Bullock, Saints Seek WHAC Title

“Our goal is to win the league outright and then make the national tournament.”

Jake Bullock, a redshirt sophomore and team captain of the Aquinas Saints men’s basketball team, is not bashful about the faith he holds in his team.

“I expect a first place finish [in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference}. If you don’t think you’re team can be the best than you shouldn’t be out there competing,” said the 6’0 combo guard and former Lansing Catholic High School star.

Coach Hammer’s Aquinas teams of the past have been known for their defense, toughness, and don’t-shoot-until-you-have-a-great-shot motion offense that relies on efficiency, screening, and ball movement rather than shake and bake one-on-one play. This season’s team should be no different.

Coach Hammer has his guys prepared to play his style of ball year after year, and his Captain can’t help but notice.

“Coach wants to get you better and he will get you better. He will do what it takes to get his team to win games. I love playing for him,” said Bullock.

What excites Bullock even more is what he sees in his teammates for the upcoming 2014-2015 college basketball season.

“We finished strong last year with late season wins against Madonna and Cornerstone. And we should be faster and even more athletic this year, so naturally, I’m excited,” he said.

Aquinas finished 12-10 in their respective conference last season, finishing fifth out of twelve teams. While Bullock and the Saints remain confident, they are not the popular choice to finish atop the league in 2015. Aquinas was crowned conference champions in 2009, but the WHAC has been dominated by Cornerstone (CU) and Davenport (DU) ever since, as they are the only two schools to win the league in the last five seasons. To no surprise, CU and DU are the sexy picks to finish atop the WHAC again come next March. Don’t tell Aquinas that.

“We love to play Cornerstone and Davenport because they’re our rivals,” Bullock admitted.

Despite his confidence, Bullock knows both match-ups will be a challenge.

“I know I’ll have to lead and do whatever it takes to get a W. I don’t care about my stats in those games or any games for that matter, but I just want to win,” said the humble guard.

Cornerstone and Davenport won’t be the only circled games on the schedule, as AQ also takes on Division 1 opponents Detroit Mercy and Western Michigan in December.

Fortunately for the Saints, they’ve got one month to prepare for the big boys. Their season tips off at home on November 4th, and if there is one thing we can learn from Jake Bullock’s confidence, it’s that the WHAC is anyone’s league in 2015.

DON’T count out the Saints.

No More Tweeting for the Cougars

     SPRING ARBOR, MI -- The Spring Arbor University (SAU) Men's Basketball team has made a pact to avoid all social media for the entire 2012-2013 season. This means for seven months, the SAU cagers must abstain from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Snapchat, and even MySpace for those daring enough to reminisce.

     The initial idea belonged to head coach Ryan Cottingham, who passed the challenge to his team just ten days before the grind of preseason workouts began.

     Having played for Coach Cotts myself, I know that nothing he does is unintentional. Once again, there is method to his madness. The purpose behind the team's agreement is to not only accomplish something together as a unit, but also to avoid any potential distractions from the world of media (a world notorious for distraction).

     Team captain and lone senior Rob Hogans likes where his coach's head is at. "Coach is having us do this so we can avoid distraction. It gives us no excuses to have our focus wooed away from the court and the classroom. It also encourages us to spend more time investing in one another rather than sitting on Facebook each night. I'm all for it," said Hogans.

      There is no denying that with the increase in popularity of various social media mediums these days, athletes have fallen victim to the realm of controversy and distraction with their usage of such mediums.

      We've seen Chad Ochocinco get fined by his own team while with the Cincinnati Bengals for tweeting at half-time. Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant has often been criticized for calling out the toughness of his teammates via social media (which surely had little to no positive repercussions for team Lakeshow's chemistry last season). And big man Amar'e Stoudemire was hit with a $50,000 bill last season for using a gay slur on Twitter.

     The list of players getting in trouble for their use of the media is unfortunately growing at a rapid pace. While the guys on Coach Cottingham's roster wouldn't be dealing with the heavy fines professional athletes are hit with, they can at least sleep comfortably knowing they have dislodged themselves of the looming negativity that Facebook and Twitter often create.

     We will see no public complaints about playing time, vented frustration, arrogant trash talk, or even the latest drama in the love lives of various teammates (which is all over social media these days) from the SAU players. This young team has it's priorities right. They are focused solely on the betterment of themselves and their squad, which is precisely why they're conceding social media until late March.

     While seeing a tweet from Coach Cottingham is about as rare as a Tim Tebow sighting in the NFL, for some of the players, it won't be that easy.

     Freshman big man Jimmy Kodet admits temporary withdrawals are to be expected: "There are times I will probably miss it, because social media has been my way of keeping friends and family updated. Sometimes I go to where the Facebook app on my phone once was, and then remember I no longer have it. It's what I would do with my down time, so it will take getting used to. But I'm definitely excited and ready for the challenge," said Kodet.

      Kodet is not the only Cougar who will be forced to make adjustments. Every player and coach on the roster has a Facebook, and all but four of them have a Twitter account. I follow each one of them on both social media platforms and admit it is an unusual, unique feeling not being able to contact my former teammates very easily (I am in Australia so my ability to text or call them is also limited).

     For the first year in four years, Rob Hogans will not be able to post his patented "Gameday" tweets on days the Cougs take to the hardwood. Luckily for fans of SAU basketball, the team can still be followed on saucougars.com, or on the team's twitter account @SAU_menshoops.

