MOBILE, Ala. ? With the University of South Alabama men’s basketball program able to participate in 10 practices prior to a three-game trip to Canada at the end of the month, head coach Ronnie Arrow turned to his experienced post players in the Jaguars’ first three workouts.
“We knew coming in that our strength was going to be inside, they need to be our leaders and pick up the slack until our guards are able to gain experience,” he stated. “We’re probably where we thought we would be, but the bottom line is for us to be able to have the year that we want to have our post men are going to have to be leaders.
“When we’ve gotten the ball inside to them so far they are doing good things, which they should. With all the experience we have coming back we need to be sure that we run plays that enable our best players to be able to get the ball.”
Three seniors pace the group up front led by Brandon Davis, who averaged 10.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per outing while shooting 63.1 percent from the floor ? the latter figure ranked second in the Sun Belt Conference ? en route to earning third-team all-league accolades. DeAndre’ Coleman chipped in with 7.7 points and a team-high 7.8 boards per game, finishing second in the SBC on the boards, and Ronald Douglas added 6.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest.
Junior-college transfer LaShun Watson and DeAndre Hersey, a freshman, are looking to contribute to the group’s output as well.
With the loss of all-Sun Belt performers Demetric Bennett and Daon Merritt, who were the top two scorers a year ago after combining to post better than 32 points per game, in the backcourt, Arrow sees an area where numerous individuals can make an immediate impact. B.J. Ford started 16 of the 30 contests he appeared in, while both Daniel Hayles and DeAndrae Ross were part of the rotation at guard too. All three were in their first season playing for the Jaguars in 2007-08, and they will be joined by a trio of newcomers who could see action as well.
“We graduated two very good all-conference seniors, so it is a golden opportunity for guys like Bryan [Sherrer], C.J. [Garner] and Demarius [Jones] to get playing time and learn our system,” he said. “This trip could not have come at a better time ? to be able to practice 10 times and play three games will let us get the new guys accustomed to what we want them to do.
“They need to get better each day. It’s a guard’s game, and ours need to get physically and mentally tougher every day.”
After watching the team work out three straight days, an area the Jags’ mentor would like to see improvement in is conditioning. “The most important thing right now is to get these guys in shape so that they’ll be able to continue to learn,” Arrow commented. “If you’re not in shape, when your body goes your mind follows. The bottom line is that we want to stay healthy, but each day we want to get more physical to where we are what I call ?bulletproof’.”
Should USA accomplish that feat, Arrow believes that the Jaguars can then focus their attention on defense. And he has a good example he’s trying to use to show the team what can be accomplished if they take care of business on that end of the floor.
“We’re very athletic and to the point that when ? not if ? we can get these guys playing good, physical defense as a team, then everything else we want to have happen will follow. I’m trying to use the United States’ Olympic team as an example with how they are emphasizing defense. That’s why they are doing as well as they have so far.”
The Jaguars will return to the practice floor at the Striplin Practice Facility Friday at 2:40 p.m.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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