The outlook is pretty bleak right now for the Binghamton University men’s basketball team. A 1-6 start and several losses to a low-RPI team is not how fans pictured the Kevin Broadus era beginning. Is all hope lost? Of course not. In the America East, it’s only conference play that matters. If the Bearcats can start playing two full halves and adding in some of the suggestions below, they’ll be OK.

1. Run the offense through Mike Gordon. Early in the season, Broadus was letting Gordon take the reigns, fling the ball around and do what the point guard does best ‘ make people score. Gordon got hurt, the offense slowed down and those 80-point evenings ended with them. Gordon is the perfect point guard for this team. He makes every player around him better with his court vision and he plays on a team where everyone needs his help. Richie Forbes can shoot lights out ‘ if his shot is created ‘ and Reggie Fuller looks made to run-and-gun with Gordon. And Milos Klimovic and Moussa Camara don’t miss when they’re open and when Gordon is feeding them the ball. And all those turnovers that Lazar Trifunovic’s been picking up? Well they don’t happen if Gordon’s hitting him on fast breaks and letting him shoot over defenders. This offense all comes down to its point guard and if he’s not healthy, this season will not turn around.

2. Keep getting Fuller involved. Like I said before, the long, athletic junior transfer appears tailor-made to run with Gordon. The alley-oop the two connected on in the first half of the Colgate game was a long time coming, and it seems like he starts off every game with a block. He’s an athletic freak that Binghamton has not really seen, and he’ll be impossible for other AE teams to stop if he continues to work on his rapport with Gordon and the rest of the offense.

3. Stop playing Laz at center. He’s doing a great job there, grabbing boards and shooting over players that are far less athletic than him, but his ability is being wasted at the five. He’s too athletic and he was meant to be facing the hoop. Obviously the team needs Miladin Kovacevic back, but who knows when that will be. For now, a combination of Fuller, Jaan Montgomery and Gio Olomo will have to suffice, but until it’s necessary, especially in AE games, BU should not go to the small lineup that they’ve featured so often.

4. Stop using that small lineup and give Gordon and Forbes some rest. This goes with the above entry. There might be a reason the Bearcats come out horribly for a five-minute stretch every second half. There might be a reason Mike Gordon is hurt and Richie Forbes collapses on defense late in games. They’re tired. When BU starts dominating early in the first half, like they always do, take a guard out for a little bit. Devon McBride and Dwayne Jackson have proved they can play and, in fact, they’re usually lined up at the three. Rather than forcing something with a small quick lineup, let the two seniors get some rest while the game is still in hand. This way, when the second half starts, rather than looking sluggish and missing shots, BU’s two most important Bearcats will be fresh and ready to keep the game close, so that when the ‘Cats go on their inevitable late-game run, it will result in a win and not a too little, too late loss.