It's All About 'Attitude' For 2006-07 Men's Basketball

It's All About 'Attitude' For 2006-07 Men's Basketball

CHICOPEE, MA, Nov. 7, 2006 – The 2006-07 Elms College men’s basketball team is basing this season on one thing – ATTITUDE!

Always put Elms College first (outside of family and your spiritual beliefs)
Think before you act
Trust your team
Intelligence is knowing you don’t know everything
Take pride in what you do and you’ll do it well
Understand what you don’t know
Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments
Excellence is never accidental

Sixth-year head coach Ed Silva has included that acronym into this year’s team’s handbook and each player is required to know by heart and recite all or any part on the spot.

“We have enough talent to win a lot of games this season,” Coach Silva said. “Now we need to get our players to believe and trust in one another. The same can be said for the coaching staff. We have to have faith that our players will make the right decisions in game situations.”

Coach Silva and assistant coach Todd Dean shouldn’t have that problem, as the Blazers return four starters, including both guards from last year’s team that posted a school-record 22-7 mark and earned its second straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship.

The past two years, in fact, have been nothing short of sensational for the program. During that time, the Blazers have gone 42-16 overall (.724 winning percentage), 25-3 in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) play and claimed two straight NAC Tournament titles.

Elms College started last season 5-3, then won 17 of its final 21 games, highlighted by a school-record 10-game winning streak. That streak culminated with three-straight conference tournament victories, and with them, the NAC’s automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Championship.

“Whether it be a big bucket or a key defensive stop, we have found ways to win big games,” Coach Silva noted.

Here’s a breakdown of how the Blazers will take the court this season:

BACKCOURT

Senior guards John Ancrum (Harlem, NY) and David Williams (Hartford, CT) – both Second Team All-NAC selections in 2005-06 - provide the Blazers with arguably one of the best Division III backcourt tandems in New England.

Ancrum comes into this season just 64 points shy of becoming the third player in program-history to reach 1,000 points, and is the team’s all-time leader with 490 assists. He was the nation’s NCAA Division III leader in assists per game as a sophomore and finished 24th nationally a year ago with 5.6 assists per contest.

“I truly believe he is one of the best point guards at our level in New England,” Coach Silva said of Ancrum. “If you look at the statistics, we have won about 70-percent of our games that he has started, but a lot of people still don’t know about him.”

Williams, who transferred from Eastern Arizona College last season, started 28 of the Blazers’ 29 games a year ago and averaged a team-leading 17.2 points per game, including a season-high 34 points in the conference title game against the University of Maine-Farmington.

“He is a big-time scorer who worked hard on his jump-shot in the off-season and is a great one-on-one defender,” Coach Silva said of Williams, who also averaged a team-best 2.25 steals per game last season.

The Blazers also possess lethal 3-point shooting depth off the bench with seniors Justin Davis (Huntington, NY), Bill Beauregard (Ware, MA), junior Randy Hite (Hartford, CT), and sophomores Joe Esile (Milford, CT) and Ellis Jones (Roxbury, MA).

Davis netted 234 of his 269 points last season on a sizzling 45.6-percent clip from beyond the arc in just 17.5 minutes per game – something that has Coach Silva feeling confident in going to his bench for quick points.

“Justin is one of the better 3-point shooters in our region, and when he puts the ball in the air, I feel good,” Coach Silva said of Davis, who erupted for a school-record 11 three-pointers and a collegiate career-high 39 points – all in just 22 minutes off the bench against Lesley University late last season.

Hite and Beauregard, meanwhile, combined to average 9.5 points and 4.8 rebounds.

“Randy is a lockdown defender on the opposing team’s toughest wing, and with his athleticism, he can put up 18 on you in a hurry,” Coach Silva said. “Bill has a very high basketball intellect and is another shooter we can bring off the bench for quick points.”

Freshman Juan Galdon (Holyoke, MA), a four-year varsity player at Holyoke High School, joins the Blazers’ backcourt as a guard Coach Silva anticipates will develop into the point that replaces the graduating Ancrum following this season.

