2008-09 Kalamazoo College Men's Basketball Preview

By Jessica Maas '10

Balance:
1. a state of equilibrium
2. mental steadiness or emotional stability
3. the key for the 2008-09 Kalamazoo College men’s basketball team

Balance among player contributions. Balance among offense and defense. And being able to maintain one’s own balance and stay upright on the floor is always important, too.

“We have a variety of people who can contribute,” said seventh-year head coach Rob Passage. “We have several guys who are capable of leading us in scoring on any given night. I think our strength on this team will be balance.”

Leading the players this year will be seniors Ben Jerome and Henry McCain. McCain averaged 13.0 points and 8.0 rebounds last season, the second-highest and highest on the team, respectively. Jerome finished with 67 assists and 22 steals, the second-highest in both categories.

Other key returning players for the Hornets are senior Nate Orozco and juniors Verelle Kirkwood and Nick Jovanovic, all of whom saw time in over twenty games last season on a team that lost five seniors, three of whom were starters.

Last year, the squad finished 6-19 overall and 3-11 in the MIAA. A few adjustments will be made this season to turn those numbers around.

“Our big focus this year is on the defensive end,” said Passage. “That was an area last year that really let us down.”

He specifically wants to implement more quickness on his new team, which includes six new freshmen, and use this to assist the team on the defensive end.

“More than changing what we do, we have to change how we do it,” he said.

Slight changes will be made to the offense as well.

“We will be running some different things this season, but the general principles of our offense won’t change,” said Passage. “Having balance does open up more options for us on the floor.”

The team will play an exhibition game at Western Michigan on Nov. 6 before opening their season at the Manchester (Ind.) Tournament on Nov. 21-22.

“As a team, we’ve set some goals for how we want to play, if we reach those I think the wins and losses will take care of themselves,” Passage said. “This team is ready to go.”

The Hornets open at home on December 6th at 3 p.m. against Chicago.