By Brian Delaney
Ithaca Journal
November 14, 2009
ITHACA -- Mark Coury finds it fitting his first game in a Cornell uniform will be played on an Southeastern Conference court.
The Big Red opens the 2009-10 season at 2 p.m. Saturday at new-look Alabama, which is retooling under first-year coach Anthony Grant.
After two years at Kentucky, Coury spent a semester at community college before joining Cornell for the second semester last school year. As a sophomore, Coury started 29 of 31 games for former Kentucky coach Billy Gillespie.
He was used sparingly for his defense, rebounding and energy, but those qualities were well-received in Wildcat country. He'll come off the bench for Cornell coach Steve Donahue.
"All the major conferences are athletic, but the SEC, they usually have a bunch of power guys down low," said Coury, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound power forward. "Big 280-pound guys, or they'll have one big 280 guy and maybe a lean, athletic, fit 6-10 guy. I think that's what we're going to face at Alabama."
Cornell may actually find the low post welcoming in Tuscaloosa, where Coury, 6-7 senior Alex Tyler and 7-foot senior center Jeff Foote will challenge a shorthanded Tide frontcourt. Forward Demetrius Jemison (6-8, 240) is out for the season with an injury. Sophomore JaMychal Green (6-9, 220) and juniors Chris Hines (6-8, 220) and Justin Knox (6-9, 240) have seen the most action in Alabama's two exhibition games.
"So far in practice, coach has highlighted Green has being one of their better players," Coury said. "A good offensive rebounder. They said he had over 100 offensive rebounds last year, so that's one of the things we have to definitely keep an eye out for."
The game is a homecoming for senior point guard Louis Dale, who grew up about an hour away in Birmingham. Donahue regularly tries to schedule road games near the hometowns of his upperclassmen.
"It means a lot," said Dale, who has scored 1,056 points in three seasons, and needs 55 assists to overtake Charles Rolles as the program's all-time assists leader. "It's going to be great for my grandparents to come watch me play. My sisters, cousins, coaches. So it's going to be great. I'm excited about it."
Cornell won the Ivy League last year with an 11-3 record, received a No. 14 seed in the NCAA tournament and was knocked out by Missouri in the first round. Missouri played a helter-skelter style spurred by full-court pressure. Alabama also likes to press full-court, but Cornell players and coaches said it's a more organized press.
To combat, Donahue will start Dale alongside sophomore Chris Wroblewski in the backcourt and bring senior Geoff Reeves off the bench.
"Both make great decisions with the ball," Ryan Wittman said. "Both can shoot it, both can penetrate and both have been doing very well defensively, so that might be an underrated part of their game."
Cornell has a difficult four-game stretch to open its season. After Alabama, the Big Red travels to Massachusetts on Wednesday and Syracuse on Nov. 24, with a home game against Seton Hall (Nov. 20) sandwiched in between.
Coury said he's just itching to play meaningful basketball again. He'll feel right at home Saturday.
"He has a terrific knack of playing defense, whether it's ball screens, post-ups," Donahue said. "He gets his hands on a lot of balls, and creates havoc there. So I think that's going to help us on the defensive end."
Coach: Anthony Grant (first season)
Record: 0-0 (18-14 in 2008-09)
Last time out: Forward JaMychal Green scored 12 points, and the Crimson Tide overcame 23 turnovers to beat Augusta State, 61-55, in an exhibition game Tuesday at Coleman Coliseum.
Probable starters: Senario Hillman (6-foot-1, 192 pounds, junior, guard), JaMychal Green (6-9, 220, sophomore., forward), Mikhail Torrance (6-5, 210, senior., G), Anthony Brock (5-9, 165, sr., G), Chris Hines (6-8, 220, Jr., forward).
Key reserves: Justin Knox (6-9, 240, Jr., F), Andrew Steele (6-3, 215, Fr., G), Charvez Davis (6-3, 190, Jr., G).
Statistically: Hillman is the top returning scorer at 12.9 points per game. Green (10.3) and Torrance (10.0) also averaged double figures last year. Green was the team's best rebounder (7.6 rpg), and a second-team all-Southeastern Conference preseason pick this year. ... Torrance is an 88 percent free throw shooter. ... Brock made 45 percent of his 3's last season. ... Opponents shot just 31 percent from 3 last season. ... Ten players averaged double-figure minutes.
Outlook: Cornell assistant coach Woody Kampmann said the Big Red must work inside-out against Alabama by establishing Jeff Foote inside early. That will take pressure off the guards against the Tide's full-court trapping defense.
"I just think if you get the ball in quickly, don't let them get set up in their pressure if they are kind of matching up a little bit, let's get it up court and run our offense," Kampmann said. "I think they are pretty aggressive flying around, but I think we can get some real good inside touches, shot fakes, get some foul type things inside. They're going to swarm the ball, so making that extra pass ... will be key."
Alabama's backcourt is fairly balanced. Davis likes to shoot the 3, Steele and Brock can hit from the outside, Hillman is more of a driver and Torrance likes to slash and kick, Kampmann said.
Alabama is adjusting to a new coach and a new system. Grant had a lot of success at Virginia Commonwealth (upsetting Duke in the NCAA first round a few years ago), but a couple of mistake-prone performances in exhibition play has the Tide ripe for the picking. Cornell must take care of the ball and shoot a high percentage to win. Last season, the Red was 21-1 when shooting a better percentage than its opponent.
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