“Dominate the simple.”
That is the term that head coach Mike Longabardi has repeated throughout the Delaware Blue Coats’ season. The team lived up to it tonight, in a commanding 139-119 victory over the Greensboro Swarm, a score that was much closer than the reality.
“I thought tonight we played the game the right way,” Longabardi said. “We just dominated the simple. That’s been our mantra.”
The team has won five of their last six, improving their overall record to 6-4. One of the keys to this run for the Coats is their turnovers, as they commit the least number of turnovers in the league. Tonight, they only had nine, compared to the Swarm’s 17. Taking care of the ball is “dominating the simple” as Longabardi preaches.
“I think guys are getting more comfortable with each other,” guard David Duke Jr. said. “We are sharing the ball more. That stuff comes over time. It is really helping our chemistry. Tonight was a product of that.”
The game started as a back-and-forth contest, but the Blue Coats would go on to have a dominant second quarter, scoring 47 points to the Swarm’s 29. The Coats would never look back after taking this lead.
For Delaware offensively, Ricky Council IV and Terquavion Smith were the stars of the show. Council had 25 points while Smith added 23 points and a team-leading five threes. Council is continuing a strong season for himself, as he is currently fourth in the G League in scoring, while Smith got his own honor bestowed upon him by his head coach after the game.
“Terq Smith was the Coat of the game,” Longabardi said. “He has been struggling recently. Especially struggling in the last two, he really played well tonight.”
The Blue Coats also got some reinforcements before tonight’s game, as Darius Bazley made his debut and Jaden Springer returned for the first time since last season’s championship game.
Bazley got the starting nod for the team and had a decent game, with 15 points and nine rebounds.
“It is priceless to have guys like that,” Longabardi said. “Those guys have been through a lot. They have a lot of experience, so we like that.”
Springer also demonstrated his experience, with 19 points and some great defensive plays, putting on a show for Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse and starting guard D’Anthony Melton, who were both in attendance. He fouled out, but did more than enough to get the call back up to the Sixers’ main roster.
“He is a great player,” Duke Jr. said. “I played against him when I came into the league. It was cool to play with him. He is at the level I wanna be at.”
The Blue Coats are now fourth in their conference, and will look to keep up their home winning streak of four games this Saturday at Chase Fieldhouse against the Long Island Nets, who are tied with the Blue Coats.
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