Pleiman has help up front
Oct 17, 2007 6:14:39 GMT -5
Post by Willie on Oct 17, 2007 6:14:39 GMT -5
Pleiman has help up front
By Marc Katz
Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
FAIRBORN — A year ago, Jordan Pleiman had to look down to see his teammates.
Pleiman, the 6-foot-8 Wright State senior from Fort Loramie, was taller by two inches than anybody else on the men's basketball team. He also was 20 to 30 pounds heavier.
Those days are over.
"Right now, there are so many guys posting up," Pleiman said. "If you don't have size, you can't imitate it."
Things are different this season as the Raiders work through their first week of practice. Unfortunately, Ronnie Thomas, a 6-8 transfer from Duquesne, is out with a broken foot suffered Saturday during a drill, but he is expected back for the regular season.
Meanwhile, Pleiman will have to practice against 6-8 junior college transfer Gavin Horne, 6-8 freshman Kyle Pressley from Fort Wayne, Ind., and 6-8 Cooper Land, from Flower Mound, Texas.
In addition, there is new assistant coach Victor Ebong, himself a 6-8 former frontline player at North Carolina-Wilmington.
"Definitely, we have more depth this year," Pleiman said. "I knew we were going to get some size. It makes it a more rounded team."
Luckily for the Raiders, the Horizon League has been guard-oriented for many seasons, and will be this season as well.
Still, WSU ran into some formidable front lines last season, especially at Illinois-Chicago, where the Flames had 6-11 Scott VanderMeer at center, flanked by 6-9 Jovan Stefanov and 6-9 Danijel Zoric. Only VanderMeer returns from that group. The Raiders beat the Flames both times they met in 2007, with the second of those games going to overtime.
When WSU played Pittsburgh in the first round of the NCAA tournament, there was no one to help against 7-footer Aaron Gray, who scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 26 minutes during the Panthers' victory.
It isn't just height that's the problem. It's size. Pleiman weighs about 240, but no one else on the Raiders, other than Thomas, is more than about 220. Land and Horne barely top 200.
"Whenever a guy is bigger, you have to fight through him with moves," Pleiman said.
This year, at least, Pleiman has others to help him with the fight.
Looking up Wright State has five players who stand 6-foot-8:
Cooper Land Freshman 6-8
Kyle Pressley Freshman 6-8
Gavin Horne Junior 6-8
Ronnie Thomas Sophomore 6-8
Jordan Pleiman Senior 6-8
www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/10/16/ddn101707wsubb.html
By Marc Katz
Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
FAIRBORN — A year ago, Jordan Pleiman had to look down to see his teammates.
Pleiman, the 6-foot-8 Wright State senior from Fort Loramie, was taller by two inches than anybody else on the men's basketball team. He also was 20 to 30 pounds heavier.
Those days are over.
"Right now, there are so many guys posting up," Pleiman said. "If you don't have size, you can't imitate it."
Things are different this season as the Raiders work through their first week of practice. Unfortunately, Ronnie Thomas, a 6-8 transfer from Duquesne, is out with a broken foot suffered Saturday during a drill, but he is expected back for the regular season.
Meanwhile, Pleiman will have to practice against 6-8 junior college transfer Gavin Horne, 6-8 freshman Kyle Pressley from Fort Wayne, Ind., and 6-8 Cooper Land, from Flower Mound, Texas.
In addition, there is new assistant coach Victor Ebong, himself a 6-8 former frontline player at North Carolina-Wilmington.
"Definitely, we have more depth this year," Pleiman said. "I knew we were going to get some size. It makes it a more rounded team."
Luckily for the Raiders, the Horizon League has been guard-oriented for many seasons, and will be this season as well.
Still, WSU ran into some formidable front lines last season, especially at Illinois-Chicago, where the Flames had 6-11 Scott VanderMeer at center, flanked by 6-9 Jovan Stefanov and 6-9 Danijel Zoric. Only VanderMeer returns from that group. The Raiders beat the Flames both times they met in 2007, with the second of those games going to overtime.
When WSU played Pittsburgh in the first round of the NCAA tournament, there was no one to help against 7-footer Aaron Gray, who scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 26 minutes during the Panthers' victory.
It isn't just height that's the problem. It's size. Pleiman weighs about 240, but no one else on the Raiders, other than Thomas, is more than about 220. Land and Horne barely top 200.
"Whenever a guy is bigger, you have to fight through him with moves," Pleiman said.
This year, at least, Pleiman has others to help him with the fight.
Looking up Wright State has five players who stand 6-foot-8:
Cooper Land Freshman 6-8
Kyle Pressley Freshman 6-8
Gavin Horne Junior 6-8
Ronnie Thomas Sophomore 6-8
Jordan Pleiman Senior 6-8
www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/10/16/ddn101707wsubb.html