Published: November 30, 2008 10:48 pm      

Big Blues, Rams plan to run the floor tonight

BLUEFIELD — Tonight, the basketball teams from Bluefield State travel to Bluefield College for the annual evening of hoops known as the Battle of the Bluefields. Both matchups are intriguing. But the men’s game is the one most will want to see.

The Blues come into the game after a pair of losses in the Currence Classic.

“We didn’t quit,” said Bluefield State head coach Don Jones. “Our kids are running our offense a lot better than they have in the past. I see that we’ve got some kids that can step up and make some plays when we need to make those plays.

“We’re going to have to do a lot of work on the defensive end and free-throw shooting. That right now is our Achilles’ heel.”

The Rams also come into the game after a loss to Concord in the Currence Classic championship game.

“We’ve got to get a lot better guarding the dribble,” said Bluefield College head coach Jason Gillespie. “Concord did a great job of spreading the floor and attacking us. They really made it difficult for us to help by spreading the floor like they did.

“If we’re not making shots, we’re not very good. Except for one guy, we didn’t play too well on the offensive end.”

That one guy was junior Omar Reed. The junior from North Tazewell, Va. Is the rare incarnation of a big man that can shoot from outside, a versatile player that can make a difference in many ways.

“We want him to be a leader on offense and he has been, but more so on the glass,” Gillespie said. “He’s the most talented post that we have. He’s not really a true post. He’s the guy that has the ability to play out on the perimeter.”

Jones has seen Reed mature into a great player.

“His best basketball is ahead of him,” Jones said. “He can do a lot of things right now. But in the months to come and in another year he’s going to be really something special to see.”

Reed is just part of a Rams team whose greatest strength is its depth.

“(Gillespie has) got so many bodies he can play and those guys are very interchangeable, can play more than one position,” Jones said. “All of them shoot the ball well. You’ve got to guard every last one of them from the time they cross half court. And by having so many bodies, they can run a lot of people at you and wear you down.”

The Rams love to run and usually hover around the 100-point mark when they are successful. But rather than try to slow the tempo of the game down, Jones wants his team to run with their opponents from the Virginia side.

“We want to run too. We’d love to run too,” Jones said. “We haven’t ran as much as I want to run. But we want to run. So if we both can score 100, that’d be fine. It’d be a good game for everyone to come see, huh?”

The Blues will try to run despite a lack in the depth department.

“They’re not nearly as deep. They’ve got a shorter roster,” Gillespie said. “But they play very hard and we know that we expect to get their best shot and hopefully we’ll be able to come up with ours.”

But Gillespie will not try to make a point of using his deep bench more than normal. His focus will be making sure his players execute the way they are capable of.

“Bluefield State showed tonight playing Pikeville that they’re a team that’s very determined to guard you in the half court and they do a good job of it,” Gillespie said.

“So we’re going to have our hands full defending Monday night. If we hope to come out with a win we’ll have to execute against their changing defenses.”

Similar storylines permeate the preceding women’s game. Now in his first full season as head coach, Steve Hardin placed a high priority on recruiting young, versatile, talented players.

The result is a team that is capable of using all 15 players on the roster in a game and getting results from all of them.

“I think right now Bluefield’s doing a great job of utilizing its personnel, getting the most out of them, playing as many people as they can,” said Bluefield State head coach Gary Brown. “And they’re all seemingly satisfied with the amount of time that they’re getting. They’re all buying to what (Hardin) wants to do.”

Brown does not have that luxury. Only seven players dressed for the Lady Blues in their win Tuesday against Ohio Valley University.

“I know they’ve only got seven girls, but those seven are very, very good,” said Bluefield College head coach Steve Hardin. “And I know their coach does a great job. We’re hoping that we get them in foul trouble and get them tired by the way we play.”

“We brought about nine (new players) in,” Brown said. “But it ended up that a couple of them didn’t stay. So we ended up with about seven that’s eligible and they’re ready to go. We have two others that hopefully we’ll get eligible by the end of the first semester.

“At this point, we’re just trying to find what we can do best with the people that we have. And whether it be Bluefield College or anybody else we’re playing we’re going to try to find what we think will work best against the team that we’re going to play and we’re going to try to execute that game plan.”

Like their male counterparts, the Lady Rams like to push the tempo.

“We’ll probably try to do a little bit like what we did with Ohio Valley,” Hardin said. “They put in a lot of people that were bigger than us. I know that with Bluefield State that’s not the case, but with their low numbers we’re definitely going to try to play 94 feet and get after it the whole time and push the tempo.”

Unlike their counterparts, the Lady Blues will try to slow it down.

“Hopefully we can find a way to make them play a little bit slower in some form or fashion,” Brown said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to defend. And if we can defend, I feel like that gives us a chance to win.”

What makes these games different is the familiarity aspect. The players know each other very well and that makes them want to win that much more.

“We’re excited about it,” Hardin said. “I know Bluefield State’s good. I know they whooped up on our girls last year.”

“It’s somewhat of a rivalry for us I guess. We don’t see each other but once a year,” Brown said. “A lot of our girls know them and they know us and they talk and their friends. So I guess to have bragging rights for a year, that’s something that I guess any college athlete would like to have.”

— Contact Jed Lockett

at jlockett@bdtonline.com