By Mark Bennett
Though many of them splashed through the net,
those long shots fired up in Hulman Center don't mark a trend
for the Indiana State Sycamore basketball team.
At least not in Coach Royce Waltman's strategy
for the fast approaching 2001-02 college season.
In their first public outing Wednesday night,
his Sycamores shot 25 3-pointers and hit an eye-catching 13 of
them in their annual Blue-White intrasquad scrimmage, which lasted
28 minutes. Junior guard Matt Broermann sank five shots outside
the arc, and his 17 points led the White team to a 52-31 victory.
One-third of the shots taken Wednesday were
3-pointers. Maturity will gradually lower that number, Waltman
said. His motion offense can create open long shots. But he'd
rather see them try to work the ball inside as often as possible.
"We have a team that's better suited
for the drive. They just don't see that [option] yet to get that
out of the offense," Waltman said in between autographs
for fans.
Broermann is perhaps the exception, with 140
of his 157 career field goal attempts coming from 3-point range.
But he knows the team as a whole needs to find its big seniors
-- 6-foot-9 center Terence Avery and 6-7 forward Djibril Kante
-- with passes.
"We've got a couple guys who can shoot
it well from downtown, but we've got to get it inside to Terence
and Djibril," Broermann said, "because they're probably
going to be the biggest front line in the [Missouri] Valley [Conference]."
Kante took just three field goal attempts
Wednesday, and didn't hit one, which left him frustrated. Still,
he was impressed by the performance, including those by some
of his younger teammates. Sophomore guard Matt Berry scored eight
points and grabbed six rebounds, and 6-9 freshman Jerod Adler
had seven points and six rebounds.
"Compared to the past Blue-White games,
this was the best one I've been a part of," Kante said,
"but that's probably because our offense is way ahead of
our defense right now."
Adler, from Adams Central High School, scored
on tip-ins of missed shots by Berry and Kante, and then finished
the night by hitting a baseline jumper. Berry's 3-pointers helped
the White break out for a 14-2 run.
"I thought Jerod did well," Waltman
said. "I think all the freshmen have the ability to play,
and they'll have to. But I thought Jerod came the closest to
playing the way he has to."
And Berry and Broermann also pleased Waltman.
"Matt Berry and Matt Broermann seemed to find ways to get
their shots better than anybody else," he said.
But with the opening game at Illinois-Chicago
looming on Nov. 18, the Sycamores "have some work to do"
yet, Waltman said.
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| Tribune-Star/Joseph
C. Garza |
| Under the glass: Indiana
State center Michael Kernan (50) drives to the basket against
teammate Levi Adams (bottom) during Wednesday's Blue-White Scrimmage
in Hulman Center. |
Wednesday, they were without starting guard
Marcus Howard, who will wear a protective boot for two more weeks
to guard a stress fracture in his foot. And senior guard Kelyn
Block played sparingly, still regaining his conditioning strength
after offseason ankle surgery.
And then there's the defense.
"As a team, we've got to work on our
defense," Kante said. "We gave up a lot of points."
With six new players, the team also is still
searching for its strengths, Waltman said.
"I don't see the personality of this
team yet," he said. "Last year, it was playing smart
and not turning the ball over. And I don't see a personality
yet."
Their next chance to put it on display comes
at 4:35 p.m. Nov. 3 in an exhibition against the University of
Indianapolis in Hulman Center.
WHITE (52) --
Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Kante 0-3 2-2 2, Grimes 0-0 0-0 0, Berry 3-10
2-2 8, Block 1-1 0-0 2, Haywood 1-2 0-0 2, Welsh 3-4 0-0 7, Avery
0-1 0-1 0, Broermann 6-9 0-0 17, Adams 0-0 0-0 0, Adler 3-4 1-2
7, Kernan 3-4 0-0 7. Totals 19-36 FG, 5-7 FT, 52 TP.*
BLUE (31) --
Evans 3-8 1-1 8, Grimes 1-5 0-0 3, Block 2-2 0-0 5, Haywood 1-7
0-0 2, Welsh 1-1 0-0 3, Avery 2-6 2-4 6, Sams 1-7 0-0 2, Broermann
0-0 0-0 0, Adams 0-0 0-0 0, Adler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-37 FG,
5-7 FT, 31 TP.*
3-point goals -- W: Berry 2-3, Welsh 1-2,
Broermann 5-7, Kernan 1-1; B: Evans 1-1, Grimes 1-1, Block 1-1,
Haywood 0-3, Welsh 1-1, Sams 0-5. FG Pct. -- W .528, B .297.
3pt Pct. -- W (9-13) .692, B (4-12) .333. FT Pct. -- W .714,
B .714. Rebounds -- W 24 (Kante 6, Berry 6, Adler 5, Broermann
3), B 21 (Haywood 8, Avery 4). Assists -- W 11 (Welsh 5, Broermann
3, Berry 2), B 5 (Haywood 3, Grimes 2). Steals -- W 2 (Kante
1, Haywood 1), B 10 (Evans 3, Block 2, Haywood 2).
(*) Assistant coach Kareem Richardson played
for both teams, but his statistics were not available and are
not included in the box score. Some players also played for both
teams.
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