Post by john on Nov 9, 2009 14:19:13 GMT -5
Cut-and-pasted from ESPN Inisder..... shhhhh..
COACH AND PROGRAM
Oakland put together its finest season in several years in 2008-09, but it ended badly -- twice. The first ending, a loss in the Summit League Tournament championship game, cost coach Greg Kampe's team a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The second bumped the Golden Grizzlies from their consolation prize, the Collegeinsiders.com Tournament.
Oakland led North Dakota State by 12 points with nine minutes left in the Summit final. Poor shooting by the Golden Grizzlies in the second half helped North Dakota State rally. Ben Woodside's jumper with four seconds left gave the Bison a 66-64 win and the automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
The Golden Grizzlies resigned themselves to playing in the fledging Collegeinsiders.com Tournament and managed to win their opening game against Kent State. That completed a perfect home season (12-0) for Oakland.
The Golden Grizzlies were sent to Bradley for a second-round game and again had a victory snatched away -- literally.
Oakland took the lead with .9 seconds left and seemingly had the game in hand. But Bradley's Chris Roberts banked in a 75-footer to give the Braves a 76-75 win.
"Disappointing or whatever, I don't know what the right word is," Kampe said. "After Bradley threw in the three-quarter court shot to beat us, I walked in and looked at my seniors and we just started laughing. It was a painful laugh. They had cried two weeks before at the [Summit] Tournament. What are you going to do with this? It just looked like for some reason it wasn't meant to be. "From my standpoint and from the program's standpoint, it's just a big fish story. We've been in the finals three of the last five years of our league tournament. Two of our last three years, we've lost on a last-second shot. We won on a last-second shot two years before that. We could have been to three NCAA Tournaments in five years. We're so close. For some reason, it didn't happen. I can sit there and talk about how big the fish was on the hook, but we didn't mount it."
PLAYERS
The good news for Kampe and the Golden Grizzlies is that four starters are back from a 23-win team. And it's five if you count Derick Nelson, who started in 2007-08 before sitting out last season with a knee injury.
Nelson, a 6-5 senior forward, averaged 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds in 2007-08. He was the Summit's projected player of the year going into last season, but he suffered a broken foot the day before the first game. He tried to come back after 10 weeks, but he wasn't able to go and took a medical redshirt.
"If you looked around the country last year, when teams lost a great player, they didn't win," Kampe said. "[Oklahoma's] Blake Griffin got hurt and they lost three games in a row. Stephen Curry got hurt and The Citadel beat Davidson. I think that it's kind of amazing that we were able to overcome that injury."
Oakland won its last seven regular-season games going into the Summit Tournament, then bounced IPFW and South Dakota State in consecutive blowouts.
"We were really, really a good basketball team at the end of the year when we learned how to play without him," Kampe said. "We lost a couple of games early because we couldn't finish. We were looking for him late in the game and he wasn't there. It was a very impressive year considering. It was a very rewarding year for our coaching staff and players."
Nelson is healthy and ready to go.
"He's a slasher," Kampe said. "He is a guy who can go get you a basket in the tough time, when you don't want to settle for a jump shot. He'll put his head down and go get you one."
Nelson's skills extend beyond scoring and rebounding.
"I think he's the best defender in our league," Kampe said.
Keith Benson (14.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg) is the leading returning scorer from last season. The 6-10 junior center was the Summit's leading offensive rebounder in 2008-09. He also led the Golden Grizzlies with 87 blocked shots and hit 62 percent of his shots from the field.
Benson spent time this summer at the LeBron James Academy.
"Nike thought he was one of the better big men in the country," Kampe said. "He really came on as the year went on. He blossomed as a sophomore should."
One forward spot will be filled by Will Hudson (7.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg), a 6-9 junior.
"He's a very good defender and he can guard the other team's post," Kampe said. "He'll have games where he scores 15 or 16 points because there's so much emphasis on stopping Benson. He's a garbage-type guy who gets a lot of put-backs and secondary post baskets."
Hudson shot 68 percent from the floor, which would have led the nation if he had more attempts. He set the Oakland record for single-season field-goal percentage.
Kampe plans to get more minutes from Ilija Milutinovic (1.9 ppg, 1.2 rpg), a 7-0 sophomore center from Serbia.
"We think he will develop," Kampe said. "We think he's got a chance to be a pretty good player. He can score. He's big and mobile. He needs to be a better rebounder and defender."
Guard Johnathon Jones (13.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 8.1 apg) will be back to run the point. The 5-11 senior led the nation in assists.
"He's kind of the catalyst of our team," Kampe said. "Since he's been here, we've won 60 games, with a chance to win more. He'll have the best four-year career here as far as wins go. He's not been to the NCAA Tournament. That's his driving force."
