Coaches often use the colloquialism ‘matching up’ when describing fundamental difficulties their team has while playing another team.

This year, most opposing coaches envision Binghamton as being a ‘tough matchup.’ Its roster boasts four players currently averaging 10 or more points per game, and six different players have led BU in scoring at least once this season.

But despite the variety of talent up and down the BU roster ‘ Albany coach Will Brown has called BU ‘perhaps the most talented team in the league’ ‘ the Bearcats sit in second-to-last place, which has to bring about the question: Is the talent being properly utilized?

[[B]]Know Your Role[[B]]

It’s hard to be a fan of a bad team without wishing that one of the bench guys was playing more. You could probably make a case for everyone on the bench, but I’ll focus on just one: Richie Forbes.

The 6-foot junior college recruit from New York City is the team’s leading scorer at 12 points per game. By his own admission, Forbes is not a stellar defender.

Walker agrees: ‘He [Richie] is a horrible defender. He is our prime culprit.’ (Jan. 14, 2007)

On the team’s Web site, Walker calls Steve Proctor a ‘determined’ defender and says that Troy Hailey is a ‘high-level defender.’ Not surprisingly, both of these guards ‘ each good scorers in their own right ‘ receive a lot of playing time.

But neither is the scorer that Forbes is. The 6-foot guard was a huge part of Binghamton’s wins early on in non-conference play.

He netted 24 points at Niagara, a team that owned the Bearcats last season. He had 25 points in the win against Albany, saying afterward: ‘I got my knock back.’

And in the one game that the program continues to tout as the biggest win in program history, a win at Miami, Forbes was the star, with 27 points and ice in his veins. You might even say he was our ‘prime culprit.’

Don’t get me wrong ‘ the BU Zoo loves defense. The community has come to embrace the team that straps down on ‘D.’

But the one thing fans love more than good defense is winning. We all saw it on Sunday when Forbes scored 18 points, including 10 straight at one point, in the blowout against Maine.

‘Sometimes when I get hot, he [Walker] throws that defensive stuff out the window,’ Forbes said on Sunday.

While Richie played slightly better defense than usual, even he admitted it wasn’t anything spectacular.

But ‘ we won.

The bottom line is this: if Richie Forbes being on the court means Binghamton wins ‘ which it absolutely meant when BU beat Niagara, Albany and Miami ‘ then Richie Forbes should be on the court, mediocre defense or not.

[[B]]Xs and Os[[/B]]

In preparing a preview for last Thursday night’s game at Boston University, I asked Al Walker if shutting down dominant big-man Omari Peterkin would be key in the game plan, and of course he confirmed as much.

But Peterkin ended up missing the game with a sprained ankle that he suffered on game day. Both coaches drew up new strategies.

No Peterkin, no problem. Freshman guard Carlos Strong rained 30 points on the Bearcats, including eight 3-pointers, as a depleted Terrier team buried Binghamton by 12.

It wasn’t the first time this season Binghamton has been beaten by a team without one of its prime players. University of New Hampshire’s Mike Christensen (13.1 ppg) missed the Jan. 9 game. Vermont beat the Bearcats without top freshmen Marques Blakely and Joe Trapani, the latter a popular choice for AE Rookie of the Year.

‘This year,’ Walker said after the Vermont loss, ‘we have a tendency to make role players into stars when they come in.’

And don’t forget that Binghamton lost to Stony Brook, a team incapable of losing a prime player to injury because it simply doesn’t have any of them (Ricky Lucas is not a prime America East player). The Seawolves very nearly stole a season sweep at the Events Center two weeks ago, with a three-quarters trap that befuddled the Bearcats for 39:59.40. Luckily they were .6 seconds short.

In the past, BU has shown some success with a similar full-court press. In an early-season win this year, the Bearcats successfully went to the press, but Walker said after the game that the team isn’t ‘deep’ enough to press for 40 minutes.

The unfortunate injury to Ian Milne is certainly a factor. Walker has projected stardom for the furry-haired Canadian since his arrival on campus, and although his absence opened the door for Lazar Trifunovic, it has certainly hurt the Bearcats depth-wise.

Liberty head coach Randy Dunton, an assistant coach under Walker in 2000 and 2001, pointed to Milne’s injury as a potential big difference-maker: ‘Does he [Milne] mean three or four wins?’ he asked. ‘That kid alone might mean three or four wins when you lose the game by three or four points.’

Bottom line is, every team gets bit with the injury bug at some point, and you’ve got to work with what you’ve got; if Ian’s starting, Lazar’s carrying water bottles this season.

The team is where it is ‘ eighth place. With Dwayne Jackson clearly being groomed to replace Hailey next season, perhaps a five-guard rotation of Gordon, Hailey, Proctor, Forbes and Jackson running the press would be a fresh new look for a team obviously desperate for answers.

[[B]]Close Doesn’t Count[[/B]]

Offensively, the Bearcats have jacked up 539 3-pointers this season, third in the conference. Their percentage ‘ 34.7 percent ‘ is neither over- nor underwhelming. But the team’s frequency of hoisting a three mere moments into the shot clock, especially when losing, is what has really hurt them.

In fact, the Bearcats are surprisingly mediocre statistically: sixth in blocks, second in steals, third in field-goal percentage and fifth in scoring margin.

But it’s the propensity to lose a close game that has repeatedly killed the team this season; two of the four wins have come off the last-second heroics of Mike Gordon. In conference play, the Bearcats are 2-6 in games decided by five points or less.

Don’t underestimate the value of crunch time; many games are decided in the last minute. If not for Gordon’s two gutsy layups, this team, which consistently claims it could be at least .500, could just as easily be 2-11.

But never count Gordon out: ‘We can’t let our fans down anymore.’

::Part III on Friday will take a look at scouting and the program’s ability to retain players, including more with Dunton, who has led Liberty to the NCAA tournament since his departure from Binghamton.::