“Juan was an absolute steal for us,” Coach Silva emphasized. “I think too many coaches were hung up on his lack of size (5-4), but he can shoot, pass and defend. To call him a gym-rat doesn’t do him justice.”

FRONTCOURT

The Blazers’ frontcourt features solid size (four players 6-6) and above-average athleticism that includes 6-6 junior Renato Lindmets (Springfield, MA) – the 2004-05 NAC Rookie of the Year – and 6-6 junior Nate Hawes (New Hope, MN).

Lindmets averaged 11.0 points per game in the team’s first 13 games before suffering a season-ending injury.

“I think Renato is as good as any player in our region,” Coach Silva said. “If he can go to the offensive glass he will be a superstar in our conference.”

Hawes, who had never played organized basketball prior to Elms College, put up blue-collar numbers with 6.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game a year ago.

Hawes’ role will likely expand with the departure of 2005-06 NAC Rookie of the Year Antoine Holder, who transferred on a scholarship to Division II University of Bridgeport.

“What’s amazing about Nate is that he never played organized basketball before coming here and now he is a true basketball player,” Coach Silva said. “He has learned to play the post, can handle the ball and is a great rebounder and defender. Nate’s role this year will be more significant, especially on the offensive end.”

The Blazers also have two other 6-6 forwards in freshmen Austin Sylvia (Seekonk, MA) and Chris Hartmann (Jerrabomberra, Australia).

Six-foot-four sophomore forward Malakie Berry (Enfield, CT) will likely see his role expanded as well after a strong finish to his freshman year in 2005-06.

In the Blazers’ 10-game winning streak late last season, Berry averaged 4.7 points and 3.9 rebounds in 13.7 minutes off the bench.

“If Malakie goes to the offensive glass more he can be something special here,” Coach Silva said. “He had five rebounds and two key free throws in our conference championship game against Maine-Farmington.”

SCHEDULE

The schedule has been, and remains, part of Coach Silva’s “master plan.”

“We have come in and improved our strength of schedule each season,” he noted. “The schedule this season reflects the confidence Coach Dean and I have in our players.”

The Blazers will open up the 2006-07 season at the Eastern Connecticut Tip-Off hosted by Eastern Connecticut State University on November 17-18. The tournament features Mount St. Vincent, Mitchell and host Eastern Connecticut.

Elms College then returns to play its home opener against Westfield State three nights later before facing its toughest early-season test at WPI – the two-time defending New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament champions.

The Engineers advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament Sweet Sixteen two years ago and made it to second round play last season.

The Blazers then return home for their first-ever meeting with Hartwick College (10-16) on December 2, then return to road play for the program’s first-ever game against Brandeis University (14-11) two days later.

“WPI and Brandeis both have two of top Division III coaches in New England, if not the nation,” Coach Silva said.

The Blazers then open up conference play with games at Husson and Maine Maritime that weekend to conclude the first semester.

The team then competes in its final regular season tournament of the year in the Sig Makofski Invitational hosted by Union College on January 5-6.

The Blazers face Bates College (20-6) in the opening game before meeting either Mount St. Vincent (9-16) or host Union (17-11) the next day.

From there, Elms College returns to conference play with three straight home games in a five-day span against Lesley, Maine-Farmington and Thomas before playing at Amherst College (28-4) – the nation’s third-ranked team in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25 Poll.

The team finishes with 10 of its final 11 games against conference opponents, including all eight games in the month of February.

WRAP-UP

With ten returnees, including four starters back from last year’s 22-7 team, the Blazers appear poised at a third-straight NAC Tournament title and an opportunity to earn the program’s first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament victory.

For now, however, Coach Silva has kept his team’s goals simple.

“My goal for us is to win the important games in our conference and make it back to the NCAA Tournament,” he explained. “This is the first time in our program’s history where we have a group of players who have been here for three or four years and I believe that will help us.”