Eagles men's basketball team opens season with anticipation, questions

Corbin, last year's leading scorer, suspended indefinitely due to disciplinary reasons

By Gary McCann - gmccann@heraldonline.com

You can't blame Matt Morgan, Andy Buechert and Gideon Gamble if their intensity meter runs a little hot this afternoon when Winthrop opens the basketball season in the Winthrop Coliseum against Limestone.

Morgan, the 6-foot-9 sophomore transfer from St. Bonaventure who had to sit out last year, last laced up his shoes on March 8, 2008.

Buechert, the 6-9 senior who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, hasn't played a real game since the Eagles lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Washington State on March 20, 2008. That came just days after he came off three good games in earning a spot on the Big South Conference all-tournament team.

Gamble, the 6-7 freshman who redshirted last year, hasn't played a meaningful game since has was the MVP for the South on March 30, 2008, in the North-South All-Star Game in Georgia.

That's 20 months worth of sitting, running, weightlifting and practicing without getting a minute on the floor.

“That wasn't a good game for me,” Morgan said, when reminded he had zero points, zero rebounds and four fouls in seven minutes on that early March day at Fordham. “Got in early foul trouble. Not a good day.”

“That's so weird,” Buechert said, when informed of his last time on the court. “It's been a long time.”

Gamble, who dropped 20 points in that MVP performance, admitted it was difficult not playing last year, but “I learned what I have to do to be successful.”

Coach Randy Peele doesn't think the newcomers will make or break the Winthrop season, but those three, along with true freshman Robbie Dreher, certainly add depth, size and perhaps scoring ability to a team that needed all of that and more last year.

“It's got to be a collective thing,” Peele said after a three-hour practice on Thursday. “Andy's got to be better, Mantoris Robinson's got to be better, Reggie Middleton's got to be better. They all do.”

Buechert and Morgan will take on greater importance today, with one key player out of the rotation.

Charles Corbin, the 6-7 junior who has started 47 of 64 career games and led the Eagles in scoring (9.5) and rebounding (5.8) last season, has been suspended indefinitely for disciplinary reasons. A brief statement issued Friday by the athletic department gave no other details or indicated how many games Corbin would miss.

Corbin will continue to practice as he has all preseason.

Peele declined further comment.

Morgan, who could get the start up front this afternoon along with 6-8 junior George Valentine and Robinson, a 6-5 senior, said he is “ready to play,” that last year was “frustrating” but that he just tried to do what he could to “support my team.”

The short answer was “no” when asked if he thought he be too hyped to play well.

Buechert, who was expected to be a starter, will come off the bench today. He got off to a slow start in practice, after having a second knee surgery this summer and then suffering a sprained ankle that kept him out for three weeks and wrecked his conditioning. His last week of practice has been his best.

“I'm getting better every day,” he said, “getting in better shape. I'm excited. It's always good to be excited. It gives you that adrenalin rush.”

Buechert, who is up to a solid 245 pounds, said he was “going to play hard” no matter how many minutes he gets.

Morgan and Buechert, along with Valentine, should give the Eagles more scoring chances in the lane. Morgan has been the team's best-in-the-paint scorer in the preseason.

Gamble, who is still so thin he could stand under a clothesline in a rain storm and never get wet, is expected to add some quality perimeter shooting, the thing that was the Eagles' Achilles heel last season and will be this year until they prove otherwise.

“My role is to make shots,” Gamble said. “I need to be a microwave kind of guy who comes off the bench and makes some shots.”

Peele hopes to see those three and others make shots, starting today.

The Eagles shot 40 percent overall and 28 percent on 3-pointers last season, the second-worst marks for the program since joining NCAA Division I. Teams packed zones into the lane and offered the Eagles open jumpers.

The Eagles took plenty but made few.

With that in mind, Peele likely is to experiment with a three-guard alignment today, with Middleton at the point and Dreher and Andre Jones on the wing.

“I'm not so sure our best offensive lineup isn't going small,” said Peele, who will go against his coaching grain if he goes small.

Limestone returns 10 players from last year's 10-19 team. The Saints, an NCAA Division II team, finished tied for seventh in Conference Carolinas.

If the Eagles can go small against anyone, it's the Saints.

Coach Brandon Scott, 20-36 entering his third season, doesn't have a player taller than 6-6 but returns starting guards Stewart Clark and Mike Barrett and forwards Tyron Evans and Anthony Middleton.

Middleton averaged 15.1 points, Barrett 14.2 and Clark 12.2 last season.

The Saints try to spread the floor and use their quickness on drives or kickouts for open 3-pointers. The Saints launched 673 3-pointers last year, almost half of their 1,677 field goal attempts.

“It's going to be interesting to see how we handle a game situation when the lights go on,” Peele said. “We're going to see if certain guys play better.”