Men's Basketball Preview - Part 7: Detroit
Nov. 7, 2006
Pardon Detroit Titans coach Perry Watson if he pauses now and then to knock on wood. Or cross a street if he sees a black cat coming. Or dodge quickly if a ladder is in his direct path.
That's all part of the plan for 2007. The bad luck which haunted his team in 2006, he hopes, is long gone, leaving a better future ahead.
Last year's Titan team was riddled with injuries. The kind that are season-ending, the kind that are debilitating, the kind that are nagging. Detroit had 'em all. And now, with most of the wounded back ready for action, so is coach Watson.
The Titans lost 46% of their scoring and 58% of their rebounding through graduation, but Watson can still build around one of the Horizon League's best guard tandems, juniors Brandon Cotton - a two-time second-team all-conference selection - and Jon Goode. They stood 1-2 in scoring among the Titans, Cotton at 17.5, which placed him fifth in the league after finishing second the year before, and Goode at 10.9. And, yes, both played hurt last season.
Cotton's injury was the result of a scary car accident early last summer, one which left him with a damaged left (non-shooting) hand. He played much of the year with pins in his fingers, in fact missing three January games due to a re-injury, and he earned his coach's admiration for the job he did under the circumstances.
"Brandon fought through a lot," Watson recalled. "Brandon is a gifted scorer because he has the ability to take, and make, tough shots. He has a great attitude towards the game and he loves to play. The team has tremendous confidence in Brandon because he can get you points in a hurry. He's the kind of player who can rattle off eight or nine straight points to get his team going."
Goode, meanwhile, was one of those pleasant surprises that happen every year in college basketball. He might have expected to come off the bench most of last season once Marquette transfer Brandon Bell was eligible to take over at point guard but, after Bell was forced to undergo Achilles tendon surgery, it left Goode a much larger load to carry. Despite tweaking an ankle late in the season, he ended up leading the team in assists and three-point shooting while trailing only Cotton in point production.
No longer flying under the radar screen, Goode blossomed a year ago and is expected to have a big season in 2007.
"There weren't many Division I schools recruiting him out of high school but he's come a long way. He's still got to prove to me and everybody else that it's not the end of the road yet," Watson said. "He should go out there and play every game like he's got a chip on his shoulder, like he's still got something to prove. He can get better. I know he can keep getting better."
The Titans will miss third guard Ben Green, who graduated after starting 23 games a year ago, but Bell is back to claim some playing time now that he's healthy again. The brother of Milwaukee Bucks guard Charlie Bell is a good ball handler and strong defensive player who will fit in well with coach Watson's scheme of things. And he'll join a solid perimeter cast.
Besides Cotton and Goode, also back in action for Detroit are senior Muhammad Abdur-Rahim - whose brother Shareef plays for the Sacramento Kings - and junior Zach Everingham, whose 3.1 ppg a year ago makes him Detroit's third-leading returning scorer from 2006.
Additionally, the Titans have added a pair of All-State recruits to the perimeter in 5-10 Woody Payne and 6-4 Eulis Stephens. Payne is a point guard who was regarded last winter as one of the state's best high school defenders, while Stephens is a slasher who can score in bunches from the wing. Both will have a chance to help.
Up front, there's some uncertainty after the graduation of starting forwards Torvoris Baker - a member of the Horizon League coaches' All-Defensive Team in 2006 - and Chuck Bailey and key reserve Ethan Shaw. Between them, the threesome provided Detroit with 22.6 points and 16.9 rebounds a game last winter.
That's the bad news. But there's good news, too, beginning with the return of 6-9 center Ryvon Covile from, yes, an injury. A two-year starter and one of the Horizon League's best big men, Covile suffered a knee injury in summer league play and had to undergo season-ending surgery. Without Covile, Detroit's staunch defense suffered a mortal blow.
"Ryvon is like our Ben Wallace. He's the key to our defense. He's the backbone that everybody counts on," Watson said. "Without him, Chuck and Torvoris had to play different roles on defense and do things they might not have had to with Ryvon on the court. Getting Ryvon back will be important for us."Covile averaged 7.5 points and 5.2 rebounds as a junior in 2004-05. He led the team in blocked shots for a third straight season.
The Titans also return two youngsters to the front court. One, 6-8 sophomore Chris Hayes, saw action in 26 games and figures to improve on his rookie averages of 1.6 points and 1.4 rebounds. Hayes is a high-energy player who often lit a fire under the 2006 Titans when he came in as a reserve. Another possibility up front is 6-9 Justin Sample, who played just one game last winter before going to the sidelines with an ankle injury.
Watson added three newcomers to the frontcourt in 6-6 junior college transfer Theron Washington - whose Cincinnati State Technical & Community College squad claimed fifth place at the NJCAA Division II championships - and a pair of freshmen in 6-8 Russell Allen and 6-6 Serbian Nemanja Jokic, the 14th-year head coach's first recruit from outside the U.S. Each, like holdovers Hayes and Sample, will get long looks in the pre-season.
In both of the last two years, the Titans have either owned or shared third place in the final Horizon League standings. Overall, though, they haven't topped .500 after posting nine consecutive winning campaigns, and one of their goals this year is to climb back on the high side of break-even. They do have scoring punch, led by Cotton and Goode this season, but they come off a year where they averaged just 63.6 points a game as a team, last in the Horizon League, and they look to improve in that area.
More importantly, though, the Titans have a core group of players who hit the glass hard - UDM was second in the league last winter in rebound margin (+4.1) - and play the tough-as-nails defense that remains a Perry Watson trademark. The Titans were third in the league in scoring defense (65.1) a year ago.
And maybe most importantly of all, Detroit figures to enter the 2006-07 season in better health.
Knock on wood.
Story provided by the Detroit Sports Information Office.
