By MIKE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
Fans watching the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's basketball team are seeing a new wrinkle in coach Jack Bennett's game plans.
Bennett and his brother, Dick, the former UW-SP coach and current coach at UW-Madison, are known for preaching patience on offense and teaching the importance of tough defense.
Although the Pointers won't be confused with teams that have a "run and gun" up-tempo offense, Bennett is utilizing his team's athleticism and has UW-SP picking up the pace at times.
"It's not that much of a change," Bennett said. "It's just a matter of pushing the ball up the floor.
"It's the old adage of taking what the defense gives you. We'll maybe even get teams on their heels."
One reason the Pointers are speeding things up is the experience of their point guards. UW-SP added transfer point guard Brent Larson (Ladysmith), who joined the Pointers this year after playing at Division 1 Central Michigan. And fellow junior Nate Vosters (Little Chute) is back after seeing a considerable amount of playing time at the position last year.
"It's helped a lot," Bennett said of Larson's addition. "He's a very good ball-handler. He has some of the intangibles that are hard to teach."
Perhaps the most athletic player on the team is forward Brant Bailey. The 6-foot-7 senior forward from Wisconsin Dells paced the Pointers in scoring last season (17.8 points per game) and was a First-Team All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection. And after his start this season, Bennett said he is among the best players he's seen at the Division 3 level.
"Brant is really becoming a man. It's been a slow but steady maturation process," Bennett said. "He has truly stepped his game up. It's my hope he can keep up this level."
While the Pointers are picking up the pace a bit, they aren't abandoning the "Bennett Ball" philosophy. That means taking care of the ball, moving it around and waiting for a good look at the basket.
"It's still going to come down to a good half-court offense," Bennett said.
The other bread and butter of Bennett's style is a tough defense. So far UW-SP has done a good job keeping its opponents under wraps, but Bennett knows his team still has room to improve.
"Defensively we're a little further ahead than I thought. We've been holding people to 61 points or under," Bennett said.
"We're not a spectacular defensive team. As long as we get positioning and improve our rebounding, we can be a tough defensive team."