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sports
Season holds promise
despite loss of Williams
By Ben Dimapindan
On-line Forty-Niner
Welcome, ladies
and gentleman, to the Long Beach State season 2001-2002 -
a men's basketball odyssey.
Last year, The
Beach had a decent season, finishing with an 18-13 overall
record and a 10-6 mark in the Big West Conference.
Despite finishing
third in the conference, the 49ers missed out on a postseason
berth after losing to Boise State, 95-70, in the first round
of the Big West Tournament. The sting of having their season
cut short has lingered throughout the entire offseason.
Now, the team's
mission is clear - clinch a spot in the postseason.
"I think our
potential is endless," senior center Travis Reed said.
"If we can come together and play as a team, play as
a unit, we can come home with a Big West Championship and
a berth in the NCAA tournament."
The primary focus
of the season is the revamped starting frontcourt for LBSU.
Reed, the team's
top returning scorer with 14.5 points per game and the conference's
top rebounder at 8.7 per game, will move his 6-foot-8, 250-pound
frame to the power forward spot.
Also, 6-foot-9,
240-pound senior James "Rudy" Williams, who averaged
12.2 points and 7.3 boards per game two years ago before sitting
out last season as a medical redshirt, will move into the
post at center.
The low-post duo
is expected to be an imposing tandem on defense and even more
efficient in the rebounding department, according to Associate
Head Coach Reggie Warford.
"We're very
excited to finally have them on the floor at the same time,"
Warford said. "We hope they'll control the glass for
the whole year.
"Rudy is a
year older, a year stronger and a year wiser. Travis [is used
to our system] and knows what to expect."
The 49ers suffered
a major setback early on as a big piece of their post-season
puzzle, starting small forward Lemi Williams, announced last
week that he would watch the season from the bench as a medical
redshirt with stress fractures in both legs.
But Head Coach
Wayne Morgan remained optimistic that his veteran players,
along with the solid new recruits, can compensate for Lemi
Williams' absence.
"Losing Lemi
was tough," Morgan said. "He was our best perimeter
defenders and our second leading returning scorer. I had hoped
he would have about 15 points a game.
"Before his
injury, our goals were to win the regular season conference
championship and win the conference tournament. Without Lemi,
our goals are still the same, but we cannot afford to lose
any more players to injury."
Junior swingman
Tony Darden, a 6-foot-4 junior college transfer from Dodge
City College in Kansas, and 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Kevin
Roberts will split the responsibilities left behind from Lemi
Williams' injury.
"They brought
me in here to be a shooter…[and] I came here to play,"
said Darden, who Warford said is progressing nicely and is
blending in well on offense.
In the backcourt,
senior guards Michael Darrett and Ron Johnson will bring their
hustle, experience and ball handling to floor for one more
season. The pair combined for 14.4 points, 6.6 assists and
4.0 steals per game last year.
Backing up the
big two will be a pair of 6-foot-8 junior forwards, Tadeu
Souza and Vance Lawhorn, both of whom sat out last season
on medical redshirts.
Waiting in the
wings behind the top group is 7-foot-1 Alex Graham. Morgan
said of the freshman, "with development I feel he will
be a dominant center in this conference."
Rounding out the
roster are four freshmen - 6-foot-7 forward Chris Jenkins,
6-foot-3 guard Cody Pearson, 6-foot-1 guard Mark Bowens and
6-foot-6 guard Anthony Davis. Morgan had hoped to redshirt
as many freshman as possible, but injuries may force some
into the rotation.
Both Bowens and
Jenkins have seen playing time in pre-season exhibition games,
but Morgan will not make his final decisions until tonight's
season opener against Western Michigan at the America's Youth
Classic in Eugene, Ore.
"We have depth
and that's No. 1," Warford said. "We have athleticism,
guys who can not only play multiple positions, but can get
out, defend, run and push the ball up in transition. We have
a versatile team with about two or three sharp shooters."
All in all, LBSU
seems poised and ready to make a run for first place in the
Big West this year and to reclaim a place in the postseason.
"We have a
lot of good players and this is a good team," Morgan
said. "The kids will figure out what they need to do
to win [from game to game]. As long as we stay healthy, we
can be very optimistic about our season."
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