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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 1993)
o CL. k 3 cr o CR 05 S' g cr a> ^ “ ^ L- o. ^ ^ !=y- r3 =r St o 3 3 C 3 3 2-n ='2 c “ m C« ft Q —• 3 3 2 I "' . Page B8 ‘93-94 BASKETBALL PREVIEW Monday, November 22, 1993 Hickey Continued from Page 5 year and have one of the best guards in the re gion in sophomore Mary Lowery. Athletically, Houston will be the best in the league. Once again this is a young team, but they will play a very fast-paced and physical game. Both Texas Christian and Rice have new coach ing staffs and are making a strong commitment to elevating their programs to a higher level. Basketball is very much a team sport. It is good teams, not individuals, that win champi- Aggies Continued from Page 3 two-time member of the all-SWC second team and the SWC all-defensive team. Last season he lead the team in assists with 177 and steals with 69, and against Texas Edwards posted the first triple-double in A&M history. Johnson, an honorable mention all-SWC se lection, has led the team in scoring and re bounding the past two years and is one of the league's leaders in field goal percentage, shoot ing 60.4 percent in SWC play. Another luxury the team will enjoy is the added depth to the bench with five new highly- respected recruits including junior college transfers Roy Wills and Joe Wilbert and fresh men Chris Pulliams, Jimmy Smith, and Antho ny Burks. 'T think we're going to do better since we have a full team now, and we're not going to have guys playing 40-38 minutes a game," se nior forward Brett Murry said. "Naturally, things should improve." Along with adjusting to the new members , the team will also be working with various rule onships. As fans and fellow Aggies, we hope that you see yourselves as a part of our team effort, for we cannot accomplish our goal of stepping up to the next level of play without your assis tance. We have the responsibility of putting a good team together to represent Texas A&M, and we hope you will do your part by representing the University with a show of support at our con tests. We all know how special and unique our University is, and we invite you to use basket ball at A&M as an avenue to project this image to the outside world. Be "restless" with us, and join the challenge of proving that women's basketball has arrived at A&M. changes set by the NCAA. The rule changes in clude: • a time change from the 45-second to a 35- second shot clock • elimination of the five-second closely guarded rule • stopping the clock in the final minute of a game after a basket is made and starting the clock when the ball is inbounded, instead of let ting the clock run Barone said the changes have forced A&M to make some adjustments to the team's game plan including increased use of a quick offense and a trap defense, an aggressive defense that pulls extra defenders to smother the opposing team's ball-handler. "When you play us, you know you're going to face the trap," Barone said. "And we're going to have to do a much bet ter job forcing action - as opposed to simple po sition defense, we're going to be much more ac tive." Murry said he likes some of the changes that will force a more up-tempo style from the team. "It'll make things more interesting because you're going to have to get down the floor and get into your offense (quickly) and start work ing to get the easy basket." Lady Aggies Continued from Page 3 will concentrate on its running game to maximize the best of A&M's talents which are the driving and shooting abili ties of its guards and the rebounding and easy basket op portunities from its frontcourt. "Even when we have our best size (in the game), we'll still get the kids focused on forcing, pushing the ball down the court every time," Hickey said. "If we don't get some thing off of a primary break, we have a series of screens we'll run off of a secondary break. "We ought to get a shot off before we even get into the offense." Hickey said she will emphasize easy scoring opportuni ties - layups and three-point shots and said with the team's depth, she can run two lineups in and out of the game with out a drop-off in ability. She said one lineup would be taller with more power and zone-defense oriented, while the other would be smaller and faster, playing a quick, motion offense and a tenacious pressing and trapping defense. But Hickey said there is no danger in having a lot of players seeking action. Last season, injuries hampered the team and may have cost them a chance at the Southwest Conference tournament championship when three forwards could not play in the team's loss to Baylor. "Having this number of kids is not too many," Hickey said. "With the running game and the changes of the de fenses, it will take a good nine players a night to consistent ly get playing time in order to play the style we want to." Hickey said her young team will still need the first month of experience until A&M can take full advantage of its powerful talent and potential, needing the time to incor porate the offense into the team's second-nature. "The danger of doing a lot of things is that maybe you don't do any one thing really well," Hickey said. "(But) we feel talent-wise and intelligence-wise that we have a group of kids that can put all of that together really well." And Canada said she and the rest of her teammates are good enough to make history as the first Lady Aggie team to make it to the top of the SWC. "We have the people, we have the talent and there's no reason why we should not win," Canada said. "Right now, we are the best team in the conference -1 be lieve that." The 1993 The Aggieland is the nation's largest college yearbook. If you ordered one for 1992-93, bring your student ID to the English Annex. It's across from Heaton Hall on Ross Street. Nine to four- thirty Monday through Friday. Yearbooks will not be held and refunds will not be made on books not picked up in the academic year in which they are published. If you did not order a 1993 Aggieland, you may purchase one for $30 plus tax, in 015 Reed McDonald. SfAMeland 9 9 3