Rockets Return Veteran Squad for 2005-06 Depth and Versatility to be Trademarks for Athletic Squad
Oct. 20, 2005
Toledo, OH - Coming off a season that saw the Rockets capture a share of the Mid-American Conference West Division title, the Toledo men's basketball program is ready to produce another successful campaign in 2005-06.
Toledo is banking on a versatile, experienced roster led by seniors Anton Currie and Sammy Villegas. Combined with juniors Keonta Howell, Justin Ingram, Allen Pinson, Rashay Russell and Florentino Valencia, the Rockets will have seven upperclassmen on their roster for the first time in 11 years. As far as numbers on the court go, UT returns 74.5 percent of their points and 79.6 percent of their rebounds from a year ago.
Head Coach Stan Joplin believes that experience could make a big difference in the amount of success his club enjoys. The largest number of upperclassman Joplin has coached during his nine-year tenure was six in the 1998-99 and 2000-01 campaigns.
"The one thing you can't beat is experience, and hopefully we have some guys who will be leaders and take ownership in our program," Joplin said. "That makes a big difference for a team, because they can handle a lot of things when the coaches aren't around - in the locker room, in the weight room and in social settings.
"The older guys set an example of how the program is supposed to be. We definitely need that, and hopefully our juniors and seniors can do that for us."
Taking the lead among that group will be junior point guard Justin Ingram, who was unanimously voted by his teammates as a co-captain for the upcoming season.
Ingram has started all 60 games of his collegiate career and averaged 9.3 points, 3.2 assists and a team-high 4.0 rebounds last season.
"Justin being a captain for us is a no-brainer," Joplin said. "Last year, he was a little tentative as far as leadership and didn't want to step on anyone's toes.
"Now I think he realizes some of the things that he has to do. He's going to be at the forefront for us. I think he'll have a lot of support from the players, because he does things he's supposed to do and he's going to do the right thing."
One area that improved leadership could help the Rockets on the court is their ability to close out games. UT dropped five conference games a year ago when holding second-half advantages, including a pair of games which it led by 15 points or more.
"I think our problem with losing leads had a lot to do with not having the right attitude," Joplin said. "We didn't always play a full 40 minutes, and I think that was related to not having the leadership needed to be successful.
"We stood around and weren't aggressive, and we didn't put teams away. When we get a lead, we have to put a team away and not do just enough to get by. I think the players have learned a lot from that."
That learning experience should prove beneficial for a squad with as much athleticism as any team that Joplin has coached at UT. The Rockets will look to field a squad that can play an up-tempo style, but Joplin wants his players to make a total commitment for that to happen.
"I think we're pretty athletic, but we have to make sure we use it to our advantage," Joplin said. "The players want to play up-tempo, but they have to be willing to pay the price as far as getting in great shape, eating the right foods and getting the proper rest. If they want to play that way, we have to make sure they do that and we push them in that direction."
Even though Joplin wants the Rockets to utilize their athleticism with an exciting style of play, he realizes that there will be a need to play a slowdown game at times to be successful.
"We always want to push the ball and take advantage of our athletic ability," Joplin said. "But I think the bottom line when you get into conference play is that you have to play good half-court offense and defense."
Helping the Rockets achieve this goal will be the talented point-guard duo of Ingram and sophomore Kashif Payne. A MAC All-Freshman team selection, Payne led the conference with a 2.30 assist/turnover ratio. Ingram ranked second on the team with a 1.42 mark.
"What really helped us reduce our turnovers last year was the play of both Justin (Ingram) and Kashif (Payne)," Joplin said. "Most of the time the ball will be in the hands of Kashif and Justin and the other perimeter players, and we want to make sure we keep our turnovers down. But there is still room for improvement from the rest of the team, and everybody has to do a better job of making decisions."
Adding to the Rockets' athleticism on the perimeter will be a trio of wing players -- seniors Anton Currie and Sammy Villegas along with junior Keonta Howell. All three are solid shooters from three-point range who can take the ball to the hole, as well.
"With Anton, Sammy and Keonta we have three guys who can slash to the basket as well as step out and hit the three," Joplin said. "It's a big benefit to have those types of players on our roster because they can do so many things."
In addition to guard play, another area that will be critical to the success for the Rockets' running game will be rebounding. It's a part of the game that needs to improve dramatically.
UT ranked last in the MAC with a -3.8 rebound margin, and Ingram ended up leading the Rockets with 4.0 rebounds per contest.
"When your point guard leads your team in rebounding that speaks volumes," Joplin said. "If we would have grabbed some more rebounds, we could have won a lot more games.
"We had guys who didn't want to put bodies on people, and we need someone to take the bull by the horns and be a rebounder."
The Rockets have several legitimate candidates to take charge in the rebounding department. Juniors Allen Pinson (6-10, 235) and Florentino Valencia (6-5, 240) now have two years of collegiate experience under their belt and will need to establish more of a presence on the boards. Sophomore forward Jerrah Young (6-7, 215) also could provide some needed strength down low after sitting out last year following his transfer from West Virginia.
"Allen and Tino both need to do better jobs rebounding," Joplin said. "They're juniors now and they have to step up and be more consistent.
"Jerrah (Young) is going to be playing in his first year with the program, and we aren't sure what kind of impact he'll have. He's showed us some things in practice, but now he has to do it in games."
Another possible contributor up front will be sophomore center Haris Charalambous (6-10, 260). The Manchester, England native played only six games last year after undergoing shoulder surgery last September.
"Haris is healthy for the first time since he's been here and that's going to be a big plus for us," Joplin said. "He's finally in good shape and can start to improve as a basketball player."
Toledo should be able to have a chance to experiment with its style of play during a non-conference schedule that will include six home games. It will mark the most non-conference home dates the Rockets have had in a season since the 1998-99 campaign.
UT will host East Carolina, Ferris State, IPFW, Oakland, St. Bonaventure and Wright State. The Rockets will visit South Carolina, SMU and an opponent determined by the BracketBuster Saturday pairings.
The following is a look at the Rockets by position:
GUARDS The Rockets will need to replace their all-time leader in steals as well as the No. 3 scorer in school history in Keith Triplett. But their task may come a little bit easier when looking at the depth UT has stockpiled at the guard position.
Toledo will again primarily feature a three-guard backcourt and Joplin has eight players to utilize in his rotation.
Senior Sammy Villegas (6-6, 204) is the most experienced returnee for the Rockets and will be looking to rebound from a disappointing junior campaign. The 2002-03 MAC Freshman of the Year averaged a career-low 9.3 ppg last year and shot a career-worst 32.4 percent from three-point range after entering the season with marks of 12.4 ppg and a 38.8 3PTFG%, respectively.
"We're looking for Sammy to bounce back and have the type of year that we expect of him," Joplin said. "But that will only happen if he works hard and has the right mindset. He put a lot of time in the gym in the spring and summer and hopefully that will pay off for him."
Junior Justin Ingram (6-2, 182) was one of the team's top producers down the stretch last season, averaging 11.6 ppg with a 45.3 3PTFG% (24-of-53) in Toledo's final 12 contests. In addition to his play at the point, Joplin believes the Lansing, MI native can also help the Rockets at shooting guard.
"We might let Justin be more of a combo guard because he has the talent to do that," Joplin said. "It depends on how he makes the adjustment, but we'll experiment with that and see how things work out."
Teaming with Ingram at the point will be sophomore Kashif Payne (5-9, 155). The 2004-05 MAC All-Freshman Team member averaged 19.2 minutes per game off the bench and led the MAC with a 2.30 assist/turnover ratio. He also registered a team-high 3.4 apg and ranked third with 1.1 spg to go along with 4.0 ppg.
"Kashif did just about everything we could have asked for coming in as a freshman for us," Joplin said. "He did a good job of getting people the ball in the right position, and he made us a different team when he was on the court."
Junior Keonta Howell (6-4, 218) provides Joplin with another versatile athlete in the backcourt. The Jackson, MI native saw his first extensive collegiate action last season and tied for third on the team in scoring with 9.3 ppg while shooting 44.7 percent from three-point range and 81.0 percent from the charity stripe.
"Keonta made a big jump in scoring for us last year," Joplin said. "He needs to continue to get better and take the ball to the basket more. He can rebound the ball and play a couple of different positions, and he's not afraid to take a shot in late-game situations."
Junior Rashay Russell (6-0, 173) also could see some action in his role as a defensive stopper, while sophomore walk-on Steve Lyon (6-5, 204) improved throughout last season and could see slightly more playing time.
In addition to the returnees, Joplin will have a trio of talented freshmen to turn to in Dallas native Jonathan Amos (6-3, 201), Boston native Ridley Johnson (6-3, 185) and Chicago native Tyrone Kent (6-5, 194). Amos was a Class 4A all-region selection by the Texas Basketball Coaches Association, Johnson led Charlestown High School (25-2) to the Division II state title and averaged 17.4 points, 10.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists and Kent averaged 26.0 ppg en route to earning second-team Class AA all-state honors.
"Jonathan is long and can shoot the ball from the outside as well as take it to the basket and finish," Joplin said. "Ridley is a good outside shooter who should also step right in for us, and Tyrone could contribute right away because of his athleticism and versatility."
"We need guys who can make plays on the court and Jonathan, Ridley and Tyrone are that type of player. As far as the playing time they receive, that will be determined by the adjustment they make when they get here."
FORWARDS The Rockets will have plenty of options to turn to at forward. Joplin has a pair of bangers in junior Florentino Valencia (6-5, 244) and sophomore Jerrah Young (6-7, 214) as well as perimter-oriented slashers in senior Anton Currie (6-8, 200), Keonta Howell and Tyrone Kent.
"We have several different ways that we can match up with our opponents," Joplin said. "We can go bigger with Jerrah and Tino in the lineup or we can utilize a quicker group with Anton, Keonta or Tyrone."
Valencia is the team's leading returning scorer with 9.9 ppg to go along with 3.8 rpg. The Chicago native scored in double digits on 12 occasions and Joplin would like to see him produce those type of outings on a more consistent basis.
"Tino needs to establish himself as a low-post presence," Joplin said. "He's an emotional leader for us and there's a lot of value in that. But we need to know what we're going to get from him game-in and game-out as far as points and rebounds."
Currie enjoyed his best season as a Rocket averaging 5.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and a team-high 46.9 three-point field-goal percentage while starting 18 games and playing 18.9 minutes per game.
"Anton is a veteran who gives us a lot of versatility, and he had a big jump in production last year," Joplin said. "He's long and being healthy for most of the season last year was a big key for him."
Young is expected to add a defensive presence down low for the Rockets and help improve the team's performance on the boards. The Chicago native sat out last year after transferring from West Virginia.
"We think Jerrah could really help us from a rebounding and defensive standpoint," Joplin said. "He played very well in practice last year, but now he has to carry that level of play into games."
CENTERS Junior Allen Pinson (6-10, 235) and sophomore Haris Charalambous (6-10, 270) will man the post position for the Rockets.
Pinson averaged 6.0 ppg and ranked third in the MAC with 1.38 bpg and improved his statistical totals in every category from his freshman to sophomore campaigns. The Hebron, OH native was on his way to an even better season before suffering a concussion midway through the year and being forced to sit out three games. He averaged 7.3 ppg and 4.3 rpg in 12 games prior to the injury and 4.9 ppg and 2.9 rpg in the following 14 contests.
"Allen can block shots for us and he's learned to stay out of foul trouble," Joplin said. "He's starting to mature but he has to get stronger, play more with his back to the basket and be more consistent."
Charalambous played just six games as a freshman after undergoing shoulder surgery in September. During his limited action, he averaged 1.8 ppg and 1.5 rebounds per game.
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