Berry Men's Basketball: October 2008

It is amazing to think that the season is here; not almost here, but here! The guys have worked hard over the 25+ practices and I hope the dividends will prove positive. We certainly have a neat mixture of experience and youthful excitement! I couldn't have been more blessed with a better group of guys and staff. They have certainly done an unbelievable job while I have been absent with the birth of Will and the passing of Grandma Pat (my Mom's mom).
Baby Will is doing well. It is awesome seeing Molly interact with her new brother! She is so excited to brag about Will. Casey continues to be a trooper. Hopefully the family will be able to make the opening night...we'll see.
We had an intersquad scrimmage on Sunday afternoon that went well. It is always hard to evaluate a scrimmage because there is a great bucket that probably means not great defense. There might be a great offensive rebound, well that means maybe a missed box out. You get the idea... There were definitely some highlights and some areas that we can improve. We shot the ball very well (some were contested and some not) and we thought as a staff that we competed on the defensive end of the floor. One thing that was very evident to us as a staff was that we could have very good depth. It is amazing to think that last year the margin of victory on the season was less than 1 point (75.2 to 74.8). When you are 18-13 on the season you realize how significant each possession is. We will continue to stress the value of "gold" (the ball) throughout the season.
The opening weekend should be a huge challenge with Union College (KY) and Cumberland University (TN). We have not played Union for a couple of years, but they are also a tough group of guys that play extremely hard on both ends of the floor. Cumberland will have some revenge on their minds, after beating them twice last year. They have signed three D1 guys to add to an experienced group from last year. We will need to compete as hard as possible to reach our goal of two wins!
I can't wait to get the season started and I look forward to seeing you all there next Thursday!