re FREE-throws the key word is FREE; they’re suppose to be easy points. That’s 12 more points if the Reddies could have made 27 for 27 from the line.

Junior Reddie Lance Smith, lead the Reddies with 19 points and 11 rebounds, on 6-14 shooting. Scoring 19 points is impressive, but Smith was only 7-17 for free-throws. Meaning those 19 points could have easily been 29 points.

One thing that I did see been the Reddies were on offense was that there was too much standing around. No one was moving! They would just pass the ball around the 3 point line, and hope to fine a shot. (Most of the time not a very good one) We don’t have a superstar player out there like a Kobe Bryant or a Carmelo Anthony who can score by themselves, so until we do is it too hard to ask for a little motion on offense. And what about some shot fakes, if you’re going to just pass it around the 3 point line at least turn and give the defense a shot fake to keep them guessing .