krobinett@journalnet.com

POCATELLO - When Joe O'Brien is disappointed with one of his players, it's pretty easy to notice.

Two years ago, the Idaho State men's basketball coach was so dissatisfied with center Jon Ofoegbu for not playing up to his potential that O'Brien publicly blasted him every chance he got.

Last year, there was more blame to go around, and he took turns criticizing Amorrow Morgan, Chron Tatum, Logan Kinghorn and Lucas Steijn in front of microphones until they played with more consistency.

Many view that approach as too harsh. But in a way, the tongue-lashings are an honor.

O'Brien saves his harshest, most public critiques only for those who are loaded with talent and could significantly help the Bengals with better play. He never said a peep about former walk-on Robert Crompton. But the one-time high school All-American Ofoegbu, well, he always seemed to be in the doghouse.

This year, O'Brien has already found his new target: Donnie Carson.

Following losses to Boise State, BYU, Washington State and Wisconsin-Green Bay, O'Brien singled out Carson every time.

"We've seen what he's capable of, and we've seen him not play to his potential," O'Brien said. "Can he play like the Donnie we saw during conference play last year again? That's a decision he has to make. He's not shooting the ball well, and that's leading to him having lapses and lacking confidence. He's gotta get that fixed."

Carson's response to all this?

"I try to use it as motivation," he said. "I know I'm supposed to be better at this point, and he knows I'm supposed to be better at this point. I never look at it as a putdown when he singles me out."

O'Brien said he likes that approach and fully expects Carson to be a consistent scoring threat when conference play begins Jan. 1 against Northern Colorado. But until he sees that improvement, expect tough love.

Through nine games this season, Carson is averaging just 5.6 points per game and is shooting a woeful 28.1 percent of his field goals. To be fair, he also leads all ISU guards in rebounding with 4.1 per game and leads the entire team in steals with 1.6 per game. But when compared to his averages during conference games last year - 9.6 points a night and 44 percent shooting - it's easy to see why O'Brien feels he's not playing as well as he could.

Carson admits he's underachieving.

"I'm not satisfied with myself," he said. "I expected a lot more. I haven't been as aggressive as I could be or confident in everything that I do. That's the most important thing right there. No matter what you do, be confident."

The question is, how does Carson turn it all around?

Last season, few in the community even knew who he was before conference play got under way. Up to that point, he had only scored 13 points all season. But as soon as Big Sky games started, he was one of the best players on the team.

By season's end, O'Brien was nominating him for the league's Defensive Player of the Year award.

"It was like he flipped a switch last year," O'Brien said. "We went to Northern Colorado, and all of a sudden everything was OK. Why that happened? I don't know."

Carson said it was simply a case of him deciding he wanted to be a key player no matter the price.

"We started conference play and I felt like if I was going to play significant minutes, and be a significant part of this team, I had to do it right then," he said. "I said to myself, 'You've got to do it now or it's not going to happen,' so I just stepped it up."

If that's true, maybe all Carson really did need to do was flip on a metaphorical switch to play better.

Maybe that's all he needs to do now, too.

All Carson knows is that to get his coach off his back, and his name back into starting rotation, he's once again willing to do whatever it takes.

"I'm ready," he said. "And it's going to be easier this time."