Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 24, 1994 TAG: 9411260013
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: DWIGHT FOXX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The first-year coach plans for his team to resemble those Paul Westhead coached at Loyola-Marymount and now is building at George Mason. The game plan is simple - play fast and shoot often, preferably from behind the 3-point line.
``When I saw how Loyola-Marymount played, I knew that's how I wanted to coach,'' Bellairs said. ``We want to get out and run every play. The only time we might slow it down is in the last two minutes of the game.''
Bellairs demands his Keydets take the first available good shot - as long as it comes within 13 seconds. After watching tapes of his team's 120-97 exhibition win over a Finnish National team, Bellairs was upset his team didn't attempt more 3-pointers - VMI attempted 42 and made 16.
He plans for VMI to wear down its opponents by using 14 or 15 players each game. Bellairs used 13 players in the exhibition win last Saturday. The Keydets had six players score in double figures and a seventh, Byran Taueg, scored nine points in five minutes (3-for-5 on 3-pointers).
``It's the style of the '90s,'' Bellairs said. ``We're trying to go beyond uptempo; uptempo is conservative. We want to be outrageously uptempo.''
But it takes practice. In preseason workouts, Bellairs had the Keydets run three six-minute miles separated by one-minute rests. In scrimmages, his players have been taking only three-minute rests on the bench in between playing time to simulate game situations. The season begins Monday when Bluefield College visits the Keydets in Lexington.
Bellairs has been a college coach for 15 years, the last six spent as Lefty Driesell's assistant at James Madison University. He also was an assistant at Massachusetts and Maryland and a head coach at Wilkes College in Wilkes Barre, Pa., from 1983 to 1985.
VMI will play small. Against the Finnish team the Keydets started 6-foot-1 guards Maurice Spencer and Bobby Prince (Lord Botetourt), 6-3 Warren Johnson at small forward, 6-5 Lawrence Gullette at power forward and 6-9 Larry Osborne at center. Gullette led VMI with 20 points and 12 rebounds and was 4-for-8 on 3-pointers.
``He's [Gullette] probably our best 3-point shooter,'' Bellairs said. ``We're almost starting four perimeter players. Everybody has the green light to shoot the three. The only ones who might think about it are Osborne and [6-10] Greg Robison .''
A player who has exemplified Bellairs' style thus far is guard Jason Bell, a freshman from Dale City. Bell shot 1-for-10 in the exhibition and missed all eight of his 3-pointers, but wasn't reluctant to keep shooting.
``He went 0-for-7 in the first half, but he kept shooting [good shots],'' Bellairs said. ``We're playing loosey, goosey. If they have to think before they shoot, they won't thrive in this system because we're shooting it so quickly.''
The Keydets will start the season without Southern Conference All-Freshman selection Darryl Faulkner. The sophomore point guard, who averaged 11.3 points and 3.1 assists per game last season, is academically ineligible to play for the first semester (until at least Dec.17) because he failed to meet VMI academic standards. Faulkner did meet NCAA guidelines.
The schedule isn't kind to the Keydets, who are 10-45 the past two seasons and were 5-23 last year. VMI has a three-game road stretch in December at North Carolina, Virginia and Alabama that would make even defending national champion Arkansas nervous. The Keydets also will play Virginia Tech and Richmond. Their Southern Conference debut is Jan.14 at Western Carolina.
``You have to teach your guys how to win and they have to learn how to win in order to win,'' Bellairs said. ``It's [the three-game stretch] a tough thing to ask anybody. After you've played North Carolina, Virginia and Alabama, who should you fear after that? The 6-foot-11 center [Jeremy Blocker] at Appalachain State shouldn't look quite as intimidating after you've seen three 6-foot-11 players at North Carolina.''
Given VMI's recent lack of success, Bellairs also has taken it upon himself to create more excitement in the program. Fans have 3-point cards to hold up after each long shot is made and a 3-point wall will show the number of 3-pointers the Keydets have made in each game.
``I don't know which came first, the chicken or the egg,'' Bellairs said in giving his analogy between excitement and wins. ``It [the Keydets' style of play] will be exciting for the fans to watch. You never know what to expect.''
But what about wins?
``I never do that stuff," the coach said of predicting victories. ``But I will say that by the end of the year, people won't take us lightly.''
Scouting report
COACH: Bart Bellairs, 38, first season at VMI.
LAST SEASON: 5-23, 10th in the Southern Conference (2-16), advanced to quarterfinals of Southern Conference Tournament.
RETURNING STARTERS: Lawrence Gullette, 6-foot-4, Jr. (11.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg); Warren Johnson, 6-3, Soph. (9.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg); Maurice Spencer 6-1, Soph. (8.7 ppg, 33.3% on 3-pointers, 74.6 FTs).
TOP NEWCOMERS: Bryan Taueg, 6-3, Fr.; Jason Bell, 6-1, Fr.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Lester Johnson (6-5, Jr.) shot 49.3 percent from the field last year. The walk-on scored 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting and grabbed five rebounds in the Keydets' exhibition win.
STRENGTHS: VMI's depth in shooters. Nine players attempted a 3-pointer last Saturday and eight made at least one. Thirteen played and all made at least one field goal.
WEAKNESS: Transition defense. It's going to be very important for a team that wants to play an incredible pace to get back on defense when it misses a shot. Bellairs was not pleased with the team's lack of communication in matching up against Finland.
OUTLOOK: VMI shot only 38.5 percent from the field last season. If it shoots that well from 3-point land this year, VMI could be vastly improved in the win column. It's crucial that VMI doesn't lose confidence in Bellairs' system early during a three-game stretch against North Carolina, Virginia and Alabama.
by CNB