Men Ready to Tip Off Against Bryan

Saturday, November 17

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7:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

Bryan College

Photo by: MT

11/16/2001 1:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: MT Media Relations

After two successful exhibition games, the Blue Raider basketball tips off the regular season against Bryan College on Saturday night at 7 PM. With the tune-ups over, head coach Randy Wiel is ready to get the season started and continue the progression that he has seen so far. "I think we've been progressing pretty well, but it's been a little slower this year because we don't have a veteran team. The progression has been steady and we have a nucleus that has been playing pretty well together." As a team, the Blue Raiders have shown signs of drastic improvement over last season. In particular, the reemergence of a solid post game has Wiel and his team excited about the season's prospects. In two exhibition games, the Blue Raiders showed tenacity on the boards with a rebounding margin of +9.5. The team's front court also carried a majority of the offensive burden with the forwards and center responsible for 96 of the team's 151 points (63.6 percent). Indications are that Wiel will hold true to exhibition form on Saturday with the same starting five from the preseason contests. The five starters that should be on the floor against the Lions includes four returning players in point guard Dee Wilkes, shooting guard Tommy Gunn, power forward Iiro Tenngren, and center Lee Nosse. Only one newcomer has cracked the starting five so far; small forward William Pippen. The starters, however, represent the most veteran group of Blue Raiders. The veterans give the Blue Raiders a good chance to get off on the right foot. "It all starts at the point guard. Dee is a steadying influence for us. I think that we have two other quality point guards, but Dee has been here before. Other than Pippen, our starters have played in this system before. It's when we go to the bench that everything is new." The talented group of newcomers has given Wiel a weapon that he didn't have at his disposal last year: depth. Wiel said that he believes his team can go ten deep, even though he is hoping to whittle his rotation down to eight or nine players. "I think I'm going to settle eventually on a rotation of nine. I like having two point guards, three wings, and three big guys. Eventually someone will get into foul trouble and we will play the ninth guy. My substitution rotation should be comparable to the last exhibition game. We've got a group of guys that can put us back on the winning track." Wiel hopes that his team has shown improvement in the exhibition series that that the excitement will carry over into Saturday's regular season tip off. He also hopes that his Blue Raiders, along with the Lady Raider basketball team, can keep the level of enthusiasm that the Blue Raider football team has sparked at a high level. "Andy McCollum has started our athletic department out on a high note and its up to us, along with women's basketball, to keep it up. It's good to have excitement in the community. When you do well its -our team' but when you play badly its -their team.' We have to try to play as good as we can and try to represent the community well and bring back a little excitement."