February 16, 2023
Chat with Coach Biehl #6
by Brother Neal Golden, S.C. (CJ ’57)
"The Crusaders played two tight games this past week, losing at Jesuit 64-58 last Friday and defeating Holy Cross Tuesday in the Conlin Gym 69-68 in overtime.
“We figured Jesuit would be a tough game,” says Coach Chris Biehl. “We played zone almost exclusively, which is out of character for us. We felt we were nicked up too much in a few areas. So we wanted to slow Jesuit down. To Jesuit’s credit, they came out early on and knocked down a lot of outside shots. I felt like we played the whole game in catchup mode. We did a good job of scratching and clawing to stay in the game, but in the end, we weren’t able to get stops when we needed them. We also missed free throws at critical moments.”
G Eli Pichon had a sensational first half but tired in the second half. “Eli has become one of the premier guards in the city. But Eli has to play point guard for us because we don’t have a backup point guard anymore. Jesuit did a good job of forcing him to work to get the ball down the floor. Eli is also one of our top two or three on-ball defenders. That means he’s consistently working on both ends of the court. So he showed some fatigue in the game.
“We go as he goes. If he has a bad night, we really don’t have a Plan B. Against Holy Cross, we took him out for 16 seconds the entire game, and during those 16 seconds, we had a turnover from the point guard position.”
The Crusaders led Holy Cross for only three minutes in the entire game Tuesday night. “We took the lead briefly about two minutes into the fourth quarter but held it for only one possession when they went on a 6-0 run. We retook the lead with 40 seconds to go and then had more time with the lead in overtime.”
The winning basket came on a DJ Fowler jump shot with less than five seconds remaining in overtime. “Early in the year, DJ looked like an All-World player when his legs and body were fresh. He was knocking down everything. Then he went through an eight-to-ten game stretch where he wasn’t putting up 16-18 shots as he was doing earlier in the season. He’s one of the best catch-and-shoot players I’ve coached. If he catches the ball with his chest facing the goal, he knocks it down pretty consistently. This past week in practice, he got a little more life in his legs, more spring in his step. When he bounces into his shot, he’s pretty solid. Tuesday night when we needed a basket the most, he came through. It wasn’t an easy shot. He planted hard on his right foot and went straight up from the right elbow. That’s his spot.
“We wanted to start playing fast against Holy Cross. But we’re very turnover-prone. We were trying to generate offense through a series of screens to the point where it slowed us down so much that it exposed our weakness in passing the ball.
“We had 11 turnovers in the first half. We told them at halftime that if we clean up the turnovers, make some free throws, we can come out on top. We had only five turnovers in the second half and overtime. But we made only 14-of-27 free throws. Fortunately, Holy Cross caught the free throw disease in the fourth quarter and ended up making only 43%.”
The Crusaders moved up one spot to #18 in the LHSAA Division I Select power rankings as a result of Tuesday night’s victory. Catholic League champion St. Augustine is highest at #10, followed by Curtis at #11, Holy Cross #13, Rummel #14, Karr #15, and Jesuit #16.
“At this point, it looks like we have an 80-90% chance of playing a league school in the first round or perhaps it’s another area school like McMain or John Ehret. I think there’s nobody that we can’t beat. I want a true playoff experience for our boys. They have never left the city of New Orleans to play a playoff game.
“I still don’t think we’re playing our best basketball, and I think that anyone who left the gym after the Holy Cross game would agree with that. Nobody’s gonna leave and say we don’t play hard. But we still have a lot of things to clean up.”
With a bye in the Catholic League Friday night, the Crusaders end the regular season by hosting the Carver Rams (19-10), who are #8 in the Division II Select rankings. “Carver finished second in the state last year. They have two guards who will play college ball plus a 6’8” big man. We don’t have anyone that big in the Catholic League. I’m looking forward to playing them.”
Be in that number Friday night as the Crusaders hope to improve their ranking going into the playoffs against a challenging opponent."
