NOVEMBER 12, 2009 ISSUE
ASU Men’s Basketball
Mountaineers Ready for Season with New Coach
ASU senior guard Kellen Brand led the team last season with 14.8 points per game and earned all-conference honors from the Southern Conference’s media and coaches. Photos by Dave Mayo
Twelve players from last season’s 13-18 ASU men’s basketball squad are back for the 2009-10 season under the leadership of Buzz Peterson, who is enjoying his second tenure as the Mountaineers head coach, having led the team from 1996 to 2000. Photo submitted The storyline of a returning coach has captured headlines in the past months, but returning players will matter if the ASU men’s basketball team wants to capture more wins than last season.
Twelve players from last season’s 13-18 squad are back and have learned much from new coach Buzz Peterson. This is Peterson’s second tenure as the Mountaineers head coach, having led the team from 1996 to 2000.
Signs and posters have announced that the “Buzz is Back,” but now it’s time for the players to take center stage.
The Mountaineers open the season with a 7:00 p.m. game this Friday, November 13, at the Holmes Center against UNC Wilmington.
“We’re coming with a different approach as a team and that’s to get the job done and finish our goals,” preseason all-Southern Conference guard Kellen Bran said. “Last year we fell short, but this year we want to overachieve our goals.”
Those goals include besting last year’s third-place finish in the Southern Conference’s Northern Division. The conference’s coaches’ poll was recently released and it had the Mountaineers picked to finish second in their division behind Western Carolina.
To do that, the Mountaineers will lean heavily on their defense and allow the post players to score frequently.
“Yes, we want to run it on offense, we want to get the ball inside and we want to flatten the defense out and get the ball reversed,” Peterson said. “We need the mentality that if we don’t score early [in the shot clock], we’ll score late.”
Junior center Isaac Butts and senior forward Josh Hunter, who combined to average 17.4 points last season, will likely see the most action inside.
If they can’t get shots down low, they’ll look to kick it out to open shooters like Brand (14.8 points per game (ppg) last season), senior point guard Ryann Abraham (9.8 ppg) and junior guard Donald Sims (13.7 ppg).
In an exhibition last week against Mars Hill—which ASU won 94-81—Sims scored 33 points. Jeremi Booth added 20, while Brand had 16 and Marcus Wright scored 10.
Sims, Brand, Hunter and Butts are considered the returning starters from last season’s team, but plenty of other players got playing time.
While the team averaged 76 points per game (third best in the conference), the Mountaineers allowed 76.8 points, which was second worst in the conference.
“We’re more of a defensive team now,” said Booth, who averaged 4.4 points last season. “We want to keep teams under 70 points and still be up-tempo. I think if we play good defense, it will help us on offense.”
Peterson will quickly see if his team has learned his “defense first” mentality, as ASU plays in the Hall of Fame Showcase and plays four games in 13 days in that event. Tournament games include contests at Arkansas and Louisville.
“We’re starting to pick up some things that we need to do in certain situations,” Peterson said after a recent practice. “It’s going to take a little more time and practice.
“We have good athletes. I want them to concentrate on what they’re trying to do, have a mentality that we can get defensive stops.”
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