Oct. 28, 2009
Navy Men's Basketblog
By Navy Sports Info on October 28, 2009
The Midshipmen held practice No. 11 yesterday afternoon in Halsey Field House, and for the most part, it was another good practice. I have been working with this team now for four years. I have been to three practices so far this year. I am not sure I have seen a Navy team (since of course I have been here) practice with more energy, communication and passion. This team is playing hard and working to become better.
It seems to all start with junior point guard O.J. Avworo. Let's just say this about O.J. He has no problem talking and communicating with his teammates on the floor. The kid is a leader and he makes sure that he can be heard, mostly on the defensive end. I sat down with O.J. after practice and asked him a few questions about practice and this year's team.
Q: How is practice going now that you have been going now for a couple of weeks?
Avworo: It's been really good. The coaches constantly do a great job of foreseeing things we need to work on and the obstacles that we are going to face. It's a big difference from where we have been in the past. It's a big step for the program and it shows the maturity that we are starting to develop here.
Q: Entering your second year as the starter as point guard, has it been smoother than being a first-year starter a year ago?
Avworo: It has gone smoother. A lot accounts for that. I understand the coaches more. The players understand me better. Just getting to know the guys that I play with. A lot of people have worked hard and put in the time in relationships on the court and off the court. That's a big part of the team this year, focusing on being a great team and understanding each other better on and off the court.
Q: As a sophomore last year, you were kind of a newcomer. Now a year older, do you feel more of a leadership role this year?
Avworo: Being a point guard, you always have to have that leadership role, regardless of how old you are. You have to see yourself as a leader on the court, and even off the court. I think this year, because I have played that one year and know so much more about the program, rather than just basketball, I know what the coaches are offering and what we are trying to do. I think I am able to better articulate some of the coaches' mentality and thoughts to our teammates.
Q: How would you describe Coach Lange's coaching style in practice?
Avworo: He's young, which really helps. He does a great job of playing personnel. He understands what each player needs to do to be the greatest teammate a player can be, then puts it in one big package to help the team out. That's essentially what makes a team a great team -- every guy playing to the best of their abilities, and he brings that out of you. You can tell that by our offense and playing under him, he brings the energy, and you can tell when he is in the gym or not in the gym. When he is in the gym, the energy level just goes up significantly. I try to match his energy. That is a big thing in basketball and being able to bring energy and focus every day in practice.
Q: You are always out there playing with a lot of energy and focus and communication. Do you sense guys feeding off your energy?
Avworo: I get that from Coach Lange. When he has that energy, his assistants have that, and I feel like I have to bring it. He's not playing. If a guy has this much energy towards basketball and he is not even playing, I truly believe that the guys on the court need to bring that same amount. If he is on the sidelines clapping and cheering and having that much emotion, we have to do the same thing on the court for each other.
Q: Season starts in three weeks against Radford. Ready to go?
Avworo: Yeah, I can't wait. Definitely a lot of things that we need to work on. It's so easy for a player to want to get into the game. As we practice situations, there are little mistakes that can be magnified in a game. We do a lot of situation work (late-game, end of shot clock, etc...), and those can make or break games. When we do it in practice, we make a lot of mistakes. You realize that you are not as ready for games as you think you are. I think we are doing a really good job on them, but I am glad that we have three weeks before our first game still to get the mistakes corrected.
• Head coach Billy Lange had this to say about Avworo. "He is extremely focused and I love the energy and emotion he brings every day. He has had a great preseason camp so far. He is really starting to understand his teammates better and its making us better."
• Just a reminder that Patriot League media day will be held on Thursday at the ESPNZone in Baltimore. The league will announce the preseason All-League teams and predicted order of finish. It will be interesting to see where Navy falls. The Mids return three starters, which is amazingly, the second fewest in the league behind American's zero. The league figures to have maybe the most-competitive seasons it has ever had in its almost 20 years of existence. Fans have the chance to ask questions of the eight Patriot League coaches via the PL Twitter Page, the PL's Blog Page, or via the league's Facebook page. Chris Harris and Billy Lange will be Navy's representatives on Thursday.
• Navy fans can also submit questions and / or comments about Navy Basketball at NavyHoopsBlog@gmail.com. I will try to answer all your questions as best I can, and if I can't, I will try and find out for you. In addition, if anyone out there has an idea to name this blog, I will gladly accept suggestions. Navy Basketblog was the best my creative mind could come up with, so I am definitely open to suggestions.
• Also, don't forget that the Navy men's basketball team will be signing autographs in the concourse of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium prior to Saturday's football game with Temple. The team will be available from 1:30 pm to approximately 2:00 pm.
• Most of Tuesday's practice was spent on defensive work, although the team did scrimmage for about 30 minutes at the end of practice. Coming from practice was this quote, "If you can find a way to dominate a team for the first 10-15 seconds of a possession, you can be a very good defensive team."
• One of the reasons for the defensive intensity has been the return of Romeo Garcia. Garcia is one of the league's top defenders and watching him in practice makes you appreciate what Garcia can do on the defensive side of the ball. He makes everyone around him better on the defensive end. He made one play in particular that you would never see in the statsheet, but it caught my eye. He got caught in a screen in a curl cut. Somehow, Garcia recovered in time to get his arms straight up and forced a very difficult shot on what should have been a wide-open layup. Garcia then grabbed the rebound and started a Navy fast-break. It's these types of plays that makes Garcia a standout defensive player.
• Former Navy basketball player Leonard Green was in attendance yesterday. Green, who was recently married, is an LTJG in the candidate guidance department. Green graduated in 2006 and was a member of Lange's first two seasons at Navy.
• Lastly, Navy basketball will be solely on Twitter as an entity itself. You can follow Navy Basketball on Twitter.com at Navy_Basketball. The account will be dedicated strictly to Navy Men's Basketball, and fans will be able to get quick "blasts" about the team. We hope you will enjoy the site and we look forward to providing you with the information.
Thanks for reading and make sure you check back tomorrow for a report from Patriot League media day.
# GO NAVY #
