LINCOLN -- Towards the end of his career with Philadelphia 76ers'-original NBA franchise which drafted him, Charles Barkley frequently referred to putting the team on his back and carrying them.
After the retirement of forwards Julius Erving and Bobby Jones, an ill-advised trade of center Moses Malone and an career-ending injury to guard Andrew Toney the talent level dropped on a team which had been a perennial contender and won a championship in 1983. A similar situation exists in Lincoln, which graduated nine seniors, seven of whom played significant minutes and were all capable of scoring regularly, during a 22-6 2013-14 season that ended in the state quarterfinals.
Shandon "Biggie" Goldman was the only returning starter and grew to 6-feet-9 drawing attention from division I and other colleges with his ball-handling and long-range shooting skills. This has served as incentive for opponents, especially when they think college scouts are present.
Two opponents have had career bests during conference play against Lincoln this season. Gravette's 6-feet, 180 pound junior Jackson Soule went off for 31 points scoring nearly half of the Lions' points in a Dec. 16 seven-point, 64-57, defeat of the Wolves. On the road at Berryville Jan. 31, Lincoln lost 60-40 when the Bobcats' Timmond Turner scored 33 points on 11 of 14 shooting with college scouts from the University of Maryland rumored to be in the house.
In the face of all this pressure to perform both Lincoln and Goldman have struggled. The Wolves finished fifth in the 4A-1 with a 5-9 conference mark prompting a flurry of criticism directed towards Goldman and Lincoln coach Tim Rich among online forums.
But the pendulum may be ready to swing. Goldman was extremely effective during the fourth quarter of Lincoln's 50-38 win over Prairie Grove on Friday. The Wolves kept pressure on by repeatedly attacking the goal. Alec Pitts zipped down the lane beating everybody including Prairie Grove shot-blocker Dylan Soehner and Roni Castenada came around the horn and drove for another layup out of a half-court set. Goldman passed to Garrett Blankenship for a layup and later added a 3-point play using a pump-fake to drive and extending his wingspan to lay the ball in. He put in a teammate's miss after a Soehner block and converted both ends of a 1-and-1 also hitting a 5-feet jump-hook.
Prairie Grove barely avoided becoming part of a Goldman highlight in the final minute when he saw nobody between him and the rim and dribbled that direction having a mind to slam-dunk. At the last moment a desperate Tiger tipped the ball away from behind.
Opponents have had their day in the sun and have earned some bragging rights at Lincoln's expense thus far. Yet, should they get too smug and believe those who have already written Lincoln off the nature of basketball is such that the talented Goldman and under-rated Rich might just hang them out to dry during tournament action. Beware of the big man and his mild-mannered coach.
Sports on 02/18/2015