maly, too: Bulldogs Home for 2 Games This Week

Monday, December 3, 2012

Bulldogs Home for 2 Games This Week

Drake Men's Basketball Weekly Update – Dec. 2

Upcoming Events This Week

Competition

Wednesday, Dec. 5 – vs. St. Mary’s (DirecTV Classic) – Des Moines, Iowa (Knapp Center) – 7:05 p.m. CST

Television: None

Radio: 1350 AM - KRNT

Saturday, Dec. 8 – vs. IPFW – Des Moines, Iowa (Knapp Center) – 7:05 p.m.

Television: MediaCom MC22

Radio: 1350 AM - KRNT

Coaches Shows/Luncheons

Monday, Dec. 3 – Drake Basketball Coaches’ Show – Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery (West Des Moines) – 7 p.m. CST

The Drake Basketball Coaches’ show returns to the air on KRNT 1350-AM and originating live from Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery (4508 University Avenue, West Des Moines) at 7 p.m. Women’s head coach Jennie Baranczyk leads off the program. Men’s head coach Mark Phelps joins the discussion at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 4 – Drake Basketball Luncheon – Overtime – 11:30 a.m. CST

Mark Phelps, members of his staff and select student-athletes will join fans for their regular basketball luncheon at Overtime (4810 86^th Street, Urbandale) at 11:30 a.m. Cost is $12 per person.

This Week’s Opponents

St. Mary’s – Dec. 5

Drake hosts perennial NCAA participant and mid-major power St. Mary’s on Wednesday evening. The contest is a non-bracketed game from the DirecTV Classic as the NCAA allows each team that competes in a multi-team event (MTE) to play in an additional non-bracketed game with another participant of that same tournament. The Gaels have won 25 or more games each of the last five seasons and are 5-2 this season after defeating Cal Poly, 86-68, on Saturday. At the DirecTV Classic, the squad went 1-2 with a win over Drexel and losses to Pacific and Georgia Tech. Australian Olympian Matthew Dellavedova leads the squad with 16.6 points and 5.4 assists per game.

The Series vs. St. Mary’s

The two programs have met just once before with Drake suffering a 72-66 loss in Moraga, Calif., on Nov. 10, 2007 as part of the St. Mary’s Tipoff Classic. Jonathan Cox came off the bench to lead Drake in that contest with 18 points and nine rebounds. Both teams went on to advance to the NCAA Tournament that season.

IPFW – Dec. 8

Drake hosts IPFW in the first meeting between the two programs. IPFW is currently 5-4 on the season with a game against Valparaiso prior to its trip to Des Moines. The Mastodons have held opponents to just 59.7 points per game and 39.2 percent shooting. Frank Gaines leads the team with 19.3 points per game while Mario Hines averages 9.9 per outing.

The Series vs. IPFW

Saturday’s game will be the first meeting between the two programs.

Last Week

Nov. 30 – at Nevada, W 76-66

Led by five players scoring in double-figures, the Drake University men’s basketball team defeated Nevada, 76-66, on the road in the Mountain West/Missouri Valley Challenge. Richard Carter had his best game to date in a Drake uniform with 16 points, a game-high seven rebounds and four assists with just one turnover. The junior college transfer was 6-of-12 from the field as the Bulldogs shot 44.6 percent from the field and a 45 percent from three-point range. Despite the offensive numbers, Drake’s defense and rebounding won the game against a Nevada (4-3) squad that won 28 games and its conference title last season. The Wolf Pack shot 41.2 percent from the field as the Bulldogs’ defense imposed its will in the second half to allow just 30.8 percent shooting.

Team Notes

- Drake was 9-of-20 from the three-point arc against Nevada to remain one of the best three-point shooting teams in the nation. The Bulldogs are shooting 44.1 percent from the arc this season to rank fifth in the nation. Lehigh leads the NCAA at a 45.2 percent clip. The team’s 10 three-pointers per game also ranks seventh nationally. Drake leads the MVC in both categories as well.

- Jordan Clarke leads the MVC in rebounding with 10.3 per game and is tied for 22^nd nationally in the category.