     As for the individual players, that becomes more personal. All the ladies out there now have an excuse to ask for the players' phone numbers, because texting and emailing exist as the most convenient way to contact each individual. But remember girls, no distracting them! That would defeat the purpose of the team's pact.

    This commitment to avoid social media should only reap positive benefits for SAU. It remains to be seen if this off-the-court decision will translate directly and effectively to what happens on the court. Perhaps we'll find out on the 1st of November, when SAU tips off the season by playing host to the Tigers of Grace Bible college

Room For Improvement

Michigan State (MSU) starting point Keith Appling led his team in both points and assists during his junior campaign last season. For most, this seems like quite an accomplished feat worth noting. For Appling, however, this is far from enough. For Michigan State to be a serious contender and make a run at the 2014 Final Four in Arlington (TX), Appling, I believe, needs to carry his game to the next level more than any other senior basketball player in the BIG Conference.

Spartan head coach Tom Izzo has made a living assisting decent point guards in becoming MSU legends as well as fan favorites. During the 2012-2013 season, Appling averaged 13.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per contest while serving as Izzo's point guard. These are very respectable numbers, and there is a greater number out there who would love to be able to put up such statistics on a division one college basketball team. But for the (co-) captain of the Spartans, these numbers represent mediocrity at best. If he wants to be compared to the likes of his predeccesors before him, he must learn to do what it takes to lead his team to a final four just as Mateen Cleaves, Drew Neitzel, and Kalin Lucas each did. If next season's Appling-led Spartans fail to reach Arlington, the 6'1, 190 pound point guard will be the first four-year player ever under head coach Tom Izzo to not reach a final four. One major factor separating Appling from the likes of the point guards who came before him is that he, unlike Cleaves, Neitzel, and Lucas, often fades in big-game situations.

With the exception of an early victory over Kansas and a double digit win over barely ranked Wisconsin, Appling was not at his best when his best was needed against top competition last season. Even when Sparty mopped inner-state rival Michigan off court with a 75-52 win at the Breslin in February, Appling still only scored 11 points on 14 shots and dished out only one assist. He shot a distressed 28.6% from the field, 16.% from three point rage, and 40% from the charity stripe. The Izzone, MSU's highly touted student section, clearly paid more attention to the score than Appling's numbers as they controversially shouted in unison, "Appling's better!" This bold yet mindless statement referred to the on-going comparisons between Appling and last season's Naismith Award winner and current member of the Utah Jazz, Trey Burke. Though I too was cheering for the Spartan guard in that game, I am not willing to lose my credibility by blindly deeming Appling the better of the two floor generals.

Burke usually showed up when it mattered, as evident by the distinct reality that he took his team to the NCAA championship. Appling can't say the same. In two games against the BIG champion Indiana Hoosiers (IU), he scored only nine points and nearly matched that number with six turnovers. After struggling against IU, Appling then scored only three points and had one lone assist against the always tough Ohio State Buckeyes. Later in the rematch against the Wolverines, he scored in single digits yet again with 9 points and was pick-pocketed ( in the final seconds of the game) by Burke, who managed to score the winning layup for Michigan as he stole not only the ball but also the game for the maize and blue. This play, I believe, solidified Burke's superiority over Appling. Unforuntately for Spartan fans, it got worse.

MSU basketball fans also know March Madness as the month of Tom Izzo. Izzo consistently has his guys ready come tournament time. For some reason, that was not the case for Appling who scored only two points in 28 minutes in the team's second round victory over Memphis, and had not a single assist in the sweet 16 loss to a better, more disciplined Duke Blue Devils team. He is the starting point guard. He is the captain. For a team's leader and point guard to not manage a single assist against the Blue Devils in a win-or-go-home situation is completely unacceptable for Spartan Nation.

The fact of the matter is Appling has been a good point thus far in his three seasons played under coach Izzo. Good, however, does not suffice for a program with championship level aspirations. In comparison to the guys who came before him, Appling has been mediocre at best. When Appling scored 49 points in the high school basketball state championship game to conclude his junior season at Detroit Pershing High School in 2009, the bar was immediately set higher than most can reach. Expectations sky-rocketed following that performance, and many thought Appling would be among the nation's top PG's.

Inconsistent shooting and turnovers remain Appling's achilles heel, however, and have hindered him from being honored among the game's elite. His turnover average has not declined at all since his sophomore season. Appling's assist to turnover ratio from the past two seasons is at 3.6 assists to 2.3 turnovers a game, which is hardly impressive given the expectations that dawn on him. Equally unimpressive was his 41% shooting from the field last season, and his 28.5% from three point range over the last two seasons. Appling's free throw percentage from last season (74.9%) also warrants public criticism.

If next season is to be the year of the Sparty, such numbers will have to climb. In fact, everything about Appling's game will have to trend in an uphill manner. With Derrick Nix now gone, Appling has to make his presence felt as the leader. His shooting needs to improve, but there will surely be games where he struggles from outside. It will be in those games that his legacy will be unfolded, revealed. It will be then that Spartan fans either celebrate or scrutinize, and find out if their man is capable of carrying the torch. It will be then that Appling's intangibles, leadership, and grit must emerge. It will be then, in the big games, when his shot might feel rusty, that Keith Appling must find a way to get it done.