By Sara David
Justice Editorial Board

Hard work and a positive attitude are what the Brandeis men's basketball team’s Co-captain Rashad Williams ’02 said will bring his team out of its slump, which was lengthened again this weekend.

“If you work hard and stay positive you will be successful,” Williams said.

After two tough University Athletic Association (UAA) losses this weekend in the Judges’ first home conference weekend of the season, both the players and their coach are feeling frustrated and disappointed.

“It’s all been frustrating, from (Johns) Hopkins (University) to Carnegie Mellon (University) to this,” Head Coach Ken Still ’72 said.

The “this” that Still referred to is Sunday's 52-66 loss to Emory University, which left the Judges 0-4 in the conference and 2-6 overall. Coupled with Friday’s 70-77 defeat at the hands of Carnegie Mellon, these losses have led players to reevaluate their game.

“It was a game we could have won. It's as simple as that,” Williams said. “We didn't execute down the stretch.” Still cites inexperience and the schedule as two of his team’s problems this season.

“I was hoping some of the freshmen would do better,” he said. “They are playing half-way decent, but I had hoped they would do better.”

“In part we’re young,” he said. “But it’s hard to get in good shame coming off a break.”

“I'm the oldest with the most experience on the team,” Williams said. "As the guys get used to the UAA things will change.”

One of the bonuses that Williams sees with having ayounger team is that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Brandeis squad will remain the same next year.

“We’re young. It is a building block this year and hopefully we can just put things together,” he said. “The freshmen are having a hard time adjusting and there is a lack of chemistry between the team.”

Still added that with practices and games alternating so frequently this season he has found it hard to work the team as much as he would like to in practice. “I don't want to tire them out for the games.”

But the fact is that the team is struggling with the basics this season, as was evident on Sunday. With slow rebounding and numerous missed layups and open shots, the Judges fell behind early in the first half. At the buzzer, Brandeis was down 21-35, and though they would see a strong comeback during the second half, the Judges never led in scoring.

During the first two minutes of the second half, fans saw a new Brandeis team on the court. They were making shots, rebounding and the defense had truly picked up its level of aggressiveness. With 13:24 left on the clock, Brandeis managed to tie the score at 37, but a foul by Bryan Lambert ’04 two minutes later seemed to close the streak, and the gap only grew from there.

Two breakaways on behalf of Emory put the kiabosh on the Judges' hopes for a win, and when the clock ran out for good, Brandeis was down by 14 points.

“We are missing the outside shooting,” Still said. “I wish we could do it. It's the little mistakes.”

Part of the difficulty Still has faced this season is the lack of consistency among his players. Because of this, “we're still in assess mode.”

“I'm trying to see who can gel. The problem is that I get one good game and I think I have them and the next game it's gone,” he said.

Still said that so far this year Williams is the only one who has been consistent, as was evident through his season-high 30 points in Friday's game.

“Bobby Brayboy ‘02 for all his trials and tribulations is starting to be a little more consistent," Still said. “I have hope for him for the rest of the season.”

But the Judges had other problems to deal with this weekend. Williams played through a sprained thumb and his Co-captain Antonio Williams ’02 was suffering from an illness that kept him from practice for a couple of days last week. There is no question the team is facing some adversity already this semester.

Still said he wants to see his players get some wins under their belts.

Tonight Brandeis will host Tufts University, the team that will benefit from the exceptional skills of Mike McGlynn, who left Brandeis at the end of last year and will soon join the Tufts squad. Even without him, Still said Tufts is “a real tough team.”

This weekend’s UAA trip will pit Brandeis against the conference’s number one and number two squads, Washington University and the University of Chicago.

“We have to hang in there and be on our A-game if we have any hope to win,” Still said.