Grizzlies going on the defensive--The Oakland Press
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
By CRYSTAL EVOLA Of The Oakland Press
ROCHESTER HILLS — Lose your top offensive player, change your defensive scheme.
That’s exactly what the Oakland University men’s basketball team has done for the 2006-07 season.
The Golden Grizzlies will have a chance to show local fans their plan to return to old-fashioned, man-to-man defense when they kick off a new season with an exhibition contest against Indiana Wesleyan at 7 p.m. today at the Oakland Athletics Center.
Oakland will officially open the nonconference portion of its regular-season schedule against Defiance College at 7 p.m. on Nov. 10 in a home game.
“It’s not going to be what Oakland fans have seen in the last few years when the score’s 90-85,” said longtime OU coach Greg Kampe, whose team was picked to finish fifth in the Mid-Continent Conference preseason poll. “We’re hoping to live off our defense as we learn who’s going to score for us.
“The last couple years we played that zone, but it was more because we had some guys that we had to hide defensively and we don’t have that on this team. We really believe that we’ve got a group of guys that can all guard the ball and they can all play.”
OU plans to rely less on offensive firepower and concentrate on being more accountable on the defensive end by ditching the zone and switching to man-to-man.
The Grizzlies averaged 73.9 points per game last season, but allowed 77.3.
They turned the ball over an average of 15.5 times, but opponents gave it up just 13.9 times.
The change in emphasis and scheme is just fine with many of the returning players.
“People are going to be more accountable with one-on-one,” OU sophomore Derick Nelson said. “I think playing man-to-man will help us be better and I think it’s better for the team.”
OU finished 11-18 overall and just 6-10 in the Mid-Con last year
The Grizzlies return four players who all saw starting time throughout a bulk of last season.
Seniors Rick Billings (11.4 ppg), Vova Severovas (14.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and Shawn Hopes (9.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg) are the leading returning veterans and are anxious to finish out their careers on a positive note, no matter what it takes.
“This is my last chance, so I’ve got to make it my best effort,” Hopes said. “I’ve got to give it my all and go out with a bang this year and make sure I come out with a championship.”
Hopes was on the sidelines watching OU make a historic run into the NCAA Tournament in 2004. The Grizzlies were sent home early in 2005 after a disappointing, short trip through the Mid-Con tourney.
“After witnessing that (in 2004) it’s like I’ve got to come up with something,” Hopes said, who had quit the team at the start of the 2003-04 and later had a change of heart. “No matter what it takes, I’m trying to get that (league) championship.”
Freshman point guard Johnathon Jones, a McDonald’s All-America nominee as a senior at Okemos High, is among the key newcomers expected to make a major impact on the team.
Overall, it will require a full-team effort to fill the void left by Calvin Wooten (19.2 ppg, 49 steals and 65 assists).
Wooten was ruled academically ineligible for failing to have enough credits as a senior.
No problem.
“It just seems like we’re more balanced offensively,” Nelson said. “We know each other a lot more than last year and everybody’s a lot more used to playing with each other.”
The loss is compounded by the fact that OU has a challenging non-conference schedule filled with road games against teams including UMass, Michigan State, Cincinnati, Arkansas and UCLA.
“I’m definitely excited to play such good competition,” Severovas said. “It should really prepare us for our conference play and we’re definitely expecting to win some of those games.”
Barnes, T-Birds anxious for exhibition opener--The Spectrum
Valpo Women Set for 2006-2007 Hoops Campaign--www.valpo.edu
Leathernecks ready to tip-off exhibition season against MacMurray College--Western Illinois Athletics
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