The Colonels basketball team is determined to expand on its success from last season despite playing on the road for a month as well as taking part in several tournaments.The Colonels had its first twenty plus win season, 20-11, since the 1994-95 season as well as finish second in the conference.
“We’re going to talk early on with our players and make sure they know that what we did last year won’t win us any games this year,” head coach J.P. Piper said. “We’re going to have to go out and compete every night to win games this year. If anything, we may have just raised awareness that we’re a pretty good basketball team.”
The Colonels will participate in the Great Alaska Shootout held in Anchorage, Alaska. This will be the Colonels second appearance in the tournament following a 0-2 record in 1980-the last time the Colonels participated.
“The Great Alaska Shootout is a really neat opportunity on a number of levels,” Piper said. “Professionally, to be able to compete in a tournament I have heard so much about all these years is amazing. The teams that have won this tournament make up the who’s-who of college basketball: Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina. We will have our hands full out there, but we want to be able to play well and represent the University well.”
Junior Anatoly Bose knows that this tournament will hold tough games for the Colonels.
“I think one of our toughest non-conference games is probably going to be Washington State when we play them in Alaska,” Bose said. “They have always been a tough school and are coached well.”
After this tournament, the Colonels will play a three-game home stretch against Loyola-New Orleans on Dec. 3, the Colonels home opener, Southern-New Orleans on Dec. 8 and Mobile, Alabama on Dec. 14.
The Colonels wrap up the non-conference road games when the team takes on Louisiana State University Dec. 17 and Jacksonville State on Dec. 21.
“For me, it’s all about the perspective you have,” Piper said. “We can be intimidated and frustrated with that, or we can say, `Hey, this is a great opportunity. Let them worry about having to play us.’ We’re hard to guard, we’re scrappy and we guard hard defensively. Let’s go have fun, and if we can steal a couple of victories we’re not expected to get, then that’s wonderful.”
Only losing four of the twelve conference games last season, the Colonels know that with a new season come new goals, challenges and tough games.
“We will aim to take steps forward from where we stopped last season,” Bose said. “One of our goals is basically conference championship and we need to put all of our hard work and effort into it.”
Losing team leaders through graduation, Ryan Bathie and Justin Payne allows an opening for players to step up and take on the challenge of leadership.
“I want to become more of a leader for the team,” Bose said. “With Justin and Ryan gone, we will be lacking in that department so I want to step up.”
Not only will the Colonels face new leadership, the on-going fight in the conference for the championship title will be competitive.
“We’re going to have to go out and compete every night to win games this year,” Piper said. “If anything, we may have just raised awareness that we’re a pretty good basketball team. Teams will prepare a little better for us and play a little harder against us. So, we may have made it a little more difficult on ourselves. But, I think what we learned last year was that if we work hard and buy into the team concept, we can have success, and we will take the same approach this year.”
The Colonels hope to start the new-year off with a victory against Northwestern State on Jan. 9 in the first conference home game.
The Colonels will set out to play 15 more conference games, eight of those to be away games.
“I’m not sure yet who our greatest competition is going to be in conference,” Bose said. “I definitely think Corpus Christi will be good because of Kevin Palmer and Texas Arlington will be good because of Marquis Haynes.”
The Colonels schedule of home and away games will present a challenge, however, Piper said his team can handle whatever is thrown their way whether it be a long stretch of away games or tough opponents.
“Teams will prepare a little better for us and play a little harder against us, so, we may have made it a little more difficult on ourselves,” Piper said. “But, I think what we learned last year was that if we work hard and buy into the team concept, we can have success, and we will take the same approach this year.”
The team opens up its season against Duquesne on Nov. 13 in Pittsburg, Penn. but have to wait until Dec. 3 for their homeopener.
