Kennesaw State has a new coach, Al Skinner, new assistant coaches and many new players.
Its goal is to produce different results.
The Owls won 10 games last season under Jimmy Lallathin, but that was the most victories since the squad won 13 under Tony Ingle in 2009-10. Its sixth-place finish in the Atlantic Sun last season was its best since landing fifth in 2006-07.
So, it would be hard to go anywhere but up when the Owls open the regular season at Alabama on Nov. 13.
Here are three things that could shape the season:
Who will score? Yonel Brown (15.2 points per game, third-most in the Atlantic Sun) and Nigel Pruitt (12.2), the team's leading scorers last season, return as key pieces in Skinner's continuity offense, which features lots of cuts until someone gets open.
Beyond that duo, the next most productive scorer who returns is Bernard Morena, who averaged 5.3 points.
Brown and Pruitt can score in bunches. Brown set a school record with 36 points against Thomas University. Pruitt scored 32 in the conference opener against South Carolina-Upstate.
Part of the trouble scoring was the team’s inability to hold onto the ball. Its turnover margin of minus-3.2 ranked 332nd in Division I.
Skinner said working on reducing the turnovers would be a point of emphasis in practices.
Improving the defense. The team can't count on its defense to keep games close, based upon last season.
While last season’s offense wasn’t great in averaging 63.3 points per game, the defense was very bad in allowing 73.8 points per game (326th in Division I) and a shooting percentage of 44.9.
The team is going to mix zone and man-to-man schemes this season in an attempt to improve, according to Skinner.
The squad doesn’t feature anyone taller than 6-foot-8, so fundamentals will be the key to grabbing rebounds, in which had a minus-3.3 ratio last season.
Gaining confidence. The non-conference schedule resembles something Skinner might have had in his previous stops at Rhode Island or Boston College. The Owls will play road games against Alabama, LSU, Arizona State, West Virginia, Louisville and Indiana. There also are home games against Belmont and possibly Mercer, two strong programs.
It may be hard to tell how much progress the team is making on offense and defense until the start of conference play against Lipscomb on Jan. 9.
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