Last year, what about it? say this year’s Lightning

A lot of times coaches will use a team’s shortcomings or painful losses as motivation to take that next step.

Sometimes, as is the case with Lehman men’s basketball coach Steve Schulman, the past is best left in the past and those hurtful memories are simply flushed away. So when asked if he ever reminds his Lightning players that they fell short of winning the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) tournament title last year after winning the regular season crown, there was little hesitation in Schulman’s response.

“We’re actually trying to not talk about last year. I think maybe I’ve mentioned it to them twice and both times it was in frustration,” Schulman said. “Our thing is that we are a new team and we know we don’t have those guys and we have to stop thinking that we wish we had those guys.”

Those guys Schulman will be missing this season were a trio of graduated seniors who played pivotal roles in the Lightning’s 18-8 season of a year ago, one that saw them post a brilliant 12-4 mark in the CUNYAC as they captured the regular-season crown. But Chaun Miller and his 18.8 points-per-game average will not be walking through the Lehman locker room door this season. Neither will Orlando Minott and his over 17 points a game. The same can also be said about Olusegun Williams, the 6-5 Clinton High School graduate who was a big presence in the middle for the Lightning last season.

“It’s going to be very difficult to replace them. Not only are they talented players but they were natural leaders and I think that’s the void that I think we are having trouble filling,” Schulman said. “Not the actual talent and scoring ability, we have a bunch of guys who can put it in the basket. But it’s more than putting it in the basket and that’s what we’re trying to figure out right now with this team.”

Talented backcourt

One area Schulman won’t have to fret about is his backcourt, which is overflowing with talented options, led by juniors John Brens and Andrew Utate and senior Edwin Pascual.

“We have a strong backcourt with depth,” Schulman said. “We have three guys who pretty much started last year in Paschal, Andrew Utate and John Brens and then I have another point guard in Mylo Mitchell who is another very talented kid, as is Luis Hernandez. So, we have five guys who can play in the backcourt.”

Brens, who played his high school ball at All Hallows in the prestigious Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA), thinks the difference between last year’s team and this one will be the varied options the Lightning will possess.

“This year’s team is a little more of a diverse team. We have a lot of scorers,” Brens said. “We’re kind of small but I think if we stick together as a team and focus on what we’re working on this year we’re going to be fine. We lost three big players from last year in Chaun, Orlando and Olu [Williams], but I think we have a couple of players this year who are ready to step up and take the challenge. I think we’re more of a threat this year than last year because last year we had just a couple of players that teams knew we were going to go to but this year we have a diverse team and the ball could go to anyone. So at any minute of the game I feel players could heat up. There are a lot of pieces to deal with.”

Picked fourth

The defending regular-season champions were picked fourth in the CUNYAC Coaches Preseason Poll but Schulman said that he will not use that as bulletin board fodder to fire up his revamped roster. He took a more “it is what it is” approach to the poll.

“I think it’s a pretty fair assessment in a way,” said Schulman, who has a career record of 237-193 in his tenure at Lehman. “I think the top teams in the conference won’t treat us with a target on our backs but I think the bottom teams will use us as motivation being that we were the champs last year.”

Defending CUNYAC tournament champion Baruch was picked first in the poll with the College of Staten Island placed second and City College claiming third. But Schulman thinks the Lightning will be among the conference leaders by the end of the season.

“I think we’ll be right there,” Schulman said. “We have players. Now that’s looking at us on paper so we have to get it done [on the court].”

Unlike Schulman, Brens said he is having a hard time letting go of last season’s disappointing loss in the CUNYAC tournament semifinals and will use that pain to drive him this year.

“Even though we lost a couple of good players I feel like the core is still there,” Brens said. “And personally I think this year we will have a chip on our shoulders. Last year was one of the best years we’ve had here at Lehman and we thought we’d be going to the NCAA Tournament but we came up short. But this year we just have to keep our eyes on the prize and take things one game at a time.”