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Published
by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
Monday, November 12, 2001
Islanders men eager to return to the court
A&M-CC faces Houston Flight in exhibition
By Matt Young
Caller-Times
Several Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball players admit to being frustrated when they flipped on their televisions late last week and watched the start of college basketball season.
While only a select few teams have begun the regular season, most teams across the country have played at least an exhibition game. Not the Islanders.
The closest they've come to games are the snippets they catch on television and the scrimmages that liven up another day of arduous practice.
The Islanders finally get a taste of outside competition when they play their first exhibition game against the Houston Flight at 7 p.m. today at Memorial Coliseum.
"It seems like we've been practicing forever," junior-college transfer Kemar Burrowes said. "It feels like we've practiced for at least two months already, when it's really only been like one month. I think we're all anxious to get out there and play that first game."
One big reason for the players to be excited about the first game is that it gives the players a break from practice.
A&M-Corpus Christi plans to play an even more up-tempo style than it has the past two seasons, which means the Islanders will have to crack down on the defensive end to be successful. Defensive-oriented teams must go through defensive-oriented practices, which usually makes for long practice days.
"Oh yeah, defense has been like 80 percent of our practices," sophomore forward Brian Hamilton said. "That's the big thing about this game, we want to see where our defense is. We've worked on it so much in practice, but you can't really tell where you stand until you play somebody. We've worked on it so much in practice, we should be alright, but we won't know for sure until we play a game."
Besides defense, the Islanders will also look to come out of the game with a better feel for each other. The 15-player roster features 10 new names, which could be bad news with the regular season quickly approaching. The Islanders play their first regular season game against Sul Ross State at 7 p.m. Friday at the coliseum.
"We've got to form some team unity to get ready for that regular season opener," Burrowes said. "Everyone's pretty new to each other, but we've had a lot of time to come together. Hopefully, we'll jell quickly."
Contact Matt Young at 886-3702 or youngm@caller.com
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