- Against Nevada, Drake committed turnovers on 15.4 percent of its possessions while forcing Nevada to turn the ball over on a season-high 20.9 percent of its possessions.

- In the second half of the win over Nevada, the Wolf Pack made as many free throws (8) as it did field goals. The Bulldogs’ defense held Nevada to 30.8 percent shooting from the field in the second half.

- Drake has held a 41-14 advantage in second chance points in its last three games.

- Drake’s offense is averaging 78 points per game. Through six games last season, the Bulldogs averaged 67.8 points per game.

MVC Player of the Week Nominee

Richard Carter

G – 5-11 – 177

Jr. – Detroit, Mich.

Despite being a 5-11 point guard, Richard Carter led Drake in both scoring and rebounding with 16 points and seven rebounds in the win at Nevada. He also added four assists, with just one turnover, and two steals in his 34 minutes on the court. From the field, he shot 6-of-12 and was 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. His four assists led to 11 points for his teammates.

MVC Newcomer of the Week Nominee

Richard Carter

G – 5-11 – 177

Jr. – Detroit, Mich.

Player Notes

0 – Kori Babineux – Was scoreless in five minutes.

1 – Jordan Clarke – Had his double-double streak snapped at four games, but scored 15 points with six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Of his six rebounds, four were off the offensive glass.

2 – Gary Ricks, Jr. – Was scoreless from the field but had two assists and two rebounds.

3 – Richard Carter – Led Drake with 16 points and seven rebounds while dishing out four assists to one turnover.

4 – Chris Hines – Finished with six points, three from the free-throw line, and four rebounds.

10 – Jeremy Jeffers – Came off the bench to score 11 points and was 3-of-3 from the three-point arc.

11 – Karl Madison - DNP – Injury (Knee)

21 – Robert Puleikis – DNP – Coach’s decision

22 – Micah Mason – Scored three points, on a three-pointer, in nine minutes.

23 – Mitch McLaughlin – DNP – Injury (Hand)

24 – Joey King – Got into early foul trouble and played just five minutes.

25 – Matt Bowie – DNP – Coach’s decision

34 – Ben Simons – Scored 11 points, all in the first half with four assists and was 3-of-6 from the three-point arc.

40 - Daddy Ugbede – Played just four minutes, but the team outscored Nevada by four points during that stretch with him drawing a charge.

45 – Seth VanDeest – Scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half and was 5-of-7 from the field in just 16 minutes of action.

[This story was written for Ron Maly by Ty Patton, Drake's assistant athletic director for communications].

JOLTIN' JOE GOT IT STARTED

When Ron Maly was a kid in Cedar Rapids, he wanted to enter an essay contest, and he did. He wrote about Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees being his favorite baseball player. For finishing second in the contest, Ron won a Louisville Slugger baseball bat autographed by DiMaggio. Ron later wanted to be the first person in his family to attend college, and he was. He earned a degree in political science from the University of Iowa, and did what all political science majors do. He became a sportswriter. He had, after all, covered high school football, basketball and baseball games for the Cedar Rapids Gazette while he worked parttime during his university days. Ron wanted to sit in the press box and write about an Iowa-Minnesota football game, and he did. It happened while he was the sports editor at the Albert Lea [Minn.] Tribune, and the game was at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis. Ron wanted to cover a World Series, and he did. Also when he was working for the Albert Lea newspaper. Ron wanted to cover Rose Bowls, Sugar Bowls, Orange Bowls, Cotton Bowls, Holiday Bowls, a Freedom Bowl, a Sun Bowl, a Super Bowl and NCAA basketball tournaments, and he did those things after he moved to Des Moines. Ron was a four-time sportswriter of the Year in the state of Iowa [the years were 1977, 1978, 1994 and 1996]. In 2006, he was named a charter member of the University of Iowa's media Wall of Fame in the Kinnick Stadium press box. A photo of the plaque that's displayed in the press box is displayed above this story. Following Ron's retirement from the newspaper business, a publisher asked him if he wanted to write a book about the rich football tradition at the University of Iowa, and he did. The hardback version of "Tales from the Iowa Sidelines" was a best-seller, and so was the revised, softback version. Now he's been asked by his publisher to update the book for a second time. He's in the process of doing that at the present time. Ron considers being asked to update a best-selling book for the second time to be the supreme compliment, considering the Hawkeyes won just four games in the 2012 season. When Ron isn't working on books, he's busy traveling and spending time with his family. Indeed, he attends the athletic, theatrical and musical [both vocal and instrumental] events in which his six grandchildren participate. He also writes about anything that interests him for his many websites. Every chance he gets, Ron proudly wears his America Needs Farmers T-shirt.

