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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us December 16, 2004 Raiders ready, almost By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings In Brian McDermott's perfect world, the Southern Oregon men's basketball team survives the first few weeks of Cascade Conference play, thrives in January, then hits its stride down the home stretch. SOUTHERN OREGON GUARD STEVE FARLEY drives between Western Oregon University defenders in the Nov. 27 preseason contest at McNeal Pavilion. Andrew Mariman | Ashland Daily Tidings To do that, the Raiders will first have to overcome two major obstacles: first, SOU's preseason schedule was basically cut in half -- another budget-cut casualty; and second, starting guard Peter Nelson left the team last week for personal reasons and will not return. McDermott, SOU's head coach, knows it won't be easy. "We're not as ready as we'd like to be, but it's here so we're as ready as we're going to be," he said. "We've got to be ready. We don't really have any other choice." The Raiders (2-4) open their 18-game Cascade Conference schedule Friday night at Concordia (4-5). The next night, SOU travels to Salem to take on the No. 1-ranked NAIA Division II team in the nation: Western Baptist (13-0). With only six games under their belt - less than any other Cascade Conference team - the Raiders are still working out the wrinkles. Their offense has been good, not great. Their defense has shown flashes of dominance, but only flashes. They played good enough to win each of their first three games, but lost all three by a combined five points. "We still have a little ways to go, but we definitely have been coming around," said senior guard Brad Coen, SOU's second-leading scorer. "If we execute and play defense like we can, we'll be all right." Top challengers Western Baptist, eight-ranked Albertson (8-2) and 20th-ranked Oregon Tech (8-4) figure to be the Raiders' greatest obstacles in their hunt for either a league regular season or tournament title. Western Baptist might be the best of the bunch. The Warriors are averaging 103 points per game, tops in the nation, and are led by a virtually unstoppable force in 6-foot-9 center Eric Fiegi. Still, Saturday night's highly anticipated clash between SOU and Western Baptist isn't just a measuring stick for McDermott. "I'm not looking for a barometer, I'm looking for a chance to beat them," he said. McDermott says the Raiders must continue to improve through the first couple weeks of the conference season without falling too far behind the teams that have had the benefit of a full preseason schedule. To do that, SOU may need to rely more than ever on its own unstoppable force: 6-foot-7 junior center Shea Washington. So far, Washington looks capable of shouldering the load. He's averaging 22 points and 10 rebounds and is shooting 65 percent from the field. He's also one of the best defenders in the league, and possibly the only big man capable of slowing down Fiegi No long ball With Washington wrecking havoc inside, McDermott figured prior to the season that the Raiders would get plenty of open 3-pointers. It hasn't happened. Outside shooting was supposed to be a strength, but so far that aspect of SOU's offense is sputtering. Instead, the Raiders have hit just 33 long balls on 93 attempts. That's a decent enough percentage (.355), but McDermott wants more production out of his outside shooters. "We haven't developed the three-ball yet," he said. "That part of the offense isn't quite as developed as it could be and should be. We're still a work in progress and we don't have the personality I want yet." The good news is that Coen and junior swingman RaShaw McCallister (6-foot-3) have taken most of the outside shots so far, and both have had success from beyond the arc. Coen is shooting 41 percent from 3-point range (11-for-27), while McCallister is nailing a solid 42 percent (5-for-12). Junior center Jeff Williams (6-foot-8) and senior forward Travis Elam (6-foot-5) also play key roles in the offense, and those roles may have become bigger with Nelson's departure. Nelson started in every game he played and averaged 8 points. According to McDermott, Nelson said he moved back to his hometown of Eugene because basketball wasn't fun anymore. McCallister, who started in place of Nelson in last Saturday's 78-51 home win over Pacific Union, is confident the Raiders will still become a solid offensive unit. "We're still working on stuff, but as far as strengths, we work really well together as a team inside and out," he said. "Everybody plays a role on the team." And the defense Defensively, the Raiders are solid, but have room for improvement. SOU is holding opponents to 67 points on 44 percent shooting. Also, Raider opponents have made just 29 of 76 3-pointers - that's the lowest number of 3s allowed in the conference. McDermott says a few specific improvements will make SOU even tougher. "I think we can get better with how we guard the post," he said. "Not just with our post people. We've had little stints in each game where we've let the ball get inside a little bit too easy and we need to do better on that." McDermott believes the Raiders have the potential to eventually be the best team in the conference. The question, he says, is how long it will take for the Raiders to click. Two Cascade Conference teams earn spots in the NAIA Division II national championship tournament. The Raiders would love to win the league's regular season title and claim the first automatic bid, but in order to do that SOU will probably have to win on the road. They won't have to wait long for that opportunity. "It's a long conference season," McDermott said. "There's 18 games and a lot of stuff can happen. I think any time that you get a road win or two anywhere along the line it's huge, and this (weekend) is two of our nine opportunities to get road wins, so it would get us off on the right foot." DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Isotoner Slippers Dsw Shoes Ceramic Piggy Banks Fanny Mae Eloans Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weight Loss Programs Citibank Student Loans Acs Loan Matchmaking & Dating Scripts Adventure Travel Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation helzberg diamonds Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams