| Paul Causey
Make no mistake, last year was a disappointment. The problem after the
season ended was that our usual “Wait til next year” mantra didn't seem to
hold a lot of zest. We lost a first team All-Big West member and current
Toronto Raptors player in
Pape Sow and we would return only three
players from last year’s team.
Losing Pape will hurt big time, no doubt in my mind about that. But is
returning only three players from last year really all that bad?
Whether it was the coaches or the player, the bottom line is this group
did not get along. It’s a new year and no one is likely to be happier than
Burton as this team is made up entirely of his type of players.
Senior
Hardy Asprilla is the lone holdover from
the Daniels’ regime and whom Burton says is “probably one of the hardest
working players I have ever coached.” Ralphy Holmes, though recruited by
Daniels, is really a Burton player since it was entirely his choice on
whether to take Ralphy back after sitting out a year for disciplinary
reasons.
Of Ralphy, Burton says, “Needless to say I can’t tell you how excited
I’ll be when Ralphy becomes eligible in the second semester. Ralphy has done
a terrific job for us and he has done everything we’ve asked both off the
court and on the court.”
Either way you look at it, Burton is ecstatic to have both of them back.
The Titans boast 12 new players though five of them have played Division
I basketball before. Nevertheless and no matter how good the team chemistry,
it’s going to take time for this team to gel. There will be plenty of games
won or lost in the last five minutes and how the team responds is anyone’s
guess.
How will this team handle adversity? Who is going to step up and lead?
Who is going to step up and play defense? Rebound? Will we be better than
last year? Too many questions and too many possibilities and too little time
and space but I will try to tackle the last question.
We won 11 games last year so let’s take a look at each position and see
if we improve:
Point Guard:
Bobby Brown of 2004-05 vs. Bobby Brown
of 2003-04 and
Zakee Smith. Big Improvement. LB
has made significant progress in the off-season.
Shooting Guard:
Jermaine Harper vs. Derrick Andrew.
Slight improvement. Jermaine is a tenacious defender who should help
us from the outside
Small Forward: Ralphy Holmes/Yaphett
King vs. Anthony Bolton/King. Huge improvement. Ralphy is
amazing and King should be much better.
Power Forward:
Jamaal Brown/Hardy Asprilla vs.
Bron Groomes/Asprilla. Big
improvement. As long as JB can play defense and rebound as expected.
Hardy gives it his all so no worries there.
Center: Walls/Quinet/Brown/Hardy/Burns vs. Pape Sow. Huge
drop-off. really no doubt about this.
So it appears, on paper at least, we improve significantly at 4 of the 5
positions. If the team gets along -- both coaches and players -- as well as
they did at the scrimmage for the entire year, this should also make a huge
difference for the team.
Now for the prediction. Each year, and this year is no difference, I look
at the schedule and do both a best-case and worst-case scenario. My
predictions, however, have always leaned heavily towards the best-case
scenario side. Not this year. I am taking out all emotion and simply
splitting the difference.
My best-case scenario had us with an overall record of 19-8 (12-6 in
conference) record and my worst-case scenario had us at 7-20 (4-14). Combine
the two, and I came up with a final record of 13-14.
Predictions: Non-Conference: 5-4; Conference: 8-10, 6th; BWT: 1-1;
Overall: 14-15.
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