by Joe Geni
Coming from a slightly more traditional basketball program at Evanston Township High School in Evanston, Ill., Doug Ticus ‘07 knew what he was getting himself into–sort of.
“At first it was really interesting and actually kinda complicated,” said Ticus. “But once you know your role in the system everything is much clearer and easier. You can see how they score 130 points a game.”
Actually, Grinnell men’s basketball team has never averaged more than the paltry NCAA-record 124.9 per game they had in 2001-02, but the point is indisputable. Having led the nation in scoring every year since 1993, Grinnell’s frantic full-court attack is like nothing else in the Midwest, and maybe nothing of this Earth.
“The System is a lot different,” said Ticus, “because the press and the defense that they run is kind of, ‘Give you a layup and take three points from you and we’ll outscore you.’ It’s an entirely new kind of basketball then I’ve been used to playing.”
Ticus is one of only three first years (Trek Langenhan and Sean Pfalzer are the others) to crack the team’s top 15 early on in what Arseneault admits was a relatively light recruiting year. But given who’s returning, Grinnell probably won’t need any more than that. Coming off its second conference title in three years and hungry for more after being upset in the conference tourney, this veteran outfit has looked like a well-oiled machine through its first two games.
“After such a great season a year ago, I was initially worried that we may start off a little complacent,” said head coach Dave Arseneault. “But the day-to-day competitiveness of Steve Wood [‘04] and Ken Heiser [‘04] has kept everyone focused.”
Senior co-captains Wood, Heiser, and Patrick Choquette, plus the sharp-shooting Nordlund brothers (Steve ‘04 and Paul ‘06) are all back and lead an explosive cast. Moreover, Nick Malinowski ‘o4, lost for the year in Grinnell’s seventh game last year at Drake, is back in uniform this season, having acquired as much perspective doing National Anthem duty as he did while playing.
“It’s hard to explain,” said Malinowski. “It’s like the old cliché, you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. I would sometimes take for granted all the opportunities and the benefits of what it means to play on a special team like ours. But then having the chance to come back and do it after being gone so long really makes you cherish the time you have and work harder to do well.”
With so much talent returning, Grinnell’s preseason goal is the highest it’s ever been: not just to win conference and the conference tournament, but to advance past the first round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs. With an impressive 2-0 start under their belts, early returns are good.
“Right now, the team’s clicking pretty well,” said Heiser. “Our shooters are hitting the shots, our defense has played well. We’re just
working to keep up what we’ve been doing.”
What they’ve been doing was good enough to clobber Martin Luther on the road 144-103 in the season opener, and good enough also to knock off defending NAIA National Champion Northwestern (College, not University) 135-128 last Saturday. But will it be good enough to beat a conference foe on Saturday, one that is well-versed in Grinnell’s strategy?
“Lake Forest is always a well-coached team, and they always have a gimmick game plan to beat us, usually involving slowing the pace down,” said Heiser. “But over my four years we’ve probably beaten them five out of six times.”
To defeat the comparatively stodgy game plan of the Foresters, the Pioneers would do well to heed the hard lesson learned in last year’s playoff loss to Illinois College, where they spotted the Blueboys a 16-point lead before rallying unsuccessfully; get ahead early, and stay there.
“Lake Forest poses us problems because they play so controlled,” said Arseneault. “We will have to be opportunistic when we run because Lake Forest will play ‘defense on offense’ and try to hold the ball for 25-30 seconds each possession. It is always helpful to jump on these types of teams early as it is a lot easier to hold the ball when you are ahead.”
The Pioneers have been nearly invincible in Darby (23-3 in the last three seasons) but the last time they lost a regular season home game happened to be to the Foresters in December of 2001. Grinnell has taken three straight from Lake Forest since, including a sweep of the season series last year. Opening tap is at 3 p.m.
“We’ve had a big mark in our calendars since the first day of practice,” said Malinowski, “and we know that going into Saturday Lake Forest is going to come in and know exactly what we’re going to do. They’re going to have us scouted because they’re used to playing us. We’re a conference opponent and they’re a well-coached team. So everyone’s mindset is really focused on executing our game plan.”
“It being the first conference game, it is the most important game of the first semester,” said Heiser.
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