By Staff
BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
GREENVILLE – The 2009-10 basketball season may be one of the most telling ones East Carolina has had a in a long time.
Pirates’ coach Mack McCarthy is entering his third year as head coach and fifth overall with ECU, and at this point he is putting out his own recruits on the floor.
The only holdovers left from the brief Ricky Stokes era is seldom used senior Greyson Sargent and junior center Chad Wynn, who technically didn’t play for Stokes being that he red-shirted his freshmen season.
The 2009 off-season was the first in awhile that fans didn’t witness an exodus of talent for the wrong reasons. Last off-season promising forwards Gabe Blair and John Fields departed Greenville for Wichita State and UNC-Wilmington, respectively.
Their exit made improved chemistry the buzz-word and theme heading into the 2008-09 season, which is never what a fan wants to hear as opening day approaches.
However, the team did hold together and showed flashes of potential. The addition by subtraction theory held up as ECU finished the year with two more wins then the previous season at 13-17 (5-11).
The group stayed tight, or least gave the public appearance of a tight-knit team. The only players that will not return this season are the ones that graduated, Sam Hinnant and James Legan
The two sharp-shooters were the backbone of the 2008-09 squad as Hinnant led the Pirates with a 15 ppg average, while Legan was right behind with 11.8.
Every fan knows the story — as the two three-point specialists went, so did the Pirates. If the duo got cold, the game was over.
Which brings us to this year and why it will be so important.
East Carolina has a chance to mold itself into whatever it wants to be. The Pirates do not have to be shackled into running the basketball equivalent of the spread offense.
The spread offense caught fire in football because coaches felt that the speedy, wide-open style gave lesser talented teams a fighting chance on a nightly basis.
The Pirates did a run-and-gun three-point offense because, on any given night if the players got hot enough, they could be competitive with most teams.
It was a way to try and hide the team’s weaknesses and compensate for what it lacked: a player who could create his own shot off the dribble that wasn’t a point guard and a consistently productive post player.
They don’t, and shouldn’t, have to do that this year. Not necessarily because they are more talented – which they are – but because by year three of a coach’s tenure that team should take on the traits that the coach desires in his team.
“I do (feel like I can mold this team into what I want), McCarthy said. “I think these guys have accepted that we are going to be more balanced and that we are going to have an inside presence more than we have in the past. We are going to have some one-on-one play and drive to the basket and get the ball and run either in transition or the halfcourt more than we have had in the past. But the three-point shot will still be a part of our offense for sure.”
East Carolina will still hoist up treys, but it will be a good change of pace to see a more balanced attack on offense. Even if they are not good at it this season, it’s important to see the Pirates spread the ball around and be multi-dimensional on offense.
McCarthy said he will try to tip-toe the line between having his team gain learning experience while still doing whatever it takes to win this year.
“I think (ECU football coach) Skip (Holtz’s) philosophy has been very good: The life span of this team is this year,” McCarthy said. “We want to have a sound philosophical approach but, at the same time, we want to do what we can do to help this basketball team win as many games as we can.”
Last year sophomore point guard Brock Young excelled at finding the open man as his 7.5 assists per game was the second highest average in the country.
In his first year starting Young proved that he is capable of running a team and that he can score when the situation calls for it. Young enters his junior campaign as the Pirates top returning scorer with a 10 ppg average.
Where McCarthy is really trying to put his stamp on the team is on the defensive end of the court. As improved chemistry was the message last season, upgrading the defensive effort is this year’s motto.
The 2008-09 Pirates finished ninth in the standing out of 12 C-USA teams and let up a league-worst 73 points per game.
It was a no-brainer as to where the immediate focus should be.
McCarthy said the two biggest struggles his team faces this year will be challenging opposing offenses and making winning a learned behavior.
“We still don’t know if we can guard people and even though we have some people back, we don’t have a senior on the team (other than Sargent),” McCarthy said. “We also don’t have any guys who have won at this level. That’s something we have to overcome mentally. Changing the culture of the team is something we have talked about (for five years). We are still attempting to do that. We have made progress but we still haven’t crashed through that barrier where we are a winning program.”
McCarthy said that constantly drilling the defensive message into his young team’s mind is beginning to pay off.
“(It’s sinking in) slowly, it’s more by osmosis. It’s seeping into their mind, ” McCarthy joked. “I’m not sure how long it will take for them to get it; obviously, the quicker the better. I don’t know if we have to go out and get beat, then they will understand that I was serious or whether they will understand it before then. Team’s kind of grow at their own pace. They have to buy into it and we have to hammer it into their heads until they buy into it.”
Sophomore, and 2008-09 C-USA all-freshmen power forward Darrius Morrow said the message is received loud and clear.
“Oh yeah, I’ve been getting the message,” Morrow said with a smile. “You can’t win games without playing defense. We got to stop the teams from scoring; that’s the name of the game.”
Morrow’s off-season efforts back up his words. Last year Morrow averaged 9.7 ppg and 6.7 rpg during his rookie season. Since then the 6–foot-8-inch Morrow, who struggled with conditioning last year, has dropped 15 pounds and is weighing in at a solid 240.
McCarthy said the Pirates will play man defense as it base, and at times go to a zone look. McCarthy said he would like his team to play more aggressive in zone defense, trapping and pressuring opposing ball-handlers randomly depending on spots on the court and the player who is dribbling.
The ECU skipper is looking to lay the foundation of his team the right way. McCarthy said once his team can execute the basics of his defense, he will expand his tactics and use more full-court pressure and complex schemes.
The Pirates defense will get a chance to show its improvement on Friday when they tip-off the season at home against the University of Virginia-Wise at 6 p.m.