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By Mark Studyvin
City Express Sports Editor
The men Panthers withdrew their bit from the California Community College Basketball Tournament, due to infrastructure problems that have plagued the team all season.
Panthers' Coach Dave Carmichael confirmed an earlier report by the Sacramento Bee that his team would not participate in the 64-team Tournament.
"I felt that the chemistry wasn't sufficient to represent our institution," Carmichael said. "So, I made the administrative decision not to continue."
The chemistry that Carmichael felt was missing was closeness among his players, which had to do with too many outside interests for individual players.
In addition to the lack of cohesion, the losses began to add up to frustration on the team, according to Carmichael.
The Panthers' 85-78 loss to cross-town rivals American River College on Jan. 16 added to the frustration that they had already experienced all season.
According to the Sacramento Bee article, Carmichael accused his sophomores of selfish play during the game against ARC, but Carmichael contradicted the article, stating that it was nothing more than coach's rhetoric.
"I told the players that their performance wasn't up to par," Carmichael said. "The reporter took something from earlier in the season and added it to his story about the tournament. That's not what I based by decision on."
Despite Carmichael's reassurance that the loss to ARC didn't cause his decision, frustration continued to mount on the team.
Before the Panthers' final regular season game against the University of California Cub team, three sophomores including Gerald Ayers, the Camino Norte conference leading scorer, missed practice. Because of team policy, the three players were suspended from the following game.
"They were not to blame for the whole season," said Assistant Coach Larry Smith. "There was tension the whole season and it came from different areas."
But when three players don't show up to practice it affects the whole team, according to Smith.
"Usually there's a team that works together for the common goal," Smith said. "Everybody had their own job, and everybody depends on you. When you don't have that, it creates the tension that we had."
Although the coaching staff attacked the problem with personal and group counseling, they had no lasting impact on the team.
"I can't second-guess anything we did," Smith said. "Unfortunately the remedy didn't work."
For other team members it was difficult to continue the season when other members were not giving 100 percent.
"It seemed like everybody wanted to do their own thing," said sophomore point guard David Benton. "Nobody wanted to listen to the coach. They were being stubborn."
After consultation with the team, and a look at a long season filled with strife and frustration, Carmichael explained the team's problem with Athletic Director Dick Pierucci.
Pierucci backed Carmichael's decision that if the team were to enter the tournament, it would not be the same standard that Sacramento City College has always brought to post-season tournaments.
When the decision was made most of the team readily accepted it, according to Smith. They all knew something had to be done, although for several players it would be their last post-season as Panthers.
"The coach had to do what he had to do, which was discipline the team," said Benton. "I supported the coach's decision because I was fed up, too."
"Is it fair to discipline someone for somebody else's mistakes?" Smith said. "That's hard to say. And, I think that the answer we came up with is because we are a team."
City Express Sports Editor
The men Panthers withdrew their bit from the California Community College Basketball Tournament, due to infrastructure problems that have plagued the team all season.
Panthers' Coach Dave Carmichael confirmed an earlier report by the Sacramento Bee that his team would not participate in the 64-team Tournament.
"I felt that the chemistry wasn't sufficient to represent our institution," Carmichael said. "So, I made the administrative decision not to continue."
The chemistry that Carmichael felt was missing was closeness among his players, which had to do with too many outside interests for individual players.
In addition to the lack of cohesion, the losses began to add up to frustration on the team, according to Carmichael.
The Panthers' 85-78 loss to cross-town rivals American River College on Jan. 16 added to the frustration that they had already experienced all season.
According to the Sacramento Bee article, Carmichael accused his sophomores of selfish play during the game against ARC, but Carmichael contradicted the article, stating that it was nothing more than coach's rhetoric.
"I told the players that their performance wasn't up to par," Carmichael said. "The reporter took something from earlier in the season and added it to his story about the tournament. That's not what I based by decision on."
Despite Carmichael's reassurance that the loss to ARC didn't cause his decision, frustration continued to mount on the team.
Before the Panthers' final regular season game against the University of California Cub team, three sophomores including Gerald Ayers, the Camino Norte conference leading scorer, missed practice. Because of team policy, the three players were suspended from the following game.
"They were not to blame for the whole season," said Assistant Coach Larry Smith. "There was tension the whole season and it came from different areas."
But when three players don't show up to practice it affects the whole team, according to Smith.
"Usually there's a team that works together for the common goal," Smith said. "Everybody had their own job, and everybody depends on you. When you don't have that, it creates the tension that we had."
Although the coaching staff attacked the problem with personal and group counseling, they had no lasting impact on the team.
"I can't second-guess anything we did," Smith said. "Unfortunately the remedy didn't work."
For other team members it was difficult to continue the season when other members were not giving 100 percent.
"It seemed like everybody wanted to do their own thing," said sophomore point guard David Benton. "Nobody wanted to listen to the coach. They were being stubborn."
After consultation with the team, and a look at a long season filled with strife and frustration, Carmichael explained the team's problem with Athletic Director Dick Pierucci.
Pierucci backed Carmichael's decision that if the team were to enter the tournament, it would not be the same standard that Sacramento City College has always brought to post-season tournaments.
When the decision was made most of the team readily accepted it, according to Smith. They all knew something had to be done, although for several players it would be their last post-season as Panthers.
"The coach had to do what he had to do, which was discipline the team," said Benton. "I supported the coach's decision because I was fed up, too."
"Is it fair to discipline someone for somebody else's mistakes?" Smith said. "That's hard to say. And, I think that the answer we came up with is because we are a team."