By Mark Bennett
Perhaps no group of Indiana State freshman
basketball players has ever broken in under more demanding circumstances.
Today's 2:05 p.m. game in Hulman Center against
Bowling Green (9-1) is merely the last of a rugged string of
non-conference opponents for the Sycamores (2-8). ISU's schedule
is rated as the nation's 10th toughest in computer guru Jeff
Sagarin's power rankings.
And Jerod Adler, Lamar Grimes and Jake Sams
have been on the court, playing significant minutes, against
those opponents.
"It's just amazing how good everybody
is," Sams said, waiting for Friday's practice to begin.
"You have to play hard every night, in every game."
In ISU's last outing a week ago, the 6-foot-8,
205-pound native of Mount Zion, Ill., scored two points and grabbed
one rebound in a 68-54 home-court loss to Ball State. The Cardinals'
roster included Sam's former Mount Zion teammate, Matt McCollom,
a BSU freshman. They met again over the holiday break, shooting
some baskets at their old school.
"It was a lot of fun," Sams said.
"We didn't say too much about the game, though."
A pair of four-game losing streaks sandwiched
around two lone victories over IUPUI and Murray State have been
difficult for the freshmen, and the rest of the team as well.
With only 11 players on the active roster now, Coach Royce Waltman
needs strong play from Adler, Grimes and Sams.
Grimes, a 6-foot point guard from Chicago
Gage Park, started the last two games, and averages 4.7 points,
1.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 16.6 minutes per game. Sams could
get his second start of the season today, and averages 2.7 points,
1.1 rebounds and 11.1 minutes. And the 6-9, 230-pound Adler averages
0.5 points, 0.3 rebounds and 4.5 minutes per night.
Waltman has been pleased with Adler's aggressive
play in practice, and said Sams has "taken a step forward"
in practices this week, while Grimes "has just got to become
more consistent." The team needs more from all three on
game day, the coach added.
"I haven't seen the progress in the freshmen
I'd like to see," Waltman said, "especially in the
games."
They're part of the supporting cast for seniors
Kelyn Block, Djibril Kante and Terence Avery. Beyond that trio,
only junior guard Matt Broermann has more than a season of Division
I game experience.
Today, they'll face a veteran Bowling Green
team, powered by four senior starters, led by guard Keith McLeod
and center Len Matela.
"They really know how to play, and they're
playing well and with confidence," Waltman said.
The Sycamores are trying to do the same. That
is still possible, Adler said.
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| Tribune-Star/Joseph
C. Garza |
| In his face: Indiana State
guard Matt Berry (right) goes up for two against Ball State forward
Theron Smith during the Sycamores 68-54 loss last Saturday in
Hulman Center. |
"I just don't think [the 2-8 start] is
characteristic of us," said Adler, who played at Adams Central
High School last season. "Yeah, we've had a rough start.
But I still think we're a good team."
Flashes of an old Sycamore trademark, stingy
defense, have emerged in the past two games. Despite losses,
they held high-scoring opponents Wyoming and Ball State well
below their usual point totals. For an ISU searching for its
niche, defense could be it.
"When we're all together, defense can
be," Adler said. "You've got to play every possession.
We'll have a good possession, and then we'll slack off. We'll
work hard for 30 seconds and then [the other team] will pull
something out in the last five seconds of the shot clock."
Grimes agreed, "We've got to get better
at that."
In defense of his defense, so to speak, Waltman
said his team's lack of scoring punch (the Sycamores rank last
in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 57.6-points-per-game
average) hurts.
"If we would score a little bit more,"
Waltman said, "it would enable us to get our defense set
a little better."
Today's game gives the Sycamores one more
chance to fix that before entering a rigorous string of 16 straight
MVC games. The conference race could be ISU's second chance,
after the program's worst start since the dark days of 1993-94.
"We can't really do anything about what's happened in the
past," Sams said, "so we'll focus on the conference."
Guard depth
- Indiana State's depth at guard could be a factor in today's
game against Bowling Green.
Reserve junior point guard Batiste Haywood
missed practices this week because of a viral infection, and
was resting at his home in Hammond on Friday, Coach Royce Waltman
said. The team wasn't sure if Haywood would be well enough to
return to action today.
Also, sophomore guard Marcus Howard is suffering
from painful blisters on the bottom of both feet. ISU head athletic
trainer Dave Ralston said Howard's status for today could be
questionable also.
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