THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Wednesday, January 13, 2016
It is a common saying when it comes to officials around the basketball courts at Hoopfest in downtown Spokane.
Show respect, and you’ll get respect.
After being unranked at the start of the 2015-16 men’s basketball season, the North Idaho College men’s basketball team is seeking a little bit of that respect from those that choose the top 25 teams in the nation.
With 20 games already in the bag, all victories, the Cardinals are still seeking it.
NIC IS out to its best start since the 2009-10 season, when that team was 20-2 after 22 games.
“I just believe this team is one of the best teams to come through NIC,” said sophomore forward BJ Blake, who has signed to continue his playing career at Idaho. “I just love being here right now.”
Braian-Angola Rodas is 10th in the nation in scoring at 22.9 points per game, followed by Blake in 11th, is averaging 22.6 points per game.
“With Braian and I, the coach expects a lot from us,” Blake said. “This team is amazing. We have fun in practice and just playing basketball together.”
Faced with its toughest challenge of the season, NIC, then ranked eighth in the nation, beat No. 21 Salt Lake 87-77 in a matchup of the lone unbeatens in the Scenic West Athletic Conference.
“We beat a great team,” Blake said. “They’re a great team in Salt Lake, and one of the toughest teams we’ve faced this. I think totally to win the SWAC, you’ve got to come through North Idaho. We’ve got something to prove to everyone. We’re 20-0 right now, but we’re not satisfied. We want to get to the national tournament and win it.”
And playing a tough nonconference schedule hasn’t hurt either, as the Cardinals are the top-ranked team in the Massey Ratings, which complies computer rankings for all major college sports.
“We’re undefeated, but we’re playing like we’ve got something on our back,” Blake said. “Everybody doesn’t think we’ve got what it takes to get to the national tournament, or win the SWAC. But you’ve got to beat us to get there.”
NIC enters this week’s NJCAA poll as the fifth-ranked team, and will travel to Southern Idaho on Saturday at Twin Falls.
THE TEAM, especially Blake and Angola-Rodas, have Salt Lake coach Todd Phillips’ attention now.
“Blake, I didn’t have a great feel for him before the game, but he plays so hard,” Phillips said. “If I said anything, it would be that he plays with a tremendous motor. (On Saturday), he’s 3 of 7 from the 3-point line, which isn’t lights out, but he gets buckets and plays so hard. I thought we did a better job of playing against him defensively in the second half, but we’ve got to defend him better.”
NIC and Salt Lake will meet again in Salt Lake on Jan. 28.
“The crazy thing is we’ll be playing them at our place before we know it,” Phillips said. “And I don’t really want to do that right now. But it will be a heck of a game. Both Blake and Angola-Rodas are great players, and I wish there was something we could take away, but I don’t know what that is. They’re both really good players and tough to beat.”
Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.