Al Skinner doesn’t know yet what kind of men’s basketball team he will have at Kennesaw State.
Skinner, beginning his first season after the mysterious and as yet unexplained departure of previous coach Jimmy Lallathin, knows what he wants to see from the group, which includes six returning players from last year’s squad that went 10-22 overall, 4-22 in the Atlantic Sun and was hammered in the first round of the conference tournament by South Carolina-Upstate, 90-54.
“Certain attitude in practice and approach to the game,” he said. “It seems like simple enough things but those are probably the biggest challenges. Best players come to work every day and come to work with a certain attitude. That’s what our goal is.”
The Owls have arguably been one of the worst Division I programs the past six seasons under Tony Ingle, Lewis Preston and Lallathin, going a combined 30-125. Conversely, Skinner has enjoyed mostly success in 22 years as a head coach at Rhode Island and then Boston College with nine NCAA tournament appearances and 10 seasons of at least 20 wins.
That experience and success has bred wisdom. Skinner said he’s not going to force any particular offensive system onto the players. Instead, he and his coaching staff are going to figure out what each player does best and then decide what to do.
“I have to work toward their strengths so that they will have a certain comfort level and be able to execute,” he said.
Skinner said they will teach the team how to play man-to-man and some zone defenses, but he’s not married to any particular style.
“I’ve done a little bit of everything: Press, zone, half court, man to man,” he said. “Depending upon our strength and what we are most comfortable with is what we will do.”
There are strengths from last year’s team that Skinner said the team can continue to include free-throw shooting (73.2 percent) and 3-point defense (33.1 percent).
“But when you have the lack of success this team has in the past you have more negatives than positives,” Skinner said. “You address those negatives and make them a little more positive. It gives us a chance to be competitive.”
The negatives include turnovers. The Owls had a turnover margin of minus-3.2, which included a conference-worst 14.2 giveaways per game.
On top of the problem with turnovers, the Owls had a shooting percentage of 40.2, also last in the conference.
“If you don’t turn the ball over as much it leads to less transition baskets, more shots for yourself,” he said. “Shot selection is also important. Hopefully that will improve their scoring.”
Skinner may be helped by the return of its two leading scorers: guard and Yonel Brown (15.2 points per game) and forward Nigel Pruitt (12.2 points per game). Skinner will get to unveil his new team in the home opener against Middle Georgia on Nov. 8. That is followed by three tough road games at Alabama, LSU and Arizona State.
“What has remained is a solid nucleus,” he said. “Their attitude has been good. Everything has been really positive. This is an important ingredient. They want to be successful and they are working at it. They are realistic as to who they area and they are working to get the most out of their abilities and efforts.”
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