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In an iconic scene from "Jurassic Park," we see a baby raptor just breaking free of its egg. At that moment, the creature is brand spankin’ new. It is yet to take its first step and still hasn’t the slightest idea of how to survive in the cutthroat dinosaur kingdom.
Bacari Alexander
But even so, you can see traces of what this little guy is going to be (or gal; all the dinos at Jurassic are females, we are told). As it pokes its slimy head out into the world, producing guttural cries, Dr. Alan Grant comes to realize what he is holding in his hands; a real-life velociraptor. The look on his face says it all: ”This is going to be one scary MF’er, some day.”
The same could be said for the Titans of Detroit Mercy and their basketball program under rookie head coach Bacari Alexander. The Titans have a long and storied history in the college basketball world, but for all intents and purposes, they are learning how to walk all over again.
After Wednesday night’s 26-point loss to Eastern Michigan at Calihan Hall, Detroit Mercy's losing streak is at six games. The season's lone win was against Adrian College, whom nobody confuses with John Wooden’s Bruins.
It isn’t clear exactly what Bacari Alexander’s Titans are going to be just yet.
Are they going to be a fierce defensive outfit, like some of the great Titan teams of the 1990s under Perry Watson? Or is Alexander going to mimic John Beilein’s Wolverines -- the team he helped to coach for the last six years -- and encourage his troops to hoist countless shots from downtown? The overall strategic philosophy might still be unclear, but the zeal that Alexander has injected into the Detroit Mercy bloodstream is not.
One could reasonably expect Wednesday night’s post-game presser from Alexander to be of the doom-and-gloom variety. After all, his club had just been run out of its own gym in a game against an in-state opponent, contests that are not taken lightly in Michigan. You’d have forgiven the first-year head man if he ripped into his team for its careless turnovers and questionable shot selection.
Taking it in Stride
But instead, the coach appeared no worse for the wear. He chatted about the game with the hunger and energy you’d more have expected from the night’s victorious coach. But it’s clear, at least early in his Titans tenure, that Bacari Alexander is not shaken easily.
He understands that the situation he inherited at McNichols and Livernois is not going to be fixed overnight. Or maybe in the next thousand nights. Rebuilding a college program is a long-term play, one that requires a steady hand and a patient approach. Rob Murphy, the fiery coach of the EMU Eagles, said that would be the one word he’d preach to Bacari day in and day out: patience.
In the meantime, fans hope they are witnessing the body of this beast just starting to take shape.
Corey Allen -- Next Titan Great?
On Wednesday night, true freshman Corey Allen, one of the contenders for last year’s Mr. Basketball in Michigan, looked like a future star. He was a long-range sniper (four triples) and converted one spectacular reverse layup at an impossible angle. Jaleel Hogan is a player you can’t help but root for, an undersized interior force that fights for every inch and might be an All-American if foul trouble weren’t a reality of college basketball.
Murphy was asked after the game for his thoughts on the recent changes to the Detroit Mercy basketball hierarchy. “They hired the right guy. He will get these guys where they need to be."
Murphy himself was a guy that took over a struggling program at EMU and now has his squad pegged as the prohibitive favorite in the MAC.
Such occurrences aren’t likely to take place in Titan territory this year or next, but there are signs, mostly from this unflinchingly positive head coach, that there will be a light at the end of this tunnel.
If you look closely, beyond the black and white of the standings, you can see the bones of something being built in Detroit. Those raptors in Jurassic grew to be strong, fearless animals, and the hope is that Bacari’s Titans follow suit.
As long as it doesn’t take 65 million years for that to happen.
