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DePauw men hope tough schedule helps team join the lead pack
Following just two weeks of practice, the DePauw men's basketball team opens its season with an exhibition against a Big East team on Saturday.
So while the players are still learning the offensive and defensive systems while trying to develop chemistry with teammates, they're also preparing to look competitive against Butler, a team that played in back-to-back Division I men's basketball title games not too long ago.
Things will get easier, but not much. The Tigers, unranked to start the year after finishing 16-10 last season, have a loaded schedule that features three ranked teams and handful of tournament schools from last season including North Central, Washington University and Rose-Hulman.
"That's how you figure out who you are and who you are going to be," DPU coach Bill Fenlon said.
DePauw lost just two seniors from last season's squad, both graduating with eligibility remaining, so when the loaded schedule was created, it looked like a chance for Fenlon to prove his team's talent.
Now the schedule will test it.
It will be up to the younger players to develop, incrementally but not necessarily substantially, Fenlon said, to get the team where it hopes to be.
"I don't think they need to make quantum leaps in what they can do physically," Fenlon said. "Can the freshmen last year play like sophomores? Can the juniors last year play like seniors? That doesn't always happen."
DePauw is now without Barry Flynn, a senior last season who led the team in points (15.0) and rebounds (7.0), both by substantial margins, and Kevin Sullivan, an energetic, intelligent player who provided leadership last year as he battled nagging injuries.
To replace the top-end talent, the Tiger will need to stick more closely with their system and work harder on the glass, Fenlon said.
"I like our group," he said. "Our practices have been really good, really competitive."
Being competitive in practice doesn't necessarily translate to success in games, and success is a relative term. For the Tigers, Fenlon said, it means being in contention for the North Coast Athletic Conference regular season championship.
"I think that's realistic," he said. "I think our group is capable of being in that mix of three or four teams at the end of the season."
In his younger days, Fenlon made win-loss predictions for the season, sealed it in an envelope and hid it in his desk until the end of the year. Now he's more focused on daily improvement and adjusts expectations on the fly.
The goals grew as last season went on, particularly during a four-game winning streak in late January and after a win over Wooster in the NCAC tournament, but inconsistency left the team disappointed.
DPU had good stretches of play that ended in close defeats. The team's final four losses came by a combined six points.
Had one possession in each game gone differently, the Tigers could have finished 12-4 in conference instead of 9-7, a substantial difference to the players and the NCAA tournament selection committee.
DePauw brings back plenty of experience this year, with four returning starters and the majority of its rotation, so closing out games and finding consistency should come a little easier this year.
Sophomore Adam Botts started 20 games last season and will be leaned on more this year, as will senior Michael Wilkison, juniors Connor Rich and Tommy Fernitz and a large group of rotation players.
Absent their star, the team will divvy up the lost roles and stats among the players to diversify their attack, making themselves less predictable and hopefully, Fenlon said, less susceptible to losing because two or three players have a bad game.
The exhibition against Butler isn't likely to allow the Tigers a chance to close out a narrow victory, but it is the first chance to test their consistency for 40 minutes.
They'll have 28 more, and with four returning starters facing a difficult schedule, it's the first chance to get ready to contend in February.