Watching the men’s basketball team on the court, one thing sticks out: the obvious fact that the players aren’t blending as a team. At certain instances, the Jays look a lot like chickens who are running around with their heads cut off.

On the court, there is a very obvious need for someone to step up into a leadership role on the team.

A lot of this has to do with the players on the team. If they aren’t getting along, for whatever reason, their issues should be left in the locker room. When problems carry over onto the court, the team’s dynamic suffers. The players will have issues communicating with each other on the court and the team’s play will suffer.

And if there are factions in the team, which can happen at any level, the play will suffer even more as those issues carry onto the court.

The Jays really need a new leader, someone who will mediate disagreements, get players to leave any issues in the locker room and get the team pumped up and ready to practice or play every day.

Last season, the Jays’ guard Josh Dotzler was the obvious leader on the team. His graduation at the end of the year left the captain’s role empty, but none of the reamaining Jays have really stepped up to fill that position. Many fans don’t even know who the team captain is this season.

The player who steps up to fill the leadership role doesn’t need to be the best player, simply someone who can command the respect of the rest of the team and head coach Dana Altman as well. He also needs to be someone who can control his own emotions and help to stave off emotional outbursts from his teammates.

Junior guard P’Allen Stinnett’s emotional outburst during Sunday night’s game against Missouri State, and the announcement of his suspension the next day, for reasons that weren’t disclosed to media personell, seem like a cry for a new team leader. Someone who can help players keep their emotions in check, pick the team up when calls and plays don’t go its way and keep players positive when they are having an off day.

However, this isn’t simply a matter of the players. The coaching staff has to be held responsible here as well. The coach is a part of the team and definitely sets the mood going into games. And part of the job of a coach is to make sure your team is ready for the game, that means not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well. If a team isn’t properly motivated before a game, that falls in the coach’s lap.

And, more importantly, when the team isn’t playing well, the coach has to bear some of the burden of the loss or the poor performance. Instead of telling media outlets that “they” need to work on various aspects of the game, the coach should be using the inclusive word “we.” A coach separating him- or herself from the team in any way, but especially in one that public, hurts the team’s unity.

For a team to play well and to be successful, the players have to be united in a tight unit. Without this, they will most likely fail.