Jan. 7, 2008
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PRINCETON, N.J. – Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb spent all of 28 seconds sitting on her team’s bench Saturday.
With the Commodores having opened up a 13-point halftime lead over host Princeton in a game they would ultimately win 81-48, you can forgive Balcomb for thinking she was safe to ease up a bit and begin the second half seated between two of her assistant coaches.
No such luck.
“I sat down one time today and the minute I sat down they looked at me and said what do you want, what play?” Balcomb said. “And that is when I was like, `Mel, get up. You know you can’t relax for a minute.'”
And so it was that Balcomb once again became the demonstrative general prowling the Vanderbilt sideline. At times she would stare up at the roof of Princeton’s Jadwin Gymnasium, arms outstretched in exasperation. At other times she would simply stand motionless in place, arms crossed and glaring at her team or scowling at the action unfolding before her. At still other times she would clap her hands emphatically, encouraged by the energy and effort exhibited by her team.
“I have to lead every possession right now, and I can’t relax for even a second,” Balcomb said.
So is life these days for Balcomb, in her sixth year at the helm of the Vanderbilt program and in the midst of what she called one of her most challenging seasons in Nashville yet. Balcomb has been forced to lean more heavily than she had hoped on the young players that permeate Vanderbilt’s roster. On Saturday, the Commodores trotted out a starting lineup that included two freshmen and a sophomore.
For the second straight game, senior Liz Sherwood, a preseason All-SEC Second Team selection who started at center in each of Vanderbilt’s first 13 games, came in off the bench.
An outgrowth of Vanderbilt’s relative youth movement has been play that can only at best be called inconsistent at times, with impressive wins over national power Duke and a solid Iowa State team being countered by disappointing losses to Indiana State and Colorado and by what Balcomb called a “horrifyingly flat” performance in an 80-65 home loss to Old Dominion Dec. 30.
“When I look back, it might have been bad that we beat a team like Duke, because we were very flat in several subsequent games.” Balcomb said. “We simply did not get up and have the energy that we needed at different times after that Duke game. We’ve had some games in which we were flatter at home than I have ever seen this team be during my time here. To come out and be flat at home was startling and surprising to me.”
Balcomb has made some shifts in her rotation as a result, pulling Sherwood out of the starting lineup and moving sophomore Meredith Marsh from point guard to shooting guard.
“It’s a process,” Balcomb said. “We have had some key losses that have really gotten their attention, so we have tried to make the most of it. We have made some changes and I think we certainly have gotten their attention by the things we have done. We have such a great tradition at Vanderbilt and nobody wants to be the team that couldn’t keep that going no matter how young they are.”
Just days away from Thursday’s start to SEC play, Vanderbilt is clearly still a work in progress.
“There is so much that I don’t know yet about this team and I don’t think they know about themselves,” Balcomb said. “We are looking for an identity. We don’t really have one and so when things get tough, there is no core to go to and that is what we are trying to build.”
But what might ultimately be viewed as a turning point if Vanderbilt is to move on and enjoy success during the conference season, a three-hour-long team meeting convened by the coaching staff following the Old Dominion loss gave Balcomb the most reason for optimism.
“It was our `come to Jesus’ meeting, pretty much,” Balcomb said. “We talked a lot about things and got a lot off our chests – both the staff and the players. And we have been a different team since.”
More than anything, Balcomb said, the team needed to be re-focused and re-energized.
“We were at a crossroads,” Balcomb said. “We weren’t getting any better. We were not a unit anymore. So we talked about accepting roles and team chemistry and maturity, what’s acceptable on and off the court and what it means to be a Vanderbilt player. Everyone has responded extremely well.”
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Marsh, in particular, has responded with the two best games of her young Vanderbilt career. She was a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point-range en route to a career high 19 points against South Florida Wednesday. And against Princeton Saturday, she was 4-for-6 from behind the arc, scored 17 points and, perhaps most importantly, was a rallying point of sorts for her teammates, pumping her fist after nailing her third three-pointer of the first half and vocally urging the Commodores on.
“I’m just trying to step in and fill some roles that we’ve needed to have filled,” Marsh said. “But a bunch of people are stepping up, both defensively and offensively. We’re having a whole lot of fun right now so we are just getting closer as a team and a lot more confident.”
Because of the team’s youth, Balcomb is realistic about with her expectations for just how much this team can accomplish.
“Is this going to be our best team? No,” Balcomb said. “There is no way it can be. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still be a very good team. What we have got to constantly focus on is the process of getting better and improving and peaking like we have been able to do for five straight years at the right time and being a team that just keeps getting better.”
All of which will leave Balcomb very little time for sitting on the bench and relaxing during games.
“This isn’t just on the players,” Balcomb said. “It’s on us as a coaching staff as well. Every single one of us needs to be committed to working as hard as we can if we are to achieve the kinds of things we are accustomed to achieving here. I definitely don’t plan on being a spectator from a chair on the bench. I can honestly tell you that when we beat Duke we looked like we could be just as good. If we can be that good in December, imagine how good we can be in the future. The question is how can we get there together?”
A former investigative reporter and 2007 graduate of Vanderbilt Divinity School, Matthews is a national media strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union in New York City.