Jaguars hope to hit floor running with new look

• By PERRYN KEYS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 5, 2009

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

Eighth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in scoring.

Ninth in assists.

Tenth in turnover margin.

After a nightmarish season, Southern University men’s basketball coach Rob Spivery could easily look at the statistics and make a reasonable conclusion: The Jaguars’ backcourt was, at best, inconsistent.

At 7 p.m. today, they will not only put last season to bed, they’ll test out a few new candidates in the backcourt and debut a different style of play.

Southern begins a new season with an exhibition against NAIA school Xavier, a team it defeated in the preseason last year. That exhibition win did not foretell success. The Jaguars started 0-13 in nonconference play and finished 8-23.

That team is gone now, and a new one has begun to take shape. It will take on a new look, as well, Spivery said.

Less walking, more running. Fewer lobs inside and more outlet passes in the open floor.

Fewer pattern plays. More ripping and running.

That’s the plan, anyway.

“We’ll have a different philosophy on defense, to where we’ll pick up (opponents) full-court man-to-man,” Spivery said. “On the other end, we’re going to try to push the ball a little bit more.”

Of course, to do all that, the Jaguars must get better production from their point guard.

Departed senior Steffon Wiley was injured for parts of last season, and while he sparkled in a handful of games, his overall numbers — 2.9 assists and 2.6 turnovers per game — spoke of a team that struggled on offense. SU led the Southwestern Athletic Conference in rebounding and scoring defense, but its minus-3.8 turnover margin was dead last.