TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Saint Leo Experimenting To Hone Defensive Effort

ADVERTISEMENT

By BART O'CONNELL Tribune correspondent

Published: November 28, 2007

ST. LEO - There were some key ingredients missing from the experiments Saint Leo men's basketball coach Mike Madagan planned for Monday night - a dash of offense, a tablespoon of 3-pointers, a pinch of passing.

Nonetheless, the most important element Madagan was looking to bring out of the Lions - defense - found its way into the mix.

Despite the absence of guard Dusty Driggs, who was suspended before the game, Saint Leo forced 24 turnovers and played 40 minutes of up-tempo, half-court pressure defense to manhandle Southeastern 79-58 at the Bowman Center, improving to 3-0.

And this wasn't a typical early season opponent. Southeastern (5-2) was coming off a road win against Division I Savannah State, nearly knocked off Sunshine State Conference rival Rollins, and was averaging more than 90 points a game.

"One of the big concerns I've had is our defensive intensity, and I think our defensive intensity was the best it's been all year," Madagan said. "Southeastern played very good games against teams our level and above. I was excited that we were going to be in a game where we had to respond and compete."

Jordan Prais fought off persistent double-teams to score a game-high 21 points, while guard Quentin Cullop, who received "an attention-getter" from Madagan and was kept out of the starting lineup, responded by scoring 16 points, 12 in the first half.

Cullop and fellow guards Jonathan Banks (3-for-3 shooting) and Anthony Gomez (2-for-4) gave the Lions the outside shooting presence Driggs had been providing.

"They hit a lot of big shots," Prais said, "and I think if they wouldn't have, it would have been a close, grind-it-out game, which would play into their hands."

Madagan's experiments included playing three of his five top big men - Prais, Kyle Rowland, George Eshesimua, Eric Sharper and Walter Perkins - on the floor at the same time, and shifting Banks to point guard while Cullop played more on the wings. The changes led to 16 Saint Leo steals and Southeastern shooting just 32.8 percent overall.

The Lions shot 52.7 percent, but uncharacteristically struggled at the free-throw line, making 17 of 37. Despite those struggles, winning by 21 with that many missed free throws, showed how dominant Saint Leo was.
Driggs was suspended for violating an unspecified team rule. Madagan described the suspension as "indefinite," though he expressed optimism that the situation could be resolved quickly, which may allow Driggs to play Saturday at Flagler College. The Lions' next home game is Tuesday against Florida College.

Madagan is hoping that Saint Leo can start settling into some rotations that it will use when it begins conference play in January. But the experimentation likely will continue for the next few games.

Despite all the improvements his team has made since the preseason, Prais is not interested in basking in the Lions' early season successes.

"I don't think we're anywhere close to progressing to where we need to be," he said. "I'd say our defense got better, but we haven't seen the best we're going to see. From preseason against USF to today is amazing, but we're still not where we need to be. Not even close."

Bart O'Connell can be reached at boconnell@pop.tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT