(photo - Matt Smith)
UNCP sophomore guard Marcus Heath drives to the basket in a game last season. The Braves opened the season on the road with a pair of exhibition games in Iowa.
By Nick Phillips
Asst. Sports Editor
Nov. 12, 2009
This season’s UNCP men’s basketball team is ready to begin a new season, tipping off action on November 7th and November 8th, as they traveled to Iowa to face a pair of opponents. The Braves are hoping that the experience gained on the trip will help them as they dig deeper into their schedule this season.
The 2008-2009 edition of the team did not have a great year to the average eye. But what their final record, 6-21 overall (3-17 Peach Belt Conference), does not show is that the Braves played many close games that went down to the final minutes. The Braves lost eleven games by less than ten points, including six losses by less than five points.
“We had a lot of exciting, close games, that didn’t always go the way we wanted, but hopefully we can build on some of that momentum,” said head coach Ben Miller.
It was a season of change for the Braves, as they learned Miller’s new offensive and defensive systems, while playing with a relatively young team. Of the 14 players on last year’s roster, six were either freshmen or sophomores.
“There’s a little more experience this year. We still have a relatively young team, but the returning guys, even the guys who redshirted, have been through a year of practices, so the system isn’t new to everybody,” Miller said of this season’s team.
“Having that familiarity has been beneficial, because you have some of the older players that can also be coaches in practice,” he added.
Adjustment Year
Experience is a word that was stressed by Miller, as everyone in the program now has a year’s worth of knowledge – the players of the system and head coach, and the head coach towards his players.
Miller was impressed with the community and its warmth to him and his family.
“After being here for a year now, it’s really been great to get to know the people here. The administration, the coaching staffs, the students, everyone here has been great,” said Miller on his first season.
Last season, Miller helped start a student section at the English E. Jones Center for the Braves home games, while helping the students decide their student section name. The Bravehearts now inhabit the Jones Center for both men’s and women’s home contests complete with Braveheart student section shirts.
“I was impressed by the students last year, because obviously we didn’t win a lot of games. When we got into conference play, our student section was great; I was impressed by the turnouts. “
Season Ahead
“Personnel-wise, our team has changed. We lost some good players in the seniors that graduated, but we’ve also added some good players. We were able to redshirt six guys last year, which was nice.”
Several key players return for the Braves this season, including senior Brandon Thomas, who led the Braves in rebounding, averaging 7.6 per game, and blocked shots. Sophomore Marcus Heath logged the most playing time for the Braves, as a freshman, while averaging 9.7 points per game as well. Fellow sophomore Tyler Egli averaged 5.5 points per game, while also finishing with a .346 shooting percentage from behind the three-point line last season.
“Our defense is always going to try our foundation. At times last year we were effective with our pressure defense and other times we gave up easy baskets. Putting that together as a team is going to be very important to us, as well becoming a very much improved rebounding team. “
As a team, UNCP allowed an average of 79.5 points per game, with opponents shooting for.480 from the field. Rebounding, UNCP looks to continue to improve on its 35.1 team rebounds per game average from a year ago.
Offensively, UNCP only averaged 70.6 points a game, and shot for a .425 percentage on the floor.
“Offensively, we have a lot of weapons and a lot of guys that can score. The key is going to be unselfishness, and a commitment to team execution.”
The Braves will look to improve and combine both defense and offense to produce more wins this season.
Favorable Schedule
In Miller’s first season, the Braves only had a total of two non-conference games at home. This season, UNCP was able to schedule six home games in November alone.
“We have a non-conference schedule that will give our students and people in the community a great opportunity early to see our team,” said Miller of the team’s early schedule.
Miller credited assistant coach Corey Thompson for his hard work in scheduling good matchups throughout the season.
That non-conference home schedule includes the home-opener against regional rival Fayetteville State on November 16th. The Braves also host the UNCP Basketball Classic on November 20 and 21, and finish the month of November with another regional foe in Wingate on November 30th.
Miller and the rest of the staff hope that this home stretch allows the students and community a much improved team, and a chance for the team to grow and learn as they prepare for Peach Belt Conference play.
Before opening up at home, the Braves began their third straight season with games against Division I opponents. In the 2007-2008 season, they opened with games at NC State and Indiana, and last season played in Chapel Hill against the #1-ranked Tar Heels.
This season, the Braves traveled to Iowa for a pair of games. They tipped off the season against Iowa State on November 6th, and traveled to Northern Iowa on November 7th.
“Every year we are going to look for opportunities to play against Division I teams to play against the best possible competition. Playing against that competition will be great for us, in preparation for a tough non-conference schedule and the Peach Belt Conference,” said Miller on the Braves scheduling.
Miller’s father, Eldon Miller, will also be back on the sidelines this season. His head coaching career included stops at Northern Iowa from 1986-1998, compiling a career record of 568-419. His coaching career included stops at his alma mater Wittenberg University, Western Michigan University, Ohio State University, and Northern Iowa.
He vowed to return to the sidelines as an assistant when Ben earned his first head coaching position, and did just that last season.
“It’s been great having his experience, both as a coach and also with running programs. Just having someone that’s that good a friend, someone you’re that close to, has been great,” said the younger Miller on having his father with him on the coaching staff.
The most important thing for the Braves is gaining experience and improving, something that both practices and games does for a team. With a year of experience under their belt the Braves expect bigger and better things than last season’s close, last-second losses.
“The most important thing for our guys is focusing on daily improvement,” Miller said.
With that daily improvement, expect the Braves to find themselves on the winning end of more games this season.
No comments:
Post a Comment