Published: November 15, 2008 10:37 pm            

Sycamores’ familiarity process is over, it’s time for the ISU men to get down to business

TERRE HAUTE — The first year a coach takes over a program is like a whole year’s worth of the first day of school.

The players have to feel out the coach. The coach has to feel out the players. Neither of them knows the other’s routine.

It doesn’t go away once the season starts because questions begin anew with each game? How are coach/players going to handle the first road game? The first conference game? The grind of losses and the euphoria of victories.

The awkwardness of unfamiliarity fades to a point as the season goes along, but it never goes away. Some players don’t buy into the new coach, sometimes the new coach wants new players.

That process is over for Indiana State’s men’s basketball team. And that alone is a relief for coach Kevin McKenna and the core of veteran players who return for the 2008-09 season knowing what to expect from McKenna and what is expected out of them.

“Last year all of us were looking at coach wondering what we needed to do.

“This year, we know what we need to do. We don’t have to stop practice to ask when and what we’re running. I can bend Carl’s ear and tell him where he needs to be or I can tell Josh what he’s supposed to be doing. It’s an extension for the coach to have us guys who can do that,” ISU center Jay Tunnell said.

McKenna admits that it has made a big difference in the approach to this season as opposed to last year.

“That’s definitely a bonus. The guys who are playing now, those guys kind of know what my expectations are for practice. They know the level of consistency, the level of intensity I’m looking for. They can share that with the other guys, and for the most part, the other guys are falling in,” McKenna said.

The dissipation of the newness factor comes not a moment too soon for ISU. Seven Sycamores are in the their first year in the program, three more were in the program last year, but didn’t play a game. This is a team that needs mentors, and though ISU doesn’t have many experienced players on the roster, Jay Tunnell and Harry Marshall are upperclassmen that at least know the drill, both from a run-of-the-mill experience standpoint and as far as what McKenna wants out of his players.

“[The feeling out process] slowed things down at the beginning of training camp too, we were still learning how everyone else plays,” said Marshall, who is ineligible until December, but who can practice with the team. “But we’re starting to click on all cylinders now. I think it’s helped, though, to be able to help them. We’re going to be falling back on these freshmen a lot in the first several games. It’s only going to help us in the long run if they’re ready to go.”

Who’s ready to go? ISU’s starting lineup in the two exhibition games consisted of point guard Rashad Reed — freshman Tyler Cutter in the first game — No. 2 guard Aaron Carter, freshman swingman Carl Richard, power forward Tunnell and center Isiah Martin.

Marshall figures to return at either the point or at the No. 2 spot when his eligibility is restored. Cutter will fight for time at the point guard spot, same for Jordan Printy — fresh off a redshirt season — at shooting guard. Josh Crawford will get plenty of minutes in the post, with a healthy Brant Leitnaker fighting for time as well. Walk-ons Keenan Barlow and Nick Donaldson — son of former Indianapolis Colts great Ray Donaldson — are also on board.

The aspect that ties most of the players together — and that defines the 2008-09 Sycamores — is the infusion of athleticism.

With athletes like Reed, Crawford, Richard, Cutter and Barlow (who redshirted as a walk-on last year) added to established athletes like Marshall, Martin and Carter, ISU has become far more athletic and quick than they’ve been in recent seasons. Don’t forget forward Dwayne Lathan, perhaps the most athletic of them all, who has an impact on practice but can’t play this year after transferring from Louisiana Tech.

“You can’t teach length and athleticism. It gives coach more options on what he can do. He can go big and long or he can go short with our guards. We can play more up-tempo and I think it suits his system more than last year,” Tunnell said.

The most immediate impact of ISU’s increased athleticism is going to be shot-blocking. Martin already gave ISU its best shot-blocking option since DeCarsta Webster was setting school records in the mid-1970s when he averaged 1.9 blocks last season. Added to the mix is Crawford, whose long, lean frame and quick first step is ideal for shot blocking. Koang Doluony, if he isn’t redshirted, also has shot-blocking potential, along with a few others like Richard.

After that obvious benefit, the immediate payoff of ISU’s athleticism gets more sketchy. Yes, ISU will have the chance to run with teams and even impose their will on some opponents physically. The trick is having the basketball savvy to go along with it.

“We are more athletic, but I’m not sure if we understand how to use that athleticism yet. I’m not sure we know to get up in somebody some more to take a pass away, or put more pressure on a guy, or be able to slide your feet and not let a guy blow by you to depend on that shot blocking help behind you,” McKenna said. “Transferring that athleticism into basketball soundness? I think we still have a ways to go in those areas.”

ISU still faces many questions, not the least of which is shaking off the losing that has defined the program since 2001. The most obvious question for those on the outside looking in is how ISU replaces the production of departed guard Marico Stinson, who left the team in early October. Stinson would have been the leading returning scorer at 12 points. Marshall’s enforced absence for most of the nonconference schedule is also a major hole to fill.

“It’s definitely hard not to play, but the role I have to play is to be supportive of my teammates. The coaches want me to be a leader on and off the floor and I can help with that. For example, [against St. Joseph’s on Friday], I was able to point some things out I saw out on the floor they couldn’t,” Marshall said.

McKenna has other concerns beyond the obvious, but much of it goes back to getting the Sycamores to hone their fundamentals.

“We try to work on fundamentals, ball-handling, shooting and footwork drills all the time. Our guys might think they’re remedial, but I remember watching the [Chicago] Bulls when they were really good and they did more fundamental footwork drills than any team I’ve seen,” McKenna said. “When you’re a good athlete, when you refine your athleticism with basketball skills, it’s amazing what you can do on the court. That’s the work in progress we have with these guys. We need to turn athletes into basketball players.”

An obvious question is how the young and new players assimilate themselves into the rigors of the conference. Very few Missouri Valley Conference teams win right out of the box with a roster comprised of newbies.

Not that some of the new Sycamores are fazed by the prospect of improving ISU’s win total.

“It’s coming together. We just want to play hard and win 20 games this year, I think that’s realistic, but as long as we’re moving up that’s what we need to do,” said Reed, who has averaged 13.5 points in two exhibition ga,es despite admitting he’s just 75 percent health-wise after a hip flexor and leg injury suffered before practice started.

Another question is what ISU’s defensive personality is going to be. McKenna isn’t entirely sure himself just yet.

“We might do a lot of different things. Whether we’ll press more, it’s something we’re considering, but it’s going to be a case of what we see as we go along. We’ll see what we’re good at,” McKenna said.

ISU was picked seventh in the preseason MVC media and coaches poll, but most observers believe that once you get past conference favorite Creighton, parity in the league means all bets are off as far as whether ISU could go up or down in the standings.

“The fun part is winning, that will be the determining factor as to whether our guys feel good about what we’re doing or not. As long as our guys kept battling and doing things, we’ll win our share, but there’s no guarantees. We just have to keep plugging away to get things done,” McKenna said.

        

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