The Hawkeyes' Rich Football Tradition, Revisited

I mentioned a while back that I was in the process of updating my Tales from the Iowa Sidelines book. Updating it for the second time. The original hardback edition of Tales from the Iowa Sidelines [pictured at the right] was published in 2003, during the 10-3 season, when coach Kirk Ferentz and his Iowa football team had a 10-3 record that included a 37-17 victory over 15th-ranked Florida in the Outback Bowl and after the Hawkeyes went 11-2 in 2002. That book was a best-seller, so the publishers came to me again in 2005, a season that finished with a breathtaking 30-25 victory over No. 11 Louisiana State in the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day, 2005. Because buyers had cleaned out the the shelves in the bookstores, the publishers wanted to know if I'd do an updated version of the book. I agreed, The revised, soft-cover edition [pictured at the left] was published in 2005. Warren Holloway, who teamed with quarterback Drew Tate on a miraculous 56-yard touchdown pass to win the Capital One Bowl, was featured on the cover. That book, too, turned into a best-seller, So I had reason to feel very good about my years as a published author. It's not every day that a the original version is a best-seller, and so is the updated version. Then, imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail from a senior editor at the publishing company last fall, wanting wanted to know if I was interested in doing a second updated version of the book. It came at a time when things weren't going well for the Hawkeyes in the 2012 season. They lost their last six games and finished with a 4-8 record. Frankly, the thought of doing a revised edition of the book during a 4-8 season seemed to be a stretch. "Maybe producing a revised edition in a year or two would be a better idea," I told the publishers. "We'd like to do it now," I was told. "Let me think about it," I said. After a few days of thought, I accepted the idea. I talked myself into the idea that this was the supreme compliment--being asked to do a second book update during a 4-8 season showed strong confidence by the publishers in me and in the Hawkeyes' football program. So I got back into the business of interviewing players and coaches again, going to postgame press conferences, weekly press conferences and a scrimmage in West Des Moines. After a press conference in Iowa City, I did a one-on-one interview with coach Kirk Ferentz, and mentioned to him that I was in the process of doing a revised edition of my two best-selling books. I congratulated him on the excellent things he had done for Iowa's football program--all of which contributed to the success of my books. "I think Coach Fry had more to do with it," he told me, bringing up the name of Hayden Fry, his one-time boss at Iowa and a man who brought Iowa's football program back from the dead in the 20th century. That's modest Kirk Ferentz for you. Even though the 2012 season wasn't something Hawkeye coaches, players and fans will recall with any special feeling, Ferentz has a 14-year record of 100-74 at Iowa that includes two 11-victory seasons [2002 smd 2009], two 10-victory seasons [2003 and 2004], plus he's been the Big Ten coach of year in 2002, 2004 and 2009, and national coach of the year in 2002. Indeed, Ferentz has done some wonderful things at Iowa City, and I fully expect his success to continue. I've concluded my writing for the second update of Tales from the Iowa Sidelines, and the senior editor has furnished me with an early look at the book. Not only are the Kirk Ferentz years included in the updated version, but so is the stuff I previously wrote about Howard Jones, Dr. Eddie Anderson, Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick and the 1939 Hawkeye Ironmen, Ronald Reagan, Ozzie Simmons, Ossie Solem, Randy Duncan, Alex Karras and lots of other legends from Iowa's rich football history. I expect the book to be in stores soon. I hope you like it.