The Kent State men’s basketball team continues preparation for the upcoming season, with the first game slated for November 4 at Louisiana as part of the MAC/Sun Belt Conference Challenge. Every MAC team will open up their season that night against a Sun Belt opponent.
Over the summer is when individuals work on their game. But with official practice well underway, this is the time that teams come together, concepts are taught and identities formed.
Kent State Head Coach Rob Senderoff was a guest on Flash Talk, the weekly KSU coaches show that airs on Bally Sports to discuss the early part of the season.
“Busy off-season, trying to assemble a roster,” Senderoff told Dane Richardson. “The season ends last year; you usually try to unwind a little bit but with the way it is now we go into recruiting. Then had the whole team here for eight weeks in the summer. Pre-season started right when we got back for school this fall.”
“Really trying to install our defense and really the mindset of how we play here. During the summer we spent a lot of time on individual skill and guys getting better as individuals and then when we get back here for the fall, we really start installing our defense, putting in our concepts, how we want to play and why we want to play this way.”
Speaking of identity and mindset, the Flashes will have to have a return to having a physical brand of basketball and returning to a defensive mindset in 2024-2025.
During the 2022-2023 season Kent State had the nation’s number 41 rated defense per KenPom. Last season that defensive efficiency number fell to 193 in the country and was one of the main reason the Flashes limped to the number eight seed in the MAC Tournament. With so many physical backcourt players added for this season, the Golden Flashes look to return to playing physical on both ends.
What is playing physical in basketball? It’s not always on the defensive end. It’s offensively too. By posting guards and bigs alike, playing in the paint off two feet, getting to the free throw line and offensive rebounding like crazy.
Defensively it’s not letting people have the ball, busting cutters and chesting up drives and post ups and not getting handsy.
Senderoff believes between newcomers Marquis Barnett and Morgan Safford, along with returner VonCameron Davis, they have several guys that can post it and play in the paint along the perimeter.
Throw in defensive minded guards Jamal Sumlin and Mike Bekelja along with rim protector Cli’Ron Hornbeak, physicality and defense should be a prevalent theme for KSU.
“We need to become a more physical team than we were last year,” Senderoff said. “That was part of the issues, now we had a lot of injuries last year. We had a lot of things like that that didn’t go great for us through the course of the year. It impacted our ability to play as physical as we like to play but that is going to be a key to us to having more success throughout the season. Being able to play with a physical mindset throughout each game and each practice and each day and we’ve done a really job up to this point. This has been as fun a group for me to coach as I’ve had in my 14 years here so far now.”
NEW GRAYS: Kent State revealed new gray uniforms at their annual Media/Photo Shoot Day last week.
OPEN PRACTICE: Kent State will hold an open practice on Sunday, October 27 for all Blue and Gold Collective Members. The practice begins at 5:00pm. Call 330-815-0747 or email blueandgoldcollective@gmail.com for more information.
