Men's basketball wins nine in a row

The winning streak has hit nine games, the roster is healthy and attentive to detail, and Mac is sitting atop of the OUA West with a two-game cushion.

It is safe to say the McMaster Marauders men’s basketball team is playing its best ball of the Amos Connolly era.

It is the longest winning streak in the head coach’s four year tenure, although the combined winning percentage of the teams they have beaten is .392 as of Jan. 22.

While things are going along swimmingly, the Marauder camp is in a state of cautious optimism.

It is early still, and the well-documented goal of winning a national championship is still far, far away.

Connolly knows there is work to be done, and the practice conversations revolve around keeping the squad’s focus on the right areas.

“What I concern myself with is the [team] getting a false sense of confidence,” said Connolly. “They have done what they need to do to win basketball games, but I would not say [the team’s] execution has been perfect or that they are playing at the level they are capable of.”

That seems like a harsh criticism for a team that has reached heights not seen in nearly a decade.

Connolly says there are positives though, and pointed to the success given the schedule in 2014 – six of the first eight games are on the road – as an example.

In order to keep the team in check, the coaching staff is preaching that the players “stick to the process.”

The internal belief is if McMaster focuses on themselves and continues to maintain the intensity that has got the team to this point, they will have every opportunity to achieve their goals.

McMaster’s rise in the CIS rankings to No. 6 is an example of that.

The by-product of their spot in the poll is that Mac is the highest ranked team that most of their opponents will play for the rest of the season.

“We have a target on our back. We are going to get the opponent’s best, we are not going to sneak up on anybody,” said Connolly.

In a conversation last week, Joe Rocca echoed that sentiment, saying he could see the difference in compete-level they are receiving from other teams.

It is a good problem to have in comparison to issues facing other OUA teams, but the head coach aired a concern that the team is taking some opponents lightly.

He pointed to the Waterloo Warriors mounting a comeback and the Laurier Golden Hawks hanging around for too long in two of the latest matches.

All of this is not to say that McMaster is far from making it back to the national stage. With the way they are playing, they are undoubtedly closer to reaching the CIS Final 8 than they have been in years.

There are issues here though, and whether those wrinkles will be worked out or not is yet to be seen.

The pieces are in place and the roster is deep, but the danger of complacency is lurking.