Oct. 19, 2011

• Coach DeChellis Podcast (10-19-11) | Navy Athletics on ITunes | Navy Podcasts

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Navy men's basketball head coach Ed DeChellis sat down with NavySports.com on Tuesday to discuss his team's opening weekend of practice. The squad began official workouts on Friday, October 14, at 5:00 pm and through Tuesday's practice, have had seven team sessions.

NavySports.com: You are seven practices into the season. What are your general thoughts and impressions?
Coach DeChellis: I like the spirit of our team. I think our kids have displayed a great level of spirit and positive attitude and they are working hard. Those are important traits to have. Everything is new for everybody. We are trying to introduce our system to them and throw a lot of things at them. They have to grasp a great deal of information in a short period of time. I think the kids are really trying and that is the most important thing.

NavySports.com: This year's team is quite young and inexperienced with 11 newcomers. How have they acclimated themselves to practice and the college game?
Coach DeChellis: That is the challenge for us as a coaching staff. We don't have a lot of older guys. At times when you have been around for several years, the older guys can teach the younger guys as they go along and we aren't in that situation right now. We have a lot of new faces in the program. We have 16 freshmen and sophomores in the program. We don't have the luxury of having the older guys teach the younger guys, so its new for everybody. That's been a question with our staff, is how much do we continue to put in and how much do we need to back off and let them absorb the information we have given them. It's a constant checks-and-balances situation.

NavySports.com: Can having such a young team have its benefits as well?
Coach DeChellis: I think so. They embrace everything that you do when a new staff comes in. They embrace everything you do because they don't know any different. Sometimes when you take over a team that has a group of older players that have done it one way and have been successful at it, it can be more of a challenge to get them to do what you want to do with your program. It's been a great situation with us. We have a great group of guys that are willing to learn and willing to do what we ask them to do. It's been fun so far in practice.

NavySports.com: Coming into your first year here, how have the returning guys adjusted to your coaching style and philosophies and how have you adjusted to their playing style?
Coach DeChellis: I think the older guys have been fine. They have embraced what we've asked them to do. That hasn't been the issue. The thing that we have to do a better job at and be cognizant of is their time in terms of getting to meals and getting here on time because of their academic commitments and meal-time commitments. I have never had to worry about what time their meals were served, because we ate when we were done with practice. Getting the guys to King Hall at a certain time and getting them to practice when they have extra instruction and tutors and then starting at a good time and getting them off the floor at a decent time, so they can make all their other commitments has been important for us to learn. We have had to balance our schedules and use our time more wisely. We watch film at lunch after they grab a quick bite. We bring them over to Halsey Field House and watch film, so we don't have to take time out of practice to watch tape and we can get right into practice. We have tried to adjust to their schedules the best we can. So far, it's worked out very well.

NavySports.com: Have you been able to tell early on what the strengths of this year's team will be?
Coach DeChellis: I think senior Jordan Sugars and sophomore J.J. Avila, who has done a really nice job shooting the ball and has been very active, have had really good practices so far. Isaiah Roberts was having a nice few days before he got a little banged up, so we are waiting for his return. The other younger guys are trying to fill in the pieces. They are still learning as they go.

NavySports.com: You talked a little bit about Jordan Sugars, who was named preseason first-team All-Patriot League in just about every publication. How has he done in terms of being a leader and a captain and what do you expect from him this year?
Coach DeChellis: He and Ted Connolly have both done a really nice job in terms of helping the younger guys along. Sugars is a hard match-up for people. He is a guy that can shoot the ball from the perimeter and can post up on the interior. We have tried to introduce some things in our offense that have him posting up inside. He is a guy that can play two, three and four positions for us. He can multi-task and is a really, really good player. He is a good competitor and we are looking forward to having him this year and coaching him.

NavySports.com: So far what has been the biggest surprise in your seven practices?
Coach DeChellis: Nothing has really shocked us or surprised us. The good surprise has been that the kids are really trying to compete every day in practice. If there is a thing we are concerned about its our backcourt guard play. We have a group of guys back there, but after seven practices, no one has stepped up and said, "I want to be the point guard on this team, and I want to run this team." We lost O.J. Avworo from last year and we have several guys back there that have played the position in high school or here, but no one has grabbed the position yet. Every day somebody new plays well and somebody doesn't play well. That has been the one thing that we need to get cleared up as soon as we can.

Navy will open the season on Nov. 11 with a contest against Longwood in Farmville, Va., beginning at 7:00 pm. The home opener will take place two days later in Alumni Hall when Penn State-Altoona visits on Nov. 13, beginning at 4:00 pm. Season tickets are available by visiting NavySports.com or by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY.

# GO NAVY #