Game Notes
Kentucky Wesleyan coach
Happy Osborne feels like the recent 10-day break his team had has been a useful one.
It's been a chance to recharge the batteries and, more importantly, shore up a few areas that he felt were lacking up to this point.
We've used it to get way more comfortable offensively," he said of the break. "We've spent a lot of time on (man-to-man defense). Hopefully our zones are better. They've got to be better (Wednesday) because St. Joseph's is going to play five out against the zone. We've got to rotate. I hope we're better at guarding their dribble penetration."
KWC (6-5) will need to be sharp Wednesday night when former Great Lakes Valley Conference foe St. Joseph's visits the Sportscenter for a 7:30 p.m. contest, he said.
The Pumas (3-5) bring with them a high-scoring offense (94.6 points per game) and a team that likes to shoot from the perimeter. They're shooting just 29.4 percent per game, but are averaging about 33 attempts per game and making 10 of them. If they get hot, they could be hard to stop, Osborne said.
Two players, guard Cameron Vines (24.9 points per game) and forward Jon Smith (17.9 points, 9.8 rebounds per game), will be tough to stop, Osborne added.
On top of that, St. Joe's likes to run and play in transition. That was a major defensive hole early on and Osborne said his team is getting better in that area.
"We're working on it," Osborne said. "I'm pleased with our practices. I feel like our guys are working hard. It's obviously a much more competitive practice."
That's due in large part to the fact that KWC's numbers are deeper now than they were for much of the first 11 games. Senior forward Donovan Johnson and sophomore forward Devin Langford returned from suspension last game against Salem International.
Johnson scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds in 16 minutes in his debut, while Langford played just one minute and had no impact on the game. It was Langford who Osborne was more concerned about going forward, but on Tuesday he said the 6-foot-7 transfer from Illinois has made "significant strides" in practice the last two days.
Osborne gave his team three days off following the Salem International game, but has since run two-a-days and said he feels like the team's conditioning is much better than before.Â
It's no secret that Osborne prefers man-to-man defense over zone, but he wasn't ready to say that they'll strictly go to that now that Johnson and Langford are back. Expect to see some zone still as St. Joe's tries to score from the perimeter.
St. Joe's is averaging 41 rebounds per game compared to KWC's 35.2, and about 15 of those per game are coming on the offensive glass. So limiting the Pumas to one shot will be key as well.
"They are excellent in offensive rebounding at 15 a game, which has got to be up there with anybody," Osborne said. "They're really, really good in transition. They're really, really good at penetrate and pitching."
He added, "they want to play an ultra-fast paced. Our challenge is we've got to keep them off the glass."
