2008 Woodie Awards
Season Preview: Expectations uncertain for UMass
Scott Feldman, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 11/24/08 Section: 2008 Basketball Season Preview
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. That tactic didn't take UMass to the NCAA Tournament, but rather to the NIT championship game.
This year will be different under new coach Derek Kellogg. He wants UMass to start winning games with strong defense.
"I'm hoping from watching them last year and this year that [fans] say this year [the Minutemen] are better defensively," Kellogg said. "I'm hoping they say that they know where they are on defense, they're pressuring the ball and those things."
The most talked-about addition Kellogg brought to UMass from his tenure as an assistant at Memphis is the dribble-drive motion offense.
The offense relies on the point guard breaking his defender down off the dribble then either attempting to score himself or finding the open man. However, Kellogg wants UMass to emphasize defense, which he feels is crucial to lasting success.
"It's a long-term project of building this program," Kellogg said. "We're going to build it through tough, solid defense and our dribble-drive motion offense.
"I've seen what I'm trying to do work at the highest level and we are going to build through that blueprint," he added.
The switch in philosophy is partly due to coaching style, but also because of personnel. UMass lost three seniors: Gary Forbes, Etienne Brower and Dante Milligan to graduation. Those players were first, third and fifth on the team in scoring, respectively, and Kellogg acknowledges it is going to be difficult to replace that production, not to mention their experience.
"We don't have the offensive firepower that we had last year," Kellogg said. "Three fifth-year seniors [graduated] and experience in college basketball is as important as anything. If you've got experience, sometimes you can face a team with McDonald's All-American's or better players and beat them. We are lacking experience and guys that have played a lot of minutes."
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. That tactic didn't take UMass to the NCAA Tournament, but rather to the NIT championship game.
This year will be different under new coach Derek Kellogg. He wants UMass to start winning games with strong defense.
"I'm hoping from watching them last year and this year that [fans] say this year [the Minutemen] are better defensively," Kellogg said. "I'm hoping they say that they know where they are on defense, they're pressuring the ball and those things."
The most talked-about addition Kellogg brought to UMass from his tenure as an assistant at Memphis is the dribble-drive motion offense.
The offense relies on the point guard breaking his defender down off the dribble then either attempting to score himself or finding the open man. However, Kellogg wants UMass to emphasize defense, which he feels is crucial to lasting success.
"It's a long-term project of building this program," Kellogg said. "We're going to build it through tough, solid defense and our dribble-drive motion offense.
"I've seen what I'm trying to do work at the highest level and we are going to build through that blueprint," he added.
The switch in philosophy is partly due to coaching style, but also because of personnel. UMass lost three seniors: Gary Forbes, Etienne Brower and Dante Milligan to graduation. Those players were first, third and fifth on the team in scoring, respectively, and Kellogg acknowledges it is going to be difficult to replace that production, not to mention their experience.
"We don't have the offensive firepower that we had last year," Kellogg said. "Three fifth-year seniors [graduated] and experience in college basketball is as important as anything. If you've got experience, sometimes you can face a team with McDonald's All-American's or better players and beat them. We are lacking experience and guys that have played a lot of minutes."
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