The Eastern men’s basketball team did not get off to an ideal start losing its first two games of the season.

The first loss was against South Dakota State, which the Panthers lost 67-55. The score probably should have been more lopsided but two late threes by senior guard Curry McKinney cut the score down by six.

The second loss was a complete blowout by Ball State. The Panthers were never closer than six points at any time in the game. The final score was 77-46. It was the most lopsided loss since Nov. 28, 2009 against Belmont.

There were many reasons why the Panthers did not perform well.

1. They committed a combined 34 turnovers in the games. A team cannot win if they turn the ball over that much. It doesn’t matter if you have an extremely talented team, if the team turns the ball over on a consistent basis they will not win.

2. They shot terribly. Against SDSU, the Panthers shot 37 percent for the game and just 27 percent from three. They also shot only 57 percent from the free throw line. Against Ball State, they shot even worse – just 31 percent from the field.

Poor shooting can be a result of a number of factors. It’s earlier in the season so the poor shooting could be rust from not playing in a competitive game for so long.

It could be a result of poor shot-selection. Taking bad shots leads to more misses. The players and coaches seem to think their poor shooting is because of their poor shot selection.

Whatever excuse the Panthers make for their bad performances, they need to figure out how to play as a cohesive team soon if they want to make this a memorable season.

Despite the poor start, I think that the Panthers will have a good chance to make some noise in the Ohio Valley Conference this season.

They will have to get past Murray State, who made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament last season.

The Panthers have more talent on their roster this season than last year, its all a matter of can they play together and have every player accept their individual role. If they can do this I honestly believe they have a chance at the OVC title and their first NCAA tournament bid since 2001.

Rob Mortell can be reached at 581-7944 or at rdmortell@eiu.edu