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October 14, 2007

By Drew Champlin

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Some basketball information to take into the weekend

October 12, 2007

By Drew Champlin

Troy opens practice for the 2007-08 basketball season tonight (Friday) at 7 p.m.

“We’ll be relying on a bunch of newcomers to make an impact,“ head coach Don Maestri said. “One of the question marks is how they’ll make an impact at this level.“

One more change will be the offensive style, which will shape into a motion offense, something Maestri said Troy hasn’t done in quite a while. It also could mean less 3-pointers in the halfcourt set.

Two injuries of note before practice starts. Senior guard/forward Justin Jonus is recovering from a knee injury suffered a few weeks back and junior center Tom Jervis has a bum ankle. Both will definitely be ready for the start of the season (Nov. 5 in an exhibition vs. West Alabama), but it might be a week before they are cleared to practice.

Of note, senior O’Darien Bassett is the starter at the 2-guard position. He’ll only play there this year, when he rotated between there and the point last year.

“He’s got to be a great scorer for us to be good,“ Maestri said. Bassett averaged a team-best 15.1 ppg last year. He and Jonus at the 3-position are the only two who have locked up starting spots heading into practice. Jonus (6-foot-6) scored 9 ppg last year after becoming eligible as a midseason transfer.

“Jonus was in phenomenal shape before he hurt his knee,“ Maestri said. “He transformed his whole body.“

Sophomore Brandon Hazzard played some PG last year but he’ll back up Bassett. His natural position is the 2-guard, and he’ll stay there. “He’s a great shooter,“ Maestri said.

The PG position is up for grabs, and whoever plays the most will be decided by who runs the offense the best. Senior Jerome Odem and junior Josh Williams will attempt to hold off sophomore transfer Mike Vogler at the position.

“I think all three will play,“ Maestri said. “I don’t think right now it’s a position where someone’s going to play 35 minutes a game.“

Junior college transfer Kenny Ware (6-foot-5, 170) “is a very good shooter, very athletic and plays hard,“ Maestri said. He’ll contend for minutes at the 3-position.

Maestri said he’s looking for big things out of all of his newcomers, but I really think the two best might be forwards Trayce Macon and Mario Telfair. Macon’s 6-foot-8, 190 and could start at the 4 (forward) position. Telfair (6-foot-6, 195) can play the 3 or 4.

“(Macon) is pretty good. He’s a very skilled kid who can shoot the ball and put it on the floor. (Telfair) is as athletic as anybody on the team. He’s a phenomenal finisher and a tough, strong kid who has played for a lot of winning teams,“ Maestri said.

Vogler and Macon are both sophomores who were academically eligible out of high school but chose to go the JUCO route. Telfair, Jervis and Ware are juniors. There are no freshmen on the roster.

Senior Jarvis Acker returns after redshirting last year and he’ll play either the 3 or the 4.

At the center position, Jervis, a 7-footer, and sophomore Bernard Toombs (6-foot-10, 200) will battle for a starting spot.

Mississippi State transfer PG Richard Delk is sitting out the year to fulfill NCAA transfer requirements.

MY THOUGHTS

Like every other Troy team, there are question marks. But, the roles are already defined for the year and the team you see now is the team that you’ll see at the end. There are no midseason transfers or guys becoming eligible at midseason after making their grades. Bassett is staying in one position where, when he played the PG, he wasn’t as effective and the rest of the team wasn’t as effective even though with him at the PG, it gave Troy the chances to have its best five on the court.

I see the conference schedule and see 7-11 as a first instinct prediction, but it could be better (or worse). They need to finish games, which was a problem last year when Troy, it seemed like, had a chance to win about 7 more games but blew leads late. Maybe the new offense will slow things down.

Expect a bunch of pressing. There’s the athletes to do it.

Some defensive quotes to fill in the off week

October 11, 2007

By Drew Champlin

From defensive coordinator Jeremy Rowell on Monday.

Defensive thoughts after the FIU game: We’re still missing a couple of plays. We’re playing better and playing harder. Tackling is better, but still not to the point where it needs to be yet. But we’re flying around to the football pretty good.

We’re giving up the big plays. We had them third and 20something and they run a screen play. We’re going to play coverage and rush four so we need to react to it. If we miss two tackles, he’s going to get a first down. We miss a sack, he scrambles and throws long and they get a 50-yard catch.
Stuff like that, where we have got to make the play on the front end and not let it get out.

What part of the unit does this fall on? Everybody. No particular person. When you’re blitzing, you’ve got to get there and make sacks. Don’t let them get out of the pocket and scramble and throw. When we drop back and play coverage, somebody’s got to react to the screen and make a tackle.

On the scoring drive in the first half, we dropped two picks. One would have kept it from ever getting started and the other would have kept them from getting in the end zone. That’s plays we’ve got to make.

Elbert Mack has four interceptions. Thoughts on that compared to Leodis McKelvin not having any? They don’t go to Leodis’s side a bunch. You can attribute it to a bunch of things. Leodis should have three or four himself. He’s made great breaks but he hasn’t caught the ball as well as Elbert.
I love them both. They’re both very good players. They can both play cover and play zone.

Tavares Williams

October 09, 2007

By Drew Champlin

Not a lot gets mentioned about Tavares Williams, but the junior has been a steady two-year starter at free safety.

I talked to him briefly at Barnhill’s yesterday during the weekly press luncheon. Not for a story, just casual chit-chat. I wrote a story last fall about his relationship with his son, Tavares Jr., who is now in Kindergarden back home with his mother (Tavares’ future wife) and grandmother in Gainesville, Fla.

Here’s how the conversation went.

Me: How’s Junior?

TW: He’s doin good, he’s in kindergarden now.

Me: Is he at the top of his class?

TW: He better be at the top of his class.

Me: You going to see him this weekend (Troy is on fall break this week and the Trojans are off this weekend).

TW: Yep, going Wednesday. I can’t wait.

Me: Hoping to play pro ball after next year?

TW: Hope so, if not I’ll go put my degree to work.

Williams will graduate in the fall of 2008. He said he could finish sooner, but wanted to spread out his hours. You hear so much about athletes not being there for their kids. Obviously, Tavares Jr. was born before Tavares Sr. was ready, but Tavares Sr. is a Trojan you should think about when you talk about a guy who’s doing the right things on and off the field.

I couldn’t find a link to the story I wrote last year since our web site has changed, but here’s a copy and paste version….

....

Drew Champlin dchamplin

@dothaneagle.com

When Troy won on the road at Florida Atlantic last Saturday, it was hard to find anyone happier than Tavares Williams.

His little man, the light of his world, was there for him and the rest of his team to see.
Three-year-old Tavares Jr. made the trip from Gainesville, Fla., to FortLauderdale with family members to cheer on his father, a sophomore who starts at free safety for theTrojans.
“It was exciting to have him there,”Williams said. “He got to meet the fellas and hang out with us in the locker room. He met (Troy linebacker) Romanique’s (Lewis) son and hung out with him.”
Tavares Jr. lives in Gainesville with his mother, Tonisha Leven and Williams’ mother, KabbieWilson. He’s been to see his dad play, but not since the Alabama State game early this year.
“He’s at the age where he understands more,”Williams said. “He’s always talking to me about football.”
Against FAU, Williams had four tackles and recovered a fumble when teammate Boris Lee lost the ball after an interception. He has 40 tackles on the season with an interception in his first as a starter.
While Tavares Jr. might not be able to dissect a zone defense, he’s picking up things fast, says his father.
“He knows my number,”Williams said. “When he sees me on the field, he knows its me.
“He just likes to see the game and see me out there.”
Williams became a father right before his senior year at Eastside HighSchool in Gainesville.
He chose Troy over schools like South Florida andCentral Florida so he could be close to home, but not too close.
“If Iwas too close, I’d be having the itch to go back and forth too much,”Williams said.
“I see him most during the summer.I do well in school, so I can get the first summer session off.
“I talk to him every day. His mom gets up at 7:30 to go to work and he calls me then.”
Williams, a business management major, uses his intellects on the field to make plays.
“He has a knack for the ball,”co-defensive coordinator Jeremy Rowell said. “He understands the game and can make calls and adjustments.
“He’s a very mature kid and has handled everything that has been dealt to him very well. He stays on top with his books and he’s got his little man at home and he takes care of him.
“He tries to be in his life but he knows to make it better, he’s got to go to school and get his education and he’s doing that.”
But this won’t be the last time this fall that Williams gets to see his son. He said he expects family members to come for this weekend’s game, when Troy hosts Arkansas State Saturday at 6 p.m.
Tavares Jr. will be at Troy’s gameat Florida International Dec. 2 and at theNewOrleans Bowl on Dec. 22, if Troy makes it.
“I miss him and I’m wanting to see him,”Williams said. “When he comes to games, it energizes me to see him in the stands.”
After college, if theNFL doesn’t work out, Williams said he hopes to get a good job in his field in Gainesville. By then, Tavares Jr. will be almost ready to start playing football.
“He’ll be getting started with Pop Warner football,”Williams said. “Hopefully he can be a future football player and a future Trojan like me.”

Tuesday links

By Drew Champlin

Want to read what Troy offensive coordinator Tony Franklin is saying about his backup quarterbacks? If so, check out my Troy football notebook.

Check back later today for a blurb on Troy safety Tavares Williams.