Lindsey Chavers
Published: November 22, 2006
Not a lot was expected of them, especially after the last few seasons, but that’s not the case anymore. The men’s basketball team is currently undefeated and there is just something electrifying about those Pirates.
I am not one to be too captivated with basketball. Let’s just say I didn’t go to a single game my senior year when Milton High School’s team went all the way to the state finals.
But something about the way the men’s team plays keeps your attention.
Maybe it’s the intensity with which Lasha Parghalava plays. The 6-foot-2 Georgian (the country, not the state) has been known to head butt or jump on top of his fellow teammates and coach after winning a game. Not to mention, he can also steal the ball (11 steals) and shoot like a crazed person (71 points in five games).
Maybe it’s the flavor Luis Buther adds. The 6-5 sophomore has received at least one technical foul for showboating. That is, if you count hanging from the rim after a slam dunk showboating.
Perhaps it is the way everyone in the crowd knows that Tyler Cannon will try to shoot a 3-point shot any chance he gets. He doesn’t make many (9 of 24), but tries every time nonetheless. What the 6-1 sophomore from Auburn, Ala. can do, though, is make free throws. In a game against Alabama Southern, he attempted 10 and made every one of them. Cannon and Vernon Carr are shooting 93 percent at the line.
It could be Brad Skipper’s rebounding skills or the fact that Cannon, Carr, Parghalava and Skipper are all averaging double-digit scoring through the first five games.
It could just be the fact that they have the personality and the talent to win. And they sure can put on a show.
Head Coach Paul Swanson put it best when he said, “Winning is fun.” This year’s basketball team is definitely having fun and letting everyone else enjoy it with them.