Just 8 games remain in the regular season for the Air Force Mens Basketball team and while opportunities are still out there, the Falcons are trending in the wrong direction. They’ve lost 4 straight after 2 crucial losses at San Jose State and at home against Fresno State. They won’t play again until Tuesday at Nevada at 9pm on KVOR. Their weekend bye comes at the right time, because the team is struggling. A frustrated Head Coach Dave Pilipovich said, outside of Sid Tomes, his seniors are not playing well and he needs more from them. He added that he may have to change some lineups and sit some seniors if things don’t get better. This has not been a good season. The consensus was this team, this group, would be special. With 4 seniors most nights in the starting lineup, it was believed the Falcons would battle for an upper division finish in the Mountain West. But it has not gone according to plan. One of the big problems has been defense. I asked Tomes on the postgame show the other night was it offense or defense that the Falcons were struggling with most. He answered “Defense-100%.” Granted, Air Force is facing very athletic teams night in and night out. But the Falcons have to find a way to tighten up at the defensive end, and do a better job defending the 3 point line. Fresno State had 14 3’s the other night. San Jose State was shooting 29% for the season from the arc. Against the Falcons they shot 43%. And there are other examples. There’s no gimmies the rest of the way. This season can still be successful, but Air Force may have to do a deep dive to figure out why they haven’t been better on the defensive end. But they need to act quickly. The Falcons are on the clock.
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