2008 Woodie Awards
This season the Massachusetts men's basketball team will have a brand-new coach and a brand-new offense. However, the key to a successful season will be their ability to play old-school defense. Last year, under coach Travis Ford, UMass focused on creating an up-tempo offense with the gameplan that the Minutemen would outscore their opponents to win games.
Eli Rosenswaike: Let's get right into it. You ready, coach? Derek Kellogg: Go ahead man, fire away… Eli: Firstly, is it acceptable to call you 'Coach K,' or is that only reserved for that guy at Duke? DK: I think that's Duke's calling right now. We may have to come up with a better one for Coach Kellogg(laughs).
It's no secret that the Massachusetts men's basketball team will rely on the dribble-drive motion-offense this season in Derek Kellogg's first year as head coach. He made sure to make his mark for the Minutemen quickly, signing mostly big-men transfers.
Memphis was just 2.1 seconds and a miracle 3-point shot by Mario Chalmers away from an NCAA Championship last season. It wasn't Vance Walberg's team, but it was his offense. Walberg created the dribble-drive motion offense while he was coaching in Fresno City, Calif.
The man - or in this case, the woman - in charge of the Atlantic 10 has changed this season, not much else has. Xavier is still the class of the conference, while teams like Temple, Saint Joseph's, Dayton, Charlotte and Massachusetts are talented enough to potentially make a run and reach the NCAA Tournament.