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Do IT this week: Layering
By Jonas Fortune
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 08:24 p.m. EDT, Oct 16, 2009
KENT: A new basketball season always brings about new players, new schemes and new problems for a head coach.
It is no different this year for Kent State men's basketball coach Geno Ford.
''A year ago, we had a team with a very veteran backcourt and only five post guys that we played in the rotation and only one of them was not a first-year guy that was playing,'' Ford said.
This year's problems are the opposite.
Sure, seniors Chris Singletary, Tyree Evans and Mike McKee return to the backcourt, but who will play beside them at point guard, where only two true point guards are on the roster and neither has played at the college level?
The inexperienced frontcourt of last season returns with a new vigor and a new understanding of what Ford and his coaching staff wants.
''We are much, much better than we were,'' Ford said of the frontcourt. ''We are bigger, more athletic, we're stronger, and we are older and more mature, so they will have not had the learning curve that they had a year ago.''
Seniors Anthony Simpson, Brandon Parks and Frank Henry-Ala, along with sophomores Justin Greene and Alex Grimsley, now have a year of experience to build upon. Newcomers Greg Avila and Brian Frank also could provide depth at forward.
Perhaps the most intriguing player on the roster, though, is 6-foot-11, 215-pound junior center Justin Manns. A 19-year-old transfer from Owens Community College, Manns has been playing basketball only three years. Yet Ford noted his ''unbelievable upside,'' quickness and a knack for blocking shots.
''Some guys block shots. He really goes after the ball in traffic and has an aggressive nature about him to go block shots,''Ford said.
''It is going to be kind of an interesting situation,'' Ford said. ''You can make an argument that we should redshirt him because of his upside. If you are watching practice, you would know he would play if we played tonight. That is something we have to decide before the first game.''
The point guard situation is of the greatest concern. Last year seniors Jordan Mincy and Al Fisher split time there, and often times were on the floor together.
Mincy was the team leader both on and off the court and a vicious defender. Fisher was Kent State's most prolific scorer. With the score close and the clock dipping to less than two minutes, everyone in the arena knew the ball would be in Fisher's hands.
''We will really miss Jordan's consistent, not just high energy of effort, but high energy of leadership,'' Ford said. ''Jordan went hard in the first warm-up drill of practice. He was emotional. He got guys excited and guys really liked playing with Jordan because he is such a good kid and he played so hard.''
While those leadership attributes might be hard to replace, a familiar player might be able to replace some of those defensive attributes. Redshirt junior Rodriquez Sherman was one the Golden Flashes' best on-ball defenders before missing last season to knee surgery.
If the season started right now, Sherman would be the team's starting point guard, Ford said. Although he is not a true point guard, his improvement over the last year would allow him to excel at the position.
''He is not even close to what he was when he sat out. When he played as a sophomore, he was a wing whose ball handling was very average, whose shooting was very average. He has worked unbelievably hard in those two areas,'' Ford said. ''Once he was cleared [to practice] and allowed to do more stuff [last season], there were many days where he was the best player in the gym.''
Sherman will need time to readjust to game speed after missing an entire season, but could be a huge asset as the conference slate and eventual tournament come near, Ford said.
None of the options at point guard saw any minutes for the Flashes last season. Cameron Joyce sat out last season and is considered a redshirt freshman this year.
True freshman Randall Holt was considered one of the best point guards in the state last year at Glenville High School and could be a contributor early.
''He is in a situation where he is competing for minutes right away, which is pretty rare for true freshmen, but he has shown that he deserves to be in the mix,'' Ford said.
Jonas Fortune can be reached at jfortune@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Varsity Letters high school sports blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/. Also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ABJ_Preps.
KENT: A new basketball season always brings about new players, new schemes and new problems for a head coach.
It is no different this year for Kent State men's basketball coach Geno Ford.
''A year ago, we had a team with a very veteran backcourt and only five post guys that we played in the rotation and only one of them was not a first-year guy that was playing,'' Ford said.
This year's problems are the opposite.
Sure, seniors Chris Singletary, Tyree Evans and Mike McKee return to the backcourt, but who will play beside them at point guard, where only two true point guards are on the roster and neither has played at the college level?
The inexperienced frontcourt of last season returns with a new vigor and a new understanding of what Ford and his coaching staff wants.
''We are much, much better than we were,'' Ford said of the frontcourt. ''We are bigger, more athletic, we're stronger, and we are older and more mature, so they will have not had the learning curve that they had a year ago.''
Seniors Anthony Simpson, Brandon Parks and Frank Henry-Ala, along with sophomores Justin Greene and Alex Grimsley, now have a year of experience to build upon. Newcomers Greg Avila and Brian Frank also could provide depth at forward.
Perhaps the most intriguing player on the roster, though, is 6-foot-11, 215-pound junior center Justin Manns. A 19-year-old transfer from Owens Community College, Manns has been playing basketball only three years. Yet Ford noted his ''unbelievable upside,'' quickness and a knack for blocking shots.
''Some guys block shots. He really goes after the ball in traffic and has an aggressive nature about him to go block shots,''Ford said.
''It is going to be kind of an interesting situation,'' Ford said. ''You can make an argument that we should redshirt him because of his upside. If you are watching practice, you would know he would play if we played tonight. That is something we have to decide before the first game.''
The point guard situation is of the greatest concern. Last year seniors Jordan Mincy and Al Fisher split time there, and often times were on the floor together.
Mincy was the team leader both on and off the court and a vicious defender. Fisher was Kent State's most prolific scorer. With the score close and the clock dipping to less than two minutes, everyone in the arena knew the ball would be in Fisher's hands.
''We will really miss Jordan's consistent, not just high energy of effort, but high energy of leadership,'' Ford said. ''Jordan went hard in the first warm-up drill of practice. He was emotional. He got guys excited and guys really liked playing with Jordan because he is such a good kid and he played so hard.''
While those leadership attributes might be hard to replace, a familiar player might be able to replace some of those defensive attributes. Redshirt junior Rodriquez Sherman was one the Golden Flashes' best on-ball defenders before missing last season to knee surgery.
If the season started right now, Sherman would be the team's starting point guard, Ford said. Although he is not a true point guard, his improvement over the last year would allow him to excel at the position.
''He is not even close to what he was when he sat out. When he played as a sophomore, he was a wing whose ball handling was very average, whose shooting was very average. He has worked unbelievably hard in those two areas,'' Ford said. ''Once he was cleared [to practice] and allowed to do more stuff [last season], there were many days where he was the best player in the gym.''
Sherman will need time to readjust to game speed after missing an entire season, but could be a huge asset as the conference slate and eventual tournament come near, Ford said.
None of the options at point guard saw any minutes for the Flashes last season. Cameron Joyce sat out last season and is considered a redshirt freshman this year.
True freshman Randall Holt was considered one of the best point guards in the state last year at Glenville High School and could be a contributor early.
''He is in a situation where he is competing for minutes right away, which is pretty rare for true freshmen, but he has shown that he deserves to be in the mix,'' Ford said.
Jonas Fortune can be reached at jfortune@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Varsity Letters high school sports blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/. Also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ABJ_Preps.
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