Explorer notebook: Giannini will stay

By Mike McDonald
Collegian Editor
November 15, 2006

The University announced Monday that head men’s basketball coach, John Giannini, had signed a contract extension that will keep him at 20th & Olney through the 2010-2011 season.

Giannini turned heads throughout the Delaware Valley last season by taking the Explorers to 18-10 overall and the three seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

“La Salle has given me a great opportunity, both professionally and personally,” Giannini said, according to the Philadelphia Daily News. “I’m just extremely grateful and humbled to have the opportunity to coach here.”

Over two years, Giannini has turned the program around. The team was in shambles when he agreed to take the job, but his hard work and dedication have gotten things going in the right direction.

His record at La Salle over his first two seasons is 28-29, and his overall record as a collegiate head coach is 321-178.

Young players need to thrive

It has been well-documented that the Explorers will need their highly-touted freshmen to step up and fill big roles. The team returns only 27.6 points per game from last year’s squad.

The early schedule for the Explorers is filled with weak non-conference opponents, which should be very beneficial to the team’s young core.

Playing against some bad teams will give the La Salle freshmen the time they need to grow more comfortable playing in this system. By the time the Atlantic 10 schedule rolls around, most of the bugs should be worked out.

The 10th-place A-10 finish that has been widely projected for this team seems a little low to me.

Look for the Explorers to finish around .500 in the Atlantic 10, and possibly a game or two above that mark. They can get wins against their non-conference opponents.

It definitely wouldn’t be a shock if their overall wins total ended up in the mid-to-high teens. 10th in the A-10? No way.

Team chemistry problems?

According to a La Salle Security Report from Nov. 11, Security had to go to the Hayman Center Saturday morning after two men’s basketball players reportedly broke a window in the building. There were no reported injuries.

Security then had to go to the St. Miguel lobby less than an hour later to respond to a fight that was taking place. Allegedly, the two players who had broken the Hayman Center window had become engaged in a verbal dispute at St. Miguel.

According to the Security Report, the conflict allegedly started when one of the players tapped the other with a baseball bat. Then a verbal exchange began, and Security was called in. Security officers confiscated the bat.

There were no names given in the Security Report.

The Athletic Communications Department chose not to comment on the matter.

It is certainly not good to hear that there could be some issues with team chemistry. When players are fighting, things can start to get ugly.

But let’s not blow this situation out of proportion. Coach Giannini is not going to let it get out of hand.

The team has probably had some sort of meeting where it was addressed, and the team has clearly decided to handle it in-house. This should not have much of an impact on the team’s overall success.

Every team has hurdles to get over, and the Explorers will do just that. This issue will most likely go away as quickly as it came about.

mcdonaldm2@lasalle.edu