Guard Drew Maynard (7.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg) took advantage of Nelson's absence last season to get into the starting lineup. Kampe sees the 6-7 sophomore as Oakland's next great player.
"He's a guy who can really score," Kampe said. "This year, will probably be a complementary year for him."
Another player who saw more time because of Nelson's injury was 6-4 sophomore guard Blake Cushingberry (6.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg).
"He's somebody we expect to play a lot of minutes for us," Kampe said. "He's a strong two guard who can really shoot the ball. He's a very good defender."
Kampe expects contributions from four newcomers, including transfer Larry Wright. The 6-2 junior guard sat out last season after transferring from St. John's. He was a part-time starter for the Red Storm, hitting 40 percent of his three-pointers to lead the team in 2007-08.
"He is a very, very good shooter," Kampe said. "We expect him to take [Erik] Kangas' spot as that outside shooter that we really need. He is quick with the ball."
Ledrick Eackles, son of former NBA standout Ledell Eackles, joins the team after spending last season at Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy. The 6-3 freshman averaged 12 points for the prep school power.
"He's a big recruit for us," Kampe said. "He's probably the mostly highly recruited guy we've ever signed. He's a slasher, and we expect that he'll play."
Two other freshmen, 6-5 forward Drew Valentine and 6-4 guard Travis Bader are likely redshirt candidates.
"We've just got a lot of players who have played," Kampe said. "You can't play 13 guys."
BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS
BACKCOURT: B+
BENCH/DEPTH: A-
FRONTCOURT: A
INTANGIBLES: A
With major graduation losses at North Dakota State, Oakland is the team to beat in the Summit. And the big schools on Oakland's non-conference schedule might want to be on alert, too.
"We're the flavor of the month," Kampe said.
Kampe always wants to play a difficult schedule. Last year, the Golden Grizzlies won at Oregon and lost games at Iowa, Syracuse and Kansas State. Oakland lost to Michigan at Auburn Hills.
This year, Oakland is at Syracuse, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Oregon, Memphis and Kansas.
"Just your normal 'start 0-6 schedule,' " Kampe said. "We won 23 games last year playing a schedule like that."
If Oakland wins as many games as Kampe hopes, finding future opponents won't be as easy.
The rugged non-conference schedule will have the Golden Grizzlies ready for the Summit. This won't be the year a higher-seeded team wants to draw Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
COACH AND PROGRAM
Oakland put together its finest season in several years in 2008-09, but it ended badly -- twice. The first ending, a loss in the Summit League Tournament championship game, cost coach Greg Kampe's team a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The second bumped the Golden Grizzlies from their consolation prize, the Collegeinsiders.com Tournament.
Oakland led North Dakota State by 12 points with nine minutes left in the Summit final. Poor shooting by the Golden Grizzlies in the second half helped North Dakota State rally. Ben Woodside's jumper with four seconds left gave the Bison a 66-64 win and the automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
The Golden Grizzlies resigned themselves to playing in the fledging Collegeinsiders.com Tournament and managed to win their opening game against Kent State. That completed a perfect home season (12-0) for Oakland.
The Golden Grizzlies were sent to Bradley for a second-round game and again had a victory snatched away -- literally.
Oakland took the lead with .9 seconds left and seemingly had the game in hand. But Bradley's Chris Roberts banked in a 75-footer to give the Braves a 76-75 win.
"Disappointing or whatever, I don't know what the right word is," Kampe said. "After Bradley threw in the three-quarter court shot to beat us, I walked in and looked at my seniors and we just started laughing. It was a painful laugh. They had cried two weeks before at the [Summit] Tournament. What are you going to do with this? It just looked like for some reason it wasn't meant to be. "From my standpoint and from the program's standpoint, it's just a big fish story. We've been in the finals three of the last five years of our league tournament. Two of our last three years, we've lost on a last-second shot. We won on a last-second shot two years before that. We could have been to three NCAA Tournaments in five years. We're so close. For some reason, it didn't happen. I can sit there and talk about how big the fish was on the hook, but we didn't mount it."
PLAYERS
The good news for Kampe and the Golden Grizzlies is that four starters are back from a 23-win team. And it's five if you count Derick Nelson, who started in 2007-08 before sitting out last season with a knee injury.
Nelson, a 6-5 senior forward, averaged 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds in 2007-08. He was the Summit's projected player of the year going into last season, but he suffered a broken foot the day before the first game. He tried to come back after 10 weeks, but he wasn't able to go and took a medical redshirt.
"If you looked around the country last year, when teams lost a great player, they didn't win," Kampe said. "[Oklahoma's] Blake Griffin got hurt and they lost three games in a row. Stephen Curry got hurt and The Citadel beat Davidson. I think that it's kind of amazing that we were able to overcome that injury."
Oakland won its last seven regular-season games going into the Summit Tournament, then bounced IPFW and South Dakota State in consecutive blowouts.
"We were really, really a good basketball team at the end of the year when we learned how to play without him," Kampe said. "We lost a couple of games early because we couldn't finish. We were looking for him late in the game and he wasn't there. It was a very impressive year considering. It was a very rewarding year for our coaching staff and players."
Nelson is healthy and ready to go.
"He's a slasher," Kampe said. "He is a guy who can go get you a basket in the tough time, when you don't want to settle for a jump shot. He'll put his head down and go get you one."
Nelson's skills extend beyond scoring and rebounding.
"I think he's the best defender in our league," Kampe said.
Keith Benson (14.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg) is the leading returning scorer from last season. The 6-10 junior center was the Summit's leading offensive rebounder in 2008-09. He also led the Golden Grizzlies with 87 blocked shots and hit 62 percent of his shots from the field.
Benson spent time this summer at the LeBron James Academy.
"Nike thought he was one of the better big men in the country," Kampe said. "He really came on as the year went on. He blossomed as a sophomore should."
One forward spot will be filled by Will Hudson (7.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg), a 6-9 junior.
"He's a very good defender and he can guard the other team's post," Kampe said. "He'll have games where he scores 15 or 16 points because there's so much emphasis on stopping Benson. He's a garbage-type guy who gets a lot of put-backs and secondary post baskets."
Hudson shot 68 percent from the floor, which would have led the nation if he had more attempts. He set the Oakland record for single-season field-goal percentage.
Kampe plans to get more minutes from Ilija Milutinovic (1.9 ppg, 1.2 rpg), a 7-0 sophomore center from Serbia.
"We think he will develop," Kampe said. "We think he's got a chance to be a pretty good player. He can score. He's big and mobile. He needs to be a better rebounder and defender."
Guard Johnathon Jones (13.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 8.1 apg) will be back to run the point. The 5-11 senior led the nation in assists.
"He's kind of the catalyst of our team," Kampe said. "Since he's been here, we've won 60 games, with a chance to win more. He'll have the best four-year career here as far as wins go. He's not been to the NCAA Tournament. That's his driving force."
Guard Drew Maynard (7.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg) took advantage of Nelson's absence last season to get into the starting lineup. Kampe sees the 6-7 sophomore as Oakland's next great player.
"He's a guy who can really score," Kampe said. "This year, will probably be a complementary year for him."
Another player who saw more time because of Nelson's injury was 6-4 sophomore guard Blake Cushingberry (6.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg).
"He's somebody we expect to play a lot of minutes for us," Kampe said. "He's a strong two guard who can really shoot the ball. He's a very good defender."
Kampe expects contributions from four newcomers, including transfer Larry Wright. The 6-2 junior guard sat out last season after transferring from St. John's. He was a part-time starter for the Red Storm, hitting 40 percent of his three-pointers to lead the team in 2007-08.
"He is a very, very good shooter," Kampe said. "We expect him to take [Erik] Kangas' spot as that outside shooter that we really need. He is quick with the ball."
Ledrick Eackles, son of former NBA standout Ledell Eackles, joins the team after spending last season at Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy. The 6-3 freshman averaged 12 points for the prep school power.
"He's a big recruit for us," Kampe said. "He's probably the mostly highly recruited guy we've ever signed. He's a slasher, and we expect that he'll play."
Two other freshmen, 6-5 forward Drew Valentine and 6-4 guard Travis Bader are likely redshirt candidates.
"We've just got a lot of players who have played," Kampe said. "You can't play 13 guys."
BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS
BACKCOURT: B+
BENCH/DEPTH: A-
FRONTCOURT: A
INTANGIBLES: A
With major graduation losses at North Dakota State, Oakland is the team to beat in the Summit. And the big schools on Oakland's non-conference schedule might want to be on alert, too.
"We're the flavor of the month," Kampe said.
Kampe always wants to play a difficult schedule. Last year, the Golden Grizzlies won at Oregon and lost games at Iowa, Syracuse and Kansas State. Oakland lost to Michigan at Auburn Hills.
This year, Oakland is at Syracuse, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Oregon, Memphis and Kansas.
"Just your normal 'start 0-6 schedule,' " Kampe said. "We won 23 games last year playing a schedule like that."
If Oakland wins as many games as Kampe hopes, finding future opponents won't be as easy.
The rugged non-conference schedule will have the Golden Grizzlies ready for the Summit. This won't be the year a higher-seeded team wants to draw Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.