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Team relies on defense, which coach says needs to improve over last year
By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Saturday, Nov 14, 2009
KENT: Geno Ford wants Kent State to be a markedly better defensive team than it was last year.
''Our biggest concern coming in is our rebounding and defensive toughness,'' Ford said earlier in the week. ''Last year, our defensive field-goal percentage was good, but it was very deceiving. We were a bad defensive team with good stats.''
The second-year coach talked about the importance of defense throughout the offseason. Then he and senior guard Chris Singletary talked about it a little more after the Flashes' sluggish first half in Friday's season opener.
The message got through. Kent State used a 20-1 run to open the second half before holding on for a 69-66 victory over Samford in the Hispanic College Fund Classic in front of 3,618 fans at the M.A.C. Center.
At halftime, ''we just all kind of looked at each other for a minute,'' junior guard Rodriquez Sherman said. ''Then Chris did a great job of leading us. He told us we just had to get it on defense, and the offense would take care of itself.''
What bailed Kent State out so much last season was leading the Mid-American Conference in scoring. But without the offensive prowess of guard Al Fisher this year, the senior-laden Flashes will be better served allowing defense to be their calling card once again.
''I thought we played really well for eight to 10 minutes [at the start of the second half],'' Ford said. ''We guarded a little better in that segment. I'm watching [Samford] execute offense in the first half and they looked more like it was already February.''
KSU looked disjointed from the start, committing three turnovers in the first few minutes of play, and the Bulldogs opened the game with a 9-0 run.
But Ford called a key timeout, sparking a 13-3 run that began with senior guard Tyree Evans' only 3-pointer, and KSU took its first lead.
''We knew they were going to be patient on offense and back-door us,'' Singletary said. ''So when we came out and our shots weren't falling, guys let that affect the focus on the defensive end. So that was a great timeout by coach, just to settle us down and help us refocus.''
But the Flashes' advantage got to just two points before another Samford spurt resulted in an 11-2 run.
This time, Kent State patiently began to dig out of the hole and pulled within 34-31 at halftime, despite shooting just 1-for-13 from 3-point range.
Singletary poured in 11 first-half points, finishing with a game-high 19.
''We just had no answer for him,'' Samford coach Jimmy Tillette said.
Singletary was key to the second-half surge, with six of KSU's first 13 points. The Flashes' lead swelled to 51-35 before the Bulldogs made their first field goal of the half — a 3-pointer by junior center Andy King.
King's outside shot woke up the Samford offense, and the visitors ripped off one more run — an 11-0 spurt that included three 3-pointers — while holding the Flashes without a basket for 6:12 and pulling within five points with 6:27 to go in the game.
''Samford's [Princeton] offense is really hard to guard,'' Ford said. ''We can't simulate it in practice. We tried, looking to focus in on one or two things like looking for the back-door passes and getting our hands low and being ready to anticipate the bounce pass. But there wasn't a lot really that we were able to do.''
Kent State is opening the season with three consecutive games in the M.A.C. Center for the first time since 1995-96. KSU will host the University of Alabama-Birmingham at 7 tonight.
Stephanie Storm can be reached
at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com.
KENT: Geno Ford wants Kent State to be a markedly better defensive team than it was last year.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 11:27 AM, 11/14/2009
Decent win for the Flashes! We need to have strong play from the big boys underneath.
