The M.A.C. Center has been a bit of a ghost town in these last few days following the start of the new year.
There is an exception, though. While much of the athletic staff is still finishing off winter break or trying to make their way back to campus by fighting the winter storm that has crushed much of the midwest and east coast, the Golden Flashes men’s and women’s basketball teams have been hard at work on the parquet floor in preparation for the starts of their MAC seasons.
I watched both teams practice for a bit on Thursday and Friday and then caught up with women’s coach Danielle O’Banion and men’s coach Rob Senderoff. Both talked about where their teams are coming out of the non-conference portions of their schedules.
Senderoff is in a bit of a different position than O’Banion in that he believes his team has settled into its rotation. He has a good feel for who will play and how much. His players also appear to know their roles and what they need to do to help the Golden Flashes win.
It’s a bit different for O’Banion in that “you like to use those non-conference games to figure out who your top seven-to-ten players are. But we haven’t developed that consistent seven-to-ten because of foul trouble or injury or just inconsistency of performance,” she said. “Right now we don’t have a crystal-clear vision of who that is. That can be a positive thing in that we can play a couple of different styles. It can be negative thing in that we can play a couple of different styles out of necessity.”
Eastern Michigan will play for 40 minutes tomorrow with just one post player on the floor and four wings who want to get out and run. If the Eagles are in an offensive set for more than 15 seconds, that’s a lot. And while that fast-paced style is similar to the ultimate vision O’Banion has for her program, she doesn’t quite have the roster in place to fit the up-tempo game. For now, Kent State’s women use with two posts on the floor most of the time.
“It’s an exciting matchup because we intend to play the way Eastern Michigan is playing,” said O’Banion. “I think we are another year away from playing that way for 40 minutes, though. In some ways this game is going to resemble watching a tennis match, with (fans’) heads turning back and forth, left to right, left to right. But if we are going to be successful, we need to find ways where it doesn’t always look like that.”
Kent State center Cici Shannon leads the MAC in blocked shots with 30 (four more than Buffalo’s Christa Baccas). A big key for Kent State in the MAC season will be finding a way for Shannon to stay on the floor by avoiding fouls. As a player who is used to being the tallest on the floor ever since she was in youth leagues, Shannon’s job has always been to stand in the paint and block shots. That role has created some natural instincts that can lead to a high number of fouls at this level.
“She certainly has the wingspan at 6-foot-8 or 6-9 to disrupt things in the paint, and that’s a bonus for us,” said O’Banion. “But she now has to be disciplined enough to challenge without trying to tomahawk everything.”
O’Banion is very happy with the development of several key players. Montia Johnson leads the Flashes at just over 10 points per game. She has always been an effort player, but in recent weeks she is becoming a more vocal leader. Most junior college transfers feel their way through their first Division I season and then blossom as seniors. O’Banion believes Johnson can be see that big jump arrive earlier during the MAC season of her junior year.
Sophomore Rachel Mendelsohn is starting to play much better after a slow start. Freshman Larissa Lurken is also starting to shoot with more confidence. Those are important developments for a team that needs to find more production from the perimeter.
“There is no question that our best two long-distance shooters need to make more shots,” said O’Banion. “We are averaging only around 57 points per game right now, and that needs to go up for us to be successful in MAC play. Both Rachel and Larissa have come along nicely in the last two weeks.”
Freshman guard Krista White is another player who has turned a bit of a corner in the last few weeks.
“Krista and Larisa have both really found their voices,” said O’Banion. “Both are very competitive and they very much understand they are here to be a part of this continued transition. It’s fun to see that start to materialize.
While Senderoff has a better feel for the rotation on the men’s team, he is eager to see several of his key players make some important strides as the MAC season starts. Key among those are senior forwards Darren Goodson and Melvin Tabb and sophomore point guard Kellon Thomas.
“Those are guys we are counting on and they are going to play,” said Senderoff. “We need them to play well, though, when they get their minutes… Darren needs to be a facilitator. He has to be a guy who can score. He needs to make good decisions. He has to shoot a better percentage from the floor and rebound better than he is right now.
“Melvin needs to be a physical interior guy. He’s played better lately, but his shoulder is bothering him, and that’s as big an issue as anything for him. He is not 100-percent, but he has to battle through it. He doesn’t have many days left, so he has to battle through, show me in practice htat he needs to play more, and then go into games and play well.
“Kellon has to take care of the basketball. He was doing a phenomenal job of that early in the year. He is still doing fine, but not at the level he was earlier.”
Senderoff watched Goodson pick up his game last season during MAC play after a slow start to his first season in Kent. He hopes the senior will make a similar jump this year.
“I would have argued that Darren should have been a preseason All-Conference guy from the East based on his league numbers from last year,” said Senderoff. “He didn’t get voted for it, but I would have argued that he should have been. He is not playing at that level right now at all. But Darren is a good player. I believe in him and the team believes in him.”
Kent State will limp into the MAC men’s basketball schedule a bit after losing three of their last four non-conference games. The Flashes may have won one or two of those with better free-throw shooting. Senderoff hopes that poor shooting was an aberration.
“Two weeks ago we were in the top 25 in the country in free-throw shooting,” said Senderoff. “Then in the last three games we have not been very good. I hope that was an aberration and that being in the top 25 through the first 10 games was not. Sometimes with free throws, the more you talk about it, the more it gets into your head. We shoot, we practice, but we don’t talk about it.”
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