Men's Basketball: Back to basics for Panthers
Transition offense key task for squad
Neil Schneider/Staff Reporter
Issue date: 11/20/09 Section: Sports
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"Particularly early in the year we try to focus on defense and rebounding," Miller said. "We need to do a good job of setting the tone with that. Offensively, we have to have some attacks. We are going to have to be able to move the ball and break them down, and take good shots. So, it's really a pretty basic game-plan when it comes to these early season games."
The loss dropped Eastern's record to 1-1 on the season.
Despite losing to IUPUI, the Panthers were able to win the rebounding matchup by a count of 31 to 29, which included eight offensive rebounds for the Panthers. Junior guard Curry McKinney, senior forward Edin Suljic and freshman forward Shaun Pratl led the way for the Panthers in rebounds with four apiece.
Miller said winning the rebounding matchup against Eureka and future Panther opponents will be instrumental in how successful the Panthers are this season.
"We have to do a good job of blocking out and particularly we must pay attention to where we are blocking out," Miller said. "We want our weak-side block outs to take place outside the paint and we have gotten a little lax in that area sometimes, which we are trying to improve on to get ready for some of the more athletic teams will be facing in the near future."
In addition to improving their rebounding, Miller said he would like to see the Eastern defense limit its breakdowns against opponents.
"We need to clean up and do a better job during some of our defensive breakdowns," Miller said. "I really think that the coverage breakdowns are more of mental things, than anything else so hopefully we can get that cleaned up soon."
Suljic, who added 11 points in the loss to IUPUI, said every day in practice Miller emphasizes the importance of rebounding and defense to the team.
"(Miller) always tells us to rebound and play defense," Suljic said. "If we want to play we have to be able to play defense and rebound."
Sophomore guard Jeremy Granger said in addition to rebounding, the Panthers will need to improve their transition offense.
"One of our strengths right now is getting up and down the court, so as long as we keep communicating on defense and in transition we should be okay," Granger said.
Eureka is a Division III school out of Eureka. The Red Devils are 1-0 this season with a win against Rockford College Wednesday.
Eastern will play host to Eureka on Saturday with tipoff set for 6 p.m. during Thanksgiving Break the Panthers will travel to face Chicago State 7 p.m. Tuesday, and will host Belmont 6 p.m. next Nov. 28.
Neil Schneider can be reached at 581-7944
or jnschneider@eiu.edu.
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