Through the first half of the season, the UNC Wilmington men’s basketball team is 8-13, including a 4-7 mark in the CAA. Second-year Seahawk coach Buzz Peterson has faced plenty of challenges this season from youth to poor defensive intensity at times. But, there have been bright spots as well, from the rapid maturation of some of the freshmen and leadership abilities from the returnees. The Seahawk caught up with Peterson for a mid-year report.

The Seahawk: What has been one positive aspect of the season so far?

Buzz Peterson: We’ve got such a young ball club; we’re one of the top-five youngest teams in the nation. I’ve got so many freshmen—eight freshmen, five are getting a lot of playing time—and then you’ve got a couple sophomores in there. There are two seniors on the team: Cam Chambers and Trevor Deloach.

Eventually, the best thing about it is that they’re going to turn into sophomores; all this valuable experience playing as freshmen is really going to help them out in the long run.

We’ve had some good wins, some good games, and we’ve put a good game plan together on both ends of the court—offensive and defensive—and what we’re trying to do is carry that over. (We want) to stay positive when we lose a ball game, and when we lose some not to get too down on it, because we are a young ball club.

TS: How about one negative aspect or something you’d like to improve on?

BP: I guess the biggest thing there would be when we have let-downs on the defensive end. We’ve had some times where we’ve had trouble carrying it over, staying consistent, and that’s been the sort of problems we’ve had. If we can stay consistent with everything we try to do, I think it’d be much better. Those are just some of the negative things that drive you crazy. Plus, with the freshmen, as a coach you’ve got to be very understanding that they’re going to make some simple mistakes once in a while. Even though some of these guys play a lot of minutes, they’re still going to make some of those mistakes.

TS: What has been the best on- or off-court moment so far?

BP: You know, we went through those tough times throughout the year, and winning at Illinois State—and Redbird Arena is a hard place to win—going there and nobody really expecting us to (win), that was an exciting moment for us. That was one (moment) when we came into the locker room, and you saw everybody excited, jumping up and down, acting like kids and everything. That was a fun moment right there.

Also, on this last road trip (Jan. 21-23) we spent a lot of time on the bus together, watching movies and going to restaurants to eat. The last meal we were eating, and we were sitting there watching the football game the other night—it was the 49ers and the Giants, everybody was pulling for the 49ers, but I was pulling for the Giants just to be different—then towards the end of the meal we got dessert. The next thing I knew, the people at the restaurant were singing happy birthday to me. They got me good; it’s not my birthday, nowhere near. It was probably the seniors; I’ll get them back.

TS: What is the team focusing on most this season?

BP: We’re trying to get them to understand that they have to have a strong defensive mentality, to exert a lot of energy on that end of the court. I’ve told them, “If you can play defense with intensity and put your pride in getting stops, you’ve got a good chance of winning a lot of games.”

So, we try to keep our focus there. We’ve told them, “Hey, if you’ve got a chance, you’ve got to stop and run, get down on the floor and go and see what you can get on a break.” The biggest thing is to get defensive stops…Eventually, it comes down to one or two possessions, and those last four minutes you’ve got to be on top of things.

TS: What is something you’ve noticed strengthen since last season?

BP: I think the team for instance, a couple players, like Keith Rendleman. Keith has really had a tremendous year; he’s really improved since last season. Now, he’s just got to keep it consistent as we head down the stretch. I believe there are times when we’ve shown that we’re a better-disciplined team, like with shot selection. Overall, I think we’ve played some really good defense. That’s one thing I want my guys to do, is to get better on the defensive end, improve there and be focused every single night on that end. I would say the biggest improvement would be Keith Rendleman more than anything else.

TS: Do you and the team have any pre-game rituals?

BP: We do a half-court shot. That’s the day before a game or the morning practice. The guys are awarded plus points. Plus points get them out of sprints, so they’re always trying to get plus points. We go seniors, juniors, sophomores, freshmen and if they don’t (make it), then the coaches get to shoot, and the players lose plus points. They don’t want the coaches to make one. There’s been days when no one’s hit a half-court shot.

When we have classes, and we have a game the next day or night, we’ll just come in and walk through a couple of things because it’s such a quick turnaround from the last game. If you go in the locker room—I call it “Keith’s Corner”—Keith will be playing video games. A lot of guys listen to their music and that sort of thing.