Tuesday, October 29, 2013

49ers basketball 3 weeks into practice


The 49ers completed their 21st day of preseason men’s basketball practice Tuesday. A few notes and observations after coach Alan Major met with the media:

-- Sounds like the 49ers will be without guards Denzel Ingram (foot) and Ivan Benkovic (back) for the season opener Nov. 8 against East Tennessee State. Major hopes they’ll be back by mid-November or earlier, which means they could also miss the College of Charleston game Nov. 12. The 49ers also play Elon on Nov. 15 before heading to a tournament in Puerto Rico Nov. 21-24.

-- Major hopes this 49ers team will be more potent from the 3-point line than last season, when Charlotte made just 26.8 percent of its long-range shots. Ivan Benkovic became a threat from behind the line late in the season, making 40.4 of his 3-pointers. There’s also the addition of transfer Ben Cherry (a 50 percent 3-point shooter at Tulane last season) and sophomore Shawn Lester (academically ineligible last season), as well as anticipated improvement from Ingram (27.9 percent).

-- Inexperience in the front court will be the 49ers’ biggest question mark. Either sophomore Mike Thorne or true freshman Marcus Bryan could start alongside Willie Clayton, coming off an all-Atlantic 10 rookie team season.

"We’ve got a chance to get contributions from different guys,” said Major. “They key is the younger they are and the more clock/game time they get, that’ll let the game teach them. Us coaching them and video is one thing, but getting in the game is key.”

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't wait for that 4:00 pm start on a Friday afternoon against Elon. Why 4:00 instead of 7:00 or 7:30? Many of us season ticket holders may have to miss that game and we have not heard why we play at that odd time.

Anonymous said...

Volleyball already scheduled.

Hopefully, the basketball game won't go into a lengthy overtime, as we would be forced into forfeiting the game rather than continue.