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Shark Bytes - Starting Over

February 1, 2011 - Premier Basketball League (PBL)
Rochester RazorSharks News Release


These aren't just tough times for the Rochester RazorSharks. These are the toughest times. At 2-4, facing a game at Lawton-Fort Sill against the defending Premier Basketball League champion Cavalry on Saturday, and with the season 30 percent gone, this team is desperate.

"We need a win," said Coach Rod Baker. "We could be playing Women's Children's Hospital, it doesn't matter. We need to get a win."

Tuesday brought the team's longest practice since training camp. Coach Rod Baker put the guys through their paces for almost a full three hours. It was back to basics. Running plays, teaching positions and strategy. Baker's trademark whistle stopped the action every twenty seconds or so to go over some fine point.

Coach made it clear he wasn't teaching. He was re-teaching.

"I can't coach this way," he said. We've really shortened our playbook. We have to be able to utilize our entire arsenal. That's why we're going over everything again as if it were new, so that everyone knows what it is supposed to be."

Baker believes he can win with who he has, but that hasn't stopped him from tinkering with the roster. Five players have been brought in for a look since training camp, all of them forwards. Two, free agent Lorenzo Davis and Mike Williams, who fell from the sky in the Vermont dispersal draft, were signed. Sammy Monroe, a key member of Rochester's two championship teams in 2008 and 2009, has been invited to observe.

Meanwhile, the 6-1 Cavalry pose a serious challenge. Lawton-Fort Sill won its first six games of the year before losing at Quebec Sunday.

"I would rather they were sitting there fat and happy and not coming off a loss," says Baker. "But it is what it is."

"That's all they have down there," said point guard Jerice Crouch. "Everyone comes out. The whole town comes out. They bring the whole kit and caboodle out there."

As bleak as things look now, the team still believes in itself.

"We're in this to win it," said Crouch. "I still believe that we can and I'm not going to stop until our season's over."

Practice this week:

Wednesday: Downtown YMCA, 9:00am-noon

Thursday: Downtown YMCA, Noon-3pm

Friday: Downtown YMCA, 9:00am-noon

Saturday: Game 7 at Oklahoma, 8:05pm

Next home game Saturday February 12, 1:05pm

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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