University of Massachusets Athletics
Minutemen Set For Final Preseason Tune-up
November 14, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 14, 2002
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Exhibition Game No. 2:
UMass vs. Coaches vs. Cancer All-Stars
Saturday, Nov. 16, 2002, 7 p.m., William D. Mullins Memorial Center (9,493), Amherst, Mass.
TV: None
Radio: Tape delay following UMass hockey vs. UMass-Lowell on WRNX 100.9 FM in Springfield, Mass., with Bob Behler (play-by-play) and Jack Leaman (color)
Live Internet Broadcast: www.umassathletics.com
Tonight's Officials: available at game time
Tonight: With its season opener against No. 21 (both polls) Indiana a little more than a week away, coach Steve Lappas' Minutemen return to the hardwood for their final preseason tune-up of the 2002-03 campaign against the touring Coaches vs. Cancer All-Stars. In its first exhibition game, UMass dispatched of Team Nike, 61-49, Nov. 8. Following tonight's game, Massachusetts will be idle until Monday, Nov. 25, when it tips off its 94th intercollegiate basketball season against 2002 NCAA runner-up Indiana in the opening round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational. UMass is assured of playing a second-round game (Nov. 26) against another 2002 NCAA Tournament entrant, either Gonzaga or Utah, while its third-round foe (Nov. 27) will be either Kentucky, Arizona State, Virginia or host Chaminade. The Minutemen will likely be without the services of senior co-captain Micah Brand for tonight's game, as he is sidelined due to injury. Brand, who tallied 13 points, five rebounds and five steals in 31 minutes against Team Nike, is expected to be replaced in the lineup by sophomore Gabe Lee, who had four points and two rebounds in 10 minutes off the bench against Nike. The Coaches vs. Cancer All-Stars, who are also playing games as the Upstate All-Stars this month, take a 2-2 record into Friday's game at Vanderbilt. The Upstate All-Stars dropped a 95-69 decision to St. Bonaventure, Nov. 7, beat Seton Hall, 93-91, Nov. 11, and Albany, 99-95, Nov. 12, before falling to Siena, 94-89, Nov. 13. Former Syracuse standout Lawrence Moten has averaged 31.3 ppg over the team's last three games, including a 42-point explosion against Siena and a 32-point outing at Seton Hall. Tip-Off Press Conference Tuesday: With the start of the UMass men's and women's basketball seasons looming on the horizon, men's coach Steve Lappas and women's coach Marnie Dacko will host a tip-off press conference in the Mullins Center Green Room, Tuesday, Nov. 19, beginning at 2 p.m. At least two players from each team will be in attendance, with Dacko and the Minutewomen slated to meet the press at 2 p.m., while Lappas and his Minutemen will follow at 2:30 p.m.
In Exhibition Play: Massachusetts owns an all-time record of 22-10 (.688) in exhibition games, and has won 10 of its last 12 preseason tilts, including each of its last four preseason contests. Last year, the Minutemen beat the BABC All-Stars, 94-50, in their first preseason tune-up, then downed the EA Sports All-Stars, 76-67, in their second exhibition outing. A complete listing of UMass exhibition game results can be found on page 5 of this notes package.
The Coaches: Massachusetts coach Steve Lappas (City College of New York, 1977) begins his second season on the Minuteman bench and his 15th as a Division I head coach with a 243-188 (.564) career record, including a 13-16 (.448) one-year mark in Amherst. Just the third rookie UMass coach to start his career in Amherst 4-0, and first since Johnny Orr in 1963-64, Lappas has enjoyed tremendous success in year two of his rebuilding projects in stops at both Villanova and Manhattan. In fact, he won an average of eight more games in his second year than he did in his rookie campaign at those institutions. At Villanova, Lappas won 20 games and the school's first NIT championship in 1993-94 after a debut season that produced an 8-19 record, while his second season at Manhattan saw the Jaspers post an 11-17 record after a 7-21 mark in his rookie campaign. Introduced as UMass' 19th basketball coach on March 26, 2001, Lappas came to Amherst after nine highly-successful years at Villanova (1992-93 through 2000-01), where he guided the Wildcats to a 174-110 (.613) record and seven postseason appearances (four NCAA, three NIT). He ranks as the sixth-winningest coach in Big East history (and was the third-winningest among active league coaches when he left the Main Line) with 97 league victories. At Manhattan (1988-89 through 1991-92), Lappas improved the Jaspers' win total every year, going from seven in 1988-89, to 11 the following year, 13 in his third season and 25 in his fourth and final campaign (1991-92) en route to a 56-62 (.475) four-year mark and one postseason (NIT) appearance. Equally impressive as Lappas' on-court record is the classroom performance of his players, as all of his seniors at Massachusetts, Villanova and Manhattan have graduated. Prior to moving to Manhattan, Lappas spent four seasons as an assistant to Rollie Massimino at Villanova, and was a member of the Wildcats' 1985 national championship staff. Coaches vs. Cancer is coached by Dwayne Washington and Mickey Walker.
Nike All-Stars Review: The University of Massachusetts men's basketball team placed three players in double figures en route to a 61-49 exhibition game victory over Team Nike, Nov. 8. The game was close for the first half, with the Minutemen taking a 22-20 halftime lead. Team Nike's Dave Ferguson tied the game at 22-all on a short jumper with 19:35 left in the game, but UMass used a 19-0 run to push the lead to 41-22 with 12:56 to play. Senior forward Jackie Rogers, playing in his first game after sitting out the 2001-02 season as a redshirt, had eight points in UMass' second half run and finished with a team-high 14 points and a team-best eight rebounds. Massachusetts enjoyed its biggest lead of the game at 46-26 with 8:41 left in the game, and held a 51-35 lead with 4:18 to play. Team Nike's Dedric Willoughby, though, scored 11 of his game-high 21 points in the game's final 4:06 to make things interesting down the stretch. Willoughby's lay-up with 1:46 to play brought Team Nike within 53-49, and capped a 14-2 run for the visitors. But, UMass went 8-for-8 at the foul line in the game's final 1:07 to hold off its guests, and claim its fourth straight exhibition game victory, and its eighth in its last nine preseason tilts. Senior center Micah Brand had 13 points, five rebounds and five steals for the Minutemen, while junior guard/forward Marcus Cox, a transfer from Connecticut and playing in his first game at UMass, had 12 points. The Atlantic 10's 2002 Rookie of the Year, Anthony Anderson, had a game-high seven assists and three points in 31 minutes of work. UMass shot 36.2 percent from the field for the game, 15.4 percent from 3-point range, and 68.0 percent at the free throw line. The Minutemen held Team Nike to 34.0 percent field goal shooting, forced 22 turnovers and allowed their fewest points ever (49) in 32 all-time exhibition contests.
A-10 in Exhibition Games: The Atlantic 10 has posted a 12-0 record in exhibition games heading into games of Nov. 14. In addition to this game tonight, Grassroots-Canada is at Fordham (6:30 p.m.) and the Double-Pump All-Stars play at Temple (7 p.m.). On Sunday, Team Nike plays at Dayton (1 p.m.), and on Monday night the games start counting, as Xavier hosts Saint Peter's in a first-round Owens Corning Preseason NIT game.
Preseason Forecasts: Most, if not all, of the preseason magazines have hit the stands by now, and the reviews on coach Steve Lappas' Minutemen have been solid. The Atlantic 10 preseason coaches and media poll pegged UMass third in the East behind Temple and Saint Joseph's, but ahead of St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island and Fordham. Meanwhile, the West Division was forecast as a Xavier, Dayton, Richmond, La Salle, George Washington and Duquesne finish. Junior guard Anthony Anderson earned preseason third team All-Atlantic 10 honors, while freshman guard Michael Lasme was named to the league's preseason All-Rookie unit. Here's a look at some of the preseason magazines and their season forecasts for the Minutemen:
Athlon: Predicts a second-place East Division finish for the Minutemen, behind Temple, and a return to the postseason with an NIT bid.
Blue Ribbon: Projects a second-place finish in the East and a postseason bid for the Minutemen.
College Basketball News: The forecast here isn't as good, as the publication puts UMass fourth in the East, behind Temple, St. Bonaventure and Saint Joseph's. Senior center Micah Brand was selected as a second team preseason All-Conference pick.
ESPN.com: Predicts a first-place East Division effort for Massachusetts, with Marcus Cox earning A-10 Newcomer of the Year honors. Cox was also rated as the nation's No. 4 impact transfer by ESPN's Dick Vitale. UMass was also listed by two of the magazine's "experts" as a potential surprise team in 2002-03.
Lindy's: Tabs the Minutemen to win the East, with Brand earning and Anthony Anderson being selected as third team All-League performers.
Sporting News: Selects the Minutemen to finish third in the East, behind Temple and Saint Joseph's, but rates the program's recruiting class as the league's best.
Street & Smith's: Picks UMass to finish second in the East, with a note for fans not be surprised if the Minutemen win their division.
Team Captains Selected: In voting conducted by the team, the Minutemen selected their only seniors on the roster, center Micah Brand and forward Jackie Rogers, to serve as team captains for the 2002-03 campaign. It marks the fifth consecutive year that UMass will have at least two players serving as team captains.
Second-Year Improvement: If history holds true to form for UMass coach Steve Lappas, the Minutemen will likely see a big improvement in the victory column this season. Why? Because in each of Lappas' first two head coaching stops, at Villanova and Manhattan, he won an average of eight more games in his second season on the bench than he did in his rookie season. At Villanova, he posted eight victories in his first season (1992-93), but went 20-12 in his second year and captured the school's first-ever National Invitation Tournament championship. At Manhattan, Lappas went 7-21 in year one, but improved to 11-17 the second season. Improvement in year two has been a trend among basketball coaches in Amherst, too, as eight of UMass' last nine head coaches have won more games in their second campaign than they did in year one. Coach Robert T. Curran engineered the biggest turnaround over that stretch, a nine-game improvement in the win column from four victories in 1952-53 to 13 in his second year, while John Calipari saw a seven-game improvement in his victory total from 10 wins in his rookie season to 17 and a postseason bid (NIT) in year two. Calipari is the only UMass coach to follow a losing rookie campaign with a postseason bid the next season.
A Grand For Brand: UMass senior center Micah Brand heads into his final campaign with 631 points, just 369 points shy of becoming the school's 36th career 1,000-point scorer. Having improved his scoring and rebounding marks every year of his Minuteman career, he will need to average 12.3 ppg over the 30-game slate to reach the 1,000-point mark. Since David Brown topped the 1,000-point mark as a senior in 1988-89, UMass has had at least one player reach either the career 1,000- or 2,000-point plateau in 13 of the past 14 seasons, including each of the last nine campaigns. Nearly half (17) of UMass' 35 career 1,000-point scorers, and both of the program's 2,000-point men, have come over the last 14 seasons.
Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood: After electing to sit out the 2001-02 season as a redshirt so that he could graduate in the same year his athletic eligibility ends, senior forward Jackie Rogers returns to the fold in 2002-03. The lone fifth-year senior on the UMass roster, Rogers is playing for his fourth different head coach in Steve Lappas, and his sixth in the last seven years dating to his senior year of high school. Rogers averaged 6.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 2000-01, but against A-10 foes his averages were slightly higher at 7.9 ppg and 4.6 rpg. He started six games as a junior, and hit a team-best 55.3 percent from the field, including 61.5 percent against A-10 opponents.
UMass' Double AA Looks to Build on A-10's Rookie Award: Past UMass A-10 Rookie of the Year honorees have gone on to enjoy outstanding careers in Amherst, a trend junior guard Anthony Anderson, the award's 2002 winner, hopes to continue. As a sophomore, Anderson was UMass' top three-point shooter at 38.8 percent, and he also led the Minutemen in three-point goals made (71) and attempted (183). He ranked second on the team in scoring (10.0 ppg), assists (100), minutes played (985) and steals (31). Just the fourth Minuteman to earn the league's top rookie, newcomer or freshman honor, Anderson, a preseason third team All-Atlantic 10 selection, follows in the footsteps of Marcus Camby (1994), Jim McCoy (1989) and Edwin Green (1989), a trio that combined to score 5,148 points as Minutemen, earn eight All-Atlantic 10 certificates (including five first team awards) and produce the school's first-ever national player of the year in Camby.
International Flavor: UMass freshmen Michael Lasme and Alassane Kouyate both played prep hoops in the United States, but claim hometowns on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Lasme, who can speak four languages (English, French, German and Spanish), is a native of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in Africa. He moved to France when he was 12, and has lived in the United States the past two and a half years. Not to be out done by his new teammate, Kouyate, a native of Bamako, Mali, can speak five languages -- English, French, and three African dialects. He has been in the United States for the last three years. In addition, Massachusetts junior walk-on guard Paco Kotaridis hails from Athens, Greece, giving the Minutemen a trio of international diplomats on their 2002-03 roster.
Back to Maui: The 2002-03 Massachusetts basketball season will tip-off in Hawaii, as the Minutemen are part of the eight-team 2002 EA Sports Maui Invitational hosted by Chaminade University in the historic Lahaina Civic Center. It will mark UMass' second trip to Maui, and first since a fourth-place finish in the 1996 tournament. The Minutemen will face 2002 NCAA runner-up Indiana in the first round, Nov. 25, and play another 2002 NCAA Tournament entrant, either Gonzaga or Utah, in a second-round Nov. 26 game. In round three, Nov. 27, UMass will square off against one of four teams -- 2002 Sweet 16 entrant Kentucky, host Chaminade, Arizona State or Virginia, both of whom played in the 2002 National Invitation Tournament. UMass is 4-2 all-told in the nation's 50th state, having posted a 3-0 record en route to the 1995 Rainbow Classic crown and a 1-2 mark a year later in the Maui Classic.
Another Tough Slate: Challenging schedules and UMass basketball have gone hand and hand for more than a decade, and that beat should continue for the Minutemen in 2002-03. The RPI Report ranked UMass' 2001-02 slate as the nation's 49th-toughest, the 10th time in the last 11 seasons the Minutemen ranked among the nation's top 50 in schedule strength. After opening the 2002-03 campaign in a loaded EA Sports Maui Invitational that includes six postseason tournament teams from a year ago, including NCAA runner-up Indiana and Sweet 16 member Kentucky, UMass will return to the mainland for three consecutive games against 2002 NCAA Tournament entrants in Central Connecticut State, Boston College and UConn. The only other 2002 postseason tournament team the Minutemen face during the non-conference season is North Carolina State, a program that advanced to the NCAAs for the first time in more than a decade a year ago. In the A-10, Massachusetts will play more than half (nine) of its 16-game league slate against league members that earned postseason bids a year ago. The Minutemen will tackle NIT entrants Temple, St. Joseph's and St. Bonaventure on a home-and-home basis, while meeting NCAA Tournament team Xavier, and NIT participants Richmond and Dayton once each.
The Baker's Dozen: Over the last 13 seasons, Massachusetts owns a 282-141 (.667) overall record, an average of 21.7 wins per season. The Minutemen have made 10 postseason appearances over that stretch, while recording seven 20-win campaigns, 12 winning conference records and 11 .500 or better campaigns in that stretch. After posting no winning campaigns, just two .500 records and a 53-133 (.285) record in its first 13 seasons in the A-10, UMass has gone 144-66 (.686) in regular-season league play over the last 13 campaigns en route to 10 conference crowns (five regular season, five tournament). Eight times over the last 13 seasons, the Minutemen have won at least 11 league games. In the Atlantic 10, no program that has called the league home in each of the last 13 years has won more games overall than UMass (282). Xavier, though, does have 285 victories to its credit over that time frame, but the Musketeers didn't join the A-10 until the 1995-96 campaign.
Getting it Done With Defense: The key to UMass' success a year ago was its play at the defensive end of the floor, a longtime trademark of the Minuteman program that continued in Steve Lappas' rookie season in Amherst. The Minutemen were 11-1 on the year when allowing 62 or fewer points, and yielded just 58.3 ppg in their wins, compared to 72.0 in their losses. A year ago, Massachusetts ranked second in the A-10 in three-point percentage defense (.317), third in field goal percentage defense (.406) and fourth in scoring (65.9 ppg) defense. In league play, the Minutemen were fourth in three-point percentage defense (.324), fifth in scoring defense (.365) and sixth in field goal percentage defense (.420).
This Defense Never Rests: How good was UMass' defense last season? Consider that the Minutemen held their opponent under both their season scoring and field goal percentage marks in 19 of 29 starts. Massachusetts was 12-7 on the year when holding its opponents under both their season scoring and field goal shooting averages, but 1-9 when allowing its foes to exceed one or both of their season marks. In each of the past 11 seasons, the Minutemen have held their opponents to season marks below 70.0 ppg and 42.0 percent field goal shooting.
Dialing Long Distance: Massachusetts drained a school single-season record 204 three-pointers in Steve Lappas' rookie season on the bench, 24 more than it made in 34 games during the 1994-95 season. The Minutemen's 587 three-point attempts also ranked as the highest one-season total in school history, 60 more than the 1994-95 team's 527 attempts. In each of Lappas' head coaching stops, his teams have established school records for three-point goals made. Heading into the 2002-03 campaign, UMass has made at least one trey in 122-consecutive games (its opponents have a string of 66-straight games with at least one bonus basket) and in 498 of 505 games it has played since the arc was added to the college game in 1986-87.
The Comeback Kids: It really shouldn't come as much of a surprise that UMass overcame double-digit deficits to beat St. Bonaventure, Oregon and Arkansas-Little Rock last year, as those type of comebacks have happened before in Amherst. Including those games, the Minutemen have now recorded 20 double-digit comeback wins over the last eight seasons. At St. Bonaventure, Massachusetts trailed by 10 midway through the first half, but rallied for a 67-65 victory. In the Oregon game, the Minutemen were down by as many as 11 points in the first half, but came back to score a 62-58 win over the Ducks at the Springfield Civic Center. Against Arkansas-Little Rock, UMass trailed by 10 points, 37-27, with 19:31 left in the game, but came back to score a 66-60 victory.
The Minutemen at Mullins: Massachusetts, which went 8-6 at the Mullins Center last season (9-6 overall at home, including a win over eventual Elite Eight entrant Oregon at the Springfield Civic Center), stands 84-29 (.743) entering its 11th season of play in the building, 59-18 (.766) all-time vs. A-10 opponents and 25-11 (.694) vs. non-league foes. The Minutemen have posted a .500 or better homecourt record for 20-straight seasons, including each of the 10 seasons they have called the Mullins Center home.
From Here: The Minutemen leave Friday for Maui and the 2002 EA Sports Invitational, Nov. 25-27. UMass will tackle No. 21 Indiana in the opening round, Monday, Nov. 25, at 5 p.m. (Eastern) in a game that will be televised on ESPN